Where Does The Walking Dead Go After Last Week's Shocker?

Ratings for The Walking Dead have been down a bit since the beginning of the show's current season, but a controversial development in last week's episode set off a conflagration on social media. The attention may be just what the series needs to rekindle the fan interest that seems to be flagging ever so slightly.

If you haven't seen the episode and want to avoid spoilers, stop reading now.

In the buzz-inducing scene, Nicholas and fan-favorite Glenn are trapped by a ravenous herd of zombies. Overwhelmed, Nicholas appears to shoot himself, leaving Glenn to be overrun and devoured by walkers. It's a gruesome end to a character that fans weren't expecting to die, and it spurred social media commenters to scramble for an explanation for the scene that keeps Glenn alive.

The leading contender is that the scene's climax was an hallucination, and Nicholas didn't really shoot himself. Michael Traynor, who plays Nicholas, won't rule out the possibility that the whole thing was some sort of dream. However, showrunner Scott Gimple seemed to negate that possibility when he told The Hollywood Reporter that he is "a lot more comfortable saying Nicholas is dead."

Gimple did say, however, that Glenn will be back, in some way. That means that the character either somehow survived the zombie attack, or that he will return in flashback or some other non-physical manner.