Spoilers ahead for the season premiere of The Walking Dead. If you've somehow dodged spoilers by this point, congratulations!
This past Sunday brought the highly anticipated Season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead to the small screen. After six long months of waiting to see who Negan killed in the Season 6 finale, we were finally given some answers- and it was a hard episode to get through. Both Abraham and our beloved pizza delivery boy Glenn were viciously killed before our eyes, with TV audiences reacting in similar horror to the actors. Since then, the community has been collectively grieving and sharing memories, particularly of Steven Yeun and his portrayal of Glenn.
Robert Kirkman recently opened up to Entertainment Weekly, sharing some memories of Steven Yeun's long run as Glenn Rhee on The Walking Dead. Kirkman opened up regarding one of Glenn's first scenes from Season 1, saying:
The first thing that Steven ever shot was doing a pickup shot for Episode 4 in Season 1 because we wanted him to go back to the tank and grab Rick's hat that he had left behind. But we didn't want to pay to have that tank back on set, so we did some pickup shots of him running and grabbing that hat for the later episode. And I guess he didn't anticipate how much running he was going to be doing because we ended up having to do a few takes, and he hadn't eaten anything, so he kind of blacked out on his first day of shooting. So, we always used to make fun of him for that and he was always a good sport about it.
Now that's some dedication. Steven Yeun got his big break playing Glenn in The Walking Dead, and it now appears that he didn't think out what a "run for your life" type of shoot was going to do to his body. Take note: in the zombie apocalypse, don't skip breakfast.
While this story is a fun journey to the past, it really drives home what a massive presence Glenn, and Steven Yeun's performance, brought to The Walking Dead. Glenn was one of just five characters who have been on the show since its humble first season, alongside Carol, Rick, Carl, and Daryl. As such, we've seen Glenn's character develop and change greatly throughout the past few years. Glenn went from a willy pizza delivery boy to a husband, father to be, warrior, and even a killer. We've seen his incredible compassion with Tara, Nicholas (ew), Enid, and Heath- and his willing to sacrifice himself for others made for a fitting and heartbreaking final moment.
It should be interesting to see how Glenn's death ripples through the residents of Alexandria. It will presumably inspire Maggie to step further into her role as a leader, but how will the rest of the community react? It looks like they'll have to re-add his name to the list of fallen survivors on Alexandria's wall.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC.
