Recap / The Walking Dead S05 E05 "Self Help"

Season 5, Episode 5

Self Help

Abraham pushes his group forward on the journey to Washington, while Eugene tries to see a way out.

Having left the church after their encounter with the Hunters, Abraham is driving Father Gabriel's bus along their marked path to Washington, D.C. The group relaxes and begins to joke with each other while passing a small herd of walkers on the road. That is, until the engines give out, causing the bus to go pop a wheelie and crash on its side. The noise attracts the herd of walkers they had just passed, who quickly surround the crashed bus.

In a Flashback, Abraham remembers how he his wife, Ellen, and children fled after he killed multiple men during a scavenging mission at a supermarket. As he searches for them afterwards, he finds them hiding under a counter, shaking in fear after his killing spree. Much to his despair, they won't even let him come near them...

In the present, Abraham wakes up, having gone momentarily unconscious. Several walkers have surrounded the bus, and the group quickly hashes out a plan to escape while Tara protects Eugene. Before they exit the bus, Tara gives Eugene a knife for his protection and indicates he may need to protect himself, and in the ensuing fight, he manages to stab (but not kill) a walker sneaking up on Tara before the latter dispatches it. The rest of the group dispatches the walkers and pauses to take a breath, but are shocked to see that the bus has has caught on fire.

Realizing their first aid kit and some supplies are lost, Abraham is disappointed but otherwise unfazed, and orders the group to press on. When Eugene suggests returning to the church, Abraham snaps at him, prompting Glenn to reaffirm his trust in Abraham and say that he'll keep going if the former wants to. Abraham takes a moment before agreeing, and the group presses on, eventually setting up camp for the night inside a boarded-up bookstore.

While changing guard, Abraham thanks Glenn for sticking to his promise to follow him all the way to Washington, and they discuss how strong the group has become and how things will get better. Later on, while Abraham and Rosita have sex, they spy Eugene watching them from behind a bookshelf. Eugene later reveals to Tara that he sabotaged the bus before they left the church, but had intended for the bus to never be able to start, not for them to crash on the road. Appalled, Tara sternly warns Eugene to never pull such an act of sabotage again, seeing as it almost got them all killed.

The next morning, Rosita and Maggie try to convince Abraham to stay in town for the day to scavenge supplies, but Abraham still refuses, claiming that every day they wait, more people will die. He then reveals that he's found a fire truck with plenty of water in its tanks near a fire station outside. Outside, the group manages to start the truck up and Abraham expresses happiness that things are going his way, but the act of moving the truck out unleashes a pack of walkers that were trapped within the station inside. The group moves to attack, but Eugene comes to the rescue by climbing atop the engine and opening fire on the walkers with the engine's water hose, causing them to tear apart. Delighted, Abraham gets to work on fixing the engines so they can roll out.

In another flashback, Abraham tries to speak to his wife and kids, who are all terrified of him. He assures them that he took care of the men threatening them, but the next morning, he discovers that his family is gone, with a note telling him not to try and find them. He finds them a short while later, having been consumed by walkers after having attempted to obtain a vehicle. In desperation, Abraham goes to shoot himself in the head, but is interrupted by the arrival of Eugene, who is running from a trio of walkers and begs for help. Abraham goes back and kills the walkers and tries to head back to his family's remains, but Eugene asks him to stop, telling him he has an important mission he needs to complete...

Back in the present, the the fire truck breaks down again shortly after they leave town. Abraham hums while fixing the engines as the rest of the group stands guard, while Maggie makes small talk with Eugene by suggesting that he sports a mullet because people believe he's something he's not, and the hairstyle represents his true self.

A horrible stench blows through the area, causing the group to reel in response. The group walks up a nearby hill to scout the area... only to find a vast stretch of land completely overrun with a massive herd of walkers, including the one road through. The group tries to convince Abraham to turn back to find another way around the death trap, but Abraham stubbornly refuses to turn around, ordering them to push forward through the walker herds. Eugene's objection gets him a throttling from Abraham, and the group erupts into chaos as they try to calm down Abraham. Amongst the chaos, Eugene shouts, "I'm not a scientist!"

Eugene reveals that he doesn't know how to end the apocalypse, and that he's been lying simply to get protection from the walkers. He does admit that he believes Washington is still their best bet at security, believing that he was doing any traveling companions a favor by traveling with them there. The group is in shock and despair, hurt that people died trying to get him to Washington for nothing. Eugene tearfully admits his guilt at that, but says the wrong thing to a fuming Abraham when he once again asserts his superior intelligence. Abraham snaps and lays into Eugene, rendering him non-responsive before he's pulled away by the others.

The others panic over Eugene's non-responsive body, while Abraham collapses to the ground a small distance away, weeping.

