Differences between Carley and Doug after the determinant option
I realize that you had an option to either choose Carley or Doug to save and my very first playthrough I chose Doug and died very quickly after so I thought the game was kind of forcing you to choose Carley so when I replayed that scene I chose Carley and got out. I recently just viewed a playthrough where they did save Doug and got out as well so I guess now I could have saved Doug and still gotten out of that scene alive.
My question is though how different are Carley and Doug's development after that scene? It looks like they both still die at the same point later on at the hands of Lilly so both their character arcs are pretty similar. Do they have similar lines to one another after that point? I know Carley becomes pretty supportive of Lee after that point and you almost get a feeling that a budding romance might be on the horizons between the two of them if they both survive long enough. Is Doug pretty supportive of Lee as well after that (though obviously not in any romantic sense). Is one character more focused on for the remaining of their time left in the game than the other? I continued to watch a bit more of the playthrough after the final drug store scene to see how Doug acted after that and though it seemed like he was going to play the support system role just like Carley did it also seemed like he was going to be a bit more of a background character than Carley was.
Comments
Its been a while since my first playthrough, but from what I remember, Doug essentially acts as an tech guy for the group who makes a defense system at the motel. He's present in most of the scenes Carley is in but its obviously more influenced by his character. Without giving too much away, Doug is definitely a bit more lighthearted and odd than Carley.
They're the same as in the fill the same supporting role, they're different in the way they interact with Lee and others.
One of the biggest things different between them is that Carely knows Lee is a murderer, and Doug doesn't. This opens up a little more of a subplot in the beginning of episode 3 when Carely recommends telling people your past, and you can follow her advice. This leads to a different scene with Kenny when Lilly tells him Lee is a killer, and Kenny can be fine with it. This doesn't exist with Doug.
Another difference is every instance Carley uses her gun Doug uses some tech equipment. When the St. Johns first show up, Carley threatens then at gun point. For Doug, they trigger a bell mechanism he built, alerting the group to hide and discuss what to do about the new strangers. Similarly, Carley can buy Lee some time in the fight against Andy by shooting him in the ear. Doug will use a lazer pointer to flash into Andy's eyes.
Doug does have some pretty funny lines though, and what he lacks in romantic potential he makes up for in awkward humor.
I saved Doug in my only playthrough, so I can't speak about the two characters comparatively. I feel his character was treated fairly development-wise. There are different occasions Lee can speak with him, including a discussion regarding your choice to save him vs Carley. I also feel enough time passed between the drugstore scene and his inevitable death that it didn't feel rushed or unimportant.
Alas, an example Season 2 should have took inspiration from.
(Sorry for the derail)
Carley also helps Lee kill the bandits in Episode 3. I wish we had a bit more content exclusive to Doug to be honest.
Doug has more independent development that I think he adds more to the story. He builds an alarm system and then gets kind of depressed in episode 3.
Carley really gets relegated to lees cheerleader in episode 2 and 3.
Gameplay wise carley is better as she lets you tell the group about your past and means you dont have to shoot one bandit or an extra four walkers
Oh yeah, its been so long since my first playthrough that I forgot about that. Poor guy. :sad:
Yeeeah...I'd be lying if I said that didn't bother me a bit. It's like I seen a few people comment/complain that Katjaa, Duck, Larry, and/or Ben are useless to the group, but Carley either literally just sits with the kids (alongside Ben) or lounges around the motel doing jackshit. Not to start any firefights but at least they had moments where they get to use their unique skills and were active most of the time anyway. Stop complaining about wanting a spa treatment and DO something!
Yeah I have only really played the game all the way through once myself (generally not one who watches movies or reads books multiple times either). I found Carley interesting in my playthrough though because they had her be a bit of a contrast to Lilly's developing antagonism (I liked that because in the first episode Carley was a bit more of the hardass so it showed how personalities can change after being in this type of situation for several months).