SQUAWKING DEAD: October 2022

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Originally Recorded: 2022/09/08

In #TalesOfTheWalkingDead's own way, they've managed to invert the axioms we've learned over the years, watching #TheWalkingDead: the rejection of "Found Family" and the concept of "Mercy", primarily. Still, "Davon" manages to entertain us by providing excellent character-building/world-building, while capturing the essence of what makes legendary anthology series, like #TheTwilightZone and #Creepshow, so successful.

The unedited episode recording is full of cut down factoids, gags that went short, and we even cut out some... political banter, in some spots. You really never know what you are going to get, but you definitely know when you will get it - earlier than everyone else! Your support gets you these unedited episode recordings right after they are completed for your viewing pleasure, here:

David Cameo:
Bridget Mason-Gray:

🎖SURVIVORS TIER MEMBERS:

Aliza:

Like our hosts, are you a fan of the television show, The Boys? For those who may not know, Jesse T. Usher (Davon, in this episode) plays a character called A-Train.
Aliza said The Boys ruined calamari for her. We will spare you the details.
The Boys continue to cast Supernatural alumni: from Jim Beaver, Jensen Ackles, and now Jeffrey Dean Morgan! Is Jared Padalecki next?
What were your first impressions of this Tales of the Walking Dead episode?
Dave loved the episode because he continued thinking about it well after he finished his initial viewing: a mark of a good episode.
He then adds that this episode would not have been interesting had it been told in linear fashion.
Aliza says she loved this episode as soon as it started and watched it four times! She later had a conversation with the director of the episode, Michael Satrazemis.
Aliza compares the episode to the film, Jacob's Ladder, which features The Walking Dead alum, Pruitt Taylor Vince.
Aidan's Aside: This episode reminded me of the film Memento, with its fragmented storytelling: a movie that also continues to unravel secrets in a similar fashion.
Aliza: Satrazemis confirmed that some of the movies she felt this episode referenced - like Spellbound and Psycho, by Alfred Hitchcock, and The Blue Gardenia, by Fritz Lang - were in fact inspirations for this episode.
In her past, Aliza taught Intro to Literature. She felt she had to jump back into some of her teachings to analyze the deeper meanings found in this episode.
Bridget says this episode gave her a real Stephen King vibe.
Aidan's Aside: I want to take the time to mention my favorite Stephen King project that perfectly blends what we love about TWDU and his work, The Mist. It just so happens that the film adaptation of the book was written and directed by original show-runner of The Walking Dead, Frank Darabont. It also features a handful of TWD alums. Thomas Jane was originally proposed to play the character of Rick Grimes.
Aidan's Aside: Bridget mentions Memento in the episode breakdown, while Sherrandy mentions it in the real-time chat, so I no longer feel special about my Memento comparison. Dave also mentions The Mist and how it also deals with the mob mentality dynamic we see portrayed during this episode.
Dave then compares this episode to an episode of The Twilight Zone titles The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, in which characters question who among their neighbors are aliens.
Dave said the mob mentality of this episode really struck a chord with him as it is one of his biggest fears to be accused of a crime he didn't commit.
Aliza mentions that she was worried the townsfolk were going to attempt to stone Davon. Dave proceeds to explain, "Stoning in the Old Testament was technically dropping a large stone on someone, so kinda close!".
Dave was expecting a much more brutal punishment for Davon, but points out that TWDU has a knack for dishing out strange punishments!
Did this episode also remind you of a Film Noir?
Aliza originally thought the episode was taking place in France and we would see some walker variants. For those of you who did not watch The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the post-credits scene of the series finale teases a walker variant in France.
Sherrandy appreciates the franchise taking risks and the cinematography, but the horror and film noir thing is just not her cup of tea.
Did you find it hard to connect with these characters due to the fact that it's an anthology series and the fractured style of storytelling in this episode?
Bridget questions if any other actor playing Davon would have made the same impact as Jesse T. Usher.
Dave said Usher's role as A-Train allowed him to entertain the possibility that Davon actually did what the Acadian community accused him of.
Sherrandy says the character Arnaud may have been a metaphorical hat-tip to the character Arno on Fear the Walking Dead.
