A Definitive For And Against: Is THAT CHARACTER Really Done For On ‘The Walking Dead’?

Spoilers spoilers spoilers, oh my god there are so many spoilers.

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Just like Game of Thrones, Grey’s Anatomy, and apparently every other show we watch, The Walking Dead loves killing its main characters. It has them die in childbirth. It decapitates them in front of their kids. It literally executes children, and makes you agree with the justification to do so.

This has led to some criticism over the past five years. Despite audiences largely sticking with it — it’s now the most watched cable show of all time — the last couple of seasons especially have been panned by critics as “misery porn”. The crew run through the same purposeless storylines ad nauseum and each character inevitably transforms from “broody” to “slightly more broody”, then they die.

Three episodes into the latest season, we now have a good argument against this: the main cast are in an interesting new location that’s providing fresh perspective on their journey and they’re being faced with relatively new moral dilemmas. On top of this, the usually-dreary temporality is being maneuvered in different ways, with the entire season taking place over the course of one (epic) day.

People are still dying — duh, it’s the zombie apocalypse — but it seems to be happening with relative purpose. They’re fighting for something. They’re helping someone. They’re doing something.

Or, that’s what it seemed like until now. On last night’s episode, fan favourite Glenn ran into a blocked alley with newbie/noted shit bloke Nicholas and unceremoniously toppled into a sea of walkers next to a random dumpster.

Did he actually die? There are two sides to that argument (and they’re both fucking angry):

How I feel about tonight's episode #WalkingDead ??? pic.twitter.com/nb9W4Rb7FL

— CHRISTOPHER (@Chrisybrownlie) October 26, 2015

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FOR:

The case for this being Glenn’s last scene is all played out on screen.

Already, this season looks to be all about the correlation between empathy and strength. Is it still possible to help others? Does it weaken you? Is it worth it? Emapthy may be the difference between “good people” and “bad people”, but it’s also looking increasingly unfeasible: a point which has been neatly rendered through the relationship between Glenn and Nicholas. 

Nicholas was proven to be fairly useless. He betrayed Glenn and Noah after being saved. He tried to kill Glenn after being given a second chance. Then, he led Glenn into peril after being shown mercy. If the show’s really asking for the worth of humanity in their new world, this one shot is surely its definitive answer:

If that argument about conceptual resolution and impactful tragedy didn’t convince you, here’s a slightly simpler one:

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AGAINST:

As bleak as all that looks, Glenn truthers are clinging to hope with other shots from the scene. In particular: this one that shows Glenn falling beneath Nicholas.

With the whole “final death scene” shot with a deliberately tight frame, many are mounting the argument that the walkers were feasting on Nicholas instead of Glenn. The intestines came from just below his neck. There was no blood coming out of his mouth suggesting internal injuries. If Glenn gets covered in blood and the scent of walkers, it’s nearly feasible he could sneak under the dumpster and eventually to freedom.

However, this is all enforced by a bit more news from outside the show. For starters: Steven Yeun, the actor who plays Glenn, did not appear on this week’s edition of The Talking Dead. Though it’s become tradition for deceased characters to feature on the chat show straight after their final episode, Yeun was mysteriously absent; as was his name from the ‘In Memoriam’ segment:

After this slide, the show featured an obscure statement from showrunner Scott Gimple claiming “in some way, we will see Glenn again”. “We will see Glenn, some version of Glenn, or parts of Glenn again, either in flashback or in the current story, to help complete the story,” he said, answering exactly nothing.

From here, people have rounded up all sorts of small potential evidence that make a fairly convincing whole:

— Speaking to Entertainment Tonight earlier this year, Lauren Cohan (who plays Glenn’s wife Maggie) seemed to suggest there was more action for the couple in the upcoming season.

— The Hollywood Reporter have confirmed Steven Yeun’s re-upped his contract.

— Fans of the original comic note Glenn had a much more memorable and affecting fate ahead of him. (Potential spoilers in that link!)

— Entertainment Tonight  have snapped a picture of Yeun on set alongside a brand new character. He’s not a zombie; he appears to have all his limbs; and it’s hard to believe it’s a flashback either.

— Now, in an interview with Variety, show producer David Alpert has measured out the intense fan reaction with a very diplomatic yet somewhat revealing statement. “Whether or not Glenn is alive or dead or something else — the Glenn that we knew, the one that believed in the better side of humanity, I think is dead.”

Let’s be real: that sounds exactly like what you’d say when the character’s not dead at all.

Here’s the full footage for you to dissect until next week. At least we’ll learn Glenn’s fate before Jon Snow’s.