YMMV / Tales of the Walking Dead

• Epileptic Trees: The announcement from showrunner Channing Powell that one of the first season episodes would be set thirty-five years in the future has led to immense speculation about which of the six episodes it'll be and how this'll impact the franchise as a whole. Especially since the comics implied that walkers would mostly devolve into a small, manageable threat in some uncivilized portions of the world a good twenty or so years after the main storyline was concluded.
  • Ultimately a case of Lying Creator, as the episode in question, "Davon", takes place fifteen years into the apocalypse. Still, it does take place a bit further in the timeline than the main series.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: The latter four episodes of the first season feel compressed or poorly paced and many have felt they could've benefitted from a longer runtime.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • People who are not enticed by the Walking Dead franchise or weren't thrilled for another spin-off have expressed interest in watching due to the show's All-Star Cast and the standalone story format.
  • Some fans of the original series are keen to see Samantha Morton reprise her role as Alpha and find out what happened after she left the Baltimore shelter and before she met Beta.
• Magnificent Bitch: “Evie; Joe”: Evie is a Badass Pacifist and a capable survivor who wishes to find her husband and get to a safe haven on her friends farm. Devising expert traps to catch humans and walkers, she’s introduced catching Joe in a trap and tying him up, planning on stealing his motorcycle. Seeing she can’t be able to ride it, she makes Joe drive her to where she needs to go, becoming amazing friends while revealing herself to be an intelligent and kind hearted individual, and manages to help track down the exact location of Joe’s friend Sandra. After separating during a fight and finding her peace with her husband, she goes back to try and find Joe. Immediately getting suspicious of Sandra and figures out she drugged her brownie due to her weed tolerance and deduces Sandra is insane. She manages to save Joe while taking down Sandra, while she, Joe and their pet goat Skipper leave for a better future together.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Sandra's reveal as a violent psychopath who has seemingly lured in other hopeful romantics only to kill them is a disturbingly realistic threat even without a zombie apocalypse. Joe finds himself drugged by the woman he wanted to connect with and is then chained up while she tries to do the same to Evie.
  • Though pretty brief, the second episode has some distressing signs of the imminent apocalypse such as the president preparing to address the nation on the rising death rates, Atlanta being sealed off, and massive gas shortages. Many of the deaths in the "Groundhog Day" Loop are no picnic, either. And the climax of the episode has a scene that surely played out across the world too often, with a large group of civilians fleeing in terror from an approaching horde.
    • And the psychological toll it has on them. Blair and Gina could clearly remember each of their deaths, along with the pain they felt when they experienced them. In one loop, Blair allows a walker to bite her only to transport back in the office screaming in agony. Even worse, one of the loops ended with Gina turning into a walker and biting Blair.
  • The community in "Davon" are way too eager to condemn an alleged criminal to a gruesome, slow demise. What's worse is that when Davon's name is cleared, the community doesn't even try to apologize to him, too proud to admit to any wrongdoing, and they follow up by brutally killing the actual culprit. Even Nora, who had been Davon's cute love interest, ignores his pleas for humanity and leads the execution of her nephew.
• So Okay, It's Average: The general opinion is that while viewers appreciate the franchise undertaking experiments and the anthology format, none of the episodes of the series really stand out as that great either.
• Tearjerker:
  • Joe lives a comfortable life in his bunker with his dog, but after a year, she shows signs of aging as she no longer can make the stairs up out of the basement. And then when they are surrounded by walkers, even though Joe's defenses are sufficient to hold them off long enough for Joe to take them out, the poor dog runs into battle to protect her master, only to be bitten and have to be put down. Joe already knew what was coming when his beloved pet was slowing down, but now he's lost his companion who has been torn away from him.
  • As the Nightmare Fuel section notes, the second episode has distressing signs of the apocalypse with the gas shortages, mysterious rising murder rates, etc. Blair and her husband try to go on vacation, assuring themselves even as they wait in a staggeringly long line at the gas station that everything will blow over by the time they come back from their trip - and we know that won't be the case.
  • Lydia had a chance at getting a decent mother figure in Brooke, who quickly noticed how uncomfortable she was around her actual mother Dee. But it's ripped away from her when Billy leads a mutiny against Brooke, dooming Lydia to spend the rest of her childhood and much of her adolescence trapped in Dee's abuse.
  • Davon and Nora struck up a cute romance with each other, only for it to be ruined when Davon was framed for the murders of the community's children. Nora's Spiteful Spit towards the man she fell in love with is heartbreaking, as are Davon's desperate pleas that he can't remember even as the community prepares him for a cruel, medieval execution. Finally, Arnaud is revealed as the murderer but only did it to protect the children from the seemingly evil community; and Nora, his aunt, actually leads the others in beating him to the brink of death, and then throwing him to the walkers. Davon leaves in pure disgust without any apology from the community, his shot at love ruined as well.
• Unexpected Character: Few suspected that Alpha would be the first original series character to return given she'd already had two previous episodes devoted to fleshing out her backstory. Of the villains with the potential to return, most guessed The Governor since his backstory was mentioned entirely in dialogue (and David Morrissey expressed interest in reprising the role). Some also had their fingers crossed for a Sequel Episode to "Here's Negan" detailing the Savior leader's rise to power.