The World's Common Tater

Tales of the Walking Dead premiered last night on AMC. It is an anthology series set in the Walking Dead universe. There will be six stand-alone episodes. I usually only write a review after the pilot episode, but since each episode will be a new story I will likely do a short review for each one.

Episode one, Evie/Joe, tells the story of Joe(Terry Crews), a reclusive prepper, who leaves his bunker over a year into the zombie apocalypse to search for a female prepper he met online in the before times. He ends up unwillingly traveling with Evie(Olivia Munn) who is also leaving her safe place to search for someone from her past.

Most of the episode is sort of a road trip story. Joe and Evie start as opposites who annoy each other. As the trip continues and they fight the dead together they grow to like each other. I thought Terry Crews and Olivia Munn were an odd choice to pair up for a zombie story, but it worked. The best part of the show was their growing friendship and interaction.

I thought the episode did a good job of showing how different people reacted to the end of the world. Joe was happy living alone in his bunker with his dog and only left when his dog is gone(warning – bad things happen to the dog in the first five minutes of the show). Evie left safety to try to reconnect with her estranged husband but maintains a positive attitude about life. Others they encounter have gone mad and/or are willing to steal and kill to survive.

Overall, I thought it was a very good episode. People who have always complained that the Walking Dead doesn’t have enough zombies will have the same complaint here. They are around, and they do have to fight them, but they are still just the reason for civilization’s fall and the various ways people adapt to the new world. The one thing I would change is the end when they once again left somewhere that could be a safe space to head out into the world.

I would recommend the show to people who have enjoyed the Walking Dead universe. I’m looking forward to more stories.