The Walking Dead: It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

By all appearances (And, by now, I imagine just about everyone has seen it), on Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead, “Thank You”, Glenn, the fourth major character we EVER saw in the series, DIED. This picture above was the last thing we saw of him, in horror and agony as guts are pulled and feasted on by a horde of walkers. In an end more horrific than even Noah’s (Which, by this point, could be argued as the worst death in the series), we watched as the Atlanta five got dwindled down to four.

…Or did we?

Now, I’m not suggesting something absurd like saying that what we saw was a hallucination, or that the whole sequence of Nicholas committing suicide and Glenn accidentally dragging himself down trying to catch him was some sort of horrific vision Nicholas had, no, what I’m suggesting is that what we saw is NOT what we saw, but what we thought we saw. Confused? Don’t worry, I’ll explain; by the time we finish here, I think you’ll see that Glenn gets to live for (At least) another episode, and, in the process, may provide one of the single most intense scenes in the entire series as he desperately attempts to escape and ensure Nicholas’ sacrifice was not in vain.

“If you haven’t seen (a character) die, you can’t assume they’re dead.”

While the idea of Glenn surviving what looks like certain DOOM may seem unfeasible at first, I think we got a great bit of advice on how to approach this: On the Fear The Walking Dead Talking Dead (Henceforth I shall refer to it as “Fear The Talking Dead”) special, showrunner Dave Erickson gave us his philosophy on character deaths: “If you haven’t seen (a character) die, you can’t assume they’re dead.”

Judith’s car seat, The Walking Dead — AMC /

Frankly, this is not the first time we’ve seen a character thought to be dead only to return very much alive. In season 3, we watched as Rick locked Andrew outside of the prison in the company of a gang of several walkers only to return two episodes later and wreak havoc, which in turn led us to our second instance of a character apparently dying: Carol.

Despite T-Dog’s sacrifice, by all appearances, Carol gets trapped in the tombs, with several walkers on her heels, and isn’t discovered in the tombs until two episodes later. And, of course, let’s not forget Judith and the bloody car seat. In all of those instances (And a couple more), while we were led to believe a character was dead, we didn’t actually see them die.

Which brings us to Glenn. When we last saw Glenn, he was vainly attempting to catch a falling Nicholas’ body to prevent it from falling into the herd surrounding them, only to be dragged down to the ground as Nicholas fell on top of him. Then we see Glenn look on in horror as he watches guts ripped out and consumed before his eyes.

The camera pans back, revealing the herd swarming over where Glenn and Nicholas fell (In the process, looking eerily similar to the walkers swarming over the tank from “Days Gone Bye”. In the chaos, Michonne, Heath, and Scott are forced to flee (Losing Annie and David in the process). Rick, stopping the RV, attempts to radio Glenn, but only receives static. Things look bleak.

…But, let’s examine this a little more closely: While at first glance, it appears to be Glenn’s own guts he’s watching being eaten, when you look again, you realize that the camera is angled in such a way so that you DON’T KNOW whose guts he’s actually seeing, considering that Nicholas did fall on top of him, for all we know, it could be Nicholas’ guts we’re seeing and Glenn is reacting to seeing another person be ripped apart in front of him and knowing he’s almost certainly next.

The walkers swarming where they fell conveniently also obscures what may or may not be happening to Glenn, as he obviously can’t be seen beneath them. As for the radio, would you answer in Glenn’s situation? Although, if Rick keeps trying to reach Glenn, he might just be able to use it to distract the herd, hmm…

Glenn Rhee, The Walking Dead — AMC /

Don’t lose hope. I have a feeling we haven’t seen the last of Glenn yet. While we all know that our favorites will all die (Even Daryl and Carol) eventually (It is a zombie apocalypse, after all), I don’t think Glenn’s time has come just yet. Rest assured, should he still be alive, his escape will be harrowing and intense, assuming he even escapes at all, but, I have the oddest feeling we haven’t heard him call Rick a “dumbass” for the last time. Not just yet.

If you enjoyed this, maybe you should check some of my other articles, and, if you really enjoyed this, why not check out my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can also find it on Kindle here, and iTunes here!

Next: Top 15 Reader-Chosen Dramatic Moments from Season 5

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The Walking Dead: It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

By Liam O'Leary | Oct 27, 2015

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