Sunday night's "The Walking Dead" showed a whimpering Eugene with a sack over his head being delivered to Negan's camp as a blubbering mess. Lucky for Eugene that Negan discovers that he now has someone with a brain in his midst, which is buying Eugene an important place in the bizarre sanctuary that Nagen has amassed. It didn't take any time at all for Eugene to become "Negan" when he was asked his name. It also didn't take him long for him to figure out how things worked around Negan's village after being dubbed the new Dr. Smartypants.
Dr. Smartypants is born
One of the most enticing things for Eugene to come across in Sunday night's "The Walking Dead" episode is when he was given a choice of anything at all he wanted to eat. That was probably the second time Eugene perked up since being delivered to Negan's sanctuary. The first bit of relief was seen when Eugene thought he was being led to a cell or a dark holding room only to find his quarters were quite the place of comfort.
Gifted pickles
Smartypants held onto that humongous jar of pickles that he was "gifted" like it was a lifeline of some sort. As for the people Eugene has met within the walls of Negan's community, they all say they are Negan, but are they Negan?
The New York Times asks the same thing in a recent article after "The Walking Dead" season 7, episode 11 aired on Sunday night - "Are they really Negan?"
Not everyone is Negan
The people in the sanctuary are scared of Negan and for a good reason. He snuffs out life in a blink of the eye. Look at the poor doctor this week, who was set up by Dwight.
He threw the guy into the furnace after he first made him confess to something he didn't do, by using some brute force. Negan's wives were sent to entertain Eugene, and they worked him into believing they had a friendship so he would help them in their venture.
Poison pill
The wives led Eugene into believing they needed a suicide pill for one of the wives who was going to kill herself no matter what.
When he finally agreed and asked how much the girl weighed, so the poison pill would kill a person of that size, they told him the weight. Once they gave him the weight, they then asked if he would make two of the poison pills, which gave Eugene a clue as to what they really planned to do with the poison pills.
Eugene figured out pretty quickly that they were planning to kill Negan with those pills, as the girl weighed much less than Negan. He realized the two pills were to kill someone else who weighed much more and that would be Negan. Eugene decided they weren't going to get the pills. Dr. Smartypants wasn't about to hand them over, especially after witnessing the doctor cook in the furnace because Negan thought he betrayed him.
Dr. Smartypants was witty enough for a comeback when the girls tried to blackmail him into giving them the pills.
They said they would go to Negan and tell him that Eugene made pills to kill him. Eugene was quick on the draw and let the girls know it is his word against them. He knew he would win out if it came down to them against him. He told them that they were replaceable, but he wasn't - this changed the girl's attitudes.
Negan's world to crumble?
Eugene was really good at role playing in the beginning of "The Walking Dead" series, making up a story of his importance and getting Abraham's protection while escorting him to save the world. The fictitious story was what Eugene used to keep himself alive when he first joined "The Walking Dead." He conjured up fantasy very well back then while play-acting the role.
Now Negan has forced Eugene into another bit of role-playing, and while it doesn't look too bad right now, Negan just deemed him the new doctor for the compound - Dr. Smartypants.
What's Eugene up to?
This means he expects Eugene to step in for the dead doctor. What is that going to look like when Eugene is called upon for his first medical emergency. That should be something to see. Will Eugene be Negan's new best friend or take him down?
