Review of Ties That Bind Part II, and what this season means for the future of TWD **Spoilers obv!**
Okay, after seeing that my "review" of Episode one was just me paraphrasing a lot of the events of it, I'll try to keep this one shorter. TRY being the key word here. My brain sometimes doesn't listen.
S3E1 Ending: Retreated with Family
So, this episode started out pretty good. Get some nice determinacy from either fighting the bandits or helping Eleanor. I went with Eleanor, so of course I gotta do the surgery... eugh. This scene was pretty dramatic, but well done. I'm not one for helping in medical situations, especially if I have to hold someone's stomach open, (though I've never done it in real life yet...) but this was some good looking gore... in a bad way... or good? Eh, I don't know what to say here. And you do get a small choice what to do with Gabe during it all (I said to stay back). When that's over, there's a small hub, I steal some water (heh) and talk to Gabe. Here's my problem with him (as I'm sure many other people do). Whenever there's a Telltale apocalypse, why do we always need the dumb, liability character? Ben.. Nick.. (kind of Greg).. Gabe.. It's just too easy to tell them apart, and it seems too obvious that they'll wither mess up thinking they're doing something good, or mess up because of their own incompetence (sometimes both... Ben with a hatchet.) I feel sorry for Gabe in a way because I know I need to care for him as Javier, and he seems to want to do real good, as well as him getting along with Clementine (which I don't know which side of the fence I'm on on this one yet..) but I just know something bad is going to happen to him later on, and he'll die (maybe determinately). Either way, there's a good ambush with Surprise again! Clam returns with Bandits in tow! and it turns out that they're the so called "New Frontier". Ouch, guess we picked the wrong junkyard to loot. There's a stand off and I give myself in for the sake of no one losing any more fingers (first Clem, now Francine.. noo!) Turns out they're liars and people get shot everywhere. We retreat and they start the break in. I kind of like this scene as it shows that there isn't really a whole "organised, evil group" feel to the gang, makes them feel more human; "--We don't have the go ahead! ... --Fuck you and fuck the go ahead! Ram the fucking gate!" ;So, we get another safe town utterly destroyed, and flee, again. --The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.-- By the way, Telltale, when you want to be all cinematic like you were with episode one, that's okay, but at least be consistent with your episode title cards. We didn't get "Ties That Bind - Part One" in the first episode, but we get "Part Two" in the second? Just feels inconsistent for me. Anyway, we're on a road trip to Richmond! The next little hub was okay, I interacted with everything and you got to see some cool stuff. Though I was stuck on this part for 5 minutes because I never saw the garage door to open behind the van. oops. Walker horde is there, yay, and then we see Jesus. I would be happy here if I read the comics, but I don't. Only the show. I'll get to it this holiday I bet. I decide to trust him as I don't think he's in it to kill us yet, if he wants to.. And then another flashback..... (before I say anything, we need more scenes of AJ and Clem interacting.. it's so cute. Must protect AJ.) Here, I found the writing very strange. Clem and AJ are holed up in a shed, someone breaks in and helps to shut the door, then her and Clem have a nice little chat. But not one of them asks who are you. Why? This girl comes in, I say leave, she tells me "I won't be here for long kiddo." And then I get the whole story of her being separated from her group. I want to care, but I'm too busy thinking of who this person is. Was it implied that they know each other already? Why is this person so nosy? Why are they telling us everything. Ugh, either way, she's with NF, and Clem is too. Conrad takes Gabe hostage (liability!) and I switch over Clem for it to go smoothly. Because ME, AS JAVIER, thinks that Family is first, and he doesn't really want to trust an NF right now. We get to Richmond, I reluctantly lower our guns to these people who have proven to us many times already that they'd trick us in a heartbeat, and BOOM, David Garcia is the leader. Wha? Telltale better have some good explanation on this because this is so coincidental right now. OOof...
If I were good at rating things, this episode would be an 8 out of 10. It clocks in at about 1h15 minutes. Too short.
Now, I believe that this Season is, like it or not, a new beginning for Telltale. We are a new character, with a new objective, and a new backstory. We are much different than who we played as in Season 2 and are seeing the aftermath of what happened since then (well, at least for 5-10 minutes). This is meant to drift away from the characters we know in our TWD universe and begin a new one. We protected Clem, We became Clem, We are a stranger to Clem. This season may be the last time we see Clementine, and I believe that this way (from an outsider's perspective) is the best way for a send off. Clem inclusion may just be for the fans, but it gives players something, at least to look at before it goes away. We have shaped Clem (or at least, the game has) and she has evolved from what her role was in Season One.. Now, Clementine serves as a guide to Javier, someone who knows the ropes of a community and who can plan much better than he can in the apocalypse. Clem is her own person, not on a leash and is a very capable survivor. This is the end, the true Clementine that has been shaped over the past 2 seasons, and I think it's the last time she appears to us. Next season, a fresh start I bet. Something new, where Telltale can start new choices, and new stories, but somewhere else...
yeah.
Comments
The last paragraph of your review is very interesting to me! Personally, I really enjoy playing opposite of Clem. I also enjoyed playing as Clem in s2, but seeing Clem as this often morally ambiguous, mysterious wild-card is just such a brand new angle (very different from s1 as well, where she's the moral compass). Obviously, a lot of the audience wants to side with Clem, but even she makes it hard for you to side with her sometimes (like when she wanted to shoot the New Frontier people at the gate right off the bat lol, I was like CLEM CHILL!!!!!). I just love seeing how much she has changed from the perspective of an outsider, but also being able to see how she got this way through the occasional flashback.
I have to say, the whole confrontation with the New Frontier at the gates of Prescott, and the subsequent attack has already become one of my favorite moments of the series.
Stumbling through the smoke, trying to save who you can, and then the intro montage of walkers overwhelming people and the New Frontier executing everybody. That moment felt like The Walking Dead to me, through and through.
Oh yeah, and when you give yourself up, Javier ends up shanking a dude in the neck with a pair of pliers, without hesitation. I gained a weird respect for Javier when he did that-- he's willing to do some pretty brutal shit in order to keep both himself and the people around him safe. I mean, you kind of have to be willing to do some nasty stuff after 4 years into the apocalypse, but still, stabbing someone in the jugular with a pair of pliers is pretty fucking metal, if you ask me.
Agreed.
yeah.
They could do both keep their loyal Clem fanbase and start fresh. After this season they can sperate Clem from Javier again. Builed up alternative lines or just branches next to each other. But if they'll take Clem from me, they'll be taking all will to ever buy any "Walking Dead" Telltale games from me. May wallet dies if Clem does or dissapears if Clem does that. Opened up a thread about that. But why can't we have both? Two sperate branches inside the Walking Dead world? One with Clem and one without. They can experiment in one while keep the love they deserve in the other. Can't see why we have to sacrefice one for the other tbh.