Who Did Negan Kill? The Case for Eugene

Call this a shameless attempt to amass views on my blog and I will not blame you. The internet buzz has dulled to a low hum but people still wonder; who did Negan kill? I've not been shy about how displeased I was with the finale of The Walking Dead. Put simply I did not like it, but you know who I do like? Eugene.

That lying faux scientist is one the best parts of the show. Watching his transition from helpless dead weight to somewhat serviceable member of the group has been one of the brightest spots for me as a viewer and fan. I think one of the reasons Eugene remains one of my favorite characters is that he reminds me of myself. Granted I'm not quite as intelligent or well spoken as that mullet having god but I'm certainly out of shape and prone to saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. What I'm saying is that if I were a member of Rick's group I'd be less useful than the person every viewer hates for being useless.

It is a shame then that Eugene has to die. Or does he? Well he probably does. Looking at it strictly from a narrative point of view Eugene's story arch is just about complete. The only thing it is missing is a barbwire baseball bat to the dome. Eugene has been on a roller coaster of character development ever since it was revealed that he in fact has no idea how to cure the zombie apocalypse. Of course at first no one really liked or respected him, he has slowly been building his way back up and working to get into the good graces of characters and audience members alike.

As he has said himself, he wants to move on to level two. In the finale he had officially graduated to the next level of badassery. He has proven himself useful to the group, providing perhaps the most valuable asset Rick could have on the brink of war... bullets. He has studied how to forge bullets and is ready to help the group out by supplying them with a possible advantage over the Savoirs. However he was willing to pass that knowledge onto the group and sacrifice himself so that they could get Maggie to safety. Make no mistake that move was a suicide play, Eugene had no intention of surviving. He did however survive. For the time being anyways if he is to die at the hands of Negan it would be tragic and provide the show with enough of a gut punch to get viewers upset but not enough to alienate people. That is why I think we could be saying good bye to the mullet come season seven.

Thoughts on The Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 5 "Self Harm"

The Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 5

I’ll be honest I’m not a fan of these standalone episodes, with season 4 episode 14 “The Grove” being the exception. The Walking Dead is billed as an ensemble drama, but for some reason the show insists on taking these detours which feature only a few characters. This season started out really strong with three episodes featuring a large cast and multiple stories going on with the action moving quickly. However we've moved away from that in the past two episodes (And the next one based on the preview) and this is what we’re stuck with. With all that being said, I really did enjoy the last night’s episode “Self Harm” I think if they embrace the “LOST” style of flashing back to a previous time for one character to give us more backstory, and character development these standalones (This isn't a word, but I don't really care) will become more palatable.

But let’s talk about the important part of the episode, the boning!

Oh, not the boning?

Oh right… Eugene has a secret. 

He’s not a scientist, instead he’s just a guy who is pretty smart, and reasoned that his best chance for survival is to pretend that he holds the cure to the zombie apocalypse, thus convincing strong people to escort him to Washington. Why Washington? Well he thinks that if any place in the country would be equipped to withstand an apocalyptic event it would be the nation’s capital. Not terrible logic I suppose, it will be interesting to see if the group still heads towards Washington, or if they stay in the Atlanta area. This is a game changer and we’ll have to wait and see where the show goes from here. It was a great moment, but I’m a little concerned that it will take the wind out of the sails of the season. Before Eugene dropped his bombshell we had a clear trajectory of the season, they were going to Washington, the nightmare was coming to an end, and things were going to change. Now that this secret is out its unclear where the characters are going to go, and what they are going to do.

I have a confession, much like Eugene I’ve not be completely forth right with my friends. What I mean by that is when I’ve talked about the show with my friends and family I’ve had to try and dance around the discussion of Eugene’s cure. I’m an avid fan of the comic books, so I knew that there was a strong chance that Eugene was lying (granted the show strays from the source material quite a bit so I really couldn’t be sure) I do apologize to everyone for that, hope we can still be friends… please don’t punch me in the face!

 -Brian Meagher