***SPOILER ALERT!!
Glenn’s Alive! Glenn’s Alive! What a relief that Glenn’s a live!
Sunday night on AMC’s The Walking Dead we learned that the beloved character of Glenn Rhee CONTINUES to be among the living…at least for now. So many fans have been speculating about his fate since the end of Season 6, Episode 3: Thank You, when Nicholas puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger.
The last time we see Glenn on the screen he is falling into a sea of walkers as he attempts to grab the falling body of Nicholas. In his “final moments” of screen time he is screaming and covered in blood. Walkers are all around him and they are tearing away flesh and consuming a body. Most assumed that Nicholas, in his ever cowardice, was taking Glenn along with him to his not so dirt nap.
BUT, Glenn’s alive! Glenn’s Alive!
What a relief for fans when the episode began. We see a different camera angle and now know they Glenn’s body was not the one being consumed. It was Nicholas all along and who cares? Glenn, obviously in shock, is screaming in horror at what he is enduring. He has a front row seat to the buffet that was Nicholas.
As Glenn shimmies away from the feast to find refuge under the dumpster he is fighting for his life. He had to kill a few walkers while he was at it. He takes them out and uses their dead bodies to shield his “living” scent. It is not unlike how Michonne used her chained walker ex-lover and his BFF walker buddy to mask her scent as she moved through countryside among the walker herds.
The sight of Steven Yeun’s face Sunday evening was more welcomed than the death of Andrea at the end of Season 4. He [Yeun] even thanked all the fans for their support and dedication to his character and the show in a taped message after the episode. Cheers and many a’ YAAAAASSSSS were uttered around the globe – Yvette Nicole Brown must have done a celebratory dance. If you have ever watched The Talking Dead you have and idea of how much she loves the series and Glenn.
But, we knew it! We just knew that Glenn HAD to be alive. What good reason would they have to kill him off and in such a lack luster fashion? When, NOT IF – sorry folks, read the dang comic – Glenn dies, it should be in a grand fashion full of the bravery and self-sacrifice that we know he is capable. Glenn should die putting his life on the line for his loved ones.
And we definitely see that hero/selfless side of him throughout the episode. Glenn doesn’t leave people behind if he can help it. When Enid throws down a bottle of water to him after he escapes the herd, she bolts and he goes after her in true Glenn fashion. No matter how awful his day was or how much pain he’s in, he’s was not going to leave a child out in the “wild” alone. She is part of his community and he was intent on keeping her as such.
Now, let’s discuss Enid and what a pain in the buttocks this kid can be. While it is understandable that she does not want to form new attachments for fear that they may be snatched away from her – that is the world that they all presently exist within – but she has to realize that there is safety in numbers. Something she also does not seem to take into consideration is that Rick’s people are not like the Alexandrians. They have spent most the apocalypse in the thick of things. The cushy life that the people of Alexandria have lived is a holiday from the Dead for the core group and they are/will take full advantage of it while it lasts.
When she pulled the gun on Glenn it was evident that although she plays at being mature, she has a long way to go. In a lot of ways she has had to grow up really fast, but no matter what goes in a person’s life, emotional development is a lived and learned experience that we all must have. Enid is petulant child a times and a mature, clever survivor at others.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, Kur-rul (Carl) and Rick teach Ron how to shoot. Ron and Carl continue to have the back and forth tension brought on by their feelings for Enid. It’s a pissing contest to see which one of them can be the bigger douche. Ron goes so far as to steal bullets from the pantry/armory so that he can shoot Kur-rul and eliminate his competition and nemesis. What’s a zombie apocalypse without some teenage love triangle drama and murder?
Michonne, Rick, and Carol had an intense conversation with Morgan. Rick recounts how he encountered Wolves while on his mission to lead the walkers away. They were armed and tried to kill him. He [Morgan] is asked specifically he is able to do what needs to be done – to kill those that threaten their safety and community. He tells them he does not know point-blank. Carol continues NOT to trust Morgan – as well she should – and she suspects that he is hiding something. When she sees him leading the doctor off to places unknown, she ditches Judith with the hairdresser and follows him. Carol is a watcher. She pays attention, listens, and uses her ability to blend in to help her people. It doesn’t hurt that she a pretty dang good shot!
With the announcement to Gabriel that she is pregnant, we see Maggie, who usually gives up hope fairly quickly, find it within herself to hope – if not for herself than for her baby. It was good to see her standing watch for Glenn. Her father Hershel was a man of faith, but you rarely see any of that within Maggie. Her coping mechanism clicks in and realism in the name of the game. If you haven’t seen someone is day or so they are probably dead and there is not point in dwelling on it. But she hopes that Glenn is alive.
Enid and Glenn arrive back at Alexandria and see that it is surrounded by walkers. When Enid sees all the dead and tries to bolt again didn’t you just think, “LET HER GO?!” That girl seems to be more trouble than she is worth and she is almost certain to get people killed trying to save her. But alas, Maggie gets her answer about Glenn’s fate in the form of several green balloons floating up into the air from the direction that her husband would come. Glenn is alive.
Spencer’s attempt to “help” the community by going over the wall to retrieve a car in order to draw the walkers away was half-cocked. He was really trying to prove that he is not a coward and the he can be a useful asset to the Alexandria. His intentions were good, and Rick realizes that, but putting the community in danger in order to be a hero was just plain stupid. Grimes was right when he ordered Spencer to run his ideas by him first. You know the old adage: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
What none of the Alexandria inhabitants realized in all of the chaos, is that Spencer’s actions, however well-intended, further weakened the leaning tower of Pisa that was the watchtower. But with the Spencer matter settled, Tobin and Rick have shored up the wall, green balloon float into the air, a sign that Glenn is in the world of the living, it seems as if things are calming down for a second. And then the tower falls onto the wall and it comes tumbling down.
This coming week’s winter finale is going to be a doozy! Everyone will be on the edge of their seats.
