Episode 505: Self-Help – Recap and Discussion

Who does Daryl meet in the woods?! Is Carol ok?! What’s up with the Grady Bunch? All of these questions and more will be answered… after tonight’s episode. Tonight we spend some time with Abraham and his crew, so let’s get to it.

The group travels down the road as the topic of haircuts comes up. Eugene watches Rosita and Abraham flirt with a real stink eye. He’s sulking a bit after the events at the church.

Maggie asks Eugene how long it will take to fix everything once he gets to DC. He spouts a lot of seemingly scientific jargon. To which Glenn asks, “Why the hair?” “Because I like it.”

As the bus goes around a group of walkers the engine blows, the bus veers out of control, and it flips onto its side. As the walkers approach we hit the credits.

Post-credits it’s time for a flashback. Abraham is beating a man to death with a soup can. He steps on his throat and finishes the job when he’s done. The camera pans up to reveal three other men, all dead.

Back to now, the group is beat up inside the bus. Abraham yells for Eugene. Everyone’s ok. Abraham and Glenn lead the charge out of the bus into the walkers. Eugene stays behind and Tara saves his life when a walker breaks through a window (and spills its guts when the broken glass cuts his stomach open, which is awesome). Tara hands Eugene a knife and he stumbles out and watches in a daze at the killing around him. Tara saves him one more time before he in turn helps her.

When the fighting clears, Abraham orders Rosita to check Eugene, even though he insists he’s fine. Abraham is obsessed with keeping Eugene safe.

Abraham’s knuckles have started bleeding, a recurring injury that won’t heal.

Eugene wants to head back to the church. Abraham is insistent that they continue toward DC, no matter how hard the trip. He’s close to coming unhinged. Glenn checks him and calms him down and they continue.

Back to Abraham’s past. He stumbles through an office, calling for his wife. She stands up with their two kids, looking very shaky.

Back to the present, the group takes shelter in a book store and makes it secure. Eugene uses a battery to make a fire, so he’s not without value. Maggie pulls a string from a book binding and Rosita uses it to stitch Abraham’s hand.

Abraham and Glenn stand watch. Abe thanks Glenn for coming with them, saying he knows he could have taken off. And then he says that only the strong are left alive at this point.

Abraham goes to bed and he and Rosita get intimate (really intimate). Rosita points out that Eugene is watching from the self-help section (get it?!). Real pervert. Tara catches him. He admits to watching and makes some excuses. When Tara thanks him for saving her, he admits to sabotaging the bus by putting crushed glass in the fuel line. It wasn’t supposed to blow the engine though. He won’t tell Tara why he did it, but that he’s worried about his value if he can’t cure the disease. Tara agrees to keep his secret. After he walks off, Tara takes a peak at Rosita and Abe as well.

We’re back to Abraham’s flashback. His wife is terrified of what he did to those men. He’s in shock. He looks at his bloody hand and understands her fear. “It’s ok,” he says.

The next day Rosita bandages Abe’s hand and suggests they stay put for the day to recover. Abraham is not interested. When Maggie and Glenn come in and suggest staying for the day, Rosita tells them that they’re moving on. She has Abe’s back.

They head across the street for the fire truck parked there. Engine looks good but it craps out just after starting. Clogged air intake. Clogged with what? Walker guts. The truck gets just far enough to unblock a door it had been backed up against. Uh oh.

Walkers come out in a droves from the building. There are a lot of them and the group is getting surrounded. Just when they’re about to be overwhelmed Eugene turns on the fire hose from the top of the truck. The high power spray destroys the walkers. Abraham is pretty pleased (and slightly manic).

Abe climbs up to the intake to clear it out, cracking up as he looks down at Eugene’s handiwork.

We see more of Abraham’s past. He wakes up to find his wife and kids gone. There’s a note: DON’T TRY TO FIND US.

Back in the present the group is back on the road but the truck has broken down. Abraham hums as he works on it. Eugene reads HG Wells’ The Shape of Things to Come. Maggie tells Eugene she thinks he rocks the mullet to throw people off, that he’s different than the other scientists he worked with that maybe gave up. She tells him about Samson’s Riddle. Before she can get to her point, a stench hits them.

Abe wants to continue on foot. Before long they come over a rise and see a veritable army of walkers in the distance. Glenn starts to walk away but Abraham refuses. Everyone argues with him. He keeps making excuses. Rosita finally sides against him in public. He marches back, grabs Eugene and continues toward the truck. When they try to stop him he starts shoving everyone, including Rosita and Tara. Just as he’s about to come to blows with Glenn, Eugene erupts:

“I’M NOT A SCIENTIST! I’M NOT A SCIENTIST!”

This brings the group to a halt. Eugene finally comes clean in the moment comic fans have been waiting for. Stunned silence greets his admission. Smarter than most and a good liar, Eugene knew that DC was the best chance for survival, so he tricked people into helping him.

Abraham reacts calmly. And by that I mean he hits Eugene so hard that he face plants into the pavement. It looks and sounds awful. They stop Abraham, Rosita ready to draw her gun. Abe looks down at his fist, knuckles once again bleeding. With Eugene probably concussed and unresponsive, Abraham walks away and falls to his knees, crying.

Back to Abraham’s flashback, we see him at the end of his rope. He rips his dog tags off and throws them. He pulls his sidearm and puts it in his mouth but just then Eugene come stumbling toward him, walkers in tow, crying for help. Abe makes quick work of them, walks off, and then Eugene says, “I have a very important mission.”

So the Euge dropped his bomb on the crew! What happens to him now? Once he shakes off that knock out punch and the concrete sandwich he ate right after will the group accept him or what? How does he earn their trust back? What happens to Abe now? He was suicidal when Eugene gave him a purpose. What happens with that purpose gone?