The 12 episodes of the first season are both fascinating and frightening. Based on the well-known webcomic “Now At Our School” by Joo Dong-geun, director Lee Jae-kyoo creates a character-driven, immersive environment in the television version. Teenagers are allowed to take centre stage in the narrative, with adults and other authority figures mainly taking a backseat. Even when bad decisions are made that occasionally result in horrifying deaths, you genuinely care about the characters and their post-apocalyptic fate. The constant emotional stakes are the only thing that can equal the unrelenting savagery.
This list concentrates on those shocking gut-punches while highlighting the most horrifying fatalities. It’s not always about how violent or graphic the death is. Instead, what matters is how those deaths affect the surviving individuals.
I-sak
In Episode 2, the group suffers its first significant setback. The students take refuge inside a classroom after navigating hordes of zombies while trying to figure out what to do next. I-sak (Kim Joo-ah) and On-jo (Park Ji-hu) enjoy a private moment after dealing with another bitten pupil.
On-hand jo’s friend’s is cold when she reaches out to grab it, indicating that On-jo has been bitten and will soon turn. On-jo tries to accept the truth as the group turns on her. I-sak is thrown out a nearby window as a result of that tragic incident. On-jo grabs her friend’s hand and holds on for dear life, going against her better judgement. The camera shifts perspectives to hammer home the weight of the moment. A newly-transformed I-sak gnashes her teeth, pulling herself up to bite her childhood best friend. As horrific as it is, I-sak’s death is a necessary moment to set up the raw emotional stakes for the entire show.
Jin Seon-moo
Military Commander Jin Seon-moo (Rich Ting) is a surprising addition to this list. In charge of all operations in and around Hyosan, Seon-moo orders several bombs to be dropped on key targets throughout the metropolitan area, including the high school. This endeavor promises to eradicate all remaining zombies.
Our group has managed to flee from the vicinity but is still hit with debris and ash. Once the dust clears, it appears the mission was a huge success. Yet, the gravity of the situation weighs heavily on the commander’s shoulders. He reveals what he has done to National Assemblywoman Park Eun-hee (Bae Hae-Sun) and heads back to his office. There, he calls his family, says goodbye, and then kills himself with a pistol from his desk. It’s a haunting sequence that further underscores the dire circumstances that every character faces. Physically, mentally, or emotionally, no one gets out unscathed.
Gyeong-su
Na-yeon (Lee Yoo-mi) will go down in history as one of television’s greatest villains. In Episode 3, the group makes their way to the broadcasting room to reunite with their teacher Ms. Park (Lee Sang-hee). During a zombie attack, Cheong-san’s best friend Gyeong-su (Ham Sung-min) gets scratched. Fortunately, it’s only a minor injury and not caused by a zombie.
Harboring a disdain for the poor, Na-yeon throws a tantrum and claims Gyeong-su’s wound is likely fatal. She convinces Ms. Park to isolate him in the next room. A few minutes later, Na-yeon approaches Gyeong-su to apologize, but instead, she rubs zombie blood into his wound. He is now infected. When he rejoins the group, he soon turns and leaps toward Cheong-san. Cheong-san dodges the attack, and Gyeong-su tumbles into the night and crashes to the ground below. His unnecessary death is another absolute gut-punch that will have you screaming at your TV.
Cheong-san’s Mother
One of the most grueling aspects of “All of Us Are Dead” is the distance characters must go to find their loved ones. Cheong-san’s mother (Lee Ji-Hyun), who owns and operates a fried chicken restaurant, is smack dab in the middle of Hyosan when the zombie outbreak happens. She hops on her moped and zips through the streets, heading toward the high school. Along the way, she encounters a horde of zombies and ditches the moped.
She eventually makes her way to the sports field outside the school right at nightfall. There, she mistakes a flesh-eater for Cheong-san, and she meets a grisly, heart-pounding fate. As several zombies eat her alive, her face is stricken with fear and sadness. Her gaze pierces through the screen. In a later episode, Cheong-san comes across his mother’s reanimated corpse, and it tries to eat him. If you weren’t depressed already, this reunion will surely do the trick.
So-ju
On-jo’s father, So-ju (Jeon Bae-soo), spends the entire first season trying to get to the high school. He finally arrives outside the gymnasium in Episode 11, but his reunion with the group is tragically short-lived. However, that’s a huge reason why the show works so well. Anyone can die at any given moment.
As the group makes its way through the tennis courts, a swarm of zombies gathers around them. So-ju first uses several flares to lure the zombies in another direction, giving the group a moment to escape through the back exit. At the very last second, So-ju closes the gate and bids one final farewell to his daughter. The camera follows On-jo’s gaze, and it’s revealed that So-ju has been bitten on the hand. His fate is sealed. Zombies quickly descend upon him, and the group continues their escape into the surrounding woods. At the very least, his brutal death means survival for our characters.
Cheong-san
The show does an excellent job at positioning Cheong-san as one of our main protagonists. So when his unexpected death happens, it’s easily the season’s most devastating moment. In Episode 11, resident villain Gwi-nam (Yoo In-soo) finally tracks the group to an abandoned construction site and attacks Cheong-san. In their tussle, Gwi-nam bites him. It’s nearly unbelievable at first. True to his character, Cheong-san climbs back into the building to distract the remaining zombies. This gives the group a chance to escape the building.
