Abraham: The Luckiest Man Alive

[eejm]

I can't tell you how chuffed I was when I first saw Michael Cudlitz on the screen, but I do wonder what in the hell makes Abraham take so much faith in Eugene's babbling.  Mullet envy?

[Mattipoo]

I like Michael Cudlitz as an actor and glad he booked such a big role on a popular TV show like TWD, but I wish he didn't have to look the way he does onscreen. The red hair and beard with tight green tank top are not flattering on him at all.

[eejm]

Yeah, it isn't one of his "hotter" roles.  MC doesn't have the coloring for a redhead, and his beard/mustache doesn't seem to have been dyed to match.  I know the hair on a guy's head doesn't always exactly match his facial hair, but knowing that MC is sort of a sandy-blond and seeing his mustache still that color looked kind of sloppy.  I do think the look suits the character, though - Abraham looks like the kind of guy who is military 24/7.

[kj4ever]

Abraham suffers from comic-bookitis.  He may have been a great character in the comic book, but on screen he comes off cartoonish like the Governor did.  I haven't read the comic books, and I don't dig comic books, but some characters just don't translate to the screen.

 

I hope they can make him more human and less caricature in season 5.  

[kikismom]

I just hope they get rid of him; the entire threesome should have been left in the comic.

[kj4ever]

I just hope they get rid of him; the entire threesome should have been left in the comic.

Yep, I don't think any of them translate to the screen.  When I watched the comic con panel my hopes of him dying quickly were dashed when he was a part of the panel.  I couldn't help but think WTF is he doing up there when they could have had other characters that were fleshed out much more on the shorts.

 

Eugene with his mullet, Rosita with her daisy dukes and half tops, and Abraham with ugh just everything....You would think they would realize they don't translate.

[kikismom]

If they wanted a little humor, the fruitpeople were funny and cute and seemed believable.

[kj4ever]

If they wanted a little humor, the fruitpeople were funny and cute and seemed believable.

Absolutely!  I don't understand how they can write characters like that - ones that are instantly engaging and interesting, but then write these characters that are just caricatures of real people.

 

Is it the writing, or is it the actors?

[AngelaHunter]

I've never read the comic books, but as soon we met Abraham, Eugene and Rosita, I felt I was watching a different show. They seem very cartoonish to me. Is Eugene Abraham's barber as well as being the savior of humanity?

[ghoulina]

I felt like that when they first appeared, guns hoisted into the air. But the boys grew on me a bit before the end of the season (Rosita is going to need to rethink her attire or I will just continue to pray that she becomes walker-bait). I'm willing to give them a chance next season. When Michonne first appeared during the season 2 finale, I was all - "What kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer BS is this?". And even during the first half of season 3 I thought she was awful.Now I love her. Characters AND actors have shown remarkable growth on this show, and I am excited to see what we get out of Abe and Eugene next season.

[JBody]

Welp, after tomorrow night this thread'll see some play so lemme get it started.

I call him Sgt. Moobs but I read Yosemite Sideboob this morning which made me larf (Cletus, was that you?).

He's a Bossy McBossyPants but I guess that's 'cos he was in the army.

MC is a pretty good looking dude but I think we can all agree that the traffic cone colour is not flattering.

What else we got?

[AngelaHunter]

The only time I liked Abraham:

 

"Aww, honey, look at you. You're a damned mess."

[kikismom]

I call him Sgt. Moobs but I read Yosemite Sideboob this morning which made me larf (Cletus, was that you?).

 

Sgt. Moobs was good, but I think we all have to give the trophy to Cletus Musashi for Yosemite Sideboob.

I wonder how Rosita feels to have a boyfriend with bigger nipples than she has.

Edited November 8, 2014 by kikismom

[Nashville]

Sgt. Moobs was good, but I think we all have to give the trophy to Cletus Musashi for Yosemite Sideboob.

I wonder how Rosita feels to have a boyfriend with bigger nipples than she has.

 

Moobraham has bigger nipples than ANYBODY, so I expect she's already well down the road toward acceptance.

[GreyBunny]

If they wanted a little humor, the fruitpeople were funny and cute and seemed believable.

 

They should have kept Axel, he was funny!   Even when things are at their darkest he'd still be good for a snappy one-liner.

 

I liked what Abe wrote to Rick on the map.  He's a jerk but he KNOWS he's a jerk and apologized for it, and he put his dick measuring tape away and said DC needs a leader like Rick.

 

I don't mind Abraham and I hope whatever background we get on him tomorrow night will develop the character some.  

Edited November 9, 2014 by GreyBunny

[kikismom]

Moobraham has bigger nipples than ANYBODY, so I expect she's already well down the road toward acceptance.

Can you challenge somebody to a "nipple-off"?

[walnutqueen]

Can you challenge somebody to a "nipple-off"?

 

Isn't that called a wet t-shirt contest?

