A powerful episode shows us the early history of Ford and Porter. Ford finally cracks; Porter tells us what we already knew.

Title: “Self Help”

Cast and Crew

Directed by
Written by

Michael Cudlitz as Sgt. Abraham Ford
Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter
Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa
Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee
Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene
Alanna Masterson as Tara Chambler

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

The shortbus crashes near a small town. Ford finally cracks; Porter tells us what we already knew.

Where do we go from here?

High Point

This episode represents an apotheosis for three characters who seemed too cartoony to be real: we see the human behind the façade. And while we still need to explore Rosita, Christian Serratos was as strong as anyone this week.

Low Point

The firehose proved a little more effective on the walking dead than seems likely. Why don’t they get back up? Zombies, so far as we know, don’t drown.

The Scores

Originality: 3/6

Effects: 6/6

Story: 5/6 The timelines work well together. Even if we don’t learn everything about Abraham Ford’s past, we understand his need to belief in Eugene Porter, and we see what happens when he loses his faith.

Acting: 6/6

Emotional Response: 5/6 “Self Help” gave us character-driven humor along with the horror and revelations.

Production: 5/6

Overall: 5/6

In total, “Self Help” receives 35/42