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There is a certain amount of uneasiness as we say farewell to both #LanceHornsby and even walker #SebastianMilton. This is very apparently offset by the fireworks between #YumikoOkumura & #PamelaMilton, throughout this episode. Are some of our criticisms based in our present day concerns towards #TWD's impending close? Is it our biases (e.g., what we want to have happened versus what is happening)? Let us know while rating us (make sure to mention your social media handle so we can shout you out)!
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David Cameo:
Rachael Burt:
Sherrandy Swift:
How do you feel about saying good bye to Teo Rapp-Olsson's Sebastian Milton?
Rachael expected to see Pamela Milton embrace her inner Phillip Blake, a fellow Governor, and keep her walker child.
Sherrandy wanted more walker Sebastian. She feels as underwhelmed as she did with the deaths of Lance Hornsby and Leah Shaw.
Dave had a conversation with Just Keep Walking podcast host, Ben, about the differences in show-running styles between Scott Gimple and Angela Kang. He says he feels sometimes Angela Kang builds up bad guys, only to throw them away, unceremoniously (at least as far as the last season is concerned).
Sherrandy adds that she felt Lance's death was incredibly predictable.
Is Pamela our big bad for the remainder of the season?
Will we see a walker Lance?
Where is Michael Mercer? Is there a possibility that he was taken with the rest of the group?
Does Mercer even know that our heroes have been taken?
Pamela replaces Maxxine Mercer with Kathleen,played by Katie Causey. Katie has been Melissa McBride's stand-infor 7 Seasons. Melissa was supposed to be off for the day they shot Katie's scene, but came in to watch her perform and even do stand-in work for her.
Mitchell, in the real-time chat, says we are overdue for a major death from one of our major characters. He speculates maybe Rosita Espinosa will die in the next episode.
Did our group's arrival present the first time that Mercer even considered siding with anything/anyone other than The Commonwealth?
Our hosts point out that Lance was a chauffeur's son, therefore he should have been a chauffeur. This makes him the one exception among The Commonwealth's citizens: the very cause of its road to ruin. Sherrandy points out that he is "driving" things in The Commonwealth.
Is it our group, this time, that's sewing chaos within The Commonwealth or is it actually Lance Hornsby?
Dave points out that Lance is shot on the opposite side of the neck where Sebastian was bitten.
Who could lead The Commonwealth if Pamela was done?
Is Dog sedated on the bus - at the end - with a hood over his head, as well?
What is the significance of Lance caving in Sebastian's skull and leaving his coin in its wreckage?
Sherrandy says that Lance dropped his coin in the metaphorical "slot" to make his point to Pamela that he has always been in the game.
Did Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier just stand there while Lance bashed in Sebastian's head?
Was Carol testing Lance over the course of this episode to see whether he could be a potential ally?
Did Lance leave Carol to die among the moist walkers in the tunnel, hoping to get her trust, or is he just completely out of his mind?
Why couldn't/didn't they just cut off Lance's ankle monitor?
Dave says his favorite part of the episode was Yumiko Okumura'sannouncement that she would defend Eugene Porter.
Does Yumiko putting a spotlight on Tomichi Okumura actually protect him?
Aidan's Aside: This episode was directed by TWD super-fan and Fear the Walking Dead cast member/director, Aisha Tyler.
Has Yumiko worked on a lot of cases to earn the mantle of one of The Commonwealth's most established attorneys?
What is Eugene's fate?
After Yumiko announces that she will defend Eugene, who do you think will serve as the prosecution?
Will our characters ever put their savage sides to bed?
Are the prisoners being taken to work on the railroad? If so, could that be connected to the Civic Republic Military?
Do you think The Walking Dead might be shooting its own foot by teeing up its upcoming spin-offs, rather than focusing on giving itself a proper ending?
Do you think there will be a huge time jump at the end of the show?
Dave mentions that Matthew Negrete (Producer, Supervising Producer, and Co-Executive Producer for several seasons of TWD, who became Executive Producer of The Walking Dead: World Beyond) and Eli Jorné (Executive Producer of The Walking Dead: Dead City, and Co-Executive producer of TWD's 10th Season) are consulting producers on these final episodes.
