Did The ‘Walking Dead’ Premiere Set Up A Pregnancy Story For [SPOILER]? 

Did The ‘Walking Dead’ Premiere Set Up A Pregnancy Story For [SPOILER]?

“Walking Dead” premiere and comic book spoilers are ahead! Proceed with caution!

In the midst of all the chaotic walker corralling and black-and-white drama between the people of Alexandria, it was easy to miss one of the most quietly intriguing moments of the “Walking Dead” premiere.

The episode, “First Time Again,” sees Rick Grimes and the Alexandrians working together to relocate an enormous herd of zombies from a veritable pig pen, created by a boundary of trucks surrounding a deep space in the ground. They figure that the boundaries will give way sooner than later, causing major problems for Alexandria, and it’s best to tackle the situation head on early.

But moving the walkers is no easy feat; it’s a job requiring as many able-bodied people as possible. We see a slew of characters volunteer for the mission, from usual suspects like Daryl Dixon and Abraham Ford, to unlikely candidates like Nick and Father Gabriel. (The best moment of the episode, hands down, is when Gabriel offers his services, and is immediately rejected by Rick. So good.)

Naturally, Glenn plans to get in on the action as well, but he stops short of letting Maggie participate. His logic makes sense; he tells Maggie that she needs to stick around Alexandria to continue acting as leader Deanna Monroe’s second hand, especially given the fact that Deanna recently lost her son and her husband in two traumatic back-to-back events. Someone needs to make sure Deanna remains cool, calm and collected, and Glenn tells Maggie that she’s the one for the job.

And then comes the potential bombshell: “That’s not the only reason,” says Maggie. Glenn confirms it. That’s not the only reason.

This is where we start reading into things, courtesy of some of what we’ve seen in the “Walking Dead” comics the show takes many but not all of its cues from. Around this time in the comic books — a little bit later, actually, but close — Maggie discovers that she’s pregnant with Glenn’s child. It’s a big deal for both of them, obviously, and it’s scary news, considering the Maggie of the comics has gone through her fair share of things and stuff; the remainder of her family gets massacred when the Governor destroys the prison, leading her to a suicide attempt. Show Maggie didn’t experience quite that level of darkness, though she did go through her own crucible after the deaths of Hershel and Beth.

Is it possible the show is choosing to go down the pregnancy path for season six? Glenn and Maggie’s easy-to-miss exchange might be a total non-event; maybe it’s nothing more than Glenn telling Maggie he loves her and wants her to stay safe and far away from an extremely dangerous situation. Then again, that flies in the face of something both Glenn and Maggie, as well as the audience, know all too well by now: Maggie is a complete and total badass who can hold her own better than just about anybody. For reference, see the time she went around painting signs for Glenn with walker guts, or the time she helped clear out the prison courtyard.

There’s another reason why the Maggie pregnancy storyline makes sense, but it’s potentially very bad news for her husband… and this is where we get into MAJOR SPOILERS, so only move past the guy with the baseball bat at your own risk.

In the comics, right around the time Maggie and Glenn find out about the impending arrival of Baby Rhee-Greene, Negan appears. He’s the leader of the Saviors, most simply described as Evil Alexandria, an organized community of bad people that makes Woodbury look like Wonderland and Terminus like Willy Wonka’s factory. Negan, introduced in “Walking Dead” #100, marks his arrival by teaching Rick Grimes a lesson, in the form of bashing in Glenn’s brains in one of the most brutal and traumatic acts of violence of the whole series. It’s the worst for so many reasons: Because it’s gross, because it’s Glenn, because it’s in front of Maggie, and because it happens soon after they learn they have a baby on the way. Easily one of the most upsetting deaths of the series, if not number one on the list.

But is it going to happen on the show? The TV series often changes things up from the comics, mixing and matching where it sees fit. The Governor chops off Hershel’s head on the show, even though he chops off Tyreese’s head in the comics, for example. There’s a certain inevitably to some of the iconic comic book moments, and Negan is one of them. He is going to show up and he is going to beat somebody’s brains in with a baseball bat. It’s happening. The question is, whose brains? Will the show follow through on Glenn’s gruesome demise, or will some other beloved character meet the barbed-wire business end of Lucille?

Let’s just say if Glenn and Maggie are indeed expecting a new member of the family, it could further fuel the fear that “Walking Dead” is sticking close to the comic book script this season — and that could be very bad news for our happy couple.

Likes pizza, punch and pie. Dislikes the Chitauri.