Glenn: No Fun Since He Fell In Love

[Omar G.]

Is Glenn worried about Maggie right now? Yeah, probably.

[Mattipoo]

Steven Yeun is a terrific actor (and cute), so I hope Glenn gets to do more than become sick and pine endlessly for Maggie in season 5.

[halgia]

Steven Yeun has made a bunch of podcast appearances that probably increase my tolerance for his character's recent annoyingness a lot.

[HighMaintenance]

I've never enjoyed the schmoopie that the Glenn/Maggie coupling has brought to the show.  I much preferred the risk taking, "I did this in a video game once" Glenn from season 1.

[SpaghettiTuesdays]

My mom, sister, and I are rewatching from the beginning (they began season 4 with no other context, so I'm catching them up) and we just had to laugh at the Glenn/Maggie show in the pharmacy.

As to the "no fun" thing, I think it's because he's really becoming more of a leader/more responsible. He has Maggie to think of and if he wants a future, he has to make it for himself. He, Hershel, and Rick are the iron triangle of power. Each learns from their predecessor. He's trying to take after both Rick and Hershel, not to be boring but to do his best.

Do I think they could bring a little humor back to him? Yes. But given the context of season 4, where he fell ill early on and then had to fight his way back to Maggie and then to Terminus, the gravity of the situation wouldn't have called for humor. He finally realized how serious it was (when you put someone else's needs before your own) and that's what's taken him to this rarely-humorous place.

[kikismom]

SpaghettiTuesdays: good run-down on Glenn's recent arc...however...my problem is that the writers don't seem to know how to show a male character developing without turning them into another Rick. They did it with Daryl, they're doing it with Glenn, and as they do we are losing the distinctive personalities and getting a surplus of older-but-wiser-leader types. Too many leaders would be interesting if they had different directions; but they're just all becoming Rick's back-up-clone-guy. With the loss of more pot-stirring female characters...they're all becoming Maggie (Beth, Sasha, Tara). People can grow and change without being carbon copies. (For those of you who don't know what a carbon copy is, google it),

[Pete Martell]

SpaghettiTuesdays: good run-down on Glenn's recent arc...however...my problem is that the writers don't seem to know how to show a male character developing without turning them into another Rick. They did it with Daryl, they're doing it with Glenn, and as they do we are losing the distinctive personalities and getting a surplus of older-but-wiser-leader types. Too many leaders would be interesting if they had different directions; but they're just all becoming Rick's back-up-clone-guy. With the loss of more pot-stirring female characters...they're all becoming Maggie (Beth, Sasha, Tara). People can grow and change without being carbon copies. (For those of you who don't know what a carbon copy is, google it),

I don't see the similarities between Tara/Maggie or Beth/Maggie, or Daryl/Rick. Rick is a leader. Daryl is a follower. Tara is a klutz, blindly loyal, and nakedly emotional, Beth is emotional and focused on proving that physical weakness doesn't make you a burden; Maggie is reserved, guarded in her loyalties, and extremely physical.

For me Glenn is capable of both leading and following, which seems to make him more difficult to write for. He's also the guy things happen to, because Steven Yeun is so good at showing us reactions.

I don't think the problem for Glenn was becoming like Rick as much as it was Daryl becoming so popular with viewers and eating away at the role Glenn had in Rick's life. Part of that is based on Glenn becoming more involved with Maggie and Hershel, but I do think he would have had a more central role in Rick's decisions if not for Daryl.

I really think Glenn would be better served in his own story thread, away from Rick's group for a while. I know a lot of fans hated the Glenn and Maggie stuff after the prison fell, but personally, I enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed anything for Glenn in years. Glenn was capable, passionate, he had new relationships with people. It was a nice change.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Pete Martell

[RedheadZombie]

I still care about Glenn.  He was much more fun before Maggie straightened him out, but remember she made him realize he had equal value to any other person in the group, and he shouldn't be the go-to guy when they need something stupidly dangerous done (well-walker).  I'm happy to have him fill Hershel's shoes - and those were big shoes to fill.  In a way, Hershel chose Glenn (by giving him his watch) just as much as Maggie did.  I think Glenn feels the weight of being responsible for Maggie (even though she's badass, pregnancy would make her vulnerable), Beth, and now Tara.  And he's dealing with his own grief with losing Hershel.

