From The Gallows - A BHBrowne review [SPOILERS]
Sooo it's that time, the finale. Figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and share my thoughts about what I thought about the episode. Before that, though, I thought I'd give you all a general idea of what I thought of the season as a whole, and how I played - also, so if people accidentally spoiler reveal this, there's still time to save themselves from my spoiler-iffic 'review'.
CHOICES
Ties That Bind - Part I
Ties That Bind - Part II
Above the Law
Thicker Than Water
What did I like about the season, pre-finale?
I can count on my fingers the scenes I want to replay, over and over, and will struggle to get sick of.
One.
The Jane flashback in Thicker Than Water.
Which is quite telling, really, that my favourite scene is a scene with a season two character. But it's true. I honestly loved the scene with Clementine and Jane to bits, it was such a nice thing to interact with Jane again. Despite her appearing in two flashbacks, which is about ten minutes total, I cared about her a damn sight more than a lot of the characters in A New Frontier. The cast is weak, on the whole. What I wanted in season three, honest to God, was Clementine and Jane after season two. Hell, you want to have Javier as the playable character? Have him stumble up on Howe's with his family, and Clementine and Jane act depending on your choices. Boom. But, no, everyone has to have a similar experience.
But, yeah, that's just to deflect those who accidentally clicked on this page and revealed spoilers. Hopefully you haven't scrolled down, if you're looking for a spoiler free experience to FROM THE GALLOWS. However, with that said, let's get right into this! I'll update this with my choices screen as and when I get access to it.
The Good
There were a couple of moments in this episode which nearly succeeded in making me feel something other than frustrated - hell, I nearly cried at one point.
"I love you..."
This is taken from my first playthrough, which is stuff I've never shared. However, I felt this scene was so special, and I recorded it to share with you all. I play without the story notifications and such, with subtitles on Large so my old man can read them when he plays through. Hope you enjoy my gut instinct reactions to this situation.
Picking 'I love you' over and over as David tries to kill you had me on the verge of tears - hell, I may have even cried a little, I'm not sure. This episode was a bit like watching a fever dream unfold to tell the truth - the way he freaks out more and more and Javier begs with the same words, over and over. The music is superb, and just ... mmf. I haven't gone through and picked 'Fight back' yet, but I can't imagine it'll bring as much emotion as the superb voice acting from Jeff Schine and Alex Hernandez as the fight went on and on. Seriously, a massive thank you to those two talented individuals for performing one of the most heartbreaking scenes in video gaming, for me. It's one of the few moments of A New Frontier that are not only memorable, but intensely emotional and utterly rewarding to just sit back and watch.
Gabe
I had just finished playing episode four for the forth or fifth time and, despite not killing Conrad - and so not getting ratted out by the little snake - I was pretty annoyed with him for the way he acted. My heart absolutely melted this episode, with him finally standing up to David, slowing his advances on Clementine, and admitting he wants to grow up to be like Javier. The voice acting from him was great as well, and I really felt something other than annoyance towards him. Really turned it around this episode, Gabe. Proud of ya, kid. I chose to rescue him and David, meaning Kate turned into a walker in Richmond, and having to shoot her was absolutely heartbreaking, especially with Gabe's reaction. I was so happy Javier was able to hug him, it was a sweet moment.
Gabe I don't hate you as much, now, but you still better stay away from Clem if you know what's good for you
The action scenes
I actually really digged the action scenes in this episode. My personal favourite was the one where you close in on the truck David had been driving, and all the walkers are surrounding it. Having to bash your way through the entire herd, with Javier getting more and more frantic and his actions becoming slower and slower was so wonderful. It was like the Armed with Death scene, but with the pathetic fallacy to back it up, and I remember getting worried this was another case of 'the person you choose to save dies'. Glad to see I was wrong, to a point.
SURVIVORS
Holy shit! THANK YOU! I'll give Telltale this much - I was genuinely happy to see Conrad again, and to know that there were survivors of A New Frontier. As far as I'm aware, in my game, I had Javier, Clementine, David, Gabe, Eleanor and Conrad still alive by the end of the season. This is much better than seasons one and two, where there were as many as two survivors, besides Clementine, at any one time by the end of the seasons. Granted, I preferred Jane to the New Frontier cast, but it is nice to know there is a genuine chance at a fresh start in New Richmond.
Especially Conrad. There's a reason I changed my wallpaper to him, on my xbox. Arguably my favourite addition to the cast, and a large majority of players killed him. Enjoy a cool screenshot of him shooting Badger!
