The Walking Dead: Every Season Ranked, According to Critics

As The Walking Dead prepares to air the final episodes of its ninth season and begin production on Season 10 for its October premiere, the current season currently stands as one of the most critically acclaimed since the Image Comics adaptation first hit airwaves in 2010. While it has struggled to retain its strong ratings, the AMC series remains the most-watched cable television series and is still popular with fans.

With enough professional reviews in for the current season for review aggregate sites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to post an official score for the entire season, here is a comprehensive ranking of how each season was received by the critics, averaging the scores between the two sites. The audience scores for each season on Rotten Tomatoes are also included to provide perspective, though they are not factored into the average.

8. SEASON SEVEN - AVERAGE SCORE: 60.5

negan-rick-grimes-talk-season-7-walking-dead

The seventh season picked up immediately from the cliffhanger ending of its predecessor as Rick Grimes and the residents of Alexandria came face-to-face with Jeffrey Dean Morgan's villainous Negan. The cunning, brutal leader of a survivor faction known as the Saviors, Negan demanded that Hilltop and Alexandria begin paying him regular tribute or face his wrath, leading to a bloody conflict between the two groups.

Morgan's performance as Negan received a mixed reception, with Kelly Lawler from USA Today calling his inclusion the worst part of the season, noting, "If AMC wants The Walking Dead to last for years to come, as its producers say, it needs to kill Negan, and quickly. And it needs to learn from the mistakes it made during his seemingly endless tenure on the series." Luke Holland from the Guardian argued the entire season felt overly drawn-out, writing, "It can be dull, or miserable, but not both -- and definitely not for this long."

The season has a critic score of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes, and while Metacritic does not have enough professional reviews to post an official score, an average of the reviews it has received comes in at a score of 58. Season 7 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes.

7. SEASON EIGHT - AVERAGE SCORE: 64

After over a season of build-up, the eighth season saw Rick and Negan lead their respective factions of survivors in an all-out war that took up the entire season. As the conflict escalated and both sides suffered tremendous losses, including the surprise death of Rick's son Carl, the series veered away from the grim, survival horror of previous seasons and became more of a war series.

Critics were divided whether the long-running series was able to maintain its intensity and originality throughout its eighth season, with Noel Murray from Rolling Stone declaring, "the series is clearly in decline," while Phil Owen from TheWrap wrote that the series had become fun again after seasons of somber, heavy-handed storytelling. "The AMC blockbuster has given viewers a welcome respite from getting kicked in the teeth," Owen wrote, "and that's made it much more enjoyable."

The season has a critic score of 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. While Metacritic does not have enough professional reviews to post an official score, an average of the reviews it has received comes in at a score of 64. Season 8 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 49% on Rotten Tomatoes.

6. SEASON SIX - AVERAGE SCORE: 78

The sixth season saw Rick continue to settle into a leadership role among the community of survivors in Alexandria as characters continued to face new and familiar challenges and threats to their survival while teasing a greater external danger to come by the season finale.

Critics largely praised the series for maintaining its horror sensibilities while deepening the relationships of its characters, six years in. "The Walking Dead looks very much at the top of its game," wrote Brian Lowry for Variety, while the Los Angeles Times' Mary McNamara observed that, "The Walking Dead, more than any other show, takes responsibility for its carnage. The characters who remain carry the burden of those who do not."

The season has a critics' score 77% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score 79. Season 6 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes.

5. SEASON FOUR - AVERAGE SCORE: 79

Continuing from the third season's change in setting, the fourth season marked the beginning of longtime producer Scott M. Gimple's tenure as the series showrunner. The first half of the season saw the prison refuge led by Rick facing both internal threats and external ones from the Governor, while the second half took the series on the road as the characters left their maximum security home to find a new safe haven.

Critics praised the change in direction under Gimple, with Kevin Yeoman from Screen Rant observing, "Fresh blood isn't only welcome and promising from a behind-the-scenes perspective; it can give the onscreen story a sense of vibrancy as well." New York Daily News' David Hinckley praised the series' pitch black sense of humor, calling the fourth season "lethal and funny."