[kikismom]

I don't see the similarities between Tara/Maggie or Beth/Maggie, or Daryl/Rick. Rick is a leader. Daryl is a follower. Tara is a klutz, blindly loyal, and nakedly emotional, Beth is emotional and focused on proving that physical weakness doesn't make you a burden; Maggie is reserved, guarded in her loyalties, and extremely physical.

For me Glenn is capable of both leading and following, which seems to make him more difficult to write for. He's also the guy things happen to, because Steven Yeun is so good at showing us reactions.

I don't think the problem for Glenn was becoming like Rick as much as it was Daryl becoming so popular with viewers and eating away at the role Glenn had in Rick's life. Part of that is based on Glenn becoming more involved with Maggie and Hershel, but I do think he would have had a more central role in Rick's decisions if not for Daryl.

I really think Glenn would be better served in his own story thread, away from Rick's group for a while. I know a lot of fans hated the Glenn and Maggie stuff after the prison fell, but personally, I enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed anything for Glenn in years. Glenn was capable, passionate, he had new relationships with people. It was a nice change.

In my defense lol you'll note my post was written last April 12th! Let's just say some characters have taken unexpected turns in their personalities since then! :-)

[Nashville]

I'm happy to have him fill Hershel's shoes - and those were big shoes to fill. 

Toward the end, though, we ARE only talking ONE shoe....

[india wilkes]

I understand falling in love, but i dont understand why that has seemed to change Glenn so damn drastically. He is nothing like season 1 Glenn. 

[Nashville]

I understand falling in love, but i dont understand why that has seemed to change Glenn so damn drastically. He is nothing like season 1 Glenn.

Well, he has actually gotten laid since then.

By a real live girl, even.

[AngelaHunter]

Early Glenn was funny, quirky and appealing. Although I don't find it odd that everyone is becoming more and more grim as time goes on, the whole Maggie/Glenn "True Love's Kiss"  thing just bores the daylights out of me. It always has, and I've never seen a more un-erotic and un-sexy love scene than those two gettin' it on in the watchtower. Snoozeville.

[nodorothyparker]

Glenn and Maggie are proof that you can take two characters who I each liked individually and pair them together to end up with neither characters nor a pairing that's interesting or fun to watch at all.  It's like expounding the energy required for them to apparently be the only characters having sex in the apocalypse drained them of all personality and spirit and left them both humorless moralizing shells.

 

It was a relief to see them board the bus for the Island of Misfit Toys and drive off screen.

[Pete Martell]

I understand falling in love, but i dont understand why that has seemed to change Glenn so damn drastically. He is nothing like season 1 Glenn. 

 

He seems similar enough to me. He's compassionate, funny (at times - he rarely has much reason to crack a joke), protective, resourceful. I'd say the Glenn we saw in "Strangers" was the most like early Glenn that he'd been in a long time. It's one of the reasons I enjoy the times we get to see him with Tara. 

 

Season 1 Glenn was the group joke, in some ways. Other than Dale and T-Dog (and T-Dog and Glenn didn't have that much interaction), everyone generally treated him like a useful tool and were shocked when he showed intelligence. It got to the point where he was blithely expected to risk his life in the well in early season 2, and when he wasn't acting as the group canary, he was literally running errands for Lori, without even having the right to ask what exactly he was doing this for.

 

I don't think that Glenn could have lasted in this world. Once he became close to Maggie, and Hershel, he began to shed more and more of the goofy persona. First he tried to be what he thought was a man (angry and aggressive after Merle nearly killed him), and then he just became quiet and trying to be positive, trying to carve out a place of his own with the people he cared about most.