[JBody]

Yeah GreyBunny! I like a little humour mixed in with my ZA. Gallows humour, I guess it would be. Like what AngelaHunter said, when Sgt Moobies made that observation, I snickered.

[AngelaHunter]

They should have kept Axel, he was funny!

 

Axel was cute! I loved the way you could almost hear the gears and wheels in his head revving when Carol told him she's not a lesbian.

[kikismom]

Axel was cute! I loved the way you could almost hear the gears and wheels in his head revving when Carol told him she's not a lesbian.

I loved when he said that's interesting! and Carol said No it isn't.

[Mu Shu]

Isn't that called a wet t-shirt contest?

Sargent Moobs don't need no damn wet tee shirt.   His man nipples can cut glass.    Wet or dry, he always has his high beams on.   Ugh, I just made myself sick. 

[AngelaHunter]

Ugh, I just made myself sick.

 

I never even noticed the moobs. Now I can't think of anything else. Thanks a lot, gang. *cries*

[walnutqueen]

Sargent Moobs don't need no damn wet tee shirt.   His man nipples can cut glass.    Wet or dry, he always has his high beams on.   Ugh, I just made myself sick. 

 

Oh, how I wish I could remember Holling's quote about Shelly's pseudo-pregnant nipples on Northern Exposure!

[ghoulina]

I just don't get why his hair has to be so obviously FAKE red. Is it red in the comics? Because I didn't think the show was following everything from the comics to a tee. If they can keep dead people alive and vice versa, why do they have to insist on this Bozo look? If it's not a comic thing, it's even more dumbfounding. I actually think Michael Cudlitz is a pretty attractive guy, and after tonight's episode I can finally relate to his character....but my God, that hair is just so damn distracting.

[WordsWordsWords]

It's sort of funny, seeing all the hate directed toward Abraham's hair color. Before mine went grey, it was almost exactly that shade of stab-you-in-the-eye red. And I was born with it. :)

[CletusMusashi]

But did you keep having flashbacks that made it clear you started dying it during a zombie apocalypse?

Also, he was a lot fatter last season than he is now. Or in the flashbacks.

Even if you're living on potato chips and spam, how do you gain that much weight while boxing zombies all day long?

Edited November 10, 2014 by CletusMusashi

[RedheadZombie]

Red hair dye fades pretty quickly.  if he's only getting his roots done every couple of weeks, there's going to be some significant fading going on.  So when it's dyed freshly again - it's flaming red.  Especially in full sunlight.

 

I think the actor did a great job.  I really teared up at the end.  While putting the gun to his head and later dropping to his knees, he portrayed anguish without going over the top and chewing the scenery.  Unlike his usual persona of bravado and swagger.

[ghoulina]

I teared up at the end too! I loved finding out that it was Eugene who first saved HIS life. I thought Cudlitz did a very fine job, and I now care about his character, where I didn't really before. 

[mandolin]

ghoulina, yes his hair is red in the comics. they are black and white though. Only the covers are in color, so theoretically, they could've let it be Cudlitz's natural color.

 

As far as his weight, I know Cudlitz said when he was hired, he didn't have time to get in the shape he wanted to be in before filming, so he's had a chance to slim down some. 

[JBody]

I think the actor did a great job.  I really teared up at the end.  While putting the gun to his head and later dropping to his knees, he portrayed anguish without going over the top and chewing the scenery.  Unlike his usual persona of bravado and swagger.

 

Yup.  I teared up too.  Great stuff.  He's far less of a cardboard cutout now.  I have never read the comics so I wasn't predisposed to being enamoured of this character, but I agree with Ghoulina too: Cudlitz is selling the shit out of this and we are buying it.  DH has not done a single rewatch of the Beth bottle ep, which is unprecedented (I did because... well, it's just what I do) but we are planning on watching this again tonight.  It's not going down in even the top ten eps ever but it was much better than expected.  The flashbacks were really poignant.

[seltzer3]

I'm glad Abraham is getting more dimensions.  I think Cudlitz is a good actor, so he should make it work.  I'm worried about the actors for Rosita and Eugene, because they are both pretty inconsistent, so the relationship between them and Abraham can be kind of questionable.

 

I thought the conversation between Glenn and Abraham was actually a pretty good scene.

[editorgrrl]

I liked what Abe wrote to Rick on the map.  He's a jerk but he KNOWS he's a jerk and apologized for it, and he put his dick measuring tape away and said DC needs a leader like Rick.

 

Someone speculated that Rick will lose the map and Morgan will find it. Why else have a map that points to a location & has Rick Grimes' full name on it?

 

[kikismom]

Oh, how I wish I could remember Holling's quote about Shelly's pseudo-pregnant nipples on Northern Exposure!

"You mean her nipples are as hard as sapphires, she's eating like two horses, her breasts are growing by leaps and bounds---and she's not pregnant?"

[kj4ever]

I haven't actively rooted for a character to have some awful death like I am for Abe since Andrea....