The season has a critic score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 75. Season 4 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

4. SEASON TWO - AVERAGE SCORE: 80.5

A creative shake-up behind-the-scenes loomed over much of Season 2 after original showrunner Frank Darabont departed the series following much-publicized reports of him conflicting with network execs over the show's production and budget. As such, writer and executive Glen Mazzara replaced him as showrunner in a season that saw Rick lead the survivors to take refuge on a remote farm as tension between him and his former best friend Shane came to a head.

While not as well-received as its inaugural season, critics praised the series for its added moral complexity and character development throughout its second season but criticizing its static location and lack of narrative progression. "I still need convincing that The Walking Dead is anything more than a hackneyed apocalyptic melodrama with borscht-like guts spilling out all over the place," wrote Matthew Gilbert dismissively for The Boston Globe. A more favorable review from the New York Daily News' David Hinckley cited the season as "Coming out of the starting blocks, at least, the show is still clinging to its complexity, darkness and humor."

The season has a critics' score of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score 80. Season 2 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Next Page: Find out the Top 3 Walking Dead Seasons, According to Critics

3. SEASON NINE - AVERAGE SCORE: 82.5

The current season of The Walking Dead saw longtime writer Angela Kang replace Gimple as the new showrunner of series following Gimple's promotion to an executive position with the franchise. Praised as a return to the franchise's horror roots, the ninth season saw several high-profile departures from its main cast, including original lead actor Andrew Lincoln, and a lengthy time jump as the survivors faced a new threat in the mysterious Whisperers.

Critics praised Kang's direction with CNN's Brian Lowry, declaring that "the series is back on track, and it's true that change in any creative endeavor can help energize a long-running franchise, at least temporarily." Entertainment Weekly's Patrick Gomez wrote that the current season has reminded fans that "the world of The Walking Dead is still a scary and dangerous place."

The season has a critic score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 72. Season 9 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.

2. SEASON FIVE - AVERAGE SCORE: 84.5

The fifth season saw the main cast of characters streamlined before expanding once again as Rick leads his fellow survivors to the community of Alexandria. After so much time on the road fighting the undead and treacherous survivors alike, Season 5 became a meditation on the nature of being able to maintain a society in the face of apocalyptic threats bringing out the worst in human nature.

Critics praised the interesting character development and forward-moving story for the season with The Atlantic's David Sims writing, "The show's fifth season seems much more propulsive, setting up new plots and then moving through them with surprising haste." Jason Hughes from TheWrap argued that in the age of prestige television, the long-running survival horror was "fitting right in."

The season has a critic score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 80. Season 5 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.

1. SEASON ONE & SEASON THREE - AVERAGE SCORES: 85

The top spot, critically, for the long-running series actually comes out to a tie between its inaugural season and its third season, marking Mazzara's final as the series showrunner. Developed for television by acclaimed filmmaker Frank Darabont adapting Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard's popular Image Comics title of the same name, the first season had Rick Grimes awaken from a coma in a hospital to discover the world overrun by the undead, with the recovering sheriff venturing to Atlanta to reunite with his family.

The third season picked up directly from the reveals of the second season finale as Rick leads the survivors to set up their new home in a maximum security prison with mysterious new ally Michonne while the villainous Governor made his debut.

In instant success with critics and audiences upon its premiere, the first season was praised for its high production values and back-to-basics zombie scares, with NPR's David Bianculli praising the first season for its aesthetic: "It's beautiful and foreboding all at once, with lots of scares too potent to spoil." Similarly, the third season was praised for its return to daring, lean storytelling after its largely moribund second season, with Grantland's Andy Greenwald writing, "Like the comic that inspired it, Mazzara's reconfigured Walking Dead is, above all else, a fine and lean killing machine."

The first season has a critics' score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 82. Season 1 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The third season has a critics' score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 82. Season 3 of The Walking Dead currently has an audience score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on AMC, The Walking Dead stars Norman Reedus, Danai Gurira, Melissa McBride, Alanna Masterson, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Nadia Hilker, Dan Fogler, Angel Theory, Lauren Ridloff and Eleanor Matsuura.