 

It would be fun to see Glenn driving down the highway in a cool car, screaming his lungs out. It's unfortunate that Steven Yeun doesn't get the chance to play fun material anymore, and that Glenn has been saddled with the "hope" and "conscience" labels that tend to be the worst tropes. Hershel was played by one of the best actors out there and even he sometimes struggled with it.

 

I guess it doesn't bother me as much as it bothers some other people because I still see the Glenn I liked early on. I'd like to see more of that Glenn, less of him just with Maggie, or being concerned about goodness and morality, but he's still the Glenn I knew. And even when the show often misuses him, I'm still grateful he's on the show, because he's the only male character beyond Rick and Carl I think is relatively well-defined at this point, and is also a character who is separate from Rick and able to lead material of his own when he gets the chance (which isn't often).

 

It's ironic, because Daryl took over Glenn's role (in the group, in Rick's life, etc.) on the show in many ways, but I think Daryl has fallen prey to more tropes (woobieness, shipping hysteria) that I thought Glenn might have fallen prey too.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Pete Martell

[mightysparrow]

I liked that Glenn stepped in between Rick and Abraham.  Daryl probably would have done that if he were there but Daryl's is Team Rick so it might not have defused the situation.  Glenn was able to calm the situation down and get back to what was most important, which is dealing with Gareth and the Termites.

 

I miss old school Glenn but I'm glad the character has been given a chance to change and grow.  Daryl seems stuck in his 'little boy lost' stage and it's getting old.  Glenn is a man now, with different priorities.  I might not like a lot of the changes, especially the loss of autonomy that Glenn and Maggie have experienced, but any change has to be a good thing.

[editorgrrl]

It would be fun to see Glenn driving down the highway in a cool car, screaming his lungs out. It's unfortunate that Steven Yeun doesn't get the chance to play fun material anymore, and that Glenn has been saddled with the "hope" and "conscience" labels that tend to be the worst tropes. Hershel was played by one of the best actors out there and even he sometimes struggled with it.

 

From the "Four Walls and a Roof" issue thread:

I fear that Glenn isn't becoming Herschel after all; he is becoming Dale.

 

[mandolin]

Glenn's behavior in this episode was disappointing to me. I don't feel like he had any warm feelings towards Rick. No affection or respect necessarily. He seemed very bland and uncaring. Not even a hug goodbye?

[Pete Martell]

I don't think he's becoming Dale, as Dale would have nagged and nagged.

 

I think Glenn has a lot of respect for Rick. I'd put the lack of affection more on directorial choices (I didn't think the episode was all that well-directed) or on the episode being so packed. Glenn hasn't really been very huggy with some people in a while, and I don't think his relationship with Rick was ever quite as close after those weird dynamics in season 2 where there was some unofficial decree that Rick and Lori were the lord and lady of the manor and Glenn was a mere servant, but he still seems to think very highly of Rick. I actually wonder if that's one of the reasons he left - he doesn't want to see "his" Rick slowly die away.

[mandolin]

I definitely agree the direction given and time allowed could've been factors on the goodbye scene, but SOMETHING would've been better than seeing them stare out the bus window for 10 seconds. Maybe I can chalk it up to Maggie being his number one and that's it. I'd say Maggie put those feelings in his mind (re: season 2), because I don't think Rick felt that way. Hmm, I am starting to dislike Maggie, whereas I never thought much about her. Huh.

[Pete Martell]

I don't think Rick ever saw Glenn that way, and I think Maggie and Glenn both have a lot of respect for Rick; I'm mostly just putting my own view on this, because I thought Glenn was treated shabbily (Lori's errand boy, the well walker situation where he nearly died) and I feel like that's when he started to move more towards the Greenes and less toward the group.