Could we see some characters from TWD: World Beyond in the final episodes?
What did Maggie Rhee do to piss off Pope?
Will variant walkers continue to wreak more havoc on the show?
Could the The Oceanside residents be among the survivors who were loaded onto buses and black-bagged? Where is Virgil? Where are Luke & Jules?
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Originally Recorded 2022/09/01
It's telling that this episode premieres just after the #TalesOfTheWalkingDead's Alpha origin story episode: instead of Doc Everett honoring his (more than just?) friend by wearing his face as a #Whisperers mask, he memorializes him by studying him. He does the same to Amy in similar fashion. "People are chaos" and we all have our own, personal ways of surviving and that's never been more apparent than in this episode, which further expands our vista in the ever-growing #TWDUniverse!
The Unedited recording of this episode clocks in at well over two hours: we always have more to say but never enough time to say it (or too much class to allow certain jokes to remain in the final edit)! Join us in our next recording (FOR FREE) by creating a FREE Ko-fi account and following our Ko-fi page to discover our next recording session or, at least, to receive notifications on early access to our episodes! Your support by just following us means a lot and keeps us going. You can start, here:
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Our dear Sherrandy takes time to shoutout all of our lovely TWDU family members for helping her recover from when her house was struck by lightning. I know I speak for all of us when I say WE LOVE YOU SHERRANDY!
Our very own Rachael is working atThe Cat's Meowas an emcee, which is defined as a karaoke experience!
Dave's first impression of this episode was that he was somewhat bummed out after having a positive first two episodes, and a satisfying third.
Rachael enjoyed the episode, but was more bummed-out over the fact that we may never get to see Dr. Chauncey Everett again.
Bridget believed this episode was going to be a documentary and was disappointed that the documentary-style montages were only a small portion of the episode.
Sherrandy enjoyed that this episode was more philosophical and encouraged the audience to ask themselves many questions.
In a battle of nature vs man, with whom do you side?
Sherrandy mentions that the opening sequence reminded her of one of the introductory videos promoting The Commonwealth on The Walking Dead.
Have you appreciated the order in which each episode of Tales of the Walking Dead was placed?
What is your opinion on TWDU as a whole right now? Have you been enjoying the new stories they've been trying to tell, or are you upset when it deviates from the flagship series?
Would you want to see the origin stories of characters you are already familiar with in Tales of the Walking Dead, or would you rather continue receiving new stories and new characters?
Aidan's Aside: As all of the hosts kind of rally against seeing more origin stories, I would be remise if I didn't mention a recent article from What To Watch, authored by Sarabeth Pollock (who we have had on our show before), asking the actors on The Walking Dead about the potential of reprising their respective characters in origin stories on Tales of The Walking Dead. I found a lot of their answers interesting. The way Laila Robins imagines what a possible Pamela Milton backstory could look like would make for an outstanding hour of television. I really enjoyed Eleanor Matsuura's vision for a Yumiko Okumura/Magna/Tomichi Okumura backstory episode the most!
Do you think backstories even matter or should The Walking Dead continue to shy away from origin stories (save an exception or two)?
What's your opinion on pre-apocalypse flashbacks: should The Walking Dead (Universe) maintain their stance by not depicting them?
Aliza mentions how she loves the way this episode handles nature and deals with human survival.
If there are plans for Dee and Hera, does it stand to reason that there are most likely plans for other characters we've seen in Tales of The Walking Dead?
Sherrandy jokingly asks how the stories of Blair Crawford & Gina would continue? Would they move on to some final boss?
Sherrandy compares Tales of The Walking Dead to the tapes of Althea Szewczyk-Przygockifrom Fear the Walking Dead. She never went back to revisit how people were doing, she just moved on to the next story.
Does Dr. Everett seem similar to Hershel Greene,who did not want to kill walkers?