Aliza says the French word for "arn" in Arnaud means eagle, and "aud" means powerful/leader = powerful eagle. She then adds that an eagle is a nocturnal predator, which explains the revealation at the end of the episode; Arnaud is a predator who kills what he sees as younger and weaker prey.
Sherrandy says she has been watching Five Days at Memorial (on Apple TV+), where nurses/doctors resort to euthanizing patients they could not evacuate in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Every time "murder is mercy" was said in this episode, she was immediately reminded of its premise.
Aidan's Aside: Sherrandy's comparison to Five Days at Memorial immediately made me think of Fear the Walking Dead 3x13 This Land is Your Land, where Alicia Clark is forced to perform a series of mercy killings to alleviate the suffering many who were suffocating in a bunker. The Mist, mentioned earlier, contains a similar sequence.
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Dave says the glasses Amanda initially hands to Davon belonged to Martin, who was one of Arnaud's first victims, planting the seeds of her involvement in the child-killings.
Bridget reveals she lived in the same area in Wisconsin that serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, was from. She mentions that almost all serial killers have difficult childhoods and personality disorders.
She then adds that we have seen a similar character to Arnaud in TWDU before: Lizzie Samuels.
Do you feel like there is a narrative link of characters suffering from mental illness throughout this series?
Sherrandy asks if Carl Grimes could have easily ended up walking the same path as Arnaud, due to the nature of them growing up in the zombie apocalypse.
What did Arnaud feel he was saving the children from? Did he feel he was saving them from becoming walkers or did he feel he was saving them from becoming monstrous people?
Are people born bad, or do you become it?
Where did Arnaud get his scar? Was it during his mission outside the walls with his father or was it more recent?
Like Lizzie, could Arnaud's psychopathy have started revealing itself by way of killing animals?
Did Arnaud have an Oedipus Complex? What moments throughout he and his family's history might have led him to become the person he is today?
Was Davon pleading for the townsfolk to spare Arnaud's life at the end of the episode? If so, why?
Bridget and Aliza compare this episode to the story of Pontius Pilate.
Aliza says the gravestone behind Davon was that of Christine Scher, a trauma psychologist who died in 1927.
Dave DMed Andrew Tickle (Durant), who played what we assume was the community's leader, leading up to this episode. He had shared a behind the scenes photo from the set.
Aliza also mentions that fellow #TWDFamily creator (Clip It Up With The Sweets / The Dead Truth Podcast) and background actor, Stephen Sweet played the character who cast the first lot.
Davon stumbles upon a poster of The Hanlons' New Superba, prior to another huge flashback. The Hanlons were US immigrants and sons of Irish Shakespearian actor Tom Hanlon. They formed and created many shows, most notably New Superba, which was a mix of pantomime, macbre interpretive dance, acrobatics, and illusions/special effects. One of the Hanlons succumbed to a near fatal head injury attempting The Leap For Life and eventually committed suicide. Along with birthing what would eventually be known as Vaudeville, The Hanlons invented the safety net - for both performances and fire-fighting/life-saving - and The Hanlon Braces: the concept of a rotating stage. All of these inventions are still used today (with obvious improvements over time).
At one point or another, did the imagery of slavery or racism enter your mind, whether it was the behavior of the townspeople or even Davon's shackles?
La Complainte Du Soleil by Lauren Cahen plays during the flashback between Davon and Laura. The title translates to "The Sun's Complaint" and uses the sun's imagery as the pleasure and pain of the truth of one's feelings of love.
Dave points out a recurring plot point in TWDU where good characters do bad things and bad characters do good things (for both good and bad reasons). Oftentimes, this comes from a place of someone not believing in themselves and their worth, like Hope Bennett in The Walking Dead: World Beyond.
What does it mean that Davon has the same PPP card as Heath (from The Walking Dead's 7th season, after he is disappeared from the show)? Did Davon have a run in with Heath or at least the people that took him? Angela Kang confirmed on to Insider that Heath was originally taken by the Scavengers, led by Warrant Officer Anne Stokes (previously known as Jadis), and then traded to The Civic Republic Military (CRM).
Aliza mentions that PPP in sheet music means pianississimo, which informs the musician to play very quietly. Could this have even been a small wink to The Whisperers?
Is the mere existence of the PPP card a hint that we will see a continuation of this story?