 

When I watched that bus scene again I took it as kids leaving home and not knowing whether they made the right decision. I think there were multiple factors pushing them to leave, so they did.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Pete Martell

[kikismom]

I don't think he's becoming Dale, as Dale would have nagged and nagged.

 

 I don't think his relationship with Rick was ever quite as close after those weird dynamics in season 2 where there was some unofficial decree that Rick and Lori were the lord and lady of the manor and Glenn was a mere servant

 

 

. I'd say Maggie put those feelings in his mind (re: season 2), because I don't think Rick felt that way.

 

 

I don't think Rick ever saw Glenn that way, and I think Maggie and Glenn both have a lot of respect for Rick; I'm mostly just putting my own view on this, because I thought Glenn was treated shabbily (Lori's errand boy, the well walker situation where he nearly died) and I feel like that's when he started to move more towards the Greenes and less toward the group.

 

 

Glenn has not been a household servant boy to Rick in a very long time.

I think too many way more important things have happened since season 2.

 

Like Glenn and Maggie being good enough to be in the prison-clearing fight for the prison, to be hiding in the prison to fend off the Governor's first attack.

 

Like Glenn and Maggie being saved from Woodbury at the definite risk of other people's lives.

 

Like Glenn being put in charge at the prison when Rick was gone to meet the Governor.

Like Glenn being saved from death by people going to get medicine, from suburban homes or veterinary colleges, encountering danger from walkers (and Glenn nearly died from the well-walker? How about running errands like a servant in a herd of 400+ walkers--that's nearly losing your life!)

.Like Glenn being next in line to get his throat cut at the trough but being saved by Rick cutting his ties to attack the slaughter crew, and free Glenn and Bob and Daryl, and with all the need to get people out of the train car...including Maggie and Rick's own son Carl, Glenn was still given his request to open another box to let someone out to prove they can "still be who they are" (that didn't work out so hot).

Like Glenn and Maggie being sent to search a gun shop for silencers with only Useful Idiot Tara for back-up.

I think RIck has done a lot more for Glenn than the other way around.

 

Dale nagged? And Herschel yelling "Rick Get Back Here Now! I'm Talking To You!" is scolding...I still say the difference is not in the style but the substance:

 

Herschel knew what he'd learned in life, and tried to let you take what you needed of him. Dale subsisted on a lot of people's efforts---people he then considered troglodytes too crude to be around when you're the more enlightened type.

 

Dale enjoyed being a martyr. Herschel made me think of a line from that prayer of Admiral Halsey : "Lord don't make me a saint; some of them are so hard to live with."

Edited October 29, 2014 by kikismom

[Pete Martell]

Glenn has not been a household servant boy to Rick in a very long time.

I think too many way more important things have happened since season 2.

 

I'm not really trying to say that Glenn has any reason to be cold toward Rick, or that Rick hasn't been there for him. I just think the early days where Glenn was in a central position in the group and had strong ties to Rick, have frayed over time. There's still a group. Glenn and Rick still work closely and have a lot of respect for each other. Rick has done a lot for Glenn. It's just that over time, I think Rick has had his own select group of confidantes and friends, like Daryl and Michonne (and Hershel), while Glenn has had stronger connections to Maggie, Hershel, and now, to some degree, Tara.

 

I think there was a point where Glenn felt that he needed the group not just for basic survival, but also emotional reasons. They were supposed to be a family, an identity. I'm not sure if that's as true for him now. I think he has his own identity, he has Maggie, and that means when he's put in a situation where multiple things were pushing him to make a break, he was able to make it. 

 

Like Glenn being saved from death by people going to get medicine, from suburban homes or veterinary colleges, encountering danger from walkers (and Glenn nearly died from the well-walker? How about running errands like a servant in a herd of 400+ walkers--that's nearly losing your life!)

 

That was a necessity. The well could have just been closed off. 

[Trek]

I don’t how it was in the comics so I could be completely wrong, but if this was a standalone show I would have strongly suspected that the regression in Glenn’s character in S2 was done in service of establishing Maggie’s character and the foundation of the romance (rather the romance itself per se.)

 

The subservient errand boy was such a far cry from S01 Glenn that I got a strong impression he was written that way so that Maggie could deliver that specific line or to fit into an already preconceived scene such as where Maggie would throw Lori’s morning after pills at her while Glenn stood apologetically by, or how him freezing in the bar fight would (in their minds) be a good tweak for the “all I thought about was you” scene that they had already written.

 

In other words, they had already roughly storyboarded what the new Maggie character’s course for S02 would be, including all the above set-piece scenes with Glenn in it, and then went back and retrofitted Glenn’s characteristics so that it would fit into those scenes when they occurred in the script.

 

If we examine S01, this quirky risk taker was actually often deferred to. Rick deferred to him completely for the gun bag retrieval plan; from who was going to stand where and who was going to do what.

 

A better example was the morning after the camp attack when Morales and Daryl, still in his bitchy phase, start dragging a body over to a pyre. Glenn confronts them (paraphrasing):  “What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there.” Daryl, “what’s the difference, they are infected.” Glenn, “Our people go in that row over there. [shouting] We bury them! We don’t burn them, understand?”  Daryl backs down and complies, still grumbling, shouting things like “y’all had this coming for leaving my brother” etc. to the camp in general, but complies he does.  What I found funny was sometime after that Daryl goes to Rick and Shane and like a little girl (or boy) looking for allies, complains:  “We all already agreed to burn them, Chinaman gets emotional and tells us it’s not the thing to do and we all follow him along? Who’s in charge here?” The joke being that Rick and Shane were digging graves at the time so they were obviously complying with “the Chinaman’s” wishes.

 

Anyway, the point is Glenn didn’t voice his opinion much but when he did, it carried some real clout on how things were done at camp 1.0 right up to its demise. Not exactly a guy that’s going to be called “peach boy” and go “ok coming” at camp 2.0.

 

Come to think of it, I kind of enjoy watching the more bitchy complaining version of Daryl than the “too KoolForSkool” character he is today, but that’s for another thread.

 

It’s hard to come back from being “peach boy” so the writers had better pen him as a co-leader of Team DC. There are as many people loyal to him (Maggie/Tara) as there are to Abe (Rosita/Eugene), so why not.

[editorgrrl]

Glenn is the new Hershel—who was the new Dale. I'm worried that being the moral compass = Glenn's days are numbered.

[RedheadZombie]

Anyway, the point is Glenn didn’t voice his opinion much but when he did, it carried some real clout on how things were done at camp 1.0 right up to its demise. Not exactly a guy that’s going to be called “peach boy” and go “ok coming” at camp 2.0.

 

It wouldn't surprise me.  The show is plot-driven rather than character-driven.  As a result, a character's integrity is sometimes sacrificed to advance a plot.  I prefer a character-driven show myself.

[Pete Martell]

It wouldn't surprise me.  The show is plot-driven rather than character-driven.  As a result, a character's integrity is sometimes sacrificed to advance a plot.  I prefer a character-driven show myself.

 

I think TWD has become much more character-driven over the last few seasons. I actually think Glenn has been very much character-driven, moreso than some others where I did feel like they got plot point writing (like Carol with Karen and David - it took me a long time to accept that). I know some fans feel he was OOC leaving with the DC group, but I didn't.

[AngelaHunter]

I know Glenn has become tougher and more assured over time, but let's not push that too far. End of last season, when he knocked down the hulking Abraham with one punch? Really? I don't think so, especially now that we saw this week what Abe is capable of. Let's not make GLenn too unrealistic, even in a show about the dead walking around.

[Pete Martell]

It was a sucker punch. It didn't take long for Abraham to get back up and start fighting. 

[Pete Martell]

A comedy web series Steven recently did. I guess it's parodying Korean drama? I don't know. It has a lot of food and eating, just to warn.

