After the prison's fall in season 4 of The Walking Dead, Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Tara (Alanna Masterson), in their search for Maggie (Lauren Cohan), encountered a trio of individuals who would make a huge impact on the series.
Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz), Eugene Porter (Josh McDermitt), and Rosita Espinosa (Christian Serratos) were a tight-knit group who met up in Texas and made it their mission to deliver Eugene, a self-proclaimed brilliant scientist, to Washington, D.C. where he would use his knowledge to save the world from the virus. Sadly, this would be found to be a lie.
During the season 5 episode "Self Help," some of Abraham's back story was revealed. The first flashback features someone brutally beating an unknown man with a can of food. As the camera pans out, viewers see that it is Abraham doing the beating; a bit of foreshadowing, perhaps? He stands and stomps on the throat of the already beaten man, killing him. This is all witnessed by his family.
During the beginning of the outbreak, Abraham, his wife Ellen (Andrea Moore), their children A.J. (Drake Ethan Light) and Becca (unknown), and their neighbors took shelter in a grocery store. One day, after returning from a supply run, Abraham discovered his wife was raped by several of the men. This led to him brutally killing four of them in the presence of his family.
Abraham's military service and the experiences he encountered in the Middle East hardened him, and despite his appearance as a family man, he did harbor brutal and malicious tendencies. His aggressive behaviors negatively affected his family life, and when his family witnessed his unhinged killing of four men, they fled out of fear.
After he discovered the departure of his family, he went in search of them only to find they had been devoured by walkers. This led him to attempt suicide, an act which was stopped when he heard screams from Eugene, who was being pursued by walkers. He saved him, and this is when Eugene first told him the lie about being able to save the world.
Cudlitz did an incredible in his portrayal of Abraham, a character first featured in the comics created by Robert Kirkman.
Check out these stories and more on Undead Walking:
Follow Undead Walking on Twitter (X) and Facebook and sign up for the once-daily Undead Walking newsletter to avoid missing out on everything in The Walking Dead universe.