The Walking Dead - Self Help - Review and Discussion

So the cat’s out of the bag. The mystery behind the mullet was finally mentioned. That, and Eugene confessed that he had made up the whole story about having a cure to the walker disease.

But first, priorities being priorities, let’s address the mullet. We don’t waste much time before Glenn asks Eugene the question many fans were waiting for someone to ask: “Why the hair?”  Eugene makes a connection to Samson – the biblical figure whose strength was in his hair. Maggie later brings up the Samson reference. She tells Eugene that she thinks he has the haircut that he does because he’s not the person people think he is, and that Eugene doesn’t want people to know who he is.

And that segues nicely into the big secret that Eugene has been carrying around, and that is that he made up the story about knowing how to cure what’s wrong with the world. This was a pretty big reveal, as I counted eight people, plus Bob (as Eugene was listing them off), who have died trying to get Eugene to Washington.

In the comic books, Eugene’s story is also a hoax.  There was the possibility that the TV series might have gone in a different direction, but I didn’t believe it would, mainly because I didn’t see how this storyline could be true. This is not a show about science. Aside from the flimsy explanation from the CDC’s Dr. Jenner about the virus causing part of the brain to restart after death, there’s very little scientific logic to this story. Instead, we have a tale about the dead walking the earth and how people are coping – a tale of human nature with spiritual overtones and religious symbolism. The resolution, in my opinion, has to be spiritual in the end.  It has to be about people, not about science.

We also learned from Eugene that he had sabotaged the bus. I guess we can assume that he intentionally shot their own truck last season as well.

Coping Mechanisms

The episode Self Help is a powerful study of the coping mechanisms of two characters who have remained largely unexplored up until now.

Looking at the coping mechanisms is an interesting lens to examine the character stories. They’ve all seen their lives uprooted to the extent of having most of their loved ones killed in horrific ways. They’ve lost their old lives, and they’re facing a new world where people are murderers, cannibals, and rapists, and are arguably the biggest threat they face. While all of the coping mechanisms that we have seen have had their own unique angle, many intersect in small or larger ways with those of other characters (for example, both Hershel and Bob turned to alcohol, and both the Governor and Daryl keeping body parts as souvenirs).

In this episode we see Abraham, on the verge of losing control to his need to carry out the mission of getting Eugene to Washington at all costs. With the aid of flashbacks, we witness the critical moments that shaped how Abraham had gotten to the place he's at now. We also see how Eugene’s low self-confidence and his fear that no one would help him drove him to lie to the group.

While both Eugene’s and Abraham's approaches are new to us, in some aspects they both parallel coping mechanisms that we have seen before.  We hear from Eugene that he believes that without his mission, he has no value to the group. He confides that his talents are that he’s smart and he’s a good liar. While he doesn’t have the courage or the fighting skills that most of the survivors have been shown to have, he capitalizes on the talents that he does have.

By using random facts he knows, and by lying, Eugene is able to convince other people to protect him. Eugene’s actions mirror those of Dr. Edwards, whom we met last week. Like Eugene, Edwards is someone who isn't strong enough to make his own way in the world, but uses the skills he has (in his case medicine) to make himself valuable to the group so that they will protect him. Like Eugene, he also uses deception to keep his place when it is threatened.

Through Abraham's flashbacks we see a very violent man smashing a living person’s head in an attempt to save his family. The violence, however, scares his wife and children and they sneak off, and they’re killed. The thing that stops Abraham from killing himself, that gives him a way of coping with the truth, is having a mission. And this becomes an obsession.

Abraham’s backstory took me back to season two. It reminded me in some ways of Shane’s story. Shane had a surrogate family to protect, and this drove him to violence. His night scavenging for medical supplies with Otis, in an effort to save Carl, was the catalyst that turned him into a killer. We learned that after the world had fallen apart, he had clung to the mission of saving Lori and Carl as a way of making sense of it all. In season two he tells Rick that with everything falling apart, having Lori and Carl in his life was the one good thing. “I didn’t keep Lori and Carl alive. They kept me alive.”

In rewatching the series this summer, it occurred to me that Shane never would have become as obsessed as he had, had the world stayed normal. For Shane, having the mission to protect Lori and Carl was as much a coping mechanism for dealing with the loss of the world as was believing the walkers could be saved for Hershel, or holding on to the idea of staying civilized for Dale.

Other Thoughts:

- The firetruck had a really cool factor. Who else was extremely disappointed (like levels of disappointment you would expect from a 12-year-old level) when it didn’t get further than it did?

- Eugene watching Abraham and Rosita from the Self-Help section was funny.  Seriously though, Rosita must be tired of always being objectified by someone. She must be the most patient person in the world.

- Best quote of the night goes to Tara when she tells Eugene: “Welcome to the human race, asshole.”

- Runner up for best quote of the night goes to Abraham: “Every direction is a question.” This works on a macro-level (there no clear path for these survivors) and a micro-level (they don't know where they'll find safe passage). It also hints at where Abraham’s mind is – he doesn’t want to have to think too much about things, because that will mean facing what’s happened.

- Maggie had the perfect opening to confess that she’s worried about Beth and is concerned that they’re leaving Beth behind by going to Washington when she was telling Glenn she feels guilty about moving on. We just needed a few more words ...

- Back in seasons three and four, we used to see messages left behind that spoke to people’s desperation to meet up with loved ones. Now we have messages such as, “Sick inside. Let them die.” The change in tone I think speaks to a hardening of those who are left.

- As the group was arguing about whether to continue through a massive horde of walkers, there’s a sign on the side of the road that reads, “Buckle Up. It’s the law.” The sign struck me as ironic since, first, the episode began with a bus crash, and second, there’s clearly nothing resembling law anymore.

- Who else was really disgusted by the idea of them drinking toilet water? Yes, they were boiling it first, and they’ve probably done much worse things, but still. This was the “yuck” detail of the week.

- I learned something new. Eugene’s haircut, and apparently mullets in general, have another name: the “Tennessee top hat.” I never knew that.

- While I was firmly on the side of Glenn, Maggie, and everyone else who thought Abraham was insane to want to continue through the horde of walkers, I wondered why they were not discussing using some of the camouflage techniques that we know they know. Several times the group has successfully smeared themselves with zombie innards to blend in. Glenn and Rick did it back in season one, so we know Glenn at least was aware of this trick. The other technique was Michonne’s use of pet walkers. This is one of those things that strain credibility with an audience. You can’t have your characters learn something one week and then forget it the next because forgetting it is more convenient for the plot. It’s a common problem with TV writing, but it’s the details that often separate the good shows from the bad.

But with that said, I thought this was very good episode. While not as emotionally heavy as some others – and that’s not always a bad thing – it moved the plot forward and offered character exploration of a couple of character who have mostly remained mysteries up to this point. Plus, it had a couple of jaw-dropping reveals.

I’m going to close this out with a few questions. First, where do you think Abraham goes from here? Is this a turning point where Abraham, like Shane, goes down a dark path? Do we see a broken Abraham? Or does he find new strength and purpose from facing his pain, like Carol or Bob?

Second question is regarding Eugene’s comment that he believes Washington holds the best chance for survival. Do you agree? Where would you head in a zombie apocalypse?

About the Author - Chris684

Chris is a New Englander with a background in print and digital media, who currently earns a living by making web and technology products easier to use. She has a weakness for TV characters who are 'dark and twisty' (to quote Meredith Grey) and reviews The Walking Dead, Legends, Halt and Catch Fire, and Dig for SpoilerTV.

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