Abraham Ford died a gruesome death back in The Walking Dead's Season 7 premiere, which meant that fans had to say goodbye to actor Michael Cudlitz. He was able to reprise his role for some flashbacks as Sasha remembered him shortly before her death, but the odds are pretty good that we've seen the last of Cudlitz in the present on The Walking Dead. His death doesn't mean his absence from the entire Walking Dead universe, however, as a Fear the Walking Dead Easter egg in the Season 4 midseason finale tied to his character. Here's how Cudlitz reacted to his Fear the Walking Dead Easter egg:
Michael Cudlitz shared his reaction to the Easter egg on Twitter, and it's safe to say that he's not the only one with the "Wtf?!?!?" reaction. The nod to Abraham was so well hidden that plenty of fans may not have even realized it had appeared until Chris Hardwick called attention to it on Talking Dead after the episode. In case you were (understandably) one of the ones who missed it, here's what happened.
In Fear the Walking Dead's midseason finale, Madison was rummaging through many of Althea's tapes. Althea is a careful labeler when it comes to her tapes, and one of them just so happened to be labelled "Abe/Doctor." Yes, Althea apparently crossed paths with Abraham and Eugene at some point in their travels, presumably while Abraham and Eugene were in or around Texas on their journey toward Washington D.C. Rosita's name doesn't appear on the label, so the tape was probably either recorded before Abraham and Eugene picked up Rosita or Rosita simply didn't contribute. Fear the Walking Dead managed to include Abraham in an episode without actually bringing in Michael Cudlitz.
Back before Fear the Walking Dead's big time jump between Seasons 3 and 4, Abraham seemed like a likely candidate to appear on The Walking Dead spinoff series. He began his zombie apocalypse journey in Texas, and it wouldn't have been that much of a stretch to imagine that Abraham got mixed up with the Fear crew before meeting up with Rick and Co. The character to cross over ultimately proved to be Morgan, and the time jump means that a living Abraham can't appear on Fear the Walking Dead in the present.
That said, perhaps the tape could provide a way for Michael Cudlitz to reprise his role as Abraham one more time. Cudlitz and Josh McDermitt could hypothetically get together and film an interview as their characters for Althea, and she could play their interview on Fear the Walking Dead. McDermitt is still working on The Walking Dead as Eugene; maybe Cudlitz could drop by for an afternoon and film an interview. Interestingly, Cudlitz was or is in Atlanta, where The Walking Dead films. He shared this on Twitter:
Could Michael Cudlitz be in Atlanta to secretly film another Fear the Walking Dead Easter egg? Stranger things have happened in The Walking Dead universe, but we'll have to wait and see. Fear the Walking Dead returns for the second half of Season 4 on Sunday, August 12 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. The Walking Dead won't be back until the fall. For your viewing options now that the zombie apocalypse is on a break, be sure to check out our summer TV premiere schedule and our 2018 Netflix guide.