Aaaaaand one of him alive, at the end of From The Gallows, which put me a grin on my face, shortly before I realised how short and 'aggravating' this episode was.
Credit Music
While it wasn't my particular cuppa tea, it was nice to see credits music again. Finally. In the finale. Get it together Telltale, c'mon, Season Two had great credit songs, for almost every single episode - bar the finale, which had the Clementine Suite or Alive Inside, I'm never quite sure which.
That being said, credit where it's due - totally claiming that pun was on purpose - the credits song did aid in making it feel more ... final. So kudos, Telltale, and well done for that.
Final choices screen
The little screen about how you treated people was welcome, from me. Reminded me of the screens at the end of season one, where it showed how you treated everyone in your group, besides Mark. Because fuck Mark. So, yeah, that was definitely welcome from me! Having my relationships with my family summed up in brief and easy to digest screens was a nice touch - if anyone's interested, I got the following:
Final choices and relationship with my family, and who 'My Clementine' became.
I had to include a 'meh' category for this one, and it bothers me as much as it will likely bother you.
'Keep that hair short.'
This is a personal nitpick, but ... it irks me all the same. I see absolutely zero reasons why, after about a week and a bit of knowing Javier, she wants to get her hair cut like him. More so, how does Javier pull that one off? And I mean, it doesn't even look good. She was so adorable with her hair the way it was, why change a good thing, Clem? Whyyyyy? ._. Maybe it'll grow on me, but right now it just feels really ... strange, to me. Especially considering my Javier sold her out to Conrad. Would've thought that'd bite me in the ass more. But, no, she still likes me. Shame I don't particularly like her new hair. I'm sure it'll grow on me, eventually, though. For now, however, this is a 'meh' entry.
It could be symbolic of her shifting away from her past a little more and moving towards being more independent, but then ... why did we have a whole season built around family and it's importance, just to have 'independent Clem' at the end of this season, with it ending on her attacking walkers and going off on her own, back the way we drove towards Richmond? Ack, I'm overthinking it.
That being said, that jacket is swish as hell. Was hoping we'd see the flannel shirt she wore around her waist on her person, but the red jacket works for me.
The Bad
On the other hand, a whole lot of this episode left me going 'what' in a monotone voice, wanting to slam my head into a wall, or just sighing angrily.
Who the fuck is Clint?
At the end of episode four, I shot Joan in revenge for killing Tripp. Was that messed up of me? Goddamn right, but I don't regret it, despite Clementine and Gabe giving me a hard time over it for all of five seconds. I was fully expecting the episode to center around killing the remaining leader and bringing 'order' to New Richmond, no matter the cost. What I didn't expect, was that I'd be told his whereabouts are unknown, and that I'd then never see him again. W - What? Why bother having the choice, Telltale, if it changes the square root of fuck all in the game?
Up up and Ava we go!
Her death scene was so stupid and glossed over, with that walker spearing her from the car, that I yelled at my monitor and let out a bewildered laugh. Was it on the scale of Jane's death? Lord above, no. Considering, however, that David never mentions her again, and then everyone just sort of forgets about her, it's kinda like ... what's the point? She really suffered from the determinant character curse, which sucks because I did like Ava ... even though I was prepared to let her die to save Tripp. Speaking of which...
Eleanor
I swear, I had a funny pun about her lined up.
Ho. Lee. Shit. Eleanor went from a character I loved to a character I wanted to kick out a window. She chose to blame ME for Tripp's death, when she saw me yell 'Tripp has to live. He's invaluable.' Furthermore, when I pointed out it was her fault - after apologising, using the HOW DARE YOU?! option was so cathartic, it felt good to hear Javier yell - she gets all huffy with me, and goes on about how she 'didn't want it to go like that!' WELL, ELEANOR, BELIEVE IT OR NOT I DIDN'T WANT TRIPP TO GET SHOT IN THE NECK, NOW DID I? Her logic was beyond shit, and for once I couldn't wait for her to fuck off out the scene. And to think I used to want to have Javi get together with her!
Plot
I was amazed at how little was in this episode. They go into a building, there's some relationship drama, then there's some family drama, then David gets all crazy and I had a heart to heart with him - which made me think of The Lion King. Y'know, everything the light touches, and all that. Very similar poses and lighting - then we faff about on the roof tops and highway, and there's a whole thing with the helicopter blades, then there's the whole ground bit - the guts, the fight, the cars - then you choose who to save, then that's it, pretty much. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting high art from A New Frontier - that went out the window around the time I heard creaking from Carver's office - but I was hoping the 'best story ever told in The Walking Dead' would do a bit more for me than ... this.
