Note: I originally wrote and published this entry in February of this year, so obviously some of the things I mention are outdated. There are obvious spoilers for season three in this post, read on at your own risk.
I originally wrote this post after the episode "Home" (episode ten in season three) when there was a lot of discussion and confusion about Maggie's reactions to Glenn's questions about whether or not the governor raped her. Alright, here is the original post:
Last night, the newest episode of The Walking Dead aired, and, as I've recently decided to get involved in an online community about it, I noticed a huge trend as everyone discussed the episode. Before I go on, I should warn that there are going to be spoilers for season 3, probably The Walking Dead in general, and I'm also going to slap on a trigger warning for sexual assault and rape.
Maggie Greene (portrayed by the lovely Lauren Cohan) was first introduced at the beginning of season two. She is introduced by riding in on horseback and bashing a walker in the head without a hitch. This is Maggie Greene in a nutshell: a strong, independent, bad ass.
Maggie is the daughter of farmer and veterinarian, Hershel, who allows Rick Grimes and his group to stay on the farm after Rick's son, Carl, is shot by Hershel's farmhand in season two. Throughout the season, she establishes herself as a reasonably strong character. She does not let anyone boss her around, she stands up to her father for Rick's group, and she can usually defend herself. It seems that she likes it that way, standing on her own two feet, which is why when Glenn, another member of Rick's group, follows her around like a lost puppy, hoping for more sex, she resists, ignores, and sometimes gives him blank stares.
I enjoyed Maggie's relationship with Glenn, truth be told. In the beginning, she sort of teases him but is also honest (for example, when the two of them are discussing God after she ruins Glenn's first attempt at prayer), and she's unapologetic about her honesty. She isn't impressed when Glenn attempts to be someone that he's not (he tells her that he's a "loner" to try to seem cool and standoffish). Eventually, they end up having sex, and, ever detached, Maggie tells him it was a one time thing. When Glenn brings up having "eleven more condoms" after their first time together, she bluntly tells him, "You see eleven condoms, I see eleven minutes of my life I'm never getting back." She made it obvious to him that the sex was a one time thing, and when he still pines after and follows her, she is once again honest that she wants nothing to do with him.
To make a long story short, Maggie wants to continue to be independent and so she does this by being standoffish with Glenn. Eventually, he wears down her defenses, and they become a couple. It is a much more complex situation than that, but this post isn't about Maggie as a character in general, it's about season three.
As season three rolls around, Maggie is, like Andrea had been, part of the "hunting" group, if you will. She joins Daryl, Rick, Glenn, etc., with taking down walkers and clearing areas. She continues to prove herself as strong (side note: which is not to say that the other women in the group, including Maggie's sister, are not strong, they are, but in a different way. Carol is arguably one of the strongest characters in the group). As the group discovers a prison that they figure can be used as a safe haven, Maggie helps them clear the prison yard and the inside of the prison.
Things really change for Maggie at the end of episode six. When she and Glenn are making a run for supplies, they are ambushed by Merle, "antagonist" from season one and brother of Daryl, and a couple of cronies. They take Maggie by gunpoint and force Glenn to drive them back to Woodbury, a safe haven that is darker than it appears. Glenn and Maggie are held separately, and Glenn is beat up by Merle and a walker, while Maggie is interrogated by the governor, both men wanting to know where the rest of the group is holed up.
The governor threatens Maggie that, unless she takes off her clothes, further harm will come to Glenn (and she could hear Glenn being abused from the start of her imprisonment). This is a strong female character. She shows no regard for herself, and it isn't until Glenn is in clear danger that she gives in. I'm not sure what can be argued that Maggie would do the same for anyone else in the group (aside from her father and sister), though she very well might. That aside, Maggie strips off her shirt, then her bra, and the Governor proceeds to walk over to her, press his body against her, touch her, smell her neck, and push her against the table. It seems very likely that she's about to be raped.
The next time you see Maggie, it's when she's brought into the room where Glenn is held, she's shirtless, looking vulnerable with her arms crossed over her chest. When the Governor once again seems that he's going to kill Glenn, she cracks and gives up the location of Rick and the others. He releases her to Glenn, and she cries, and he proceeds to ask if she was raped, which she denies. In the next scene where they are together, the two are about to be executed when Rick, Daryl, Michonne and Oscar swoop in to save the day. Nothing more is really discussed about what happened to Maggie for the moment, and Maggie remains calm and levelheaded as usual. As the group is leaving Woodbury, they notice Daryl's not with them, so she joins Rick in rescuing him, leaving Michonne with the severely injured Glenn.
