Jessica Liese

For fans who are still deeply invested in Rick and Michonne’s story, the series is likely to deliver the closure they’ve been craving, but this describes a fraction of an audience that is already itself a fraction of the fan base this show had at its peak. After the successful storytelling and well-established worlds of “Dead City” and “Daryl Dixon”, it feels even less necessary.

With only six episodes in which to tell a more or less complete story, there should be no room for a slow burn, yet “Daryl Dixon” doesn’t find its true rhythm until it hits a soap-opera-worthy plot twist midway through the third episode.

Surprisingly, there is enough great storytelling here not only to keep that door open, but actually to inspire a little hope that the next era of “The Walking Dead” might be its best since the flagship’s early days.

“Tales of the Walking Dead” offers a mixed bag of standalone stories, but a talented cast and a few wild storytelling experiments don’t quite manage to breathe new life into the franchise.