“It’s gotten to the point where everyone alive is strong now.”

-Abraham-

Episode 5, “Self Help”, was such a mixed bag of emotions, I don’t even know where to begin. It feels like what every fan had anticipated happening down the road was finally exposed with Eugene’s jaw-dropping confession.

Abraham’s true colors were finally brought to the forefront in this episode, and we also learned that Maggie doesn’t think the apocalypse is a big deal anymore. Glenn prevails as one of the most important characters of the show yet again as, much like Beth performing her acts of humility and reason last week, he takes Rick’s philosophy to heart and does everything he can to keep his new group together.

With that in mind, I don’t believe Glenn honestly thought this new mission to solve the walker outbreak would end up succeeding, but rather, I believe that Glenn’s humility allowed him to believe in the greater good, just like Rick had taught him. He acts civilized in order to stay with the woman he loves, very much like Rick had for Lori many times before, and expects others in his group to do the same.

“Self Help” was not as thrilling an episode as I necessarily wanted, but it absolutely changed the complexion of Season 5 in just one hour. Overall, I think it was a very solid week.

In this episode we learn a lot about characters we’ve been wondering about for awhile. We now know why Abraham has this different mentality and have finally learned why Eugene follows his every word. I believe if the show had waited any longer to expose the truths behind both of these characters, viewers who weren’t familiar with The Walking Dead comics may have become bored with the “mission” to DC.

Some other interesting things also happened in this episode, albeit ones that made things a little bit awkward. Like, what the hell was Eugene doing watching Abraham “get some ass”????

To me, it’s just flat-out creepy no matter what angle you may look at it from. Then Tara interrupts Eugene and seems to think nothing of it as she speaks to him! Very, very weird if you ask me.

I think the end to the episode was very fitting for who both Abraham and Eugene were shown to be this week. Eugene deserved a serious beat-down and Abraham was the perfect fit to dish it out.

If you question that logic, go back to the time Eugene named every person that died for his lies. Knowing all those names means he knew what he was doing was wrong but, I have to ask, was he just surviving the only way he knew how? Civilly?

I’m going to leave you with these last few questions: What if Rick was in Abraham’s shoes? Would he snap and beat Eugene, or, does he even believe him from the start? Would he have figured out Eugene’s lie sooner than Abraham?

My answer, personally, is that Rick would have definitely figured things out before Abraham, but I’d like some more opinions on it. Sound off in the comments below. Let me hear it people!!!