Is it a fake-out or did The Walking Dead really just kill off one of the show’s most endearing characters in such a hum-drum and incredibly upsetting way? That’s the main question left in the wake of “Thank You”, another intense and wildly gory episode of AMC’s ratings juggernaut.
The big moments in The Walking Dead are all about making wider, sweeping statements about humanity and who we become, our decisions, and our relationships in a post-apocalyptic world of walkers and wolves. If the writers really did just kill Glenn Rhee by way of Nicholas shooting himself then they just used one of the ‘Atlanta Five’ (Daryl, Rick, Carl, Carol, Glenn) to further explore the burden presented by the Alexandrians and their lack of preparedness. That, to me, feels like a cheap way to farewell such a beloved character, arguably as part of someone else’s (Nicholas; or the Alexandrians as a whole) story arc.
Let’s get to how it went down though.
“Thank You” picks up where “First Time Again” left off, with Rick, Glenn, Michonne and the others frantically re-adjusting their plan in the wake of that unusually loud, echo-y horn (which we now know was because The Wolves attacked Alexandria, and Spencer derailed a truck). We see just how in-the-moment and adaptable Rick’s group is as our fearless leader takes it upon himself to double back to the RV and help Daryl and Sasha/Abraham reroute the walkers, while convincing Glenn and Michonne to lead the Alexandrians back to safety – but leave them behind if they fall.
Aside from Heath, the Alexandrians that Glenn/Michonne are stuck with are pretty much dead weight, and to further hammer in that situation not one but two end up with leg injuries while another gets his whole back chomped on in a walker attack. The remaining Alexandrian, Nicholas, is unfortunately given some responsibility (a scenario Glenn has rightfully been trying to avoid) as the group stumble across a town that only he is familiar with. The rest stop is “necessary” to re-calibrate and try help distract the gigantic horde from the path of Alexandria (which no one knows is being invaded by The Wolves).
Glenn’s idea of burning one of the buildings to distract the walkers is of the heroic, self-sacrificing direction we have come to expect from the battle-ready ex-pizza boy and it kicks off several little moments of foreshadowing that, in true Walking Dead fashion, beef up the tension and urgency as the episode heads towards a finish; from Hershel’s watch to the brilliant “oh my god, no! That’s it, he’s definitely dying this episode” moment where Glenn calls Rick a “dumbass” on walkie – a callback to the very first episode when Glenn buzzed Rick in the tank.
Michonne has a brilliant scene bringing Heath into reality in a whispered shouting match but as far as the quieter moments in this episode go, there’s not much beyond that. Rick is speeding (boy that guy can RUN) towards the RV and the brunt of his story isn’t picked up until after Glenn’s “death”. We catch up briefly with Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham mostly just because we have to see what’s happening with these characters, and it’s mainly about Daryl questioning Rick’s orders and being willing to risk the lives of Sasha and Abraham because of it. We know that Daryl, unlike Carol or Rick, has been a bit more tender in his approach to Alexandria and really values what the sense of community brings to the group; him thinking about the danger Alexandria is in is enough to throw him off course, and that’s totally fine, but having him abandon Sasha and Abraham even after Sasha says “without you they could stop us” seems a bit out of character for this fiercely loyal survivor.
Thankfully, nothing bad comes to Abraham/Sasha (at least not yet) and they successfully keep leading their portion of the horde until Daryl re-joins them.
What “Thank You” really hinges on is the tension of two separate predicaments, both taking place at the abandoned and unnamed town. Firstly, Michonne has Heath, Scott (played by Sasha/Sonequa Martin‘s real life husband) and “(bitten) Other Guy”, all of whom end up in an extremely close call as a horde comes up behind them and has both Michonne and Other Guy by the leg as they attempt to climb a fence. At the same time, Glenn’s plan goes absolutely nowhere (not a typical hero-death arc) and him and Nicholas end up between two groups of walkers with nothing but a dumpster and a fence to climb on.
We switch impatiently between these two scenes, with two major characters hanging in the balance. As soon as we see that Michonne is okay at the expense of Other Guy there’s at least one big sigh of relief. Though Mr Other Guy has all parts of him absolutely ripped apart while Michonne, Scott, and Heath oddly don’t bother putting him out of his misery; the real tragedy being that Other Guy’s toilet-paper note to his wife got lost in the fray. Could this Other Guy arc have all been some sort of mirror to yet again lead up to the episode’s big and upsetting moment? If Glenn did get torn apart after the walkers were done feasting on Nicholas, he would never have gotten to say goodbye to his wife (a wife who the writers seem to really enjoy torturing).
