AMC’s The Walking Dead season six continues with episode seven which, finally, answers the question every Walking Dead fan has been asking: What happened to Glenn (played by Steven Yeun). Glenn’s become a fan favorite and the show’s left him trapped among swarming zombies after Nicholas (Michael Traynor) shot himself and fell off a trash bin, taking Glenn with him. That scene took place back in episode three and, after weeks of speculation, episode seven fills in the events that occurred after Glenn fell into the zombie pile.

Full Recap of The Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 7:

YES! Glenn IS alive and this episode begins with Nicholas’ dead body falling on top of Glenn. As the hungry zombies begin eating Nicholas’ lifeless body, Glenn pulls himself under the dumpster. When two walkers try to come in after him, he uses his knife to stab them in the head and uses their now motionless corpses to help barricade himself in from the other zombies. Time passes and the walkers wander off and finally Glenn pulls himself out from under the dumpster and is thrown a bottle of water by Enid (Katelyn Nacon) who’s on a roof top. Glenn goes after Enid, trying to find out why she’s outside the walls of Alexandria and what happened to the town. He asks her what the loud horn sound was and she replies from a hiding place off in the distance, “What always happens people die.” She runs off and Glenn pursues her, asking about Maggie.

Back at Alexandria, Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Carol (Melissa McBride), and Michonne (Danai Gurira) have a meeting with Morgan (Lennie James) about how he let some of the Wolves leave Alexandria alive and how the same Wolves almost killed Rick when he was in the RV trying to lead the herd of walkers away. “Do you really think you can survive in this world without getting your hands bloody?” asks Rick. Morgan tries to explain to them about how he met a man and learned that all life is important and people can change. It’s that ideology that brought him back from the brink.

Glenn catches up with Enid and, after disarming her, convinces her to lead the way back to Alexandria. He does this in part by telling her how a part of the walker herd i headed toward the town and that they need to get back to find out what happened.

Back in Alexandria, Rick and Carl (Chandler Riggs) are training Ron on how to shoot which is a mistake considering that later in the episode Ron raids the armory and steals bullets to load into the empty gun Rick gave him. It’s obvious he’s planning to shoot both Carl and Rick. Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) is busy drawing up plans to expand the town which she eventually shares with Rick and Michonne. Morgan seeks out Dr. Denise’s help to treat the injured Wolf that he has locked in an abandoned house. His behavior catches Carol’s attention and she follows Morgan and the doc to see who he has locked in there.

While on the road heading home, Glenn and Enid gather some green balloons that were originally being used during the walker cattle drive and fill them with helium. Glenn tries to connect with Enid by telling her it’s okay to be scared and he brings up her dead parents. She tells him to stop and that they don’t have to talk. The way she says it is more like a request so she can hold it together.

Deanna’s son Spencer (Austin Nichols) decides he’s going to try to lead the walkers away from the town and uses a grappling hook with rope to try to cross over the heads of a group of walkers. The rope slips and Spencer ends up dangling over the horde of zombies. Tara (Alanna Masterson) puts herself in danger and hangs over the side of the wall, shooting the walkers closest to Spencer in the head while Rick, Morgan, and Tobin (Jason Douglas) grab the rope and pull Spencer up to safety. Rick yells at Tara for risking her life for him to which she responds by giving him the finger. Rick scolds Spencer for doing something so stupid.

Glenn and Enid finally reach the outskirts of Alexandria only to see the walls surrounded by walkers. Enid starts to leave but Glenn stops her. She says to Glenn, “The world is dying. We have to let it.” Glenn replies “No. You’re wrong.” Glenn goes on to say that he won’t let anything happen to her and that the walls are still standing so they need to find out who inside is okay.

Inside the walls, Deanna thanks Rick for saving her son right after Rick apologizes for yelling at Tara who accepts his apology and says, “We’re stuck with each other, right?” reminding Rick that everyone in Alexandria matters, which is a running theme in this episode if not this season. Maggie, who has been keeping an almost uninterrupted look out for Glenn, sees the green balloons floating in the air and knows it’s a signal from Glenn. Overjoyed to know he’s still alive, Maggie comes down from her perch and starts running toward the gates where Rick is. She tells him it’s from Glenn and Rick smiles and nods yes in agreement when just then disaster strikes and the church tower, which has been slowly bending and breaking due to the pressure applied from the walkers outside, leans over and comes crashing down onto the wall that Rick and Tobin had spent half the day reinforcing. The crash creates a huge whole in the fence around Alexandria.

The Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 7 Review:

Without a doubt the most uplifting episode of season six of the AMC horror drama, episode 7 titled “Heads up” finally revealed to the audience that YES, Glenn is Alive! The reveal was not that surprising given the way episode three was shot with a weird angle so the viewers couldn’t really make out if it was Glenn or Nicholas the walkers were eating.

The stand-out performance once again goes to Steven Yeun as Glenn, the tougher than he even knows, smart, and resourceful young man who quickly pulled himself under the dumpster and killed two walkers trying to get at him so as to barricade himself away from the mob of zombies. The scene where Glenn finally pulls himself out from under the dumpster after the walkers have left (which seems to be about a day later) is without a doubt the biggest crowd-pleasing moment for fans of this show – including this critic – since the series started. The way Yeun grabs at the small bottle of water and struggles to get the few remaining drops of water out is extremely effective, demonstrating again his will and strength to survive in this insane zombie-filled world. The scenes between Glenn and Enid as he tries to get her to tell him what happened at Alexandria and tries to get her to go back with him are also the best of the episode, showing how much Glenn’s character has grown and how he is now a true leader, perhaps even a better one than Rick.

The rest of the episode back at Alexandria with all the talking, arguing, training, planning, and sneaking around with almost everyone having their own personnel agenda is rather boring. HELLO…there is a growing army of hungry zombies right outside the walls to this little town constantly trying to get in! Maybe instead of all the pointless chit-chat, Rick, Morgan, Michonne and the rest of the residents could deal with the eminent threat.

The church tower has collapsed, crashing onto the wall making a huge opening which prompts the question: what do the writers and creators of this show have against religion?! It seems like anytime a religious symbol or building is around or being used it eventually ends up being destructive to the group. Now Rick, Maggie, Tara, Michonne, and the rest of the townspeople are going to be fighting and running from all those walkers who’ve finally gained access into Alexandria.

On a personal note, this critic and fan of The Walking Dead since it began is of course extremely happy to discover that Glenn – this critic’s second favorite character – is alive and how refreshing it is to see in this apocalyptic, zombie-riddled world that sometimes the good, decent guy can make it. Welcome back, Glenn. Now go help save Alexandria and hug Maggie.

GRADE: B