‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7 Spoilers: Top 10 Glen Rhee Moments
After a six-month wait, the newest big bad of The Walking Dead has spoken: goodbye, Glenn Rhee and Abraham Ford.
Due to Daryl’s attack on Negan, which we discussed in our review last night, Negan went from only killing Abraham to ending Glenn’s life, reducing the “Atlanta Five” to just four members: Rick, Carl, Daryl, and Carol. In what was easily one of the bloodiest moments in television history, we were forced to watch as Negan, with that awesome Lucille bat of his, beat Glenn’s face in and almost rendered the man brain-dead. It was a tragic end for a well-loved character, one who had some of the greatest growth we’ve seen from any character in the entire franchise.
Barely conscious and struggling to speak, though, it was Glenn’s final words that broke people’s hearts for good.
“Maggie, I’ll… I’ll find you.”
As we mourn the loss of one of television’s greatest Asian-American characters, now seems like a perfect time to look back at the best moments of Glenn Rhee, both before and after he met the beautiful Maggie Greene at her father’s farm. This should go without saying, but there are some spoilers in here, but the majority of these moments are relatively old by the show’s standards. Ready to cry at all of the nostalgic moments? I’m not, so make sure to grab some tissues on your next supply run.
10. The Breaking Bad Car: It only makes sense to start off this list with what really is the first signature moment that comes to mind for fans of the former pizza delivery boy. After a daring rescue of stranger Rick Grimes in Atlanta (more on that later), Glenn gets the opportunity to escape Atlanta in an awesome, bright red Dodge Challenger (the same car from AMC’s Breaking Bad) while laughing and celebrating both his life and what looks to be his new toy. Unfortunately for Glenn, the Challenger is scraped for parts when he gets back to camp, much to the young man’s horror. Like Tabitha the goat and T-Dog, Glenn’s Challenger lives on in the memories of everyone.
9. K.O. You Win: Welcome to Alexandria, home of ignored domestic abusers, a heavyset woman who is in charge of managing the town’s food, and arrogant supply runners. Immediately after entering the group’s new home, Glenn is given a job as a supply runner, where he serves under Aiden Monroe, son of Alexandria’s leader, Deanna. Due to living behind the walls for so long, both Aiden and Nicholas, his second-in-command, are extremely cocky and don’t have the same serious mentality to run for supplies that Glenn and Team Family have had over the years. Following their first supply run, where Tara nearly gets killed by a walker Aiden and Nicholas hung up for killing their friend, Glenn and Aiden get into a brief argument that leads to Glenn doing his best Jet Li impression. Dodging a close punch from Aiden, Glenn drops the Monroe boy to the ground with ease, but Daryl steals the show with a linebacker-esque tackle of Nicholas.
8. I’ll Spare You, Part One: Even before Dale passed in Season 2, Glenn always tried to serve as one of the group’s main moral compasses, even to those who showed him and his family harm. After the prison is attacked by the Governor’s militia in Season 4, a disoriented Glenn — who missed part of the battle thanks to the sickness that had taken over the prison — fights through a mini-herd of walkers before finding a mentally broken Tara, who had just watched her sister, Lily, be eaten alive. Despite Tara being on the side that killed Hershel and separated the group into several mini sections, Glenn refuses to leave the short-haired female, beginning a friendship that continues well into their time in Alexandria. It’s too bad that Tara will return from a supply run to find out both her girlfriend, Denise, and Glenn have both been killed by the Saviors.
7. The Pocket Watch: This one hurts to watch after last night, especially hearing Hershel say, “No man is good enough for your little girl until one is.” Glenn, at least you’re reunited with Hershel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ-UK8GHePs
6. The Ring: This one also hurts to think about, though it’s just as heartwarming as it is a tearjerker. With the war against the Governor and Woodbury on the horizon late in Season 3, Glenn — after getting Hershel’s blessing — proposes to Maggie with a wedding ring he cut off a walker’s hand.
As Glenn so excellently puts it to Hershel, “When you gave me this… I didn’t fully understand what it meant. Such a simple thing. I know what it means now. I know what it takes. I want to marry Maggie. And we don’t have to have a wedding. I don’t even know if we’ll last the week. But I want her to know before… who knows?”
5. I’ll Spare You, Part Two: Glenn Rhee’s signature skill, along with his ability to get in and out of places quickly, was his mercy. Although Tara didn’t provide an immediate threat to him since she refused to actually fight Team Family, Nicholas of Alexandria — Aiden’s co-supply runner — did, being responsible for both Noah’s death and Tara winding up in a mini-coma (though it was Aiden that shot a grenade on a dead shoulder that caused the explosion that knocked her out, Nicholas is still on point for not telling Aiden to stop), actually tried to murder Glenn in the woods outside Alexandria. In fact, Nicholas actually shot our favorite Korean in the shoulder and left him for dead to the walkers, but he was spared by Glenn and brought back to Alexandria for medical treatment. What does that say about Glenn that he could risk both his and Nicholas’ lives to save the man who tried to make Maggie a widow?
4. Under The Tunnel Tonight: I’ll let AMC’s “Talked About Scene” from Episode 15 of Season 4 take things from here. There’s something in my eye right now.
3. Six Seasons Later: Before the war against the Saviors, Glenn was one of the few members of Team Family who had never killed another human being; not in the fight against Woodbury, not against the Termites, and not even against the Wolves. However, when Rick and friends launch a preemptive strike on a Saviors compound with the hopes of taking out Negan, Glenn and Heath are forced to kill two sleeping Saviors, marking the first time the ex-pizza delivery man ended another human’s life. The worst part: These men were sleeping, meaning they couldn’t even fight back. Talk about Glenn possibly going down a dark path thanks to the Saviors.
2. Hey You, Dumba**: Imagine this for a second: You’re about 60 days into the apocalypse and after weeks of going into a dangerous, zombie-filled city by yourself, you’re forced to bring a group along. Then, all because of a mysterious stranger who rides into town on a horse and gets the walkers crazy, you and your group become stuck in a department store. Would you help the stranger, who has taken up a hiding spot in a tank surrounded by the same walkers that could kill you all? Glenn, thanks to his walkie-talkie and knowledge of Atlanta, helps the stranger — Rick Grimes — out, greeting him with one of the show’s most memorable lines: “Hey you, dumba**, you in the tank. Cozy in there?” Watching Rick’s reaction last night to Glenn dying and thinking back to their first encounter will really, really break your heart.
1. I Ain’t Afraid Of No Walker: Remember that trip to Atlanta I just mentioned? Well, everyone except for Merle Dixon — a drug-addicted, reckless redneck who spews racist and misogynistic comments at the group — makes it out alive and, after returning to the big city and finding just Merle’s hand left behind, automatically assume he’s dead. About 10 months later, after the group has settled into the prison and Glenn has hooked up with Maggie, the two survivors re-encounter Merle, who is now working for the Governor and is on a hunt for Michonne. Kidnapped and brought back to Woodbury, the two are probed for information by both Merle and the Governor, with Daryl’s brother dealing with Glenn and Woodbury’s leader threatening to rape Maggie. Both remain quiet, though, quiet enough to the point where Merle deems it necessary to send a walker against Glenn while the latter is tied to a chair. Some would easily have died, but Glenn?
Farewell, Glenn. May you conduct the greatest supply runs in Heaven, my friend.
[Featured Image by AMC]