After being pushed off the scaffolding, Gwi-nam confronts Cheong-san one last time, finally taking his eye as he’d promised. Broken but determined, Cheong-san leads his enemy to a nearby elevator shaft, and just as the final explosion ignites the air, he grabs Gwi-nam. The two tumble down into nothingness, consumed by flames. Cheong-san’s final moment is one of true valor and cements him as one of the greatest TV characters of all time.
Byeong-chan
Biology teacher Byeong-chan (Kim Byung-chul) is ashamed of his son for not sticking up for himself and fighting off school bullies. To infuse his son with courage, he creates the Jonas Virus, but a mutation causes the zombie apocalypse instead. Throughout the series, the show attempts to give Byeong-chan a redemption arc, and it mostly works.
In Episode 4, Byeong-chan is arrested and hauled off to the police station where detective Song Jae-ik (Lee Kyu-hyung) interrogates him and learns the truth. When the station is attacked by zombies, Byeong-chan uses his last moments on Earth to save the day but not before he reveals that his laptop, located at Hyosan High, contains the only known antidote. Once again, it’s a shocking death. The viewer assumes that Byeong-chan will later become a key to saving humanity. As Jae-ik looks on, Byeong-chan transforms into a flesh-hungry corpse. The stakes could not be higher after this moment.
Ms. Park
Ms. Park’s (Lee Sang-hee) downfall is her immense empathy. When Na-yeon’s true nature is exposed, she leaves the broadcasting room with her student. The viewer is led to believe that they both immediately meet their fate, but what happens to them is left open-ended until a series of flashbacks in Episode 8.
After the events of Episode 3, both flee and are soon overcome by zombies. Ms. Park tragically sacrifices herself to give Na-yeon a chance to escape into another classroom. She even imparts some final wise words about humanity as zombies consume her flesh. Ms. Park’s death is horrific because she was a moral compass and a reminder that you don’t have to let the world ruin you. There’s always a chance to forgive and prove one’s worth. But we’ll never fully understand or see what kind of impact her character could have had on the group. Justice for Ms. Park!
Chul-soo
Early on, Chul-soo (Ahn Ji-ho) comforts classmate Eun-ji (Oh Hye-soo) on the rooftop of Hyosan High. Both are victims of Gwi-nam’s bullying and bond over shared trauma. Eun-ji considers jumping to end her pain, but as she teeters on the edge, a swarm of zombies storms the field below. She backs away from the ledge in shock.
Still determined to keep a blackmail video from being uploaded online, Eun-ji decides to venture into the classrooms below to find all cellphones she can and destroy them. She tries to convince Chul-soo to go with her, but he stays behind. In Episode 9, the two meet again at the military base, but it’s not a happy reunion. Eun-ji takes out her resentment on her friend and attacks him in front of the soldiers and other survivors. She is quickly restrained, and Chul-soo dies an agonizing death. Soldiers then open fire on him before he can turn and further spread the infection.
Woo-jin
Woo-jin (Son Sang-yeon) largely plays a supporting role in the story. When he is finally reunited with his older sister, Ha-ri (Ha Seung-ri), it’s a celebratory moment. In the final episode, the group is making their way along the last leg of their journey through the streets of Hyosan. The abandoned neighborhood is eerie and desolate but soon fills with the last remaining zombies in the area.
Ha-ri nearly gets bitten as she bravely fights off a group of walkers. At the last possible second, Woo-jin comes to the rescue and saves his only living relative. However, his actions come at a heavy price. His display of unconditional heroism costs him his life but gives his sister a chance to live another day. In an act of kindness, Nam-ra puts him down. The group goes through many tragedies, but it never gets any easier to see another member fall.
Joon-yeong
In Episode 10, the group is trapped inside a storage room at the back of the gymnasium. The following morning, they debate on how to escape and take a vote to determine the proper way to build a moveable barricade with sports equipment and metal carts. They can either build a mechanism with plenty of height to keep the walkers out or one with a wider girth so they can all move with ease. The vote swings to the former idea.
During their escape, Joon-yeong (Ahn Seung-gyun) gets bitten on the hand. His cries are enough to send chills down your spine. It’s a small mistake, but in the zombie apocalypse, you can never be too careful or too attentive. Joon-yeong goes out in a blaze of glory as he shoves a line of zombies away from his classmates so they can regroup and continue onward to the exit.
Principal
One of the only deaths featuring human-on-human violence involves the school principal (Um Hyo-sup). During Episode 4, Gwi-nam takes refuge in the principal’s office where the principal is taking a breather from the zombie attack. It’s still relatively early in the outbreak, so many characters are oblivious to the brutal reality raging around them. The principal berates Gwi-nam for not wanting to risk his life for a mission to retrieve his car, and the two end up in a physical altercation.
Cheong-san eventually makes his way to the office and sees Gwi-nam kill the principal. He even films the murder on his phone and vows he’ll expose Gwi-nam to the police. With Gwi-nam hot on his heels down, Cheong-san makes his exit down a zombie-infested corridor.
Regardless of the principal’s misguided beliefs, his death is unmistakable proof that human beings can be as monstrous as flesh-eating rotters. Maybe even more so.