[morgankobi]

Some game apps are going (RED) for charity. Check out Clash of Clans temporary red logo. Anyone look familiar?

[kikismom]

Get to take Brenda Walsh to the Prom? Luckiest man in the world!   ;-O

Edited November 30, 2014 by kikismom

[Tippi Blevins]

When the skies opened up and the drought finally broke, I wanted Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" to play as Abraham's hair color slowly washed away.

[CletusMusashi]

I just figured it out!

Abraham has red/green color blindness.

He's been trying to camouflage himself.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

I've been trying to figure out why you all dislike Abraham so much.  But I think I've got it now; its jealousy.  He's a moobie star, and you're not.

 

Bet he could win the Golden Globes with the right campaign ads.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Abraham Ford = ZA's Carrot Top (without the humor).

 

 

One thing that Abe (and Rick) has going for them... the walkers will get a serious case of hairballs if they try to eat their face.  Seriously would die laughing if they showed a walker or two munching on their lower faces/lips and then having to stop to cough/hack on the hairballs like a cat.

[CletusMusashi]

Hey, is Red Dye #2 toxic to zombies?

[Portia]

Abraham Ford = ZA's Carrot Top (without the humor).

I think Carrot Top = Carrot Top without the humor. Edited February 25, 2015 by Portia

[CletusMusashi]

I'm proud of him. He got through an entire party without slapping one person's drink out of their hand. Or maybe beer and wine are okay with him. It's just water that makes him angry.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

I'm proud of him. He got through an entire party without slapping one person's drink out of their hand. Or maybe beer and wine are okay with him. It's just water that makes him angry.

 

"I swear to God, if Eugene is here and drinking water instead of alcohol, I'm gonna get slappy again!"

 

 

Would have been a good place to break out his Homer Simpson impression.  "hmmmm, beer!"  *but then sees its the one kind he could never stand*  "D'oh!"

[Pete Martell]

This was probably the first episode where I actually liked Abraham and felt that he contributed to the story arc as a whole rather than being grafted on or treated as a character we're supposed to love "just because." I also really liked his interaction with Francine, mainly because she's the first woman on the show he hasn't been patronizing towards. Maybe they're finally finding the groove for Abraham.

 

Some of those closeup shots of him standing around in the sun (before the attack) did remind me of a feminine hygiene ad though.

[AngelaHunter]

This was probably the first episode where I actually liked Abraham

 

Me too! Liked him quite a bit, actually. He's a man of action. He's like a serious working breed dog - maybe a GSD -  and both can drive you crazy if they have no job to do,  while job/action brings out their best. I was also happy to see he seems to be getting hair dye that's not quite so Ronald McDonald orange.

[lawless]

I am shocked to say that if Abraham would just shave off the facial hair and tone down the Orange flattop, he'd be attractive in his way. He looked pretty awesome killing zombies at that construction site, and saving Francine just because it was the right thing to do was wonderful and refreshing. Compare that to Rick and Michonne just leaving the hitchhiker by the side of the road back in the day.

[Nashville]

Abraham is struggling with some PTSD issues of his own. Two scenes in "Spend" clearly delineate this; the "mirror scene" early in the episode, and the near panic attack on the construction site immediately prior to the walker attack. Both times Abraham gives the impression of feeling disconnected from this "new" ASZ reality - of not trusting it is real, of not trusting his place in it. Ever since Eugene's falsehood was exposed, Abraham has been a man without a mission, and this cushy new environment shows even less promise of allowing him a life with purpose.

Until the walkers attack the construction site, that is. In a flash the haziness - the disembodiedness - which has been plaguing Abraham vanishes, and is replaced with stunning clarity of vision: whatever else he may or may not be good at, he is perfection when it comes to dealing with walkers. The rage he constantly has to keep bottled up in "polite society" now gets to run free in a pure, clean Viking berserker fury which serves useful purpose. He is once again The Happiest Man In the World - and as he lays into the single-file walker attack, you can see it in his face.

[kikismom]

This was probably the first episode where I actually liked Abraham and felt that he contributed to the story arc as a whole rather than being grafted on or treated as a character we're supposed to love "just because."

See? People may think a character is "grafted on" or "treated as a character we're supposed to love "just because"...but if viewers give it a little time, they might be surprised when the show finds their groove. It doesn't always happen right away. But if Abraham had been taken out of the show earlier we'd have missed on a great new direction.

[Pete Martell]

See? People may think a character is "grafted on" or "treated as a character we're supposed to love "just because"...but if viewers give it a little time, they might be surprised when the show finds their groove. It doesn't always happen right away. But if Abraham had been taken out of the show earlier we'd have missed on a great new direction.

 

I see what you're saying, but I tend to see it as poor introductions that could have been changed, rather than viewers being impatient. It's unfortunate with Abraham, because characters like Noah never got that chance, and if I'd had to choose, I would choose Noah in a heartbeat. But hopefully this does mean Abraham will have stronger writing from this point on.