Season Two Endings *SPOILERS*
I think the reason that the Kenny endings are better than most of the others is because it actually sets us on a clear path, as opposed to the others.
The Kenny endings basically go back to the thing Luke said. Not counting "Food"(because that's stupid), when Luke asks Clem what the most important thing is now, It's really between Family or Safety. Wellington is Safety. Kenny is Family.
Staying at Wellington is ultimately the smarter choice. It's what will probably keep us alive, looking at it logically. In fact, there's no real reason for Family to be more important than Safety. If your thinking that Family means you have more people to protect you... Well, it doesn't really. Either option could mean you have people to help you, and people you help. The difference being that you have a bond to Family, and aside from it being important because it "just is", you really can't say that Family is a better option than Safety. Yet Luke will say it's Family. Lee would say it's family, if he were still alive, and Kenny would say that it's family. He gives up the supplies so that they might take Clem and AJ.
Family is the most important thing we have in this world, at least for me, and while it isn't so stark and unforgiving as choosing Safety over Family, that's really what choosing Wellington over Kenny is. Unless of course you don't like Kenny, and only went for the ending because you heard it was better. 
Along with that, each has a satisfying conclusion to it. The last shot of Clem and Kenny walking away from Wellington back up over the hill, or Clem outside the gates of Wellington, waiting to see if Kenny will look back(when you see him stop, and almost look, then just keep walking... that broke my heart...).
And of course, Gavin Hammon and Melissa Hutchinson did a fantastic job with the ending. Incredibly well written and acted, and very emotional for both endings. Gavin Hammon had some truly heart breaking lines in the end. "You'll meet people... You'll make friends. Good people. Better than me... They won't have to look at you.... And feel ashamed for everything they've put you through."
The Alone ending is telling us that nothing has changed. We're the survivor, the one lone survivor. And we're on our own. Again. There's not really any new message here, it's the same one we were given at the beginning of the Season. There's really not a whole lot of depth to this ending. Along with this, we get none of the brilliant writing and acting from the Kenny Endings. Which is fine I suppose. In fact, if the scene is done well without any words being said, that'd be impressive.
But the finale scene doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Even though we've already gotten this message, they could have tried to deliver it better. The point was to show Clem surviving on her own, taking care of AJ, right? So... Maybe a call back to the first scene with Christa? Just a short scene, starting a fire, Clem holding AJ, and then maybe just staring into the fire, us knowing that she's remembering everyone that died, leaving her alone again. Hell, it didn't even have to specifically call back to any other event in the season, but it just needed to get across that point.
I'm sorry, but I don't think Clem walking through a herd of walkers like a badass was the right way to do that. It just wasn't. It doesn't feel conclusive, and it was a wasted opportunity.
The problem with the Jane endings is that neither feel conclusive, and both put Clem in a bad situation. We've got another clear choice here, Accept Jane's philosophy, being alone, not trusting anyone, or, try to change Jane's mind about people, get her to maybe accept them, realize that they can build something there. Sounds good, but it's missing a few things.
This scene really had the chance to have a moment between Jane and Clem like there was with Kenny and Clem, but it didn't. Nothing was special about anything either of them said in the final scene, aside from Clem's "We can build something here" comment. Not saying that Christine Lakin didn't do as good a job as Gavin Hammon, it's that she wasn't given a chance. Gavin Hammon was given a big speech and a bunch of touching lines for the ending he was in, Christine Lakin got a few minor comments and... that was it. It doesn't feel as important, and it's not a very emotional ending.
Also, it punishes you either way. I suppose the Kenny ending did, too. But that made sense. Stay at Wellington, leave Kenny behind(gain safety, lose family), or Go with Kenny, leave Wellington behind(keep family, still no safety). It's one or the other, it works.
Here's how the Jane ending goes: Be distrustful and turn the family away. You really gain nothing from this, because the game makes it clear that they'll be back, and Randy doesn't seem all too happy to have been turned away. At least they're not inside, where they could hurt you more easily if they're dangerous. Invite them in, and you gain nothing. The game makes it clear that something is wrong with Randy, given Clem's worrying look when she sees his gun, and how the music that was originally happy, starts to become distorted and twisted. Both endings leave Clem in a bad scenario, and you don't gain anything in either of them. The Kenny endings had a trade-off, but both Jane endings leave you in a bad place.
