Episode three of AMC’s Tales of the Walking Dead is all about a familiar face. Fans of The Walking Dead get a glimpse into Alpha’s past before she became the leader of The Whisperers.
The episode opens with Brooke (Lauren Glazier) getting ready for what appears to be a night at a fancy restaurant. After getting dressed, she’s standing on the stern of a riverboat when a young girl, Lydia (Scarlett Blum), shows up and proudly shows off her dress.
Lydia’s mom, Dee (Samantha Morton), is next on the scene and Brooke struggles to compliment her dress. Dee’s very uncomfortable playing dress-up in these circumstances and wonders if this dinner is a good idea. Brooke assures her that the guards are on duty and have been patrolling the area all week.
The party on the riverboat’s in full swing and Lydia continues to show off her beautiful dress. Dee takes a seat at the bar and the bartender, Billy (Nick Basta), asks why she’s not sitting with her child. When Dee doesn’t answer, Billy asks, “Why don’t you make more of an effort with her?”
Billy doesn’t mince words and says Dee looks like crap and it’s very disrespectful to Brooke who bends over backward to provide this sense of normalcy during the zombie apocalypse. Dee didn’t even try to impress anyone and instead looks like a drowned opossum. Billy wonders if she realizes how many people would kill to participate in this gathering.
Dee wanders out onto the deck and stares off into the woods at the zombies. Brooke joins her and points out it’s just the dead wandering. Dee confesses she doesn’t trust Billy. Brooke points out that she doesn’t trust anyone.
Switching subjects, Brooke brings up Lydia’s birthday is coming up and they should throw her a party. It’s been more than a year since Dee and Lydia arrived, and that’s more than enough time for them to have adjusted to this life. Dee worries about setting Lydia’s expectations too high.
They’re still talking when Dee produces a knife, causing Brooke to duck. A fishing net is pulled up with a zombie in it and Dee stabs it. The blood drips all over Brooke. Without saying anything, Brooke relieves Dee of the knife.
We’re treated to a vision of Dee standing in the shadows during her transition to Alpha. She’s bald and says, “I was nine when I killed daddy. Daddy deserved it.” Dee narrates her own story and talks about how after the world fell apart, she got stuck in a basement with Lydia’s dad, Frank.
Brooke is rushed away from teaching her exercise class the next day for a meeting about the disappearance of Mr. Langston. Brooke asks Dee if she’s seen him, and Dee recalls she saw him at the bar the night before. She suggests Brooke talk to Billy because he was serving him.
Billy confirms he served him all night. Mr. Langston was drunk and couldn’t walk straight, but Billy insists he and another person took him back to his room. Mitch (Juan Carlos Flores) thinks they should take a dinghy out to search the swamp for him, but Nolan (Eric Tiede) thinks if he’s gone, he’s gone.
Brooke agrees with Nolan, but Jenna (Rachael Markarian) can’t believe they won’t even try to find Mr. Langston. Jenna agrees with Mitch that they should look for him. However, Brooke has the final say and says they need to get going. She asks Jenna to call a meeting to inform everyone about what happened.
Dee’s been lurking nearby and hears the entire conversation.
Dee teaches Lydia how to set a table properly while Lydia explains that Brooke thinks she needs a new dress for a garden party. Lydia talks about liking fairies and Dee doesn’t seem to understand why. (Apparently, Dee is always serious and never takes time to enjoy anything. Also, this fairy conversation comes into play later in the episode.)
They’re still setting the table when Dee slips one of the knives into her pocket. Lydia asks why and Dee assures her it’s just in case they need it. Lydia’s aware her mom wants to leave and suggests Dee go without her. “You’ll die without me,” says Dee.
Lydia thinks her mom believes she’s going to die no matter what. Lydia tells Dee she has Brooke and Dee walks away, angry.
Dee spots Billy near the anchors and sees him drop something into the water. He acts like he has no idea what she’s talking about when she asks if it was a mirror. Dee thinks there are people nearby and yells for Brooke’s help.
Dee explains to Brooke and others gathered that she believes Billy was signaling someone in the woods with a mirror. Billy calls her crazy and says they can check him for a mirror if they want. Dee says they won’t find it; Billy dropped it in the water when he noticed her watching him.
Billy points out there’s no one in the woods and Nolan, who has a better view from the upper deck, agrees. He only sees walkers in the woods. Dee brings up that Billy was the last person to see Mr. Langston alive and that Billy’s only been there for three weeks.
Brooke asks Dee what she wants to do with Billy, and Dee doesn’t hesitate with her answer. She believes they need to get rid of him. Billy spots the knife in Dee’s pocket and panics, yelling that she wants to kill him before jumping overboard into the water.
Brooke becomes angry and says, “No wonder Lydia is afraid of you,” which pisses off Dee. Dee demands Brooke stop talking to her daughter. Brooke orders Dee to cover Billy’s shifts since she cost them a worker. If Dee does that ever again, she’s gone.
Lydia witnessed the argument and runs off. Dee goes after her as Alpha chimes in, saying, “I went mad in that basement. Lydia saw.”
Dee enters their room and in her sweetest voice possible says everything’s okay…but the room’s empty. Brooke comes up behind her and says that Lydia needs space. Dee asks where her daughter is and Brooke questions why Lydia’s afraid of her own mother. Dee threatens to use the knife on Brooke if she doesn’t tell her where her daughter’s hiding.
