Episode 5: "Self-Help"
Wow, it seems we barely got started and we're already closing in on the mid-season finale. Just three more episodes before the long, excruciating winter break.
True to the form this season has presented thus far, this episode focused entirely on the group on the bus en-route to DC... so yes, another DoD episode. We see flashbacks to give us history on Abraham's family (no surprise they were all killed) and find out that Abe and Rosita are hooking up in the steamiest sex scene we've seen since Season 3, prompting Chris Hardwick to coin the phrase "50 Shades of GrAbraham". As was spoiled by sneak-peeks weeks ago, fairly early on in the episode the group loses the bus in a violent crash and is left to find alternate transportation, at which point Eugene makes a startling confession that comic readers knew was coming. He is no scientist; he just used his higher-than-average intelligence (go nerds) to formulate a plan of survival that included convincing stronger people that they needed to protect him. Except for those of his old group that were killed in the process and placing some of our survivors in the path of harm in the process, it's actually a pretty good idea.
Maggie and Glenn are giving each other hope by speculating that Rick & crew reunited with Daryl and Carol in time to follow right behind them. To be honest, it would have been nice to see something of our main group. A lot of fans feel like this single-focus episode approach is too reminiscent of Season 3's dual-campus issues (wherein the episodes that were too focused on Woodbury bored a lot of the casual audience since those characters were not our emotional focus though they were necessary for the story). It does tend to slow the pacing though this episode did cover a lot of ground in story telling to help make up for that. After last week we heard a lot of people kvetch about how they didn't care if it could be setting us up for some big conflict or reveal at the mid-season, they just don't care enough about Beth to spend a whole episode on her and felt last week was a major let-down. We needed a pick-me-up which this episode provided by way of posing more questions although we're still anxious to catch up with the main group... what now? Eugene's confession nullifies the direction we've had since meeting Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita last season, so do we keep heading toward DC anyway? How do we get everyone reunited now that they're 20 miles apart and the plan has changed? There are a lot of loose ends to tie up before that can happen, not the least of which being that Morgan's still out there... somewhere.
Next week promises to be the one everyone's been waiting for... what happens to Daryl and Carol after they jump in the car and drive off. This is where we will make the most significant progress toward getting the group back together and headed toward a unified destination since Rick & crew are just waiting for them so they can leave to catch up with the DC bus. The sneak peeks are intriguing but likely full of red herrings, so we look forward to a compelling episode that again leaves us aching for more.
We blew in and out of Terminus so fast that the fall of the prison was really the last major jolt we really got (and the last major death with Hershel, Bob being a newer "redshirt" notwithstanding though upsetting), and that was almost a full season ago (mid-season 4 finale). One thing is for sure: something must be in the works for the mid-season finale to knock us out of our chairs that we don't see coming.
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