Guide to coming back to The Walking Dead

After nine seasons, it’s understandable that some fans of The Walking Dead have fallen off the bandwagon, but now is a great time to jump back on.

If you’ve been hearing about all of the exciting things happening on The Walking Dead in season 9 but you haven’t watched it in a while, don’t worry. You’re not alone. After nine seasons the show has been through some ups and downs and characters have come and gone. Season 9 has been a breath of fresh air, and it’s a great time to jump back in and discover what everyone is talking about. Here are some tips of getting back into The Walking Dead.

The Walking Dead continues to be the top rated cable show on Sunday nights, and it’s still one of the top shows on television. (We’re not inflating the ratings; follow that link to see the Nielsen data from 2018) However, there’s no denying that the show’s ratings have taken a hit. Losing Glenn and Abraham in the season 7 premiere was hard to watch. All Out War took forever and a day. And after nine seasons, it’s understandable that interests change as characters cycle in and out of the show.

Season 9, however, has been a game changer. New showrunner Angela Kang has breathed new life into the show and given it a bright new future. So far she has navigated two time jumps, the arrival of the most terrifying villains the show has seen yet and the departure of the show’s lead character. Even with all of those challenges the show has been coming back to life in season 9, bigger and stronger and more daring than ever.

With so much excitement this season, you might be thinking about coming back to the show. The good news is that you don’t need to go back to watch season 7 and 8 to catch up on season 9. It stands very well by itself.

To really understand what’s happening right now, you need to go back to the beginning of season 9 to get the full picture. With the two time jumps there are moments in the most recent episodes that are tied to the past, so watching from 901 is a good idea. You can get through all of the episodes in one weekend binge-watching session. Easy peasy.

Some of the episodes are available on AMC’s website at no cost. You can also subscribe to AMC Premiere, the new streaming service from the network, to access all of the episodes commercial free.

There’s another option here if you don’t want to watch the entire season. The final Rick Grimes episodes are episodes 901 to 905. Those episodes take place about 18 months following the conclusion of All Out War. Episode 906 is the start of the second time jump and it’s like a new beginning for the season. If you want to get caught up quickly, you can jump in there and you’ll be fine until you go back and watch the rest. Which you should, because they’re excellent episodes in their own right.

If you want to learn what happened during season 7 and 8 but don’t want to watch them right now, you can check the Undead Walking archives for recaps of all of the episodes.

Now is a great time to jump back into The Walking Dead and see for yourself what everyone is talking about. The show is bolder and more dynamic than it has been in years. Take a weekend and check it out, and please let us know what you think!