Favourite Episode?
Hi, with Above The Law coming out soon, I wondered how you guys would rank the past 12 episodes (excluding 400 Days and Michonne) that Telltale have released so far and for those of you you've seen, or know any spoilers about Above The Law where'd you rank it compared to the other episodes?
Personally, here's my list with some reasoning behind it.
12th Amid the Ruins- 6.1/10- My most hated episode, hated the pointless deaths in the episode, and the blatantly obvious choices that didn't matter angle (Arvo with the meds). Some segments were good such as the opening and the Bonnie/Mike scene in the museum. But overall this episode was a disgraceful mess, which really didn't live up to it's awesome trailer.
11th In Harm's Way- 6.3/10- The episode where Series 2 took a serious nosedive and ruined all the quality it had been building up too. This episode was far too cinematic, barely letting me do anything as Clem. So much potential was wasted that simply exploring and talking to people would have done. The 400 days characters were there, the story was there to be discussed! Everything should have worked and it didn't and it drove me mad seeing it all go to pot. The only reason this isn't as low as ATR is because the deaths in the episode actually mattered somewhat (such as Carlos and Alvin) and had some awesome moments. (Kenny getting up from the beating, Jane shooting Troy in the dick etc...)
10th Ties That Bind Part 2- 6.6/10- Like IHW, this episode was too cinematic, throwing out the storytelling element and replacing it with mere action and little character development. Realism was thrown out of the window with David's return used to stir up drama. It set Season 3 on what I presume will be a very comic-y like path full of drama and action, that simply isn't the realistic and gritty walking dead I know and love from the game. While it had some funny moments and good action, it wasn't enough to save it from being too short, nor was it that interesting to appeal to me.
9th Ties That Bind Part 1- 7.0/10- Better than it's following episode, despite it's short nature. Season 3 got off to a decent start, the new characters were fairly interesting, the plot intense, the villains complex. However it's shortfalls really brought it down, not noting the absolutely horrible flashbacks and models, Clementine becoming a hardass no matter what really disappointed me.
Above The Law- Possibly here or in front of NGB, but judging from what I've heard so far and key plot points, this seems like the place I'd give ATL. Apparently better than the first two episodes, but I'm waiting for the full release to make a full judgement and mark on it.
8th No Going Back- 7.1/10- It had some amazing scenes and moments, such as the multiple endings and the campfire scene. It was certainly an improvement on IHW and ATR. But it was too little to late to salvage the story. The plot was forced in places (Luke's death and Arvo's betrayal). Characters making no sense, Bonnie, Mike leaving, Arvo wanting to kill you no matter what, just Jane's character as a whole. The flashback to Season 1 just wanted me to want to play S1 all over again and made me realise the series truly was Not getting back to it's former glory.
7th A New Day- 7.7/10- Okay things getting good now, out of Season 1 episodes this was the weakest in my opinion. Just because when I play it back, I felt like some segments dragged on a little bit too slowly. Nevertheless it did a phenomenal job in introducing us to the world of the walking dead and Lee Everett himself, so it deserves it's very solid 7 for being the start to a great adventure.
6th Around Every Corner- 8.2/10- An awesome episode, filled with so many dramatic character moments and scenes, such as burying the boy from the attic, Kenny's despair at being unable to find a boat. The trip to Crawford, the fresh and colorful new characters (I loved Molly!) all the exploration that could be done. The chance to see the gun training pay off with Clem, it didn't make me as sad as I thought it would however with events like Chuck's death. Or the relief I should have felt after we all got back from Crawford alive, it was a little slow at points, but still a very awesome experience and a perfect prequel to the finale.
5th A House Divided- 8.4/10- A truly great episode, yes it had it's shortfalls as a lot of people have pointed out. But replaying it is an absolute blast. Firstly the choice to go with either Pete or Nick was handled greatly, with a lot of care put into both scenario's. Small things such as the watch you can steal become relevant. Okay the cabin group's change was unnatural and I longed for more dialogue. But this episode was done in a way that made me invest very heavily with them. The atmosphere was fantastic, Kenny's return was also great, but didn't end up overshadowing everyone else like it would later on. Nothing ever felt slow or dragged in this episode, there was a lack of exploration and hubs admittedly, but this episode made me want to replay it to find out more and got me hyped for E3. E2 was an awesome set up for a great story and a had great story arc within it, it's a shame what followed destroyed S2 for me.
4th Starved for Help- 8.8/10- An amazing piece of storytelling, nothing more can be said of it. Yes it had it's slow points, but there was so much character development and great choices I didn't care. Stealing from the station wagon? Assist Kenny in killing Larry or not? Of all episodes this one had some of the biggest and most thought provoking choices and elevated from the great we got in E1, to the phenomenal the series would become. Replayable and intense, Starved for Help deserves all the credit it gets.
3rd All That Remains- 9.1/10- My unpopular opinion, my underdog episode but I loved it too pieces and my clear favourite from Series 2 by a mile. Omid's death and the time skip yes they can be problematic for some, but Omid's death bummed me out as much as Lee's did. I spent the first half of the episode feeling like Clem must have done. Depressed and numb in this dark and cruel world, with only herself in the woods. Sam's death actually depressed me even more, plus Clem stitching up her arm, a new group of possibly hostile or nice figures, it all felt so realistic and gritty for a young girl to try and survive alone and I frickin loved it! The set-up, tension and WTF moments from this episode still make it re-playable for me. It had the best set-up for an opening I'd seen and original threats we weren't expecting (the dog) and actually playing like a little girl, by hiding, sneaking, crawling and blackