Why Season 3 needs to separate itself from 1 and 2.
Prepare yourself for a lengthy explanation, you've been warned.
Reading the title, one may interpret that I want the writers of Season 3 to have no connection at all to Seasons 1 and 2, that they should dump Clementine and all the characters and start fresh, well you're wrong. Clementine should still be the protagonist and characters like AJ and Kenny/Jane should be there for a good portion of the game (depending on your choice). Here's what I actually mean when I say that Season 3 needs to separate itself from Seasons 1 and 2.
One of the things I felt Season 2 struggled in was that the writers were trying to live up to the expectations of Season 1 and tried to give us emotional scenes or callbacks from Season 1, and some times, it felt more like it was there more for shock value than for emotional impact, such as Omid's death. Many scenes in the first episode of Season 2 were references to Season 1, such as Clementine going through her backpack and finding the picture of Lee and Kenny and the conversation with Luke (which, I will say, was well-written and one of my favorite scenes from the game). Hell, the encounter she has with the walker in the shed is similar to how Lee killed Sandra in A New Day.
Also, there are two characters from Season 1 that are mentioned or can be mentioned in every single episode of Season 2: Lee and Duck. Lee is understandable because of the impact he had on Clementine's life, but a character like Duck I felt does not need to be mentioned in every single episode (which is weird because while I love Kenny, I can't stand Duck).
In Season 3, Telltale should not necessarily stop mentioning these characters or not have emotional scenes, but should not feel obligated to constantly refer to Seasons 1 or 2 to try and hit the players emotionally. Like, I don't want another scene in Season 3 where we have to explain to a new character about what Clementine has gone through like she did with Luke in All That Remains, we already know what happened and it would be redundant to do it again. And now that we have gone a full season without Lee, like I said, it's not like they should just stop mentioning him all together, but they should not feel obligated to reference him in every episode. Like, we don't need to have another Lee dream in Season 3, it would be too repetitive.
Again, not saying there can't be references to Seasons 1 or 2 or not have choices come back in Season 3, but they shouldn't feel obligated to put them in, do it if it's important to the story.
But the biggest issue I have and a main reason why I wrote this was because I don't want Telltale to do this...BRING BACK UNKNOWN CHARACTERS. Like I said, I loved Kenny, and I was ecstatic to see him back in Season 2, but a result of bringing him back has caused several people on the forums and on other websites to demand Telltale bring back characters such as Lilly, Christa, Molly, Vernon (I heard he died however, it's mentioned in 400 Days I heard, but since I never played it, I'm unsure), and others. Telltale should separate itself from Seasons 1 and 2 by not bringing back characters, it would become too repetitive and unrealistic. Also, another negative about bringing back Kenny was that it deviated attention from the cabin group and put the attention on Kenny, causing some of the characters to be underdeveloped. The characters had great development before they brought back Kenny, but after that, it felt like the season shifted to Kenny and the cabin group took a back seat.
It was either Sean Ainsworth or Dennis Lenart who said in an interview with IGN that, sometimes, you don't always meet up again with people you know, and they are 100% right. It was a miracle we found Kenny again, but don't expect them to bring back characters again, like I said, it would become too unrealistic if they brought more and more characters back who were previously unknown.
I think Telltale should, except for Clementine, AJ, and whoever you may be with as a result of No Going Back, should almost wipe the slate clean. Obviously they can't take away the things Clementine has done or seen or choices we have made, but no need to feel obligated to reference them to try and make it more emotional. No more bringing back character bullshit, it's one and done and should not be done in Season 3.
Instead, introduce a new group (smaller group preferably than what there was in Season 2), and focus on them and there development. No need to have an old character overshadow the rest of the Season, focus on this new group instead, let's get attached to them, and then they can rip our hearts out by killing them if they have the need to make the game emotional (seriously, do the people at Telltale feed off human tears or something).
So that's how I feel (again, sorry about the length), tell me what you guys think. Am I right or wrong, and do you have any suggestions?
Comments
I still think that some of the old characters should be brought back. I'd love to see what happens to Lilly, Christa and the rest of the 400 Days survivors after we get seperated from them. Whether it's in a DLC form or as part of the Season 3 storyline.
But I agree. Reuniting with all of these characters would be completely unrealistic. Which is why their departures should have been handled differently. Characters going missing all the time is lazy writing IMO.
Characters going missing is better than being killed off screen (Nick) or twice in the same episode (Sarah). And I would prefer it to be a DLC rather than waste time in Season 3.
Yeah, too many references with older characters would be repetitive. But I'm still curious on what happened to Christa, Lilly, and the 400 days characters...
It's the lesser of two evils I guess. It just shows that the writers have no idea what to do with most of these characters.