When will we finally get an explanation for the different types of walker variants? Could it be in the final eight episodes of the flagship show, since it has been teased?
Could Alicia Clark (from Fear TWD) have been right about walkers maintaining some of their living counterpart's consciousness?
Aidan's Aside: All of this discussion of Alicia Clark makes me wonder what an interaction between Dr. Everett and Alicia Clark would be like. Could we potentially see Alicia and Dr. Everett meet? Even though Alycia Debnam-Carey left FTWD, it was open-ended, so it's still in her cards (though, she would appear much older after 35 years). Check out this article from Kirsten Acuna about Alicia's potential future in the TWDU.
Speaking of Alicia, Rachael notes that Amy's amputated left arm reminds her of Alicia's.
Aliza brings up the Teddy Bear Girl Walker, Jenny Jones, and other smart walkers we've observed during The Walking Dead's 1st season.
Dave reads the poem Dr. Everett recites at the end of the episode, which was written by Emily Dickinson, titled, Nature is What We See.
Aidan's Aside: I enjoyed the conversation everyone was having about Emily Dickinson. While I was watching this episode of Tales, I found myself frequently reflecting on the Apple TV+ series Dickinson starring Hailee Steinfeld. I highly recommend watching it. It also features Fear TWD alums, Chinaza Uche (who played Wes' brother, Derek, in Season 6) & Gus Halper (who played Will, in Season 7).
Do all brains reanimate like Dr. Edwin Jenner's wife, TS-19?
Homo Mortuus means "one who is dead". Aliza points out that it could also be a play-on-words: there is "more to us".
Aliza asks if Dr. Mosely (a.k.a. Specimen 21) was a tribute to actor Moses J. Mosely, who played one of Michonne's Pet Walkers (previously, her boyfriend Mike). Moses Mosely was tragically passed in early 2022.
Aidan's Aside: Haifaa Al-Mansour, a newcomer to the TWDU, directed this episode.
Sherrandy takes a moment to compare the poet, Emily Dickinson, and Dr. Everett by saying they are both loners who tend to not interact with the outside world.
Dave points out that the Chattahoochee River Amy mentions in this episode most likely places them somewhere in Alabama. The northern half might actually place them in West Georgia.
Aidan's Aside: While researching images for this blog, I stumbled upon a recreation of Blair Crawford's jacket for sale. If you feel like cosplaying this colorful character, click here!
Sherrandy compares the Skull Hunters to pioneers of the American West, who would hunt Buffalo for trophies.
Dave compares Everett's study of Homo Mortuus to the way he studied Justin (played by Zach McGowan) in Season 9 of TWD. The opening sequence depicts his corpse being devoured by walkers. Midway into feeding, they suddenly stopped, got up, and walked away. Watching the exact moment walkers refuse to continue feeding indicates exactly when a dead human turns, which was super exciting and fascinating to watch for the first time in this universe.
What happens when the walker population dies off?
Aidan's Aside: This conversation reminds me how Dee, in the last episode, tells Lydia, "people are chaos," and how you essentially become chaos to survive. This brought me back to one of my favorite quotes of this entire franchise by Victor Strand, "The only way to survive a mad world is to embrace the madness".
Did this episode feel as though it was truly 35 years after the fall? Does it feel like nothing has changed? Has Dr. Everett's study of Homo Mortuus truly bore fruit?
Sherrandy believes the alligator in this episode is a callback to the Fear the Walking Dead episode in Season 4 where Victor Strand and John Dorie try to cross a flooded river while avoiding an alligator attack.
Dave discusses the changes to the animal kingdom in a world ruled by the dead. Crows aren't afraid of walker scarecrows early on in Season 9 of TWD. Later on, in the same season, Negan Smith is chased by the domestic dogs that have gone feral.
In addition, Sherrandy adds that our survivors were forced to eat a pack of dogs in TWD 5x10, Them.
Bridget questions whether the Skull Hunters are really using the walker heads for propaganda. For example, Nick Clark and Troy Otto go to The Proctors market and sample a piece of hallucinogenic walker brain.
In response, Dave and Sherrandy remind us how, in FTWD S5, Annie, Max, and Dylan used the walker blockades as a scare tactic, as well.
Speaking of severed walker heads, how could we leave out Phillip "The Governor" Blake'scollection.
Dr. Everett's computer password is the chemical make up of the molecule Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
It reminds Bridget of Mr. DNA from the Jurassic Park franchise. Dino DNA!
Sherrandy jokes that she has mistakenly typed "TWD Lasso" instead of "Ted Lasso" before. Is the universe saying we need a crossover? [Editor's note: God, I really hope not. That would flush a feel-good show straight down the toilet as Coach Lasso will eventually have to eat Coach Beard.]
Could the Civic Republic Military be responsible for making this trench?Is everyone living under some sort of dictatorship this far into the future?
Can one even live in a civilized society, again, after having lived through a post-apocalyptic one?
Bridget proclaims #AnarchyOverIceCream: brought to you by The Commonwealth's famous Taste of Tradition ice cream shop.
Were Dr. Edwards and Dr. Mosely lovers?
What even keeps Dr. Edwards motivated to live?
What does it mean when, at the end of the episode, Dr. Everett essentially replaces Specimen 21 with Amy?
Have some of these stories, depicting characters in isolation, reminded you of the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown measures/guidelines? We had the luxury of internet, which allowed us to maintain a semblance of human contact that these characters did not.
This is the first episode of Tales where a title characters dies.
How did Amy's death make you feel?
Aliza said that walker-Amy's interaction with Everett immediately reminded her of the way walker-John Dorie interacted with June Dorie. She felt the same way about walker-Merle Dixon, interacting with Daryl Dixon.
All the references to birds, throughout this episode, reminded Sherrandy of the Emily Dickinson poem Hope is the Thing with Feathers, which was the same exact phrase Joe wrote in one of his (printed out) online chats with Sandra/USHLDBSCRD.
Bridgett says that Dr. Everett's disassociation reminded her of the mental disorders we explored in the second episode Blair/Gina.
Could Dr. Edwards have been a scientist for the CRM?
Aidan's Aside: For those of you how don't know, Dr. Professor T Brooks Ellis was introduced in the third episode of the second season of The Walking Dead: World Beyond. However, that's not the first time we've heard his name! Eugene Porter name-drops his "old boss" Ellis in TWD 5x05, right before ultimately revealing he was never a scientist and had never even met him. That all being said, I feel like it would be awesome to see Eugene finally meet T Brooks Ellis before we say goodbye to The Walking Dead.
Isn't it fitting that Dr. Everett wears a coat made out of the skin of the dead just after the prior episode featuring the origin of The Whisperers?
What did Amy mean when she asks Dr. Everett if he was a "mule"?
Aidan's Aside: Our hosts often talk about the walker heads being used as a scare tactic in this episode. It reminds me of the border that Alpha establishes, delineated by way of our survivors loved ones heads on pikes, in the penultimate episode of The Walking Dead's ninth season. Maybe it's less of a scare tactic and more of a reminder of the potential horrors people are capable of in this world: if The Skull Hunters are chopping off walker heads, what else are they capable of doing to you?
How do you think Dr. Everett felt when he discovered the box of walker heads in the back of a truck in Amy's community's camp after all the bonding experiences he and Amy had during this episode?
Sherrandy says the poem titled We Wear the Mask, by Paul Laurence Dunbar,could be the poem that Amy is referring to after musing on Everett's undead coat of many skins.
Aidan's Aside: All of this talk about masks has me thinking how often we actually see characters wearing masks in TWDU.
Could the physical growth-rate of the animals mentioned in this episode be a side effect of the nuclear fallout and radiation that occurred in Fear the Walking Dead's 7th season?
Is one of the lessons TWDU is trying to convey that you cannot go back?
Special shoutout to Anthony Edwards, Poppy Liu, and everyone else in front of and behind the camera for this episode. Here's to hoping we haven't seen the last of Dr. Everett!
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