‘Tales of the Walking Dead’ Kicks Off with Some Familiar Franchise Beats (RECAP)

[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Tales of the Walking Dead Season 1 episode 1, “Evie/ Joe.”]

Why did the canine must die?!

It’s maybe not a fantastic signal that what caught with me most about Tales of the Walking Dead’s sequence premiere isn’t any of the human characters or their struggles, however the truth that The Walking Dead’s universe is a crappy place for cute animals. (I imply, take a look at all of the horses which have died.)

The canine’s title was Gilligan, and he or she belonged to Joe, performed by Terry Crews. When the apocalypse occurs, they’re residing in Joe’s bunker. Like the Otto household in Fear’s early days, Joe is a doomsday prepper. He appears content material to stay out the remainder of his days in his well-stocked bunker, watching previous soccer video games together with his canine. But one night time, he takes Gilligan outdoors to “do her enterprise,” and a small horde of walkers reveals up. You know the place that is going. I knew the place this was going.

After Joe buries his finest buddy, the plot kicks off in earnest. Before the top of the world, Joe had been speaking on-line to a different doomsday prepper in Michigan who he had a “factor” for, however they by no means met in particular person. He makes it his mission to go to her. When this journey sends him dangling from a tree in a rope web, he meets Evie, performed by Olivia Munn. Again, you realize the place that is going. I knew the place this was going. Evie and Joe wind up having to reluctantly belief one another so as to make it to Michigan, the place, shock, they each need to go to reunite with individuals they love. Evie needs to seek out her ex-husband in hopes they will repair their relationship. If you’ve ever seen an hour of The Walking Dead or its spinoffs, you realize one thing’s going to go sideways. In truth, you may’ve already guessed the twist on the finish of the episode.

Unsurprisingly, Evie and Joe discover widespread floor on the journey and change into buddies. But extra jokes miss than land, largely all associated to Evie’s hipster persona. And about that twist? Joe and Evie get into an argument and so they separate. Joe winds up at his gal-pal’s bunker, the place all is ok at first, nevertheless it seems she’s—shock!—gone loopy. She medicine him and almost kills him, however Evie reveals up simply within the nick of time to avoid wasting his life. Her husband wasn’t on the cabin and it’s not clear what occurred to him, so neither love story labored out.

In the top, Evie saves Joe, they kill his prepper pal, and so they resolve to begin over and discover the sweetness within the new world collectively as buddies. Fine. That’s most likely the very best descriptor for Tales’ premiere: it’s high quality. It’s an hour-long shrug. The foremost twist is one thing we noticed executed with Terminus, unlikely survivor friendships higher tackled with memorable team-ups like Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Beth (Emily Kinney) or Madison (Kim Dickens) and Strand (Colman Domingo). Doomsday preppers had been lined on Fear, and even the goat Evie finds mimics Season 6’s ill-fated Tabitha. Nothing right here breaks new floor for the franchise.

The wonderful thing about this present’s format, although, is that each one episodes are all one-offs. If “Evie; Joe” left you chilly, subsequent week’s focus might be totally different (having seen subsequent week’s episode, I can say I favored it a lot higher). And Episode 3 revolves round Samantha Morton’s Alpha, an idea that has loads of promise. There’s nonetheless hope for Tales… however “Evie/Joe” fumbled the primary move.

Rating: 2.5/5

Tales of The Walking Dead, Sundays, 9/8c, AMC