‘The Walking Dead’ season 6, episode 7 review: The Glenn reveal and popped balloons

We’ve already reported on the factual side of things tonight when it comes to all things Glenn on “The Walking Dead,” so let’s spend a moment or two now talking about the terribleness of it all.

We will start with this: We love Steven Yeun. He’s great on the show, he has tons of charisma, and he is extremely funny on all of the press tours. However, this was the time to make a move. You spent three episodes trying to sell us on the possibility that this character was gone. You teased us, tricked us, and even fooled us with the opening credits. Within about two or three days after the episode “Thank You” aired, it was clear that despite the show’s best efforts, they couldn’t convince us that Glenn was actually gone. If somebody gave us green balloons like the ones we saw tonight, they’d all be deflated and popped already.

Here’s the the big problem: “Killing” Glenn feels like a cheap stunt in retrospect. Glenn came out of this relatively unscathed, other than having to deal with Enid for a time. They could have easily given you an answer weeks ago, but why do that when they can trend on Twitter and have people excited / angry? There was no significant reason story-wise to keep his fate a secret, and it doesn’t look like anything long-lasting is coming out of it. The reveal cheapens the show, and also the whole idea that “anyone could die.” Clearly, the leads are at least 80% more immortal than everyone else.

As for the rest of the episode, Tara saved Spencer from the walkers, and in turn Rick got really angry about it and then really angry about Spencer. Rick was the physical manifestation of us watching the big Glenn reveal. Also, Carol figured out about Morgan’s prisoner, and nobody seems down for his version of a no-kill shelter. None of it really seems that important other than the fall of a tower and walkers on the offensive.

At least we have a really cool cliffhanger for next week, right? Well, the problem here is that if most of our leads are not in any real danger, it kind of eliminates the purpose. After their handling of this whole mess, we feel at this point like the show has to earn some trust back. Grade: C.

Interested in getting some other news when it comes to “The Walking Dead,” including a preview for the next episode, head over here! Also, sign up right now to get some other TV news on everything we cover, sent right to you via our