Their battle of wills is interrupted by a scream. Someone’s dead and now Dee’s even more adamant that she needs to know where Lydia is.
The group’s shocked to discover that Billy not only survived jumping into the water, but Dee was also right about him being a bad guy. He forces the group onto their knees and holds them at gunpoint. He explains that with Mr. Langston gone a spot opened up and he needs six more spots to open up to make room for his men.
Billy goes on a short rant about how Brooke is trying to keep everything in order on the boat. He doesn’t understand why they should let people on board who look like they’ve given up. Billy begins to sort through the group, trying to decide who should die to make room for his men. Nolan suggests he should go after Dee for spoiling his plan, and Billy asks where she and Lydia are. Todd (Marvin La Violette) lies and says they went on a run, but Billy isn’t stupid. He knows their schedule and sends one of his men to find them.
One of his men locates Brooke and is about to kill her when Billy orders him to take it easy with her. Billy thinks they need strong people to build up what they have and says she needs him to take over things while she continues to be her sweet self.
Billy shoots a member of the group and Brooke tries to negotiate an end to the deaths by suggesting there’s enough room for all his men. Billy doesn’t listen and thinks she’ll grow to like him as he kills another person.
Nolan takes the coward’s way out and tells Billy to take Jenna since she doesn’t do anything. Jenna fights back and wants Billy to kill Nolan instead. They all volunteer to help to find Dee and Lydia except for Todd who seems to be the only decent member of the group.
While they’re debating who’s next, Dee sneaks in and slits the throat of the man holding Brooke. She then shoots another one of Billy’s men before undoing the rope to a dinghy and jumping into the water.
Fighting and gunshots break out on the riverboat while Dee is trying to silence a screaming Lydia who’s yelling for Brooke to run. Dee yells at her to quiet down, reminding Lydia that she’s her mama and will listen to her.
Dee and Lydia make it to shore and Dee fights off a few zombies before one falls on top of Dee, effectively trapping her. She cuts it open and demands Lydia get under the zombie with her. They watch someone from the riverboat crawl up on the shore and then get attacked and eaten by a zombie.
Dee smears blood on Lydia’s face and instructs her to pretend she’s somewhere else. Dee promises not to let anything get her.
Dee and Lydia make it into the woods and are wandering around when Dee spots Brooke. Before Lydia can see Brooke, Dee takes earmuffs out of a bag, puts them on her daughter, and tells her to stay there until she comes back.
Dee stands in front of Brooke and reminds her that she promised Lydia the world and then took it away from her. Brooke blames all the deaths on the riverboat on Dee, and Dee points out they would have killed Lydia too. “I did what a real mother would do,” she says.
Dee points the gun at Brooke’s head as Lydia comes running up begging her not to kill her. Dee pushes her daughter to the side and takes aim again. Lydia curls up in the fetal position, covers her ears, and sings a song. Dee attempts to calm Lydia down, assuring her she won’t kill Brooke.
Dee puts away the gun and returns to Brooke. She tells Brooke that death is too good for her and then cuts a long slice across her face. “This is my mark and everywhere you go I’ll be there reminding you how you failed my little girl,” growls Dee.
Lydia wants to go back to the boat, but Dee tells her it’s just them now. Lydia accuses Dee of getting what she wanted – for Brooke to be wrong. Dee thinks everything Brooke was teaching Lydia was a lie. Lydia asks where her dad is because she doesn’t want to be with Dee. Dee explains to Lydia that her daddy was weak. She should not be like him.
They make their way to an RV park and find an empty RV. Dee searches it and discovers a tea set and actually smiles while telling Lydia that maybe they can have their own party. Lydia doesn’t hear this because she’s gone back outside and thinks she sees people from the boat.
These new arrivals are zombies and Dee orders her daughter to get behind her. When Lydia makes a move to get back in the RV, Dee grabs her and tells her it’s time to learn how to survive. She wants Lydia to learn how to take down a zombie but Lydia’s unwilling to take the knife. Lydia screams that she can’t do it, so Dee’s forced to pull a canopy down on the zombies. She then stabs them in their heads through the canopy.
After dispatching the undead, Dee sees Lydia running away and gives chase. We see Dee transformed into Alpha as she says, “We are all we have. We do what we think is right, even if it hurts the ones we love.”
Dee finds Lydia under a tree, and Lydia claims she can hear fairies and they want to take her away. She begs her mom to let her go. Dee holds her while telling her she loves her so much.
Dee tells Lydia she’s tired and to close her eyes. Dee grabs her knife and Alpha narrates what’s happening. “She was so small, but I would have killed the both of us.”
Suddenly Dee also hears voices saying, “We see you.” Lydia opens her eyes and is certain she was right that the trees are talking. Dee screams, “Who’s there?!”
A group of people wearing zombie faces walk up and the leader tells Dee to whisper. She takes off her zombie mask and introduces herself as Hera. She then kicks Dee in the face and knocks her out.
Tales of the Walking Dead episode three ends with Alpha getting the last word. “That was the end of Dee and the beginning of me.” She walks up to the mask Hera once wore and says, “And then I met you and you showed me love.”
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