Last night's episode of The Walking Dead put viewers' focus back inside Negan's Sanctuary, where Eugene's presence added some truly strange vibes. (More on that here.) He stood out not only for his craftiness, but also for his particular hairstyle. A coif seen to be much more at home among the junkyard-living Heapsters, Eugene's mullet is not only a staple of The Walking Dead, but also Josh McDermitt's life. And when talking about the nickname-friendly subject on Talking Dead, the actor revealed it can still be an issue, even if he's used to it now.
The Mississippi mudflap? The beaver tail? Um hockey hair? Yeah, we can go all day. I've had to embrace it. I leave the house sometimes without a hat on and my wife is like, 'Put a hat on. Now.' I've grown to love it. It is what it is, man. I have a mullet.
One does things for important jobs that one might not otherwise do in regular life, and "sporting a mullet for months on end" is probably on near the top of a lot of people's lists of what to avoid. Of course, there aren't very many jobs out there that actually would require someone to retain a balance between the business side and party side of their haircut, and The Walking Dead's popularity and paychecks presumably supplement Josh McDermitt's occasional discomfort splendidly. He obviously has a great sense of humor about it, as showcased during the related episode of Talking Dead, and that helps, too.
Of course, it isn't just about Josh McDermitt simply living with a mullet and dealing with it himself. Unlike Eugene, McDermitt has a wife who also has to worry about being seen around that head of hair, which seems to add some fun to the mix. Even when she's not actually going outside with him, she needs that shit to get locked down with a covering. I have to assume McDermitt has a sweet collection of hats, and that he has a couple of trucker hats which complement his mullet in a way that increases his wife's blood pressure. 'Til death do us part...our hair in specific manners.
Spoilers for last night's episode of The Walking Dead are coming, so be warned. It wasn't what was on top of Eugene's head that made him important to Negan and his minions, but rather the synapses firing around inside his brain. For the first time since his introduction, Eugene succeeded in accomplishing several different tasks, got rewarded and championed for them, and also stood up for himself. Of course, he's doing this as a captive and not a hero, per se, and his subjugation was fully formed by the end, which will have interesting effects on how the story goes on from here, especially if he is indeed embracing the enemy.
And of everyone hoping Eugene isn't really being swayed over to Negan's dark side, I'd assume Josh McDermitt's wife is a majority shareholder, since she'd be living with both The Mullet and the franchise's vocal fanbase turning their ire on the actor for Eugene's actions. Of course, Negan cleaned up his own hair game in the past, so perhaps he'll do the same for Eugene, which could work out swimmingly for the actor's home life.
The Walking Dead continues to bring its hair-raising action to AMC viewers on Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. ET. Grab yourself a quick trim, check out how The Walking Dead is also changing up Dwight's comic story, and head to our midseason premiere schedule to see what's yet to come for TV debuts.
