Finally, The Walking Dead faces the topic we've all been waiting for - Eugene's hair. It's the source of all of his power. It's his "Tennessee top hat." It's... oh, who are we kidding, there are much bigger things to discuss after tonight's episode. Spoilers if you haven't watched The Walking Dead's "Self Help" episode!
Self Help
Is "Self Help" a reference to Eugene's whopper of a lie, which has kept him alive all this time? Or, taken a bit more literally, "Self Help" would be the section of books where Eugene stood to expose his voyeurish tendencies, watching Abraham and Rosita go at it. Creeper much?
I don't read the Walking Dead comics and I try to avoid most spoilers related to them when possible, preferring to enjoy the TV series as it is on its own, without the comparisons between the source material and the adaptation. With that said, I can't say I didn't see Eugene's lie coming. There've been little clues to indicate that maybe he's just a smart guy who knows a lot, and that he's not the strongest or bravest person.
One of the things Abraham said earlier in tonight's episode struck me as not entirely true, in that everyone who's alive is strong now. Presumably meaning that the weak have all been killed off and only those who can take on walkers are able to live in this world.
Unless Abraham is including resourcefulness in his definition of strong. Eugene can barely kill a walker, but he's resourceful. We saw him take down a cluster of walkers with a fire hose, and we now know that he's really good at lying. He had a lot of people convinced he had the cure to this terrible zombie epidemic. Turns out, not so much. He's just banking on there being a mega-bunker in DC, and he knew he wouldn't stand a chance of getting there if he didn't have people helping him.
Part of me wants to say that Eugene could have simply sold the promise of the bunker and that would've been enough to earn him some loyal traveling companions. But there's one part missing to that plan, and that's the worst part of Eugene's lie. If he had said he knew of a safe place, he'd eventually have to reveal where that place was. Sooner or later Abraham would've wanted an exact location, and if Eugene refused to give it, well, they might just leave him and go their own way. But if Eugene has a cure, then he needs to survive and get to his destination. His lie made him the highest priority, not just for himself but for the people who believed protecting him was for the greater good. People died for him. Abraham made life-or-death decisions, all with a mind toward getting Eugene to DC. And it wasn't real. That's messed up. Did Eugene pay for it with his life? I'm guessing he's not dead, but we're left to wonder just how bad Abraham's beatdown was at the end of the episode.
As for Eugene's decision to confess, I guess better now than never? Maybe his conversation with Tara where he confessed to sabotaging the bus to stall the trip led him to think they'd all be as understanding of his reasons if they knew why he lied. Regardless, if there's any chance for him to be redeemed -- assuming he survives -- he needed to get that out there.
Abraham's family.
Abraham still wears a wedding ring, and as far as we know, he's not married to Rosita. So who was Abraham married to? A woman named Ellen. They had two kids. And Ellen apparently couldn't live with the post-apocalypse Abraham, after witnessing his severe aggression. We learned all of this in flashbacks, including that Ellen took the kids and left Abraham. He found their bodies later on and was very close to killing himself when Eugene called for help.
Seeing Abraham with that gun in his mouth actually tells us a lot about where his mind was right before Eugene came into his life. Eugene became Abraham's mission. Maybe he pushed his grief and anger out of his mind once he had a new objective. And now that objective is gone. So where does that leave him? We've seen Abraham coming unglued in previous episodes this season, so it's not as if Eugene's reveal turned him around. Heck, Abraham was already halfway to losing it when Eugene finally cut the tension (then doubled it) with his confession.
Where do they go from here? It's hard to say. It probably all depends on whether or not Eugene survives. But I'm thinking Glenn and Maggie are regretting their decision to go with this group, especially now that their "mission" isn't leading to a cure.
Also...
I think Rosita might have spoken more in this episode than she has all season, if not since she was introduced.
Watching walkers get torn apart by high-pressure water was pretty gross.
Books! Would anyone else have been filling up a bag with books if they came across such a safe-haven in the zombie apocalypse? I have to imagine there's a lot of time to read in this reality, no? Sadly, this appears to be a reality where books are mostly useful for kindling.
No sign of anyone else, but the preview for next week's "Consumed" suggest we'll get to see Daryl and Carol's adventure leading up to Carol's arrival at Beth's hospital.
