Thought Glenn was gone? The Walking Dead now has a way to bring him back

I was slightly caught off guard by where The Walking Dead: Dead City decided to go with Season 3, Episode 6. Yes, another alternate reality episode — but before you roll your eyes, they actually use the premise for something interesting this time. The episode, called 'Genesis', essentially asks: what if the apocalypse hadn’t happened? Naturally, this unleashes a bonkers 'what if' story set in New York and messes about with Maggie’s and Negan’s entire backstory, but there’s also a bit of clever fan service in the mix — in the form of Beth (Emily Kinney) back from the dead in a reality where that disastrous hospital ordeal never happened. Plenty to unpack, so let’s get into it.

The alternate-universe gambit

You can tell the writers are aiming to win back lapsed viewers here. In this episode, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) are awkwardly thrown together in a version of Manhattan untouched by zombies, naturally playing up the 'enemies-to... friends?' dynamic. Before anyone panics: there’s zero actual romance between them, but the episode milks the cliché awkwardness for all it’s worth. Hint of rom-com, lots of accidental eye contact, and, bless it, they don’t cross any unholy lines. Instead, the focus is on what these two might have become if they’d met in mundane, pre-apocalypse circumstances.

Beth’s return is actually woven into this premise properly. Here, she’s very much alive, was never shot by a deranged cop, and has outgrown her reputation for always playing it safe. Now it’s Maggie who is the responsible one, in New York for farm-business and family catch-ups, while Beth urges her to move on from the rural life and their dad’s (Scott Wilson) legacy. Beth flirts with the idea of new beginnings and is less risk-averse than ever–a proper reversal from her original character arc. If anything, she feels like the lesson for Maggie: stop living in the past.

There’s also Luis (Raúl Castillo), the doctor next door, who’s clearly meant to be romantic interest material (Maggie is oblivious, of course). The episode teases us — here’s a possible life Maggie could have had if she’d just said yes to change. In the end, predictably, Maggie bails back home to Georgia after getting her loan, telling Beth that there's still plenty of time. Irony firmly noted.

Beth appears in the alternate timeline storyline for the first time since her on-screen death in the original series.

Meanwhile, Negan can’t quite let go of his anger at a predator from his past. Despite Maggie’s advice (which he ignores, obviously), Negan ends the episode heading off to exact a bit of vigilante justice — some things just don't change, alternate universe or not.

The return of the ghosts

The fun with this episode’s big swing is the way it quietly sets up ways for the show to bring back other dearly departed favourites, no matter how dead or erased from regular continuity they are. That brings me to the one name who hangs over all of this: Glenn (Steven Yeun).

• In Season 3, there's a genuinely well-done thread about Maggie and Luis getting closer. They go off together in Episode 4, 'Found/Lost', bond over trying to survive, even go to a party that’s shockingly non-miserable by TWD standards, and there's the unmistakable will-they-won't-they tension.
• There's a clear parallel drawn between Luis and Glenn — both obsessive do-gooders, both defined by their loyalty and loss (Luis has lost his wife; Maggie, of course, still grieves Glenn). Luis is great with Maggie’s son, Hershel (Logan Kim), too. Which means there’s actually something at stake if Maggie lets herself fall for him.

The kicker comes in a scene where Maggie lets herself actually enjoy life — singing, dancing, even smiling for a change. Then she has a daydream of kissing Luis, only to clearly be rattled by the emotional weight of it all. Plainly, Maggie is still haunted by Glenn's death, and the door is wide open for a 'vision' or dream-sequence return — which, let’s be honest, is probably the only sort of reunion we’re getting with Steven Yeun now that he’s busy in Oscar circles.

Even so, Lauren Cohan’s made it pretty clear she’d like to share a scene with Yeun again, if only for a bit of closure. A one-shot cameo — Glenn appearing in Maggie’s head to give her permission to move on, maybe even forgiving Negan — is about the only way you could finally put a bow on all that lingering baggage. To be fair, Glenn is the one old TWD character intrinsically linked to the ongoing storylines in Dead City, and the creative team seem happy to drop increasingly pointed reminders of his absence whenever Maggie takes a step towards new love. Please note, though, nobody needs to see Luis meet the same fate as his predecessor. Maybe, just this once, let Maggie have a win.