‘The Walking Dead’: Who is Frank?

The Walking Dead introduced a new character on Sunday night by the name of Frank.

Spoilers for The Walking Dead Episode 9×10 follow. Major spoilers!

With a series a flashbacks, The Walking Dead unveiled the origin story of Whisperer leader Alpha and her daughter Lydia. As Samantha Morton was seen with a full head of hair, the early days of the apocalypse proved to be a difficult time for her character’s family. However, to start the apocalypse, she was accompanied by her husband Frank.

Frank is a character unique to The Walking Dead TV series. Lydia’s backstory went largely untold in Robert Kirkman’s source material. While he was initially posed an abusive husband and neglecting father, Lydia’s memory was later revealed to have possibly been skewed by her barbaric post-apocalyptic habits among the Whisperers. The importance of the role is seems to be the narrative of Lydia having endured tragic experiences in the apocalypse from a young age, with little direction on what is truly the right or wrong.

Frank was portrayed by Steve Kazee in Episode 9×10.

Kazee is best known for roles in Blindspot, Nashville, Working Class, and Legends. It is unknown whether or not he will appear in future episodes of The Walking Dead.

“I thought it was a really smart choice to have the episode right after she’s introduced giving us history as to who she is, because now we realize how formidable she is, immediately, as opposed to sort of expecting the audience to read the comic books, or to just presuppose their own stuff,” The Walking Dead executive producer Greg Nicotero explained to ComicBook.com. “So I was really, really excited about that, and I think [showrunner[ Angela [Kang] and the writers have done a killer job this year.”

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET. Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season in 2019. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter and watch ComicBook.com’s After The Dead each Sunday night following new episodes.