From its first episode, The Walking Dead took fans in the United States and across the world by storm, becoming the highest-rated series in the history of cable television. After each episode airs, Paul Vigna writes a widely read column in which he breaks down the stories and considers what works and what doesn’t, and tries to discern the small details that will become larger plot points. So how did a basic cable television show based on Robert...

"How many hours are in a day when you don't spend half of them watching television? When is the last time any of us really worked to get something that we wanted? How long has it been since any of us really needed something that we wanted? The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe causing the dead to...

The time has come. The forces are aligning. The war has begun! Has Rick brought about the demise of everything he's built? Or will he triumph once again? Know this ... there will be a cost.

Police officer Rick Grimes is shot on the job and wakes up a month later to find that the world that he knows is gone. Zombies have taken over and are killing and eating those who are still alive. He sets out toward Atlanta in the hope that his family is still alive and endures many horrors along the way.

The survivors encounter a terrifying new threat. Everything they thought they knew about survival in this post-apocalyptic world will be challenged.

'The Walking Dead' is a drama where personal struggles are magnified against a backdrop of crises. The series explores how the living are changed by the realization that those who survive can be far more dangerous than the walking dead.

The group crosses paths with a mysterious priest and takes shelter in his church. As Daryl and Carol follow a lead to the whereabouts of Beth, the others begin to realize that they're being hunted. As Bob's life hangs in the balance, the group prepares to face off against the cannibalistic hunters of Terminus.

Trapped in a town surrounded by madmen, Rick must find a way out or die trying. Meanwhile, back at the prison, the rest of the survivors come to grips with the fact Rick may be dead, and a major turning point in the series is reached.

Police officer Rick Grimes and a few human survivors battle hordes of decomposing zombies. "How many hours are in a day when you don't spend half of them watching television? When is the last time any of us really worked to get something we wanted? How long has it been since any of us really needed something that we wanted? The world we knew is gone. The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility....

Rick mounts a mission to rescue a crashed helicopter but discovers that another group has beat him, while back at the prison, the group tries to restore electrical power by siphoning gas for the generator from abandoned cars in the parking lot.