Spoilers below for anyone who isn't fully caught up with The Walking Dead.
For Sunday night's midseason finale, The Walking Dead broke Season 7's standalone mold by giving audiences a glimpse at every major location in the expanded world. And though we didn't spend much time inside the Hillside Colony, all it took was one look at Maggie to understand that she is still mourning Glenn's death in her own way. And her way involves donning a baseball cap, which was an iconic part of Glenn's costume for a while on The Walking Dead. It's in these understated details that the zombie drama shows off the most emotional heft.
Some people mourn their spouses wearing only black, holed up inside a bedroom closet poring over photo albums. But Maggie can't really afford to get too low, as there is a dangerous zombie-filled world all around her, and her current setting isn't exactly the most welcoming, what with the shady shitbird Gregory still officially running things. So she has to keep her mood as far from melancholy as possible, and there are few better ways to keep Glenn's memory close than by aping his cap-wearing days. It might be mostly out of sight, but it's definitely not out of mind.
It makes perfect sense that Maggie would chose something from the clothing/accessories category to honor her late husband, as one of the biggest connections between her and Glenn also fits that bill: the pocketwatch. Back in Season 2, Hershel gave Glenn his family heirloom watch, which the younger survivor kept close right up to his death-by-Lucille in the season premiere. (Glenn was actually wearing his baseball cap when Negan killed him in the comics.) Maggie attempted to leave the watch with Glenn's grave, but Gregory's greed almost ruined that, and it was after busting the leader's chops for his thievery that she referred to herself as Maggie Rhee for the first time. That's something she wasn't able to do in the source material, as Glenn's surname hasn't been revealed. She's all about bringing out her inner Glenn this year.
In the back half of Season 7, The Walking Dead will likely return to its multi-narrative formatting, weaving together the different communities as they form their anti-Negan alliance. Watching Maggie continue to grow and broaden her leadership qualities will hopefully be a major part of the show's future, and it would be a great move if she show continued to give her chances to wordlessly keep Glenn on viewers' minds. But not like, by putting her through a big fake-out death.
The Walking Dead will be absent from our lives and AMC for quite some time, as we won't get a chance to reconnect with the survivors (and their mystery stalker) until some point in early 2017. To see what else is hitting the small screen before and after that point, check out our midseason premiere schedule.