I really enjoy the next episode ("The Suicide King") where they rescue Daryl. Maggie is as badass as ever as she and Rick shoot down the people in the arena and provide cover so Daryl and Merle can join them. The group escapes, meeting back up with Glenn and Michonne where all hell breaks lose, but I am not focusing on that. As the group, minus Merle and Michonne, argue, Glenn, who is totally against Merle joining them for a number of reasons, points out that Merle is buddies with a rapist, and no one bats an eye at the casual mention of the Governor being called a rapist, which feels a bit unusual, but I suppose the group was not surprised, given the state of Maggie and Glenn when they were rescued.
Later, as the group is returning to the prison, they get out of the car to clear a road blockade, Glenn starts in on Rick. Glenn wants the governor dead for what he did to Maggie, and, in his anger, he shouts, "Do you know what he did to her? Do you know what he did?!" And, distraught, Maggie yells at Glenn to leave it alone. This is one of the first signs of that a rift is forming between the two. In bringing up what happened to Maggie, he re-victimizes her. He also embarrasses her. Maggie has just been through hell, and she is certainly not ready to discuss what happened to her, not with her boyfriend, and definitely not with the leader of the group. Glenn gets unusually weird in this scene, yelling about how Rick took Maggie (Glenn refers to her as his "girlfriend" in the scene) back to rescue Daryl while leaving him behind. It could be that Glenn feels Maggie is somehow weaker from her experience with the governor, which is why he calls her his "girlfriend" and not by her name, knowing that she is more than capable of backing up Rick. Rick is relatively level-headed at this point and points out that Glenn was severely injured (though I'm not sure that means Rick wouldn't have brought Maggie with him otherwise, because I like to think that Rick sees Maggie as more than a "weak woman"). He doesn't comment about Glenn's references to Maggie being assaulted as Glenn stomps off, leaving him and Maggie to clear the road.
When they return to the prison, it's obvious to Maggie's father that something has happened between/to Maggie and Glenn, but Maggie, not ready to discuss it, doesn't say anything. In the next episode, the newest one that aired last night, "Home," Maggie lays in her bunk, curled up, depressed. Glenn attempts to approach her, and she is somewhat harsh to him, going so far as slapping him.
This is the big thing I wanted to discuss, the entire point of this post. Glenn, throughout the episode, is a loose cannon, which goes unnoticed by no one. He's pissed at the governor and wishes to go back to Woodbury and finish him off, for Maggie. In his mind, that would help Maggie. As would, apparently, shouting to everyone that the governor assaulted her. So, during last night's discussion on the forum I was on, many people were confused and downright rude about Maggie, calling her a stupid bitch, etc. (Full disclosure, I wasn't completely surprised as this community is mostly rude towards women in general, especially the female characters on TWD.) However, some people were honest to goodness confused. Why was Maggie acting so odd? I can see how this would confuse someone who's never had to consider themselves a victim.
Unfortunately, I identified with Maggie really well during this episode. Maggie lashes out at Glenn because he wasn't doing her any favors. He was embarrassing her and bringing up problems that no one needed to know about. Maggie, herself, needed to come to terms with what happened to her before discussing it with others, if she ever decided to bring it up at all. He essentially took away her power and made her feel like a victim. This is Maggie, a bad ass, horseback-riding lady who stands tall on her own. She is strong, and no doubt she considers herself strong as well.
In the moment she revealed herself to the governor, she made herself vulnerable, not for her own sake (the governor threatened her with rape and she did not bat an eye), but for Glenn's. Not that he owes her anything, but she made her decision to save his life, and I think that is particularly difficult for Maggie because she gave up her power, even though it was for her boyfriend's life. After what happened to her, being assaulted, nearly being executed, Maggie needs nurturing and comfort. She doesn't need her boyfriend to stomp around and try to win back her honor.
Another possible reason, which I saw on the forum, for her turning Glenn away and hitting him could be because she was attacked by a man. Speaking from experience, after a man assaults or attempts to assault you, you might feel uncomfortable around a man. When he tries to embrace her back in the cell, Maggie attacks him because she is afraid of being touched by him, after what happened. Not because he did anything to her or would ever try to hurt her, but because the memories are too fresh.
With that said, I don't think what happened to Maggie makes her any less strong. In fact, I think she's even stronger for the experience, unfortunately. She still is as calm as before (though, could be the calm before the storm effect, the events being too recent to sink in yet) and rescues Daryl and, when the prison is under attack, she is as calm as the rest of the characters as she returns fire and kills a gunman.
So, basically, what I was trying to say in this rambling post is that Maggie is established as a strong character. She acts independently and is not used to being victimized or being treated as "lesser." So when the governor assaults her, her boyfriend unwittingly re-victimizes her and does her no favors by going on a rampage when what she needs is his love and support.
I think it's going to be interesting to see what else happens with Maggie, if anything, though I'm not sure if we'll see it now, necessarily, since Maggie and Glenn made up at the end of last night's episode. However, given the cool character development things we've seen so far in the season (mostly Daryl), we could very well (and should!) see more.
