The Walking Dead didn't start out fully formed into the show it's been for most of its run, it took spending time in prison to evolve to that level. It took a few seasons for The Walking Dead to really find its groove, and settle into the formula it's relied on ever since. Sure, at soon to be eleven seasons, one could easily argue that said formula has worn out its welcome. But back in season 3, when Rick's group first discovered the abandoned prison, The Walking Dead was a bit adrift, dramatically.

In the first two Walking Dead seasons, the story followed Rick and his fellow survivors as they traveled, looking for some type of sanctuary, only for the sanctuary they found to never be what they hoped. That's a plot thread that's remained part of the Walking Dead playbook going forward, but there was a major thing the show didn't have: an antagonist. One could argue the zombies themselves were the antagonists, or possibly Shane Walsh after he went psycho, but even then, Shane remained a bit of a tragic figure, as it had been seen that he wasn't always a bad guy.

Related: Walking Dead: How Long Rick's Group Was At The Prison (& Why They Left)

With The Walking Dead season 3, the show really found its overall footing, introducing characters that would play a major role in the series' development, establishing its first real "big bad," and exploring the difficulties of trying to build a functioning human society when things are still falling apart. The prison story marked an important turning point in The Walking Dead's evolution.

How The Walking Dead's Prison Story Helped The Show Evolve

The Governor from The Walking Dead holding a rifle and wearing an eyepatch.

While at the prison, The Walking Dead finally managed to find its first real central villain, that being The Governor, played by David Morrissey. Instead of focusing on the in-fighting between the various members of Rick's group, The Governor finally gave the survivors a common enemy, and put The Walking Dead on the path to its first major war between factions. The prison storyline also introduced a pivotal character in Michonne, who would go on to become one of the most important people in the history of the show. Also introduced were supporting, but still important players like Tyreese, Sasha, and Tara, whose deaths still linger in the minds of fans.

Then there's some important deaths that occurred while at the prison, most notably Lori Grimes in childbirth. Sure, the moment with Rick and Carl after has been memed a thousand times, but losing Lori caused a change in Rick, one that would change him in both positive and negative ways as The Walking Dead progressed. Also very important was the death of Hershel Greene, who had become a kind of mentor to Rick, and almost a surrogate father figure to the entire group. The prison story also began the tradition of Rick's group holing up in a place that felt safe, only for that place to fall after a prolonged conflict, and the tradition of having a charismatic villain to build the plot around, which Negan and Alpha have continued.

To be fair, and as mentioned previously, one could argue that this particular formula has become a creative crutch for The Walking Dead. Still, it's hard to really blame the show's creative team for sticking with what's worked. It was during the prison seasons that The Walking Dead began to dominate all of TV in the ratings, and even now, with ratings having dropped considerably, it's still the #1 rated drama on cable. What's more, the loss of Rick Grimes really hasn't hurt the show, with many feeling things actually got more interesting afterward, despite the formula of "protagonist group in fortified stronghold vs. antagonist group led by big bad villain" still being in full effect. This success all traces back to the confines of the prison.

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