The Guts
Personally, while an interesting take on the herd walking idea, I disliked this segment from a gameplay perspective. It felt clunky, dragged on and on, and on the whole was a sloppier execution of it than how it was handled in Seasons One and Two - e.g, where you pushed UP and, in Season Two's case, killed walkers that saw you. Fumbling around - like'a bear cub fuckin' a football! - as you inch slowly and painfully towards a generator took the immersion out, for me.
But it gets worse, my friends.
The downright Ugly
Cash grab.
I'm really angry about this, and also kind of numb. I don't know what to feel, but I know I'm really disappointed.
I don't know if you all remember, but when Mass Effect 3 first released, after you sat through the ridiculous last thirty or so minutes of the game, and Shepard - FRIGGIN' COMMANDER SHEPARD - died, you got a little pop up, which said something to the effect of "You can keep exploring the galaxy and Commander Shepard's adventures through paid DLC." This is a big no-no. You do not use the finale of a series to sell more stuff down the line. So what did Telltale do?
Clementine's story continues.
I stared at my monitor for a good couple seconds, hoping it was an illusion. A mirage - maybe from not drinking enough in favor of playing this game a little early (thank you xbox store). Nope. It was there. A blatant cash grab. I was in disbelief. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I killed Lingard specifically to learn where AJ was. And how does that choice get resolved?
Find out next time, on Dragon Ball Z!
It's such a middle finger, honestly, and I'm disgusted Telltale chose to end this season like this. Disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful.
The Ending
Aaaaaargh.
So, I was really excited when we put down Kate, I was like - "wow, huh, I'm actually getting into this! What happens next! When do we get Clint, and assume full control of Richmond?" Then there was the timeskip to four days later, and at this point, I was frowning a little. The memorial bit was nice, but my heart was sinking like a stone as it started to set in.
The ending was when I shot Kate, wasn't it?
Asides from some fluff, and both Jesus and Clementine heading off on their merry ways, nothing of consequence really ... happens, after Kate is shot and I hugged Gabe close. All that buildup, the fight against David, the choices I made to try and balance the groups happiness, killing Lingard to find out where AJ was ... it was all for nothing? That last one particularly irks me. Considering the entire season, Clementine is just harping on about AJ, I was expecting the story to focus a little more on the baby and finding him. I was convinced we would find him, and was genuinely excited by the prospect.
But, no, save that for DLC or another season. It seems to me that the writers realised Javier wasn't the resounding success they were hoping for, and so they used that last scene as a panic button, essentially sheepishly admitting "Yeah, no, we know you really want a Clementine season, so give us another £25 and we'll give you a five chapter story about her finding AJ. Which ... was what A New Frontier was meant to be, but we panicked and changed our minds."
This, combined with the insulting message at the end, completely ruined the episode - no, the entire series! - for me. And I hate that. I really do.
Did you like it?
I was loving it, on the whole, which made it that much worse when the cash grab and awful ending ruined it, for me. The plotlines weren't wrapped up, my choices in episode four seemed to change literally nothing, the characters were - at best - tolerable, with some golden exceptions, Clementine's signature 'look' was changed in favor of saying "look look, we did do something with Clementine in A New Frontier!", and the last moments were an advert for season four, DLC, or a mini series. After they axed one of my favourite characters from Season Two in an insulting flashback sequence which was so ridiculously out of character for her that I find myself in disbelief just thinking about it.
So, on balance... no, I did not like it. I feel genuinely upset, as I really care about the Walking Dead. Hell, I'm passionate about this fandom - I would write stories for hours upon hours about the universe, just imagining what it'd be like to see the scenes I write come to life in the games. And now I just ... I think I'm done with the fandom for a little while, to be honest.
If you've read through my rambles, I really appreciate it. Just needed to get all this off my proverbial chest ._. Hope you enjoyed!
BHBrowne
EDIT #1
Someone asked in the comments how I got my ending, so I figured I'd update the thread itself after replying to the comment so that everyone can see it, if they are interested.
