Who died in season 1 episode 1 of The Walking Dead?

Television was changed forever by the series premiere of The Walking Dead but who died in the episode titled “Days Gone Bye” on Oct. 31, 2010?

It feels as though it was forever ago since Rick Grimes made his television debut on The Walking Dead. The hit AMC zombie survival drama series kicked off on Oct. 31, 2010, notably released on Halloween night.

The episode titled “Days Gone Bye” was an homage to the comic book series, but was altered enough to help appeal to a different audience who learned to appreciate the undead with movies from George A. Romero and have that passion renewed by other projects like 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, and Zombieland.

Although the series premiere of The Walking Dead set the tone of a decade of the undead, that doesn’t mean everyone was safe. Here is the list of who died in season 1 episode of the show:

• Criminals
• Several iconic walkers
• The Siggard’s horse

The only human deaths which were shown on-screen in this episode, the group of three criminals were making their getaway from the police only to be chased down by Rick, Shane, and other members of the police force. Thanks to a spike strip, their vehicle flipped and the perps were on foot. A gunfight ensued, and the three criminals were killed, but not before Rick was shot and brought to the hospital where he would go into a coma.

Even though they were already dead as humans at the time, it would be a disservice not to talk about Summer (Bunny slipper/Teddy bear girl) and Bicycle Girl. Those two walkers are iconic to the series and just a mere glimpse of them can bring viewers back to that time. Meanwhile, former policeman Leon Basset’s zombie form brought out some emotion in Rick and turned into a big footnote in the series.

Humans and zombies die a lot on this show, but animals have a special place in the heart of fans. That’s why watching the horse Rick rode into Atlanta on being torn apart by walkers was very difficult to watch. To this day, horses don’t have a great track record on the show.

Of these, the only major loss was the horse. However, all these deaths in the series premiere of The Walking Dead did a great job in setting up a situation where Rick was looking for his family and stuck in a situation where fans didn’t know how he would make an escape.