Tales of the Walking Dead Episode 1 Spoiler-free review - Evie & Joe find each other during the apocalypse 

Terry Crews and Olivia Munn (Image via AMC Networks)
Terry Crews and Olivia Munn (Image via AMC Networks)

Tales of the Walking Dead is certain to breathe life into a fanbase that may have become a tad jaded with the current offering.

It certainly must be said that it's impossible to have a better face for the spinoff than Terry Crews. If you haven't already seen him wax eloquent about how much The Walking Dead franchise means to him, we have the clip linked below. A great ambassador for the series, he is certain to get his existing fanbase to add to the legion of die-hards that worship the universe with all their hearts.

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Tales of the Walking Dead Episode 1 Spoiler-free review: Who are Evie & Joe?

It would be far too easy to have two good-looking and suspiciously clean people meet during the apocalypse and have sparks develop during the story.

No, in Tales of the Walking Dead, Joe, played by Terry Crews, is an apocalypse prepper. Well, 402 days into the apocalypse, he sets out to find love after his dog is attacked and killed by walkers. Someone who frequents internet chatrooms, he finds a kindred spirit many a mile away and sets out on his motorcycle to find her. Instead, he meets Evie.

Evie is described as a 'gentle free spirit with exceptional survival skills' in the episode's description. Joe has a better description of her ways, dubbing them "new age hippy bull****." She pulls a gun and becomes his co-passenger in her own quest for love, in a sense.

But no, Tales of the Walking Dead does not begin with a sappy romance at all. There is the danger of the zombies, and there is definitely, undoubtedly, a twist that will creep you out. You should be scared.

Without going into specifics, the chemistry between Joe and Evie is so strong, one has to wonder if it can become a mini-series in its own right. It's already stronger than the seventh season of Fear the Walking Dead, and while not the best benchmark, it overshadows The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and how!

Both Munn and Crews are immensely likable from the very start, and that's why they find themselves drawn to one another, gun or not. Tales of the Walking Dead could have just been a series with these two characters, and you wouldn't have heard a word of complaint from this humble reviewer here.

The highly anticipated new episodic anthology series will premiere on Sunday, August 14 at 9pm ET/8c on AMC and AMC+, with the first two episodes streaming that same night on AMC+. Subsequent episodes will stream one week early, beginning Sunday, August 21.

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