Tropes:

• Actually Pretty Funny: In a good mood after Eugene's water-takedown of the walkers, Abraham has a good laugh about a message that was scribbled on the pavement: "Sick inside. Let them die."
• Adaptation Name Change: The name of Abraham's late wife in the comics was Beth. Since there's already a main character named Beth in the show, it was changed to Ellen.
• All for Nothing: Invoked by Rosita, when she points out that multiple people (including several they knew before meeting Rick's group) died trying to get Eugene to Washington, which has been rendered pointless because of his admission.
• Alone Among the Couples: Eugene and Tara to the Abraham/Rosita and Glenn/Maggie couples.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: While coming clean about his lies about being part of the Human Genome Project, Eugene admits that he lied about the Project's director liking his mullet, explaining he never met the man.
• Battle Couple: Abraham and Rosita.
• Combat Medic: Rosita is revealed to have some basic medical skills, including stitching wounds and field dressing. She uses this to stitch Abraham's wound with the string from a book spine, and tells him that she learned the skills from two slain members of their former camp.
• Consummate Liar: Turns out Eugene had been lying to Abraham since they met.
• Covert Pervert: Averted; Abraham and Rosita are well aware that Eugene is watching them have sex, but it doesn't bother them too much. Tara on the other hand catches a quick peek.
• A Day in the Limelight: For Abraham and Eugene.
• Despair Event Horizon: In the flashbacks, Abraham falls into this once he discovers his family abandoned him and were later killed by walkers, to the extent that he tries to commit suicide before Eugene's presence shakes him out of it and gives him something to live for. It happens again at the end of the episode, when he breaks down crying after Eugene admits he isn't a scientist.
• Determinator: Abraham, who won't even be stopped by a herd of walkers so massive they stretch as far as the eye can see.
• Downer Ending: Eugene lied about having a cure for the apocalypse, and the group has no way to progress through a massive field of walkers.
• Driven to Suicide / Interrupted Suicide: In flashback, Abraham puts a gun to his head after finding his family (who had already abandoned him and told him not to follow) eaten by walkers. Eugene's arrival snaps him out of it.
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Leader: Abraham.
  • The Lancer: Rosita.
  • The Big Guy: Maggie.
  • The Smart Guy: Eugene and Glenn, but after The Reveal, Glenn takes this role far better than Eugene ever could have.
  • The Heart: Tara.
• The Heart: Glenn makes an effort to make sure Abraham is okay after he explodes in anger after Eugene suggests returning to the church.
• Heh Heh, You Said "X": Abraham and Rosita are amused that Eugene's spying on them from the self-help section.
• Heroic BSoD: The group hits it when Eugene reveals his deception, but no one hits it more than Abraham.
• Hope Spot: The Episode. The group is motivated to continue to Washington, even though Abraham is being mentally and physically pushed to his limits. It isn't until the group encounters a massive herd in the road and Eugene finally admits his deception that Abraham loses hope again.
• It Gets Easier: Used when Abraham discusses how strong the group has become, and how they've run into humans who have tried to kill them.
• Manly Tears: Abraham gets them both in his flashbacks, and at the end of the episode when he learns Eugene has no way to save the human race.
• Mood Whiplash: The episode starts inside Father Gabriel's bus, and everyone is loosening up and cracking jokes and smiling… suddenly the bus crashes and they're surrounded by a herd of walkers they had just passed.
• Named by the Adaptation: Abraham's children were nameless characters in the comics. Here, they were named A.J. and Becca.
• Non-Action Guy: Though Tara helps him start to grow out of it, Eugene reveals he's lied about needing to get to Washington because he knows he needs protection in the apocalypse.
• Not So Above It All: Having chewed out Eugene for watching Abraham and Rosita have sex, Tara goes back to spy on them for a few moments afterwards.
• Not So Stoic: Eugene's stoic facade melts during this episode when on the front lines against walkers, and when he has an emotional breakdown, confessing his lies.
• Odd Friendship: Tara forms one with Eugene. Until The Reveal.
• The Peeping Tom: Eugene watches Abraham and Rosita having sex, apparently not for the first time.
• Posthumous Character: Abraham's family.
• Protectorate: Eugene lied to Abraham, Rosita, and all of their fallen friends just to get this from them.
• The Reveal: Eugene had been lying about knowing a way to save humanity since he met Abraham.
• Rule of Symbolism: The wound Abraham has on his hand (likely caused during the escape from Terminus) continues to re-open and bleed, symbolizing how he is still remembering his family and reopening the "old wounds" in his memories.
• Sanity Slippage: Abraham is shown heading down this route, plagued by memories of his family and refusing to listen to advice. By the time the group discovers the herds blocking their path to Washington, Abraham begins talking to himself, clearly ignoring everything else happening around him.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Abraham's wife and children abandoned him, terrified of him after he brutally wiped out a group of people who had attacked them.
• Second Love: Rosita is revealed to be this to Abraham, after his wife was killed after abandoning him.
• Shout-Out: After yet another motorized ride bites the dust, Tara suggests they find bicycles because "bikes don't explode".
• Too Much Information: How Glenn feels when Abraham casually mentions he's going to have sex with Rosita before he goes to sleep.
• Took a Level in Badass: Eugene makes his first kill-assist in this episode, then turns the fire engine's water cannons on the walkers, wiping out a sizable pack for the group.
• Wham Line: "I'm not a scientist!"