Oh dear. Abraham, you should take some anger management classes or something. If such a thing were to somehow exist during the zombie apocalypse. Crap. Let's just do the plot thing.
Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, Tara, Glenn and Maggie are all traveling on the bus, when suddenly it crashes due to engine damage. They all manage to escape before Walkers can overrun them entirely, and they end up hiding in a nearby library. That night, Tara catches Eugene watching as Abraham and Rosita have sex. Eugene confesses that he sabotaged the engine to the bus, due to his fear that the group will reject him unless he really can save the world. Tara assures him that they'll stick by him no matter what.
The next day, the group finds a firetruck that they can use to continue on their way, but as they move it, a hoard of Walkers emerge from a nearby building. Eugene uses the pressurized hose to knock down the Walkers. The group continues towards DC, but they see that the road is blocked by a huge hoard of Walkers. Most of the group suggests that they find another route, but Abraham insists that they can make it through, and that he's tired of making detours. Abraham tries to grab Eugene and force him into the truck to keep going, and a fight breaks out. In desperation, Eugene blurts out the truth: he's not a scientist. He made the whole thing up because he thought it was his best chance to get people to help him to DC, where he believe the best shelters will be available for survival.
Abraham, enraged, hits Eugene, knocking him to the ground and injuring him severely. As the others try to see what they can do for Eugene, Abraham falls to his knees in despair.
Throughout the episode, we get a series of flashbacks, which show Abraham brutally killing a group of men who were threatening his family. His wife and two children are clearly terrified of him. The next morning, Abraham wakes up to find that his family has left, with a note saying not to follow. As he goes outside, he discovers that they have been killed by Walkers. Abraham decides to take his own life, but just before he pulls the trigger, he hears someone calling for help. It's Eugene. Abraham kills the Walkers that were pursuing Eugene. Eugene then tells him that he has an important mission. (This loops us back around to how Abraham started his journey with Eugene towards DC).
Okay. Complaints?
Well, I suppose it's not fair to criticize the episode for not having my favorite characters in it. I want Daryl and Carol! Or Beth! Or all of them! But setting that aside, I do have a couple of quick things to mention...
The flashbacks were a little bit strange. I wasn't totally clear, for example, of when all of this was happening at first. When Abraham was killing those men, I didn't know at first if they were Walkers or people, and since we didn't see what they did to provoke Abraham's wrath, I was a bit confused until I saw the other flashbacks. It's a small thing, but still worth mentioning.
The sex scene was a bit... weird. If they were trying to show us that Eugene is not neuro-typical, then I don't think they needed to show him creeping on two people having sex to get that across. It felt like an excuse to see some nudity.
Mostly, though, this was a solid episode. It made me care about these people (Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene) in a way that I haven't really cared about them thus far.
So, the twist. I mean... I've sort of known for a while now that there was something fishy about Eugene. I pretty much suspected that he was lying about his solution. However, I guess I always sort of thought that he must just be lying about it being a certainty. Maybe he had some idea, but just not all the answers. Instead, we learn that he was just completely lying. He's not even a scientist! Yikes. This was quite a wrench in the proceedings. You could really tell how the truth affected everyone.
The flashbacks, while perhaps a bit flawed, did do a very good job of explaining Abraham, and of showing how much he depended on this mission with Eugene. Without this ultimate purpose to drive him, he's going to revert back into that scary violence that we saw when he killed those men... and where will that leave Rosita and Eugene? (If Eugene is even going to survive, that is...)
Maggie and Glenn had a couple of nice quiet moments together, which we haven't seen in some time, so that was good.
But, I think my favorite parts of the episode were the conversations between Tara and Eugene, and then latter Maggie and Eugene. Both of these women seem really aware that Eugene is a little bit different, when it comes to social interactions. The show doesn't diagnose the character outright, and I certainly don't claim any expertise, but it would seem that he might be somewhere on the Autism spectrum. Both Tara and Maggie put in special effort to make sure he knows he has friends, and a community that will support him. Of course, that just makes the truth hurt all the more, when it comes out.
Oh, one last thing - the firetruck scene? Classic.
Until next time!
8.5/10
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