“Have you ever been covered in so much blood that you didn’t know if it was yours, or walkers’, or your friends’?” – Michonne to Heath.
Could the above quote also be tying into the big moment with Glenn? His “death” is intentionally left ambiguous, with a fall which follows Nicholas and himself climbing on top of a dumpster, only for Nicholas to have a panic attack and shoot himself in the head, his dead body tumbling and taking Glenn with it into the terrifyingly large swarm of walkers. Could all the guts and intestines from Nicholas’ dead body somehow cover Glenn and mask him from the walkers like it did in season 1?
On one hand, it’s a clear-cut situation with a not-so-clear-cut death, and the writers are going to have to jump through logic hoops to have Glenn survive, especially with no bites. On the other hand, those entrails being pulled out by walkers most definitely belong to Nicholas – anyone would see if they watch the clothing carefully. The camera smartly gives us a matter of inches for our denial to work with but all that blood and gore is clearly from the walkers chowing on Nicholas, who seems to be lying horizontally across Glenn. This means that Glenn’s legs are exposed, though they are under all the walkers eager to get a piece of Nicholas; his head is also left out in the open but we see no walkers go for that, in fact we see Glenn’s head is conveniently close to the bottom of the dumpster so all the fan theories (of which there are plenty online right now) of Glenn managing to crawl underneath the dumpster seem at least somewhat plausible.
What isn’t plausible though is how is Glenn going to slide underneath the dumpster without a single walker at least taking a bite of his arms or legs. It’s possible that he survives but he is bitten, giving him enough time to head back to Alexandria where he is able to die to the knowledge of other characters, and most importantly, Maggie. Having such a major character perish with absolutely no one else knowing would be a first for TWD and it would give the writers the tricky and possibly frustrating task of working in some doubt before dealing with the grief.
Either way, The Walking Dead now have a “GoT Season 5 finale” situation on their hands: a whole army of fans (including me) trying to work out ways to convince themselves that Glenn is not dead. It looks like the writers will stretch the mystery out for at least a few episodes as next week we get a stand-alone flashback piece with Morgan and his post-Clear revival; the episode after that will apparently be catching up with the Alexandria group and/or Rick and Daryl.
Now let’s get to those last 15 minutes, which I had to re-watch because there was no way I could pay attention after what happened to Glenn. Rick finally reaches the RV with an arm injury sustained earlier in the episode fighting some walkers (did walker blood get in the wound?). He walkies Daryl to let him know where he is, right before The Wolves bust into the vehicle and try to take Rick out unsuccessfully. Rick does what Morgan should have done and kills all of them, inadvertently attracting a horde to the RV, cuing a very scared, worried look upon Rick’s face – one we haven’t seen since, I think, the first episode. This, most likely, is because Rick found some baby food from Alexandria on one of The Wolves, signalling to him that the town has been invaded and possibly overwhelmed; he also hesitates and ultimately doesn’t let the others know.
Big moments like Glenn’s death, Michonne’s very close encounter, and Rick’s predicament help “Thank You” rise above the confused pacing and excessive foreshadowing but it doesn’t place it ahead of the season’s first two, very excellent episodes. “Thank You” is still a very, very strong story though, and one which continues the quality we’ve seen from Season 6 so far.
Review Score: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Highlights
- Michonne schools Heath
- References to the very first episode
- (If Glenn is alive) Nicholas sacrificing himself for Glenn
- Walkers were more terrifying than they have been in a long time
Lowlights
- (If Glenn is dead) Nicholas pretty much killing Glenn
- A bit too much foreshadowing
- Daryl leaving Sasha and Abraham
- Glenn’s plan going nowhere
Stray Thoughts
- That Scott guy really wanted to die a hero. He asked to be left behind on more than one occasion. Ironically, he is the only relatively useless Alexandrian to survive.
- Rick was going to say something into that walkie but hesitated, adding to the online theory that he was bitten (or infected somehow) and perhaps he’ll be losing an arm sometime soon. But most likely this was him not having the heart to tell anyone else about Alexandria
- Again, Glenn dying as part of someone else’s arc is not the way to go. The writers killed off Noah to kick start this dynamic between Glenn and Nicholas. Surely, Glenn is more than just a statement to reiterate the dynamic between the Alexandria group and Rick’s group.
Episode MVP: Michonne, but if Glenn is alive, then Nicholas.
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