When it came to choosing who to go with - whether to go after Gabe and David OR to try and save Richmond with Kate - Clementine told me that where ever I went, she'd go with me. I picked to chase after Gabe and David, which lead to us fighting our way to the truck together. Upon reaching the truck, Clementine helped David out while I helped Gabe. There was then a conversation, which ended in you either telling him what Rafa had said to you in the flashback or telling him to walk away.
Once I got back to Richmond, I put Kate down, and Gabe asked if we were all alone now. David inches into frame and looks around sadly, and Javier replied with 'I guess we'll find out.' In the church scene, it's revealed that David isn't speaking to either Gabe or Javier.
EDIT #2
Added my choices screen from From The Gallows, as well as my family screens and the 'My Clementine' screen.
Comments
I agree with you on everything, really. I haven't been the biggest fan of this season so far, but after episode 4 I got really excited. There were so many possibilities. So many determinant characters...I had high hopes. I have to give credit where its due and say I like how much Rufus being alive or dead changed the atmosphere, it might not matter too much technically, but I think they did all they could, after all He was just a heavy background character. Plus Conrad surviving (despite not having many scenes from what I'm aware of)
Max, Lonnie, Joan, Clint were all forgotten. Max and Lonnie are tied together. Lonnie is shown to be scummy, so maybe he could have tried to kill Javi, but then Max comes in and protects them. That would've gone far for me. Clint was mostly nice, maybe they could have placed him the same way they did with Lingard? Then again, it would be a little awkward talking to the guy who shot your leader...
Tipp and Ava just got screwed. They both just show up and talk about what happened just to fall silent in the background. In Ava's case she dies a bullshit death right away. I kind of like how Tripp didn't die at the car scene, but at the helicopter, it suits him more, but that doesn't make it much better. I appreciate the attempt though.
And like you said, then ending was just...insulting. You paid for this season, so you should get a proper ending. Not DLC baiting...
Woah this is an extremely detailed review. You must have taken / put a lot of effort into writing all that. Good job.
Just a question. Your ending, with David and Gabe both alive but Kate dead, how does one achieve that? Because I thought / heard David died no matter what you do.
I gotta agree with you, i really disliked the writing of the characters and the rushed plot, i also hate how the story goes out of is way to paint David in a bad light.
In the previous episodes he seemed like a flawed but ultimately good person, here he caused arguments after arguments and unneeded drama, it doesn't help that all characters can't stop talking about how much of a jerk and danger they think he is.
I think you literally just described Kenny there for a second
Huh i guess you're right, i do am a fan of Kenny and that's something i despised in season 2.
It feels annoying as if the writers of the game have this view on the character that they want to force down your throat, not allowing you to make your own opinions and interpretations of his personality, all in favor of demonizing him an make yo go to the path they want you to even if you disagree.
This will probably be my last post on the forum, since there's not much reason for posting again.
I hope this is the last season.
Heya! First of all, thank you very much for the kind words about my review. It's about 3,000 words, and it took me many hours to write, but I think the end result was worth it!
I'm not too sure how I got my ending, but I'll share what little I know for now, and once I have my choices screen for From The Gallows I'll share that too.
When it came to choosing who to go with - whether to go after Gabe and David OR to try and save Richmond with Kate - Clementine told me that where ever I went, she'd go with me. I picked to chase after Gabe and David and leave Kate to handle the bulldozer alone, which lead to Clementine and I fighting our way to the truck together. Upon reaching the truck, Clementine helped David out while I helped Gabe. There was then a conversation, which ended in you either telling him what Rafa had said to you in the flashback or telling him to walk away. I'll try and stomach another playthrough later and record it for you, if I remember!
Once I got back to Richmond, I put Kate down, and Gabe asked if we were all alone now. David inches into frame and looks around sadly, and Javier replied with 'I guess we'll find out.' In the church scene, it's revealed that David isn't speaking to either Gabe or Javier, and the uncle and nephew mourn for Kate's death.
I updated the review itself with my 'experience' screens, showing that David returned to Richmond, and I'll update once I know more. Thank you for reading my review, and I hope my answer is helpful in some capacity
Brownie, you pretty much nailed everything as usual, so there's not much for me to add
I agree with basically everything you said - this episode, man... Just... sigh. I really don't think it was satisfying enough for a finale, especially not after they've given us 2 really solid ones in the past.
One thing I will mention is the jarring lack of hubs. Again. I legit didn't see a single section where you could walk around, explore anything or even just have an optional conversation. Not one. This might've been the most on-the-rails experience with a telltale game that I've ever seen, and frankly it kind of feels like from the gallows should have an extra hour topped onto it.