If you haven’t seen the latest episode of The Walking Dead, this is your spoiler alert … for complete and utter emotional devastation.
Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun), the original pizza delivery man of the zombie apocalypse and our most favorite fictional TV boyfriend, met with what appeared to be his end on “Thank You”… unless that was somebody else’s freshly liberated intestines being eaten by zombies during the episode’s ghastly climax, which, frankly, doesn’t seem likely. (Watch the video above but warning: Graphic, spoiler-tastic content!)
It was horrible and heartbreaking, and yes, all the gory details will be here in this recap. But first, a brief rundown of everything else that went down in zombieland this week.
The Parade Goes On
Despite an alarm literally sounding from the direction of Alexandria (which we now know was heralding the arrival of the big bad Wolves in the survivors’ safe haven), Rick (Andrew Lincoln) made a cold-blooded call: He, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) would stay the course and keep steering the megaherd of zombies westward, away from their home. Of course, that still left half the horde ambling toward Alexandria — and a group of survivors led by Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Glenn to beat them back to the gates.
You’re Gonna Need Some Salve for That Bite… and That Burn
Before Michonne and company started off through the woods, Rick pulled her aside for some real talk: “Some of them aren’t gonna make it,” he said, and yep, that’s certainly true!
In fact, the one man who questioned Rick’s authority got nommed by a walker within seconds, because when you doubt the Ricktator, you die, sir. And the rest of the group didn’t fare much better: If they weren’t getting bitten by zombies, they were shooting themselves in the leg or abandoning the group and fleeing through the woods like cowards.
Injured and with their ranks greatly depleted, the group arrived in a mildly zombie-infested town about 30 minutes ahead of the zombies, where they holed up in a pet store to tend wounds and regroup. (They also found their runaway coward, who had met up with a few new friends for dinner. Ahem. AHEM.)
While Glenn came up with a plan to distract the walkers by burning a building down, Michonne got into a heated discussion with Heath (Corey Hawkins), who, like, many Alexandrites, takes issue with Rick’s pragmatic approach to survival.
“Have you ever done things that made you afraid of yourself afterward?” she snapped. “Have you ever been covered in so much blood that you didn’t know if it was yours, a walker’s, or your friend’s?”
Heath didn’t answer, but based on the look on his face, we’re going to tentatively declare that no, he had not — and relatedly, ooooh, burn. Let this be a lesson to anyone else who thinks they can out-badass Michonne. It cannot be done.
Rick Goes RVing
Meanwhile, Rick took off at a sprint to retrieve the group’s beloved RV, sustaining a bloody hand injury in the process. Unfortunately, his primo parking spot in the middle of the road put him in plain sight of the terrible Wolves, who thought they might succeed at invading a Winnebago where they’d failed to take Alexandria.
Nope, they botched that one, too. And now they’re all dead, thanks to Rick’s handiwork with a semiautomatic assault rifle. However, Rick might have done irreparable damage to the RV in the process, because last we saw, it wouldn’t start, and the coughing of the engine had drawn an awful lot of zombies to come investigate.
And Yes, the Worst Thing That Could Possibly Happen Has Happened
With Glenn and Nicholas off on their mini-mission to set a walker-distracting fire, Michonne and the remaining survivors sat tight in the pet store — until they couldn’t, thanks to a pair of surprise zombies hidden in the back storeroom. With the arriving herd drawn to the noise, they had no choice: It was run or die.
And for some, it turned out to be both. Not just because a couple more Alexandrites met their end as Michonne and Co. fled, but because Glenn and Nicholas found themselves facing down multiple hordes of zombies coming from multiple directions. Glenn let Nicholas lead the way, and that was a mistake.
Glenn also let Nicholas have a gun, and this, too, was a mistake.
The two men ended up in a dead-end alley, and with zombies approaching from all sides, they took the last refuge they could: on top of a Dumpster, just out of reach of the massive, gnashing horde. And as the dead pawed and clawed and slobbered at them, Nicholas turned and gazed at Glenn with a sort of psychotic clarity.
“Thank you,” he said, and then shot himself in the head.
And because Nicholas is literally the worst person ever, even in death, his falling body knocked Glenn to the ground, where they both were immediately set upon by zombies. And it certainly looked like Glenn was screaming in agony while zombies ate his innards. We saw the screaming. We saw the innards. It was horrible, and nothing will ever be okay.
Except for this: Steven Yeun was not on The Talking Dead couch after the credits rolled. So maybe, just maybe, there’s still hope.
Tell Us: Do you think Glenn survived?
