Was the joke that bad?
Glenn had cheated the reaper.
Poorly.The Walking Deadcheated its audience.
Credit: Ben Leuner/AMC
Messing with us justreallypisses us off.
Now: Do we storm the fallen gates and rage away?
Or do we forgive and see ifThe Walking Deadcan justify this strange play?
Choke onthatcliffhanger, AMC.
Lets break down GlennsDeus Ex Dumpsterescape, beginning with the setup in Thank You four weeks back.
Walkers had cornered Glenn and Nicholas (Michael Traynor), a bumbler panting after redemption.
Alas, fear, the mind-killer, got the best of Nicholas.
He blew his little lizard brain out and toppled into a mob of zombies.
Ever the albatross, he dragged Glenn down with him.
Operatic tragedy unfolded, with a dash of necro-erotica.
Maudlin score over silent, ecstatic scream-weeping.
But the shots were framed in such a way that we couldnt detect the source of the spew.
Were the zombies eating on Glenn or Nicholas?
A crowding mass of gnashing teeth, lining up to take their bites.
This was how the show was going to put an end to Glenn?
With a rapacious negation of meaning?
The young man who helped Rick escape that jam: Glenn.
That mirroring shouldve been our first clue that Glenn wasnt dead.
The guts did indeed belong to Nicholas, Glenns ironic sacrificial steed.
He remained easily accessible to the revenants clawing and grabbing at him.
None of this passed the eye test.
It also defied or confused our expectations of the shows zombies.
I dont understand why they wouldnt have kept after Glenn or stubbornly waited on him to emerge.
Guess these particular zombies dont dumpster dive.
That sure is some dumb luck.
Bottom line: Glenn should be dead.
And by incredible I mean Humbug!
that perhaps only Negan could find fun or funny.
(More on this, later.)
Perhaps the biggest miscalculationThe Walking Deadmade with this cliffhanger was choosing to be a cliffhanger at all.
Wed be talking about Glenns pluck, and we could appreciate better the truth it represents.
Sometimes, everything that can go wrongdoesntgo wrong.
And sometimes, Glenns dont get eaten.
*Loose ends make my ass itch, Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) said in Always Accountable.
We know the feeling.
The four episodes since Thank You have fragmented the narrative and bogged the season down with post-Thank You clean-up.
And there have been a handful of powerful, resonant images and moments over the past couple weeks.
This, just a few days after the terrorist attacks on Paris left us shaken and furious.
Thank you, Abraham, for the catharsis.
Splashy, risky plays arent uncommon this time of year.
Historically, November is a sweeps month.
I like getting my buttons pushed as much as the next guy.
But can we do it more artfully?
Outrageousness, fake death, Pepsi the chase for OMG!
is a race to the bottom.
The is how Cookie will crumble, people.
The Walking Deadhas been on the leading edge of big saga TV and show-audience interactivity.
Glennbiguity was a mistake.
The good news is that it doesnt have to be a fatal one.
They watch it for the great escape.
This one just wasnt great.
than Glenns ludicrous dumpster dodge I can see someone responding to this fail by saying: No more.
Im not advising that.
Its reasonable to expect that the show will learn from the blunder.
So why risk it at all?
Actually, I have a theory about that.
It involves the comics, soSPOILER WARNING.
The Walking Deadis quickly approaching a critical juncture in its loose adaptation of Robert Kirkmans comics.
This time next year, one of those two scenarios will be true, regardless of the intent now.
So Glennbiguity has injectedThe Walking Deadwith uncertainty.
Another benefit: a different conversation.
Its interesting that Glennbiguity transpired as Negans casting was announced.
Not that they handled the Glenn business all that well.
But When will we know if Glenn is really dead?
is a very different question and more preferable public relations challenge than the alternative.
Theres no avoiding it now.
The first half-season is almost over.
The second half-season needs promotion.
Countdown to Negan is surely the marketing hook.
This baddie talks crudely and carries a big barbed stick named Lucille.
You dont want to be hit over the head with it.
But perhaps, in a way, you already have.
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