“Self Help” belongs to Abraham Ford, and it’s a good thing too. Michael Cudlitz is a ridiculously underrated character actor, and his performance as Ford has been stellar. We didn’t just need someone who looked the role, but portrayed the immense charge of the militant character, and Cudlitz brings his A game for this episode in particular. Another great episode in a (so far) fantastic season, we meet Abraham’s group, now on the road only hours after the confrontation at the church. Everyone is still rattled from the vicious slaughter. Eugene in particular is grief stricken about Gabriel and how his cowardice really wasn’t that much of a sin, all things considered.
For fans of the comics, this episode was a long time coming.
That instance where Eugene seems particularly focused on the preacher is immediate foreshadowing as he bears a strong connection with the man. Sometimes cowardice comes from sheer lack of humanity, and sometimes it’s just our lack of confidence. The preacher suffered from his own, as does Eugene. Much like “The Grove,” the opening of the episode is cryptic, but an implication of the darkness that Abraham Ford is capable of. In the comics, Abraham is introduced as a very shifty character, and the episode plays up his ability to kill, never fully exploring why he’s beating two men to death with a can and what transpired.
We just know that, like everyone else, he’s killed actual humans to survive along with the walkers lurking at every corner. Much of the episode is told through Abraham’s perspective as his mission feels very desperate, almost as if it’s compensating for his grievous error, explored through the flashbacks. He did whatever he could to survive and ensure the safety of his family, and he suffered for that act big time.
Deja vu of season four occurs as we now see the old group from the last half of season four all over again. Even Tara has latched on once again. I think until her arc ends she will continue latching on to Glenn and Maggie, not just because she really likes them, but because she probably feels like she has a humongous debt to pay. It’s fine since, thankfully Tara Chambler is a charming character and I really like what Alana Masterson is doing with her.
She’s humble and vulnerable, but brutally productive when the time calls for it. Plus that fist bump is adorable. In either case, much of the episode is about Abraham’s need to get Eugene to Washington in hopes of curing the epidemic and probably getting the world on the right track. Abraham’s mission goes beyond all sense of logic and rationale, because Eugene is still so broad and vague in his explanation on curing the epidemic, plus who knows just how long Eugene would have to work?
Five years? Twenty? If Dr. Jenner from the CDC and his infinitely more intelligent wife couldn’t cure the virus, who’s to say that Eugene will? “Self Help” is classic “The Walking Dead” with some fine character exposition, many secrets, and some ace zombie killing. Aside from the typical bash and stab killings, Eugene steps up and sprays the walkers down with a mounted hose atop a fire engine, like he’s swatting flies away. Considering the water pressure of a normal fire hose and how soft decaying walkers are, the kill is fantastic as they go to pieces like wet one ply toilet paper.
The big centerpiece (aside from Abraham being the luckiest bastard in the apocalypse and getting busy with Rosita) is the final scene where all the secrets come to pass. Not only do we learn that Eugene rigged the bus to stop mid-way through their journey (a stupid move that nearly killed them all), but that he’s not actually a scientist at all and has no answers on how to cure the epidemic. For viewers, this is the moment that they cheer on Abraham giving Eugene two really vicious knocks on the kisser that sends him dropping like a bag of dirt.
But to fans of the comics, we’ve known for a while, and it’s been a matter of when they’d drop the veil. The big sea of walkers really depicted how desperate Abraham was getting to travel to Washington, and the confrontation is a fantastic closer. A little advice: If you give a huge angry man really bad news, don’t pile on by calling him dumb, too. If anything, for what little consolation it provides, Eugene did give Abraham a purpose. He gave Abraham and Rosita something to continue moving forward for.
Now it’s a matter of everyone trying to figure out what to do next. It hopeless, boys and girls; the world is in a state of decay, so what is this group to do now that their big mission, and their goose that laid the golden egg is nothing but one big well acted charade? Most of all, what does Eugene have to contribute?
Three Episodes Left.