Glenn, NOOOO!!!

OMG. MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT!!! (Seriously, if you did not watch October 25th’s episode yet, read no further!)

Last week’s episode of The Walking Dead was entitled “Thank You”; and the irony is that I, like millions of other TWD fans have Scott M. Gimple to thank for the major cardiac event brought on by Glenn’s apparent, heart-wrenching demise.

And like millions of other TWD fans, I looked to host of The Talking Dead Chris Hardwick for consolation after such a harrowing experience of possibly witnessing the disenbowelment of one of the most disarming and honorable characters since Season One.

I mean, it’s been SIX YEARS we’ve known Glenn Rhee, right? He’s FAMILY, for crying out loud!! (And that’s what I was doing, by the way. CRYING OUT LOUD. Shrieking his name and “NOOOOOoooo!!” in horror and disbelief).

 But as I was watching The Talking Dead, I gradually realized A) Steve Yuen was not a guest– as many actors whose characters have met a gruesome end always end up on the couch after the episode– and B) oddly and mysteriously enough, Glenn’s horrific end was absent from the “In memoriam” segment of the show.

…So, still traumatized and in shock, I began to think. And think. And THINK…

GLENN IS NOT DEAD.

Oh, I know what you’re saying. “You’re in denial. You just can’t come to grips with one of the main characters being killed off in such an unnecessary and ridiculous way.”

Am I dismayed at the fact that it was the cowardly act of Nicholas shooting himself in the head, only to have his lifeless body fall on Glenn and they both ended up butt first in a Walker “Mosh Pit of Death”? Absolutely. Especially after Glenn had went out of his way to spare Nicholas’ life, and to give a chance to show that he could actually be an Alexandrian with testicular fortitude.

Would I have preferred if Glenn died an epic heroic death like saving orphans from a burning building? Well, no, not really. He would still die. And his character– though he’s experienced trauma and death and destruction, is still as grounded and sensible and sensitive as humanly possible, in light of the whole “zombie apocalypse” thing.

I just don’t want to think that someone who is as inherently decent as Glenn can be gone. And i know what you’re thinking. That it’s naive to have “the feels” in this harsh world, and that it was Glenn’s downfall to be decent and not cold-hearted. If he were more like Rick’s arc right now, he would have let Nicholas’ weakness be on Nicholas, and not suffered such a horrible end.

But let’s get back to Chris Hardwick for a second. Was it me, or did he look just as gutted as we all felt when the camera faded in from black at the beginning of last week’s Talking Dead? The same look of “Holy Crap, did that really just happen?”

And obviously the fan outcry had reached such a feverish pitch that showrunner Scott Gimple himself released an ambiguous-at-best statement regarding the status of Glenn:

Dear fans of The Walking Dead, this is a hard story to tell, and when we were planning to tell it, we knew our friends over at Talking Dead would be talking to you about it, and knowing you’d talking and feeling and commiserating, I knew we should say something about it, lest our silence say something we didn’t mean to say or not say so I will say this. In some way, we will see Glenn, some version of Glenn or parts of Glenn again, either in flashback, or current story, to help complete the story.

 PARTS OF GLENN?!?!

Perish the thought!!! I mean, the statement made me cringe. Then wince, then flinch. Then weep uncontrollably. It’s taken this whole week to rationalize the statement. To get to that level of acceptance.

But I can’t help but have hope.

I’m hoping Glenn is still alive. Hope is a good thing to have, right?