Is Glenn Dead or Alive?

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The Walking Dead is series that proves to be a lot more than just another “gory zombie show”, addressing moral dilemmas and putting characters in hard situations during an apocalypse.  Although zombies are a major factor in the show, the main concept involves human interaction.  Like most series, the viewer gets attached to the characters, putting themselves in the same situations and developing a deep connection with that person.

It is for this reason that death of its characters hurts its viewers even more.  The Walking Dead is an equal opportunity killer.  Each character, vital or insignificant, long-reigning or episode special, is vulnerable and at any moment and can be killed off in the most gruesome fashion.

Last Sunday’s episode was a direct example of this when one of the most beloved characters appeared to have been eaten alive.  Glenn Reeves became seen as the younger brother you watched grow throughout the series.  Once a simple pizza boy, Glenn evolved over the six season period into a leader everyone admired.  He was a character that represented true moral goodness, being the only person to never kill another human being.  He looked at each new encounter with a positive outlook and saw good qualities in each person, giving second chances when others couldn’t.

It is for this reason that many, despite the opposing odds, hold on to the single hope that Glenn is still alive.  Many different theories have been formulated but I have narrowed down the three most commonly stated as to how Glenn survived the massacre.

In the episode, “Thank You”, Glenn is last seen trapped on top of a dumpster with Nicolas surrounded on all sides by hundreds of walkers.  Nicolas is a character known for being a coward and has killed off many of innocent characters through his acts along with attacking Glenn in previous episodes.  Fitting his personality, Nicolas takes the coward’s way out when put in this situation by shooting himself in the head and accidentally pulling Glenn down into the massive herd of zombies.  It looks like all is over for our hero but this is where the survival theories appear.

The first theory is that Glenn survived by the human shield method.  The Walking Dead loves to trick its viewers and play with their emotions and vision, allowing for scenes to remain inconspicuous and unclear as to the final result.  After repaying the clip, it is clear that Glenn is pinned on the ground and walkers are tearing away at guts, but whose guts do they belong to? 

From the angle of the shot, it is a possibility that Nicolas could have fallen on Glenn and acted as a human shield, allowing the zombies to eat Nicolas and not Glenn.  Another point to this theory is that the clip displays walkers eating what seemed to be intestines and due to the angle of the scene, appear to be coming from below Glenn’s neck which doesn’t contain abdominal organs.  It is possible that the walkers could be eating Nicolas, covering Glenn in blood and guts and allowing him to sneak out of the mass unscathed.

The second possible theory for Glenn’s survival is that he receives a completely different death in the comic books that the show follows.  The Walking Dead is based on the comic series in which for a majority of the plot, the story has remained the same.  Yet, that’s not entirely true.  The show has changed major events and taken different routes, creating characters that may not have existed in the comics and killing others off at different times in different fashions.

Watch a clip of the dumpster scene here.

But Glenn’s character in the comic for the most part has been very similar.   This led many fans to assume he would die by the hands of Negan, a future villain, similar to the comics displaying the unsteadiness of the world and evil qualities of this villain.  Although, the writers are known for shaking things up and they may still have a different plan even though many feel it was an unsuitable death for such an important character.

The third theory involves the after show “Talking Dead” which involves a live talk show where topics of the new episodes are discussed and cast members are brought in.  Usually when characters meet their demise they are brought on the after show to discuss their views and inform the audience of the situation at hand from a cast member’s point of view.  Yet, Glen or Steven Yeun was not brought on the show after last Sunday’s episode.

Also later in the episode Glenn was not mentioned in the “In Memoriam” montage which displays the deaths that occurred that episode.  This led many to point out the fact that they never truly showed Glenn dying.  The scene cut out before one could fully determine his fate and once again the writers have left their audience on a cliffhanger, giving only the information that we will see Glenn or some part of him again.

It is obvious that once again The Walking Dead has left their audience in shock and anticipation.  The show thrives off the eagerness and curiosity of their fans and it is these shocking moments that makes The Walking Dead a great series.  Their ability to captivate an audience is remarkable and moments even as sad as Glenn’s possible death keeps the show interesting.  Although the future of Glenn remains unknown, one thing is for certain, everyone will be tuning in to see what happens next.