'The Walking Dead' Postmortem: Katelyn Nacon Talks Enid's Bond With Glenn, and What We Still Have to Learn About Her

 

Call it a brother/sister thing, with some undertones of Glenn (Steven Yeun) acting as a father figure.

That was the relationship that quickly developed in Sunday’s “Heads Up” episode of The Walking Dead, the one in which we found out Glenn’s alive, and he immediately found an additional reason — new pal Enid (Katelyn Nacon) — to make his way back to Alexandria. Not that the new pairing is an easy one. Skittish Enid, who bonded with Glenn over the fact that they were both, he assumes, orphaned by walkers, remains unsold on committing to the Alexandria community. Many fans suspect she also has some ties to another, likely nefarious, group, and she’s part of a teen love triangle that is just one of the reasons her boyfriend, Ron, appears to be ready to aim a gun at his teen rival, Carl.

Yahoo TV talked to Nacon about her character’s relationships, Enid’s “JSS” motto and her hopefulness in spite of all she’s experienced since losing her parents, her true feelings for Ron and Carl, and what she was really noshing on when she had to eat that turtle earlier in Season 6. And yes, she confirms we’re going to learn quite a bit more about Miss Enid…

Glenn and Enid were an unexpected pairing, especially in such a big episode, but it really made sense as they spent more time together and this brother/sister, father/daughter kind of relationship formed…I like it just because there’s a good contrast between the two, and also I just really like Glenn’s character. [And] that’s what they wanted to portray between the two: Enid might see him as a father kind of character, but I think it’s more like they both have a respect for each other. Glenn wouldn’t be like, “Oh, you can’t do this, you can’t do that.” It’s more like an older brother-type thing. Steven even talked to me about that, because we were trying to establish the character relationship. He was like, “Yeah, I don’t feel like it would be a father relationship,” because he knows that she’s independent and she can take care of herself, so he wouldn’t take over that way. I totally agreed with him.

Do you think their new friendship gives her some sense of security that she didn’t have since losing her parents?Yeah, in a way, it does. It definitely brings her a sense of security. I think also that sense of security can bring some kind of spirit to her, too, because she hasn’t had that in a long time. Especially to have someone that she could relate to so easily and who can replace the father that she’s lost. I think it’s kind of scary to her, too.

Because now she has something to lose again?Yes. That’s one thing that she has been so adamant about not having to go through, especially with the way that she treats people. She makes sure that she can’t get close to them, and she tries to make sure that they don’t want to get close to her, either. She pushes people away, just because going through that loss is one of the worst things that could happen to her.

She does allow herself to be vulnerable with Glenn though. Why Glenn?Because of just how protective he is and how safe she feels in that environment. She kind of does it without even noticing.

She’s also a smart character, smarter than most other people her age. Do you think she has a good intuition that Glenn is trustworthy and will look out for her?Yeah. Yeah. Of course, she’s probably not 100 percent sure of him, because you never really can be, but I think she does see that he understands the world, and that he’s probably gone through even more than she has. He is a lot wiser, and I think she could easily learn stuff from him. It’s just getting over the fear of accepting people into her life that would get in the way of her friendship with Glenn.

Given that, that she is able to bond with someone who can truly understand what she’s experienced, it’s clear that she probably really didn’t bond much with Ron, even though he thinks she was his girlfriend. Until recently, he had lived a very safe version of life in the apocalyptic world.That’s what it is. They are like boyfriend and girlfriend, but to be honest, if Ron got eaten or something, it wouldn’t affect her. Because, especially during that time when they started to get “closer” — and I put air quotes around that — she was definitely even more closed off than what she is now. There’s no way she would have let someone get near her, even if they were her “boyfriend.” It’s a tricky situation, but if he got eaten or died, it wouldn’t really hurt her that much.