The Walking Dead’ recap: Liar liar

Sex, lies, and Tennessee top hats

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  • Courtesy AMC
  • WRONG TURN: Glenn (Steven Yeun) and crew are regretting their decision to head to Washington D.C. with Abraham and Eugene.



Color me not surprised to learn that Eugene (Josh McDermitt) has been full of shit this entire time. It’s not that I don’t trust men who proudly rock Tennessee top hats and claim to be scientists, it’s just that “The Walking Dead” has taught me that chances are, if you have a funny feeling about a character there’s a strong likelihood that sense of skepticism is more than warranted. It is a zombie apocalypse after all, and folks gotta do what they gotta do to survive. Before we can into the big Eugene reveal from “Self Help” that everyone knew was coming, let’s figure out how we got there.

Last week: Grady baby

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On the road to D.C., our short-bus ride seems like any other good road trip. Tara (Alanna Masterson) and Glenn (Steven Yeun) are acting like kids, taking turns making cracks about Eugene’s hair, while Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Rosita (Christian Serratos) are kind of like the parents, getting all touchy feely at the wheel and acting like they can’t wait for the first moment alone without everyone else. Boom! Out of seemingly nowhere the bus flips and crashes and walkers descend upon the wreckage. The crew easily does away with the oncoming horde, but Abraham — having flashbacks involving his wife and two children — has completely lost his shit and is now only speaking in rhymes: 1) “Every direction is a question.” 2) “I am stressed and depressed.”

Naturally, it’s Glenn who talks Abraham off the ledge and the gang takes shelter in a bookstore. Apparently this bookstore brings the freak out in Abraham and Rosita as they proceed to bang it out with Eugene creepily watching on from the “Self Help” section. Tara catches Eugene getting his Peeping Tom on, and during their discussion he admits to planting glass in the fuel line of the bus so they would crash. Tara, too busy not acknowledging the red flag Eugene just waived in her face and trying to get a peek of bookstore sex herself, just skips over this little detail. In other news Glenn and Maggie are kind of sad they left everyone, but are kind of cool with getting their lives somewhat back together.

Haunted by flashbacks of his family Abraham insists the group keeps on with their mission to get Eugene to D.C. so he can save the world. The group grabs a fire truck, but it gives out, leaving time for zombies to attack, but thankfully Eugene grabs a hold of the fire hose and, in arguably the funniest scene of the night, successfully subdues the walkers. As Team D.C. marches on they come across an open field littered with hundreds of walkers. Again, Abraham stresses that the crew press on, but this time around Glenn, and even Abe’s bookstore sex partner Rosita ain’t trying to hear that. While Abraham argues that the group press forward and Glenn suggests taking a detour, the back and forth is just too much for Eugene who has something to get off his chest.

“I’m not a scientist!” Eugene tells everyone.

What we learned is that Eugene’s a con man in that he gets stronger survivors to protect him via his lie that he has a cure to stop the zombie apocalypse, and others can join in on his heroics if they help guide him to D.C. In Eugene’s mind, D.C. provides the best chance of survival, but that’s about as far his saving the world goes. He has no cure. Never did. So yeah, the jig is up. Team D.C. quickly turns into Team Fuck Eugene Up as Abraham beats the faux doctor senseless. It’s here where we get one last flashback: Abraham finds the bodies of his family, and is about to end his own life when he hears Eugene’s voice. The latter’s being attacked by zombies who Abraham quickly kills, and before he can complete his attempted suicide, Eugene stops him with mention of his “very important mission.” Meh, wake me up when this season gets back to rush of those first three eps.

BEST QUOTE
“Party’s getting a little long in the back.” Tara commenting on Eugene’s mullet

WTF MOMENT
The whole sex in the bookstore scene was awk at best.

RANDOM ASIDES
- Looks like next week we’re linking back up with Carol and Daryl. Maybe we’ll learn how Carol ended up at Grady Memorial Hospital with Beth and officer Dawn’s crew.
- We’ve got three episodes left before we hit this season’s halfway mark and take a two month break. Methinks after the lull we hit in these last two episodes next week’s “Consumed” will give season 5 a much-needed boost.