On top of this, we don't even get a good final shot for the ending where you let the family in. Even the alone ending had a pretty good final shoot, even though the scene itself wasn't great, and even though it leaves Clem in a bad place, the ending where you turn the family away at least feels like an endings, with Gill turning back to stare at Clem, silently judging you or whatever. Letting them in just doesn't even feel like an ending when it fades to black. It leaves almost everyone(that I know of) surprised that it just ended there. Hell, all you needed to do was maybe even do a zoomed out view of Clem, Jane, Randy and his family and then fade to black. Maybe include Carver near the foreground. Doesn't make the ending any better really, but at least just as for leaving it off there, you'd know it was ending. I don't know, it's kind of like the last straw with that ending. There really wasn't a whole lot good with it.
However, I'm not really holding this against the episode because.... The ending I got was better than I ever could have imagined so... yeah.
Comments
My biggest problem with Kenny's endings is that they feel more like an ending for Kenny's character rather than an ending for Clem's character, which is something that the Jane endings pull off well, Season 2 is supposed to be Clementine's story, right?
How do you feel as if the Jane endings were a better conclusion for Clem's story?
As it is, both of the Kenny endings set Clem down one of two paths, two paths that were really introduced clearly in Episode 2 when Luke talks about family. Does your Clementine value safety(Wellington) over Family(Kenny)? Or is it the other way around?
The path that the Jane endings set you on are kind of that heart of the conflict with Jane in Episode 4. Either Clem becomes cold and doesn't trust people, or she does trust them, and tries to make something out of a bad situation.
The difference is that the Kenny endings present you with a fair trade-off. Safety, but no Family, or Family, but no Safety.
The Jane endings tell you that you're screwed either way. The music ques and Clem's expression tell us that there is definitely something off with Randy if you invite him in. And it's clear he'll be back if you turn him away. so you are trusting, and invite a dangerous person into your home(bad, with no good), or you're distrustful, and make an enemy of a dangerous person(a minuscule amount of good, outweighed by even more bad).
I'm not trying to force my opinion down your throat or anything, that's just how I see it. I'd love to see other people bring up different points about the ending.
...So uh.... Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
It kind of feels like the Jane endings was the humane thing, the Kenny ending seemed like the empathetic thing and the alone endings pretty much focused on survival.
I think the initial choice is between logic and family. Or, it should be anyway.
The Kenny endings tie into the conflict between Family and Safety from Episode 2, and the Jane endings tie into the conflict between trusting people or not trusting them that Jane brings up in Episode 4.
Unfortunately, the Jane endings punish you with no good, unintentionally making the choice between Jane into a good/bad choice. Letting Kenny live is the "good" choice because the endings you get are both good with some bad. The Jane endings are "bad" because both endings are bad with no good. That's a problem, and really it should be between Family(Kenny) and Logic(Jane(?)).
Very well written Zyphon. People are judging Kenny because he's short-tempered but he was always thinking about the group even if he was putting himself in harm's way. Staying with Kenny is what Lee would be proud of. Kenny's heart is in the right place in the end.
Thank you, but keep in mind, while I do think the Kenny endings are best, my point wasn't that they are best simply because they have Kenny. All the endings had the chance to be good, but only the Kenny endings got it right, and again, not because I like Kenny, but it was a fair trade-off, there was a sense of finality to it. Very good acting, had significance to the plot, these are things the other ending missed.
The Alone ending could have benefited simply by trying to get their point across in a more humble way, rather than the "badass" walking through a herd scene.
The Jane endings should have had a more 'final' scene between Cem and Jane like there was with Clem and Kenny. It should have given us a fair trade-off. Sure, be uneasy about Randy having a gun, but still leave us with the sense that we can start building something here. Instead, it ended on very strange note, and made Randy appear sown-right sinister. At least the Jane ending where you turn the family away is more final, and actually seems like an ending.
I do agree though, that my own choice was staying with Kenny. What good is Wellington if we have to leave Kenny? The last family we have left. For me, it wasn't worth it.