Walking Dead Ratings Up for Reveal of Glenn's Fate

At last, the world knows what happened to Glenn on The Walking Dead. The speculation and hand-wringing over his uncertain fate is finally over, and fans have been outspoken in their reaction to the cliffhanger's resolution. The effect that the revelation will have on the series' ratings is less clear, though.

Spoiler warning: If you're not in the loop about the whole Glenn deal and don't want to be, stop reading.

In last week's episode, viewers found out that Glenn was not dead after all, just as many of them had hoped and theorized. It was revealed that after Nicholas shot himself, his body fell on top of Glenn, shielding him from the attacking zombies and allowing him to slip under the dumpster. He hid there, unscathed, until the zombies were finally distracted and wandered away.

Fan reaction to the revelation ranged from relief that the character was alive to gloating from those who predicted the plot development. A very common reaction, however, was anger at the poor handling of the story by the show's writers; many fans argued that Glenn's survival was implausible to the point of ridiculousness, and that the whole arc seemed like clumsy manipulation of viewers.

However, it didn't hurt ratings, at least in the short term. Ratings for last Sunday's episode were up slightly from the previous week, and TWD continued to be the top-rated show for viewers between the ages of 18 and 49. Whether or not negative reaction to this week's episode will hurt future ratings is an open question. The November 29 episode is the last before the mid-season break, and the series won't return for the season's second half until February 2016.