‘Walking Dead’ Season 4 Spoilers: Does Dr. Eugene Porter Really Know What Caused The Zombie Apocalypse? Differences Between The TV Show And Comics

“The Walking Dead” kills off characters -- but has no problem introducing new ones. In episode 10, fans of the comic book series were ecstatic to finally meet Sgt. Abraham Ford, Dr. Eugene Porter and Rosita Espinosa. The introduction was brief, but episode 11 on Sunday, Feb. 23 began to dive into the trio and give viewers a glimpse of what they were up to.

During episode 11, “Claimed,” the three new characters appeared to be friends rather than threats to Tara and Glenn. With Glenn unconscious, they loaded him and Tara into the bed of their truck and took them along on their journey. Unfortunately, Glenn wasn’t too happy with their generosity because the unconscious car ride resulted in him being approximately three hours away from Maggie’s last-known whereabouts.

Desperate for more able bodies, Abraham Ford made a plea for Glenn to stay with them and help complete their “mission.” But what kind of mission are the three newcomers on? According to Abraham, it’s a mission that's so important that the “fate of the entire damn human race might depend on it.”

Abraham revealed that their mission is to get Dr. Eugene Porter to Washington, D.C. because he’s a scientist for the U.S. government who knows exactly how the zombie apocalypse started. Eugene has been using a radio to communicate with the higher-ups in Washington, but he lost contact with them a couple weeks ago. Abraham and Rosita are hoping that if they get Eugene to the city that they might have a chance to “fix the whole d--n world.”

Glenn asks about what started the zombie apocalypse, and Eugene quickly responds with: “It’s classified.”

But is the information really classified? Or is Dr. Eugene Porter scamming the survivors? “The Walking Dead” comics reveal an interesting story line.

According to the graphic novel series, Dr. Eugene Porter is actually an “out-of-shape science teacher.” When the zombie apocalypse struck, he realized that he was ill-prepared and decided to use his intelligence to come up with an elaborate lie that would help him survive. The lie? That he had the information on what caused the zombie outbreak.

When Eugene first met up with Abraham, he told the Army sergeant that he was “one of the ten scientists employed by the U.S. government who worked on a project to weaponize the human genome when the ‘plague’ hit the world.” He claimed to have “classified” information about the origin of the plague, and managed to convince Abraham to help him in his “mission” to get to Washington.

Abraham, Eugene and Rosita eventually come across Rick’s band of survivors, and the two groups come head-to-head over Eugene’s credibility. Doubting him to be a scientist for the U.S. government because of his mullet haircut, Eugene argued that he styles his hair that way in an attempt to trick people into believing he’s not intelligent.

Eugene manages to get Rick’s group on board with his mission to Washington and travels safely in a larger pack. Rick eventually unmasks him as a fraud when Eugene’s government radio is found to be battery-less. A distraught Abraham “savagely beats” Eugene when he discovers the lie, and Eugene admits that he’s actually a high school science teacher.

Since the AMC-TV show doesn’t exactly follow “The Walking Dead” comics, it’s possible that Eugene’s storyline could be changed. Actor Josh McDermitt seems to hint that his character is a fraud in a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

“We haven’t really jumped into these characters enough yet to really look at the differences in what we’re going to see in the show as it compares to the comics,” McDermitt revealed to the website. “I know that’s coming but as we get further in this season, we’re going to see these characters come to life in a little more and jump into their backstories and that’s where we’re going to see the differences. But they’re going to be pretty close to what they were in the comics.”

“Walking Dead” viewers have already watched Eugene use his brains to manipulate situations to secure his safety. Playing up the Army/ Government official lingo, he’s managed to earn Abraham’s trust. And McDermitt teases that his character may even have “accidentally” shot the truck on purpose as a way to stall the trip to Washington.

“I think Eugene is a trustworthy guy even though it may turn out that he is lying,” McDermitt continued. “But again, you just can’t trust anyone.”

Do you think Eugene knows what started the zombie outbreak? Or do you think he’s lying? Like in “The Walking Dead” comic books? Let us know your thoughts on the new character in the comments section or send a tweet to @AmandaTVScoop.