It was an odd editing choice, but we finally got to learn a bit about Abraham Ford on this week's episode of The Walking Dead . A series of abrupt flashbacks showed what I assume to be Abraham's family at the start of the Walker outbreak in Texas. Turns out, he had a wife named Ellen and kids named A.J. and Becca. We first saw Abraham killing someone, a living someone, and then returning to tell his family that they were OK now. The three of them were hidden and cowering in the grocery store where they lived, so clearly the human Abraham killed was bad news.
Later, Abraham woke up to find them missing, and discovered their bodies outside. Distraught, he was about to take his own life. At that moment, Eugene stumbled on the scene, pursued by walkers. Abraham took out some of his aggression on the undead, and then Eugene convinced him to not leave him because he was on "an important mission." That mission, as we know now, was to go allegedly to Washington and cure the virus.
So now we know why Abraham is so attached to "not a scientist" Eugene Porter. He gave Abe a sense of purpose and a reason to live. Eugene's admission of deceit must have shook him hard. Eugene represented hope for Abraham in a way that's more personal than most.
If you watched The Talking Dead, the actor who plays Abraham, Michael Cudlitz, explained a bit of the context behind these flashbacks to Chris Hardwick and the audience. It was a nod to the character's comic book history. He explained that the people Abraham killed were his neighbors, and they attacked and abused his family while he was out on a supply run. The family left because they saw how much Abraham had been changed by killing and feared him too. That's devastating!
At the end of the episode, Abraham almost killed Eugene when he came out as a liar. However, I have to wonder if the fact that Abraham owes his life to Eugene won't come back into play. Part of him has to recognize that Eugene isn't all bad. Right?
Image: Gene Page/AMC
