The reunion is not completely amicable; in the second season, Shane develops into an antagonistic character, becoming more aggressive and unpredictable, due to his growing obsession with Lori and subsequent jealousy of Rick.

They later form a group of survivors living on the outskirts of the city, with Shane repeatedly telling them that the government will one day return to save them.

[5] Rick later returns to the grave site and finds out that Shane has reanimated; he shoots him in the head to finally put him to rest, but does not rebury him.

Shane securing Rick's door despite this belief appears to be the thing that kept him alive and protected from both the zombies and the soldiers who were killing everyone in the hospital.

Rick eventually wakes from the coma and makes his way towards Atlanta, and ends up meeting a scavenging group from the camp in the city.

The group is stopped on the road by a massive car pileup on the highway, and further waylaid when a walker horde passes, which ends up with Sophia Peletier running off on her own for safety.

However, due to the severity of the wound, Hershel knows he will need more medicine, and Shane offers to go with Otis to recover this from a FEMA trailer located at a nearby school.

The group kills the walkers, including the reanimated body of Sophia, although Shane is shown to be equally devastated by her death.

Rick is forced to tell them the secret Dr. Jenner told him at the CDC: that every living human carries the virus that causes them to become walkers when they die.

Shane Walsh was created by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore, the writer and original artist of The Walking Dead comic book series.

[7][8] Kirkman described the comic book version of Shane's character as a short and quick "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" arc compared to that of his counterpart in the television series.

[7] Jon Bernthal portrayed Shane in the television series, marking the actor's most high-profile role to that date.

[9][10] Robert Kirkman said Shane's death was planned for the TV series adaptation "before the first episode of season one was shot.

The filming lasted all night until sunrise, and the entire cast attended out of respect for Bernthal, including Jeffrey DeMunn, who at that point had already left the series and flew in specifically to be there.

[9] Bernthal did not realize until very late into filming that he would portray himself as a zombie, and said he had difficulty seeing due to the contact lenses he was fitted with.

[9] Upon departing from The Walking Dead, Bernthal was cast as Joe Teague in Mob City, a television drama series Darabont began developing for TNT about crime in Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s.

[7][10] Bernthal later returned to film a brief cameo in the third season episode "Made to Suffer", in which Rick hallucinates that he sees Shane alive.

[15] Shane's death was accidentally leaked by the AMC TV store on March 1, 2012 in promotional materials for the Season 2 Blu-ray set.

"[11] Glen Mazzara explained why Shane became a walker in "Better Angels" much faster than Amy, and why he still turned despite not getting bit: "We worked hard to make sure that revelation landed.

Those [rapid flashes of zombie mayhem] represent the storm in Shane's brain to some extent ... Amy was a weaker character.

[18] Noel Murray of Rolling Stone ranked Shane Walsh 16th in a list of 30 best Walking Dead characters, saying, "Unhappy at being usurped, Shane (played by Daredevil's Punisher himself, Jon Bernthal) consistently undermined his friend at every turn, becoming the first ongoing TWD character to insist that the only way to make it in this new world is to leave all scruples and sentiment behind.

"[19] In the comics, Kirkman resolved the love triangle between Lori, Shane, and Rick very quickly, but in the TV show he decided to spend more time exploring this relationship.

"[21] By the second season, Shane becomes the show's antagonist as his character grows darker and he finds himself at greater odds with Rick Grimes.

[10] However, Frank Darabont and the series producers did not seek to establish Shane as a villain because they wanted the characters to be authentic and complex rather than black-and-white.

Robert Kirkman and Jon Bernthal have rejected the classification of Shane as a "bad guy" as too simplistic, noting most of his actions stem from good intentions even when they seem dangerous or irrational.

[23] But Bernthal also feels it stems from Shane's genuine belief that Rick is too virtuous and not pragmatic enough to lead the group, and thus is a hindrance to their safety.

[10][24] This difference in philosophy between the two characters is illustrated in the episode "18 Miles Out", when Shane tells Rick, "You can't just be the good guy and expect to live.

"[24] Bernthal argued that Shane better recognized the reality of the world after the zombie outbreak and was able to adapt to it in a more severe and arguably better way than other characters like Rick.

[8] However, Bernthal also believes Shane recognizes on some level that shutting down all emotions is an impossible task, even in a zombie-infected world, which makes the character that much more complex and multi-layered.

In contrast, Kirkman feels Rick is more centered and better prepared, as illustrated by his ability to act cold and detached at one moment, while kind and sympathetic in another.