 

http://www.befunnystudios.com/subdetail.asp?contentCd=98&videoId=Zb2dZU1Q-o4c60hVw&videoType=jw

 

http://www.befunnystudios.com/subdetail.asp?contentCd=99&videoId=R4XfKQRo-o4c60hVw&videoType=jw

 

http://www.befunnystudios.com/subdetail.asp?contentCd=100&videoId=8vrHUw6F-o4c60hVw&videoType=jw

[Nashville]

A comedy web series Steven recently did. I guess it's parodying Korean drama? I don't know. It has a lot of food and eating, just to warn.

 

Anyone we know?  ;>

[Hava]

Glenn's relationship with Maggie and his almost complete180 in character from the first season has made me lukewarm on his character. But I lost a lot of love for him with Maggie's assault and near rape. His anger towards Maggie and his need to know what happened reeked of someone who did not want his partner to have been raped not for her own well-being, but for what it would mean for him--that she would be damaged goods or something. It was disgusting and disturbing. I would have actually been ok with this storyline if the show had actually dealt with it head in an intellectual way, but the show completely overlooked it and moved on.

 

Edit: Damaged good may have been too strong. I just got the sense that he did not like the idea of someone having touched Maggie, more so than the violative nature of the act, if that makes sense. 

Edited January 20, 2015 by Hava

[NurseGiGi]

The feeling I got from Glenn was not of anger towards Maggie or feeling like she was damaged goods.  What I got from that situation was a feeling of helplessnes, guilt, and anger aimed at himself for not being able to protect her from the situation.

[Hava]

I'll have to go back and rewatch, but I remember there being something specific about their scenes together that made me get the sense I did, that it was more than just helplessness or guilt. 

[BrokenRemote]

I will be very sad if they kill off Glenn. While I'd like to see him do more than be Maggie's man, I still love him.

Edited January 20, 2015 by BrokenRemote

[kikismom]

I will be very sad if they kill off Glenn. While I'd like to see him do more than be Maggie's man, I still love him.

During Self Help, there is that one brief moment when Glenn gets that line: "Okay, didn't need to know that but whatever" and it was like a jolt--YAY! Original Glenn!

That was so indicative of how much the writing for Glenn had deteriorated; one little flash of Back When Glenn Had A Personality.

Otherwise it has reminded me of Bull Durham's famous line, but with Maggie's tinie ginie instead of Annie Savoy:

"Crash says it's the Bermuda Triangle; he said a guy goes there and his friends never see him again"

Edited January 20, 2015 by kikismom

[AngelaHunter]

But I lost a lot of love for him with Maggie's assault and near rape. His anger towards Maggie and his need to know what happened reeked of someone who did not want his partner to have been raped not for her own well-being, but for what it would mean for him

 

That's exactly what I said, somewhere around here. That's what he focused on and couldn't rest until he knew if another penis had actually been in HIS domain. And yeah, I felt a great distaste for him over that, and couldn't help but wonder what he would have said or done if Maggie had told him that yes, she was raped.

[Nashville]

That's exactly what I said, somewhere around here. That's what he focused on and couldn't rest until he knew if another penis had actually been in HIS domain. And yeah, I felt a great distaste for him over that, and couldn't help but wonder what he would have said or done if Maggie had told him that yes, she was raped.

I don't think Glenn's reaction was any of this. I think he:

• Was (quite understandably) freaked out;
• Needed some time to wrap his head around what had happened; and
• Is still quite young - we are talking about someone whose life pursuit was pizza delivery just a few months back, after all.

Glenn's done a lot of growing up in a very short time, but he's still a work in process. I strongly suspect Maggie is the most significant relationship he's ever had in his short life; as such, I also strongly doubt Glenn had previously realized how much it can hurt YOU when something horrible happens to someone you love. If one faults Glen for not jumping into a phone booth and immediately emerging as SuperEmotionallySupportingBoyfriendMan, then he's basically being faulted for reacting like a real human might.