I don't feel like we need resolution with Lilly or the 400 days people. They're no longer tied to anything significant in the story and so the only added story benefit to meeting up with them again is basically "So, what have you been up to?" It'd be nice to know, but it's not pressing enough to bring them back into the story.
Christa, on the other hand, is the only other person who can provide insight into what Clem went through during the 16 months between Season 1 and Season 2. I feel like there are still some important answers to be found there that would shed light on some of the newer aspects of Clem's character, specifically her feelings of guilt and sense of responsibility towards AJ.
To be honest, I've already written off Christa as dead since you hear the gunshot and she wasn't at Wellington, and if you read the characters stats at the end of Season 1, it says Lilly was never seen again, so I don't believe she's coming back at all. As for 400 Days, I wouldn't be totally against them, it would be nice to see them actually impact the story and not just make appearances, but I think it's better to leave it all in the past and just have new characters.
While that would be nice, I wouldn't expect Telltale to do anything about it. Like I said, they like having Christa's status as unknown, so I don't think that's going to change any time soon.
Actually Telltale, if you want to bring Mike, Arvo, and (determinant) Bonnie back so we can kill them, I'll be perfectly okay with that.
While I'm hoping that the S2 group will be mentioned in S3, it's probably only going to be Lee, Kenny, and possibly Arvo (due to her first experience of being shot). If you think about it, the cabin group likely isn't all that 'special' or memorable to Clem considering the time she's been with them (around than 2 and a half weeks if not less) and her total lifetime in the apocalypse (2+ years)
...meaning she's only been with the s2 group for 2.5% of her post-apocalyptic life.
...
;_;
I think it should focus just focus on Clem, AJ, and new characters. Despite my worship towards Kenny, he did take alot of spotlight from The Cabin Group.
Completely agree. If Telltale wants to bring characters back, don't make them overshadow other characters like Kenny did.
Lol dude, you have to learn to be more concise. You could have cut a lot of that out and still have made the same point. Anywho, you make some valid points
Attitudes in relation to the old characters' returns are generally split due to player's bias towards them. Sometimes it's maintained throughout the game, and takes advantage during the important decisions. Such move is risky as hell, that's why it should be minimized.
I disagree. Clementine cuting-off from the past is just unrealistic. It'd narrow down her character and take away a part of her memory (and consequently, her personality). She has encountered a lot of people who she loved or cared about, which is a source of serenity you can easily lose trying to survive no matter what. All of them had their opinions and ways of thinking, and each of them had taken their tolls in Clementine's life. She, keeping those memories, can prevent them from fading, and pass them on to the others; be a spark from witch the fire starts. If she would ever have to raise AJ alone, she had to use all she's learned from the others, even though she would decide by herself what is the most valuable in the life of a survivor.
Thank you for reading, and you're right. It's a bad habit of mine, when I get started, it's hard for me to stop, and I often find myself rehashing or reiterating a point I already made.
I'm not saying that she has to forget them or that the writers completely forget that they happened, what I'm saying is that, while it was a nice scene, the Luke/Clem conversation was also put their for emotional impact. The writers could put something like it in Season 3, but shouldn't do it for emotional impact, but do it because it will help the story. Of course she can't just forget all the shit that has happened to her and all the people that have helped her along the way, I'm just saying that they don't have to explain it all again to another character like they did with Luke.
I understand what are you trying to say, but logically talking, the other survivors will question her about her past, simply because seeing a little girl surviving on her own is just suspicious or intriguing. Then again, it should be up to the player what information we want to reveal.
I've seen posts three times longer than yours, whose reading was just a joy. :> Length doesn't really matter, friend, don't be discouraged by it.
I appreciate it, thank you.
I was thinking the same thing actually. One thing that bugged me was that in ATR when you are talking to Luke, no matter what option you got (We went to look for my parents, we went to Savannah, I was left with a babysitter), Clementine says the exact same thing. One thing that would be great would be we could tell whoever it may be certain details and we could choose what to tell them. Let the player choose what the most important aspects of Clementine's life were and who they consider the most important people in her life, that's great.
Yeah I agree. I love Kenny but the cabin group was extremely underdeveloped and written and I really wanted to learn more about them. A mention of Lee would be nice here or there, but other than that s3 should focus on an entirely new group/setting around Clem and AJ (other than episode 1, because the endings should play a part in the beginning of s3)
And if that situation had an impact on the game, it'd separate our Clementines, which seems like a good way of leading to the actual meaningful choices.
Or a DLC centered around your ending, that way, Telltale doesn't have to waste any time in Season 3 by wasting an episode trying to get everyone at the same point. Or make S3 6 episodes, like they're doing with GOT.
DLC aren't necessarily ones that impact the story in a main way though, because all they are is really downloadable content if you enjoyed the game and want some more, and I also doubt Telltale will make the DLC free. 6 episodes is a likely theory though.