Spoilers for The Walking Dead’s latest episode below.
After last week’s episode-length journey into Morgan’s past, tonight’s “Now” brought us back into the lives of the Alexandrians. We still aren’t quite sure what’s up with Daryl, Abraham and Sasha, and we know a little too much that’s happening between Rick and Jessie, but the biggest moment in the night – at least in terms of story impact – happened when Maggie shared with Aaron that she’s pregnant with Glenn’s baby. Here’s hoping Alexandria has a qualified OB/GYN that just hasn’t been introduced yet.
As far as big surprises go for The Walking Dead, Maggie’s pregnancy is big, although many viewers have suspected for a while that this was the case. But thinking she was pregnant in Episode 1 is completely different from knowing she’s pregnant in Episode 5, as her personal life has completely changed. At least if we’re assuming Glenn is dead. And it turns out viewers aren’t the only ones assuming that.
Given this was the first present-day episode that followed Glenn’s death-or-whatever, it’s the first time we’ve seen characters responding to it, and while I thought everyone would give Glenn and Nicholas a little more time to return before assuming the worst, their names are added to the remembrance wall. As well, Maggie seems resolute in her acceptance that he won’t be coming back anymore, which had to be hard for her to deal with, as she hadn’t shared her big secret with anyone at that point.
It was a good move on the writers to make her initially hesitant to believe he would still be alive, but it gets a little watered down by the time the episode is coming to a close and she and Aaron are washing the names off of the wall. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that she’s capable of building up hope at this point, in the face of an entire planet’s worth of confidence-shaking horror. I just think she probably would have started out hopeful and had that come crashing down later, not the other way around. It’s just gonna get worse for her from now on.
Here’s what else I don’t understand. Glenn has been hearing for ages about how Maggie doesn’t like him going out on excursions. And yet he still chose to go out on the high-risk side mission with Nicholas even though he knew he was a father-to-be. I don’t want to take anything away from Glenn’s bravery, especially if he died doing something to try and help the rest of the group, but his decision just seems a lot dumber now. Maybe in his mind, he was ensuring the safety of his future child, but I think I’m just gonna be judgmental for a little while longer.
We all remember what happened the last time someone had a baby on this show, and Judith is still a (mostly absent) reminder of Lori’s death and Carl’s worst day. I have to imagine that Maggie’s story will go a little differently, and that this pregnancy will turn her into a much more different character as the season goes on.
Will we get to see Maggie breaking into a nearby maternity shop to find some snazzy new clothes for her upcoming months? Find out when The Walking Dead airs next Sunday night on AMC.
