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‘The Walking Dead’ Season 7: Eugene’s Genome Project To Fool Negan Like Abraham?

By Tony Smejek
Published on: 05:34 PST, Feb 27, 2017

The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 11 introduced Eugene to Negan’s complex and the “smarty-pants” reintroduced his “Human Genome Project” story. This appears to be a move that pays ode to Abraham. Of course, the flashback episode introducing the two show veterans confirmed how Eugene was just making it all up.

The show seems to be sprouting these “fake it ’till you make it” scenarios quite a few times. Another examples is the Governor’s exile from Woodbury, which had introduced Tara to this monstrosity of a man. She was bought into it when she encountered Rick’s group at the prison.

Carol put on a pretty good act when the Saviors encountered her leaving Alexandria, but she couldn’t fool King Ezekiel. She also had a good cover when she was introduced to the Senator at Alexandria by portraying little Miss Suzie Homemaker and her delicious cookies.

So there does seem to be a common theme here when others revert back to their former lives/portrayals.

If Abraham bought into Eugene’s story, will Negan do the same? At the end of Season 7’s Episode 11, he may have the leader of the Saviors completely fooled. However, since Negan probably had him convinced that Rick didn’t give him much of a purpose in Alexandria, Eugene could be very well content at the Sanctuary.

Did Eugene turn to the dark side toward the end when he was all in by saying “I am Negan,” or is he blending in like a wild card to garner their trust? Entertainment Weekly interviewed Josh McDermitt with regard to The Walking Dead’s Episode 11 “Hostiles and Calamities” and mentioned that even the set crew wonders where the show is going with Eugene.

Andrew Lincoln is starting to like how they are taking aim at McDermitt’s character in Season 7.

“I have ideas, but I’m not going to share those. These are secrets that I need to keep as an actor. Because everyone was asking me, even on set, they’re like, ‘WHOA!’ Andrew Lincoln said it was one of his favorite episodes of the series. He would call me or text me just about every day. He’s like ‘Really, seriously, what’s up? Has Eugene crossed over?'”

Interestingly enough, Josh does not want to know until right up to where he needs to portray the character.

“I even told [showrunner] Scott Gimple, ‘Don’t tell me, because if I know then I’m going to start playing that kind of direction and I don’t want to.'”

But will this all come to a head if he encounters Rick and other the colonies “Rising Up” against this band of terrors? How many people on the inside will rise up against Negan?

The Walking Dead leaves people guessing as to whether peoples’ stripes may change. Negan was questioning Dwight in that regard. Some people from the Sanctuary could only probably endure so much of that community until completely going AWOL. Negan is quite aware about the possibility of an attack since Daryl had run off.

Eugene is indeed an enigma as he’s kind of see-sawed a bit when showing utter cowardice versus times when he had proven himself. The fog of the post-apocalyptic environment really tests people on how they would do in uncertain situations, and it’s hard to figure out what peoples’ motives are in this kind of society.

The Walking Dead’s Eugene character may be personifying it best when it comes to adapting to an uncertain situation. He even acknowledged this since repairing the Saviors’ radio back in Alexandria.

For the writers, it would make more sense that Eugene could be utilizing his lying against Negan regarding what kind of credentials he holds as well as the so-called work on the “Human Genome Project.” After all, getting ensconced on the inside would be a powerful tool for Rick and his prospective colonial warriors.

What makes The Walking Dead so appealing is the fact they tend to tie into former lives of these individuals and then utilize their history during current events. It seems the appeal of the show continues as this dynamic is quite prominent.

To see how Eugene and his “Human Genome Project” unfolds, continue to watch AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 7 every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST.

[Featured Image by Gene Page/AMC]

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