Tales of the Walking Dead eps101-105: An Anthology Spin-Off

BTS, Terry Crews as Joe, Olivia Munn as Evie – Tales of the Walking Dead _ Season 1 – Photo Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/AMC

101:  “Evie/Joe,” is the story of a doomsday prepper named Joe who is played by Terry Crews and a hippie named Evie played by Olivia Munn. Terry Crews is wonderful in the more dramatic role of Joe and is a completely different character than what I am used to seeing him play in comedies like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and while he is fantastic in everything I’ve seen, this is one of the few characters of his that wasn’t all about the muscles which, for me, is a welcomed change. Terry Crews is a prepper, suffering a loss, and being forced out into the world is a story, that while complete, I could use more of, at least the character showing up on one of the other shows.

I don’t know a lot about Olivia Munn, but looking at her profile tells me that this may be a slightly less serious roll than she would typically play. Munn plays a hippie named Evie that has managed to survive on her own, or as far as we know. Evie is one of those characters that gives the audience members that aren’t preppers hope of survival past the first ten minutes of the onset of the apocalypse.

This episode takes place in Ohio and Michigan just a little over a year after the fall of society. The music is perfect for setting the mood and we even get to hear Terry and Olivia sing along to some golden oldies during their journey. The storyline is full and complete with a surprise villain and hero. I will warn you that there is a rather beautiful Doberman Pincer named Gilligan that is eaten early on in the episode. I am against violence towards animals in television for the sake of violence, but the death of Gilligan was important to the plot.

“Evie/Joe” receives a 10/10 from me because of the enjoyable characters, the complete story, music that wasn’t just the typical horror music, and the plot that I wasn’t able to completely figure out in the first half of the show.

Jillian Bell as Gina, Parker Posey as Blair – Tales of the Walking Dead _ Season 1 – Photo Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/AMC

102: “Blair/Gina” is the story of an insurance office manager named Blair played by Parker Posey and her receptionist named Gina played by Jillian Bell. This episode takes place in Atlanta at the very start of the apocalypse.

Parker Posey is wonderful in this less-than-normal episode of any of the Walking Dead shows. Blair is possibly suffering from mental health concerns, evidenced by her having little regard for anyone that isn’t her, is paranoid and has to be in control of every situation. I have only ever seen Parker Posey play drama/horror but know that she has also done comedy and I feel that her experience has prepared her to play the less than conventional Blair. Jillian’s portrayal of Gina is all of us that have been suppressed by the type A’s and are finally done with it. I have only seen Jillian Bell in comedies, but her take on this talent squandering receptionist trying to internet diagnose all of her boss’ mental health issues and dealing with the collapse is exactly the offset needed for Blair’s crazy.

“Blair/Gina” receives an 7/10 because of the on-point acting, directing, music, and storyline. The episode wasn’t horrible, just weird. It could and would have been much better if not for the very end and slightly obvious Groundhog Day plot.

Samantha Morton as Dee – Tales of the Walking Dead _ Season 1 – Photo Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/AMC

103: “Dee” is the story of a character that fans of The Walking Dead knows all too well, Dee (before she became better known as Alpha), played by Samantha Morton and her daughter Lydia played by Scarlett Blum. Episode three takes place in a swamp in Georgia, is a few years behind the current timeline. Samantha Morton as Dee is a character and story that the audience already knows the end to and has already received a back story on, but Samantha is just one of those actresses that I really enjoy watching and if The Walking Dead wants to fill in a bit more of her story, I can accept that. Samantha Morton has always been everything that I expected and hoped for in Alpha, and is just one of the best adaptations from the comics. Scarlett Blum as Lydia was different, she is not the same actress that has been playing the character and for obvious reasons. Scarlett does a wonderful job of portraying a scared little girl that is trying to figure out how she fits in this new world. This kind of portrayal isn’t easy for adults to do but Scarlett did so well.

“Dee” receives a 7/10 because of the wonderful acting, the music did its job, the plot was decent, and if it weren’t for knowing how Dee’s story will eventually end and a possible continuity error towards the end, I would have scored this episode a bit higher.

104: “Amy/Dr. Everett” is the story of wildlife researcher, Dr. Charles Everett played by Anthony Edwards and Amy Zhang played by Poppy Liu. This episode takes place in an area known as the Dead Zone in Tennessee and seems to be on the current timeline with the original show. This episode has both my favorite and least favorite walker names to date. My favorite is homo mortuus and my least favorite is chompers.

Anthony Edwards playing a grumpy, lonely, researcher (who somehow looks like bearded Tom Hanks!) trying to just do his job is too perfect and someone we can all relate to. Poppy Liu plays a happy go lucky social butterfly that is just right to offset the grumpiness of Anthony Edwards. Edwards has played in many different dramatic roles but I can’t think of any horror but he did a great job. One of my favorite aspects of this character is how he is able to move amongst the homo mortuus. Poppy Liu’s character, Amy, is such a survivor and no-nonsense person that is just happy to be alive and is played so differently that I almost didn’t recognize her as the strung-out girlfriend of Nacho on Better Call Saul. Both of these characters were so well done that I would have really liked to see them show up in one of the other Walking Dead shows.

“Amy/Dr. Everett” received a 9/10 because the characters were believable, the music was typical but also included wild life documentary music, the opening was quite unique, the plot was great, and even though the series has already done the unlikely pair story line this story line worked and held its own.

Jessie T. Usher as Davon – Tales of the Walking Dead _ Season 1 – Photo Credit: Curtis Bonds Baker/AMC

105: “Davon” is the story of a Black man accused of murder in an all-white settlement. Davon is played by Jessie T. Usher; Nora, played by Loan Chabanol; Arnaud, played by Gage Munroe; and Amanda, played by Embeth Davidtz. This episode takes place in Madawaska, Maine. This episode seems to be on the current timeline which is makes it odd that there is no mention of the walkers even though they have experience with them.

I am only mildly familiar with Embeth Davidtz and know that she does horror well and until this episode I had no knowledge of any of the other actors. All of the actors did so amazingly well with this non-stop psychological thriller. The music is a fantastic mix of jazz and typical horror movie music which really set the mood for the noir-style scenes. The film choice utilized for portions of the episode gave the feeling of an older show. This particular episode felt like it was a complete horror movie and not just an episode of an anthology series.

“Davon” received a 10/10 for the acting, music, directing, film use, and the plot. I could easily watch a spin off of The Walking Dead just based on Davon and his journey.