ETA: None of which, of course, discounts (a) Maggie's own struggle to cope, and (b) her own anger/frustration with Glenn's response.

Edited January 20, 2015 by Nashville

[BrokenRemote]

That's exactly what I said, somewhere around here. That's what he focused on and couldn't rest until he knew if another penis had actually been in HIS domain. And yeah, I felt a great distaste for him over that, and couldn't help but wonder what he would have said or done if Maggie had told him that yes, she was raped.

I didn't get that Glenn's issue was 'some other man touched ma woman' so much as 'something bad happened and I should have been able to stop it'.  It's still sexist, but I think it comes from a different place entirely.  He took it as a personal affront to his abilities, when it wasn't about him at all.  But honestly, I can't hate Glenn for being human and imperfect. It's how he came back from the problem that matters.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of that, really.  Just him and Maggie suddenly being in true love TM again and him putting some corpse's ring on her as the sun set...

[Nashville]

I didn't get that Glenn's issue was 'some other man touched ma woman' so much as 'something bad happened and I should have been able to stop it'.  It's still sexist, but I think it comes from a different place entirely.  

More guilt than sexism, IHMO. YMMV

[Haleth]

Exactly. He was more angry at himself and projected.

I will be very sad if they kill off Glenn. While I'd like to see him do more than be Maggie's man, I still love him.

I'm sort of thinking that Glen is the voice of the writers, as much as Rick is the leader of the band. I think he is pretty safe. Maggie? Not so much.

[AngelaHunter]

I guess our interpretations are as individual as we are ,but I don't remember Glenn showing outrage at the thought of Maggie being pushed around or threatened. He seemed totally focused on anything sexual that may have happened and not on any other physical harm that may have been done to her. That's just how I saw it. *shrugs*.

 

Maggie was angry at him for a reason.

[RedheadZombie]

I don't think Glenn's reaction was any of this. I think he:

• Was (quite understandably) freaked out;
• Needed some time to wrap his head around what had happened; and
• Is still quite young - we are talking about someone whose life pursuit was pizza delivery just a few months back, after all.

Glenn's done a lot of growing up in a very short time, but he's still a work in process. I strongly suspect Maggie is the most significant relationship he's ever had in his short life; as such, I also strongly doubt Glenn had previously realized how much it can hurt YOU when something horrible happens to someone you love. If one faults Glen for not jumping into a phone booth and immediately emerging as SuperEmotionallySupportingBoyfriendMan, then he's basically being faulted for reacting like a real human might.

ETA: None of which, of course, discounts (a) Maggie's own struggle to cope, and (b) her own anger/frustration with Glenn's response.

 

 

I'll add that focusing on Maggie may have been his way of not focusing on what he had gone through - awesomely killing a walker while being tied to a chair.  Glenn had a lot of adrenaline pumping after that and nowhere to direct it.

[RedheadZombie]

I guess our interpretations are as individual as we are ,but I don't remember Glenn showing outrage at the thought of Maggie being pushed around or threatened. He seemed totally focused on anything sexual that may have happened and not on any other physical harm that may have been done to her. That's just how I saw it. *shrugs*.

 

Maybe because Glenn knows Maggie is a badass, and perfectly capable of protecting herself physically, and emotionally dealing with being roughed up.  Rape is on a whole other level, and something all women are vulnerable to.  Plus, weren't Glenn and Maggie able to hear what was happening to the other? 

 

Maggie was angry at him for a reason.

 

 

I think Maggie was angry because she wanted to pretend nothing had happened - she very well was raised that way.  Glenn didn't agree.  Maybe she thought Glenn was focusing on her to avoid focusing on his own experience.  We'll never know because Maggie isn't Rick or Daryl - the show didn't dissect every nook and cranny of her experience, then start all over again.

 

Part of the problem, IMO, is Maggie and Glenn are the only romance we receive on the show, and romance isn't strong in these writers.  The characters suffer for it.

[jonesingjay]

Glenn is the new Hershel—who was the new Dale. I'm worried that being the moral compass = Glenn's days are numbered.

 

I'm hoping thats the case.

[Ocean Chick]

I don't dislike Glenn for being human and imperfect.  It actually makes me like him more, because he's not some cartoon character who always has the perfect response.  Yes, he blew it with the sexual assault.  But Maggie made him well aware that he blew it, I think.  And he's grown up a bit for having gone through it.  But he still has a ways to go before he's truly grown.

[RedheadZombie]

In Cherokee Rose, I think Glenn is just adorable.  When Maggie comes to talk to him about making the supply run, he just stares at her and says, "uh....." (maybe because she unintentionally uses a sexual entendre about his reputation for getting in and out).  When she walks away saying she will saddle his horse,  he looks at Dale dismayed, "horse"?  A little later, he's staring at Maggie through the binoculars, "Hello farmer's daughter."  While he's being lowered into the well, Maggie asks if he's ok.  He smiles big and tells her he's great, then mumbles to himself, "living the dream".

 

When Maggie and Glenn are in the pharmacy, Maggie asks him what he has.  He hides Lori's pregnancy test from her, and grabs a random box (which just happens to be condoms) and shows them to Maggie.  He's horrified when he realizes she thinks he bought them because he's a confident guy, and thinks she will have sex with him.  He's just stammering all flustered, when she tells him she will have sex with him.  Glenn:  "Really?  Why?"  Then when she takes her shirt and bra off, he can barely look at her boobs, he's so shy.  I think Maggie probably taught him everything he knows.

 

When they ride back onto the farm, Glenn's got a big goofy smile on his face.  She says, "don't spoil it", he says, "so it was good", and she breaks his little heart by telling him it isn't going to happen again.

 

I know everyone misses the old Glenn, but he was such a naïve kid back then.  He's seen and experienced too much at this point, to go back to that reckless guy who risks his life with little fear.

[BrokenRemote]

I loved those early Glenn and Maggie scenes. You're right though, RedheadZombie, neither of them could stay the same people. Maggie had been safe on the farm for most of the Apocolypse and Glenn, while he'd been out in it, was innocent in other ways. It's good that their characters have developed as things have happened and I guess if I fell in love during the end of the world I'd focus all my energy on that person I'd found. I just hope we get to see the pair do more than pine for each other and have sex. I am not spoiled in any way but I just have a bad feeling they might sacrifice Glenn to the altar of telling a "woman who loses everything" story for Maggie. I hope I'm wrong.

(Watching end of Season 2 now, Maggie's sobbing with worry for Herschel, Beth , Jimmy. Seems so weird...)

[Nashville]

I loved those early Glenn and Maggie scenes. You're right though, RedheadZombie, neither of them could stay the same people.

Exactimundo. Glenn said as much after the bar shootout. The Glenn who went down in the well after a walker would've never frozen up from a couple of bullets whizzing by. "Well Glenn" was responsible for/to nobody but himself. "Bar Glenn" froze, not out of personal fear, but fear for how his death would destroy Maggie. Steep maturation curve, that.

(Watching end of Season 2 now, Maggie's sobbing with worry for Herschel, Beth , Jimmy. Seems so weird...)

Maybe she broke her sobby machine...?

[Pete Martell]

Nice to see a little of Glenn with Rick again. It's been a long time, aside from a few quick conversations. Thinking of the men they were in "Guts" and the men they are now breaks my heart a little. 

 

Steven Yeun NPR interview, somewhat spoiled for me by the reporter, for no apparent reason, insisting every fan wants Carl to die. Don't speak for me. 

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2015/02/05/383897456/steven-yeuns-glenn-slaying-zombies-and-getting-the-girl?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20150207