La Doña

This would have rated an 8 if it was tales from the crypt. This story had nothing to do with the Walking Dead. They threw a few zombies in to try to make up fir the fact that this is just a supernatural thriller.

Im super bummed that they decided to try to pawn this off as TWD universe, as it definitely is not.

Eric and Idalia decide to try to take refuge at the house of an elderly woman, Doña Alma. She agrees to give them food and let them stay the night but insists they must leave the next day. Over dinner, Eric pushes the issue and asks to be allowed to stay for good, but Alma orders them to leave on the spot. She suddenly falls and hits her head, dying instantly. Though Eric is satisfied now having the well-protected house to themselves, Idalia is uncomfortable taking over the deceased woman's house. Idalia experiences various hallucinations and visions as she hears the voice of Alma insisting the house belongs to her. Eric is dismissive until he too begins seeing things, including believing the walker of their friend Maria is actually her back from the dead. The two become hostile with each other as the hauntings persist, but when they try to leave, they are chased into the basement by Alma's ghost. The pair are driven to stab each other and find themselves pulled into branches and walkers of people they met.

La Doña follows the same logic as Blair-Gina: bringing a concept that doesn't fit in The Walking Dead's mythology. If there we had a time loop, here we have a more mystical story about a cursed house and a ghost, also containing light elements of religion typical in Latin horror narratives. I understand that the writers want to have a differentiated and surprising approach, and I even applaud the creative courage, but there must be some cohesion with the principles of this universe, otherwise, it ceases to be a TWD tale.

This automatically makes the episode bad for me. But La Doña's execution, within its precepts, is not so dreadful, although it contains nothing special or memorable. The story follows two apocalypse survivors who find refuge in the house of a mysterious old woman, probably a kind of witch. She prepares a dinner for the couple but doesn't want them to stay in the house, making one of them nervous. In a strange accident scene, the homeowner ends up dying, and the two survivors decide to stay on the premises.

The rest of the episode shows the characters being haunted by the house and La Doña, suffering a series of hallucinations. Deborah Kampmeier's direction has some scenic ideas, with some camera movements that seemed inspired by Sam Raimi (some zooms; many spins; and even a scene of a hand coming out of the ground that reminded me of a classic Raimi moment), but the filmmaker is extremely limited, not taking advantage of spaces or the threats of the house.

There's a lack of composition in the hallucination scenes, happening randomly and very quickly, always with an abundance of clichés. Some jump scares here and there, some objects coming to life, blood dripping down the walls, and figures from the past appearing to haunt them, in a succession of tired horror elements. The way they repeat themselves without any escalation of tension or a sense of danger makes the narrative become boring, culminating in a very anticlimactic ending.

I confess that a more over-the-top approach with humor had more potential, exploring elements like the parrot, the figures coming to life, and the witch herself in a more comedic way. But, well, the direction chose a serious tone that doesn't bring much novelty, offering the audience a ghost and cursed house story that we've seen a million times.

Furthermore, as is common in the series' scripts, there are many dramas and clashes between the protagonists. I even like some dramatic elements, like the survival issue versus the guilt of taking the old lady's house, but all the trust-distrust game between the couple sounded tiresome to me, considering that both were having hallucinations. It would have been much more interesting to see the two simply terrified together than having discussions about lack of trust. A disappointing ending for another mediocre TWD spin-off.

A ghost story within an already established horror theme?

I don't mind ghosts or supernatural stories or movies so long as they're well written, but I guess the creators for Tales were desperate.

Do more TWD stories or format need to be told? Sure. Again, it's curious to find out how the rest of the world has been handling the Zombie Apocalypse outside TWD and FTWD. But there's no need to add other horror elements best told in other works.

I don't know if this was supposed to be a mini or limited series, but based on viewer and fan response, it's safe to say we won't get new material anymore.

This ghost story has just had TWD jump off the deep end. We didn't need another horror element added to the world of TWD. What makes TWD separate from other horrors is the human element fighting an unknown virus that set off the dead.

This mumbo jumbo episode didn't need to be in TWD!

This episode is actually really well done. It plays on horror aspects and themes. The characters are well written and rounded up. It's a stand alone that is more than watchable, especially with October coming up soon.

The creepy vibes are felt, and you're left wondering what's happening all throughout, leaving an eerie sense of mystery. The atmosphere is pretty good, the direction and the pacing are also nailed.

Overall, just watch it. It's not a masterpiece or an influent episode of The Walking Dead universe by any means, but it provides a good hour of tv.

S1 - The season as a whole really lacked and was a rollercoaster with high and low points. Hopefully it gets more constant for season 2 !

Episode 6 entitled "La Doña" is one of the most interesting stories of "Tales of TWD", because it addresses the essence of a suspense story and the magic of some horror subgenres in just the right measure. The threat is no longer from Walkers (sleepwalkers), but from supernatural elements. For an episode of only 43 minutes, there are some dialogues that are unnecessarily repeated, but that does not invalidate the filling of this story, as the succession of supernatural charges arrives at the right time to rescue us from what could become monotonous or uninteresting. We literally entered a roller coaster of reactions that mixes between a narrative of suspense and psychological and supernatural horror. This episode gives us several purposeful questions, where we could easily say that there are bad energies in the house or was it all created in Idalia and Eric's imagination? The interaction between the characters, the variations between well-placed languages, and a new culture give us an extra spice in the numerous events. The setting and initial location being filmed with a drone used by the team ensured an interesting sequence and when filmed outside in the fog managed to give us dark scenes providing the story. Scariest I've ever watched of this genre, but deserves my respect for what they set out to do in less than 1 hour on screen. Congratulations to the entire production team. If the intention was to compose a work of Horror, I believe they are on the right path, but there is still a long way to go. Watch the episode and decide which best version your mind can give you. Great performances by Daniella Peneda (Idalia), Danny Ramirez (Eric), Julie Carmen (Doña Alma) and Iris Almario (Maria). Directed by Deborah Kampmeier and screenplay by Lindsey Villarreal.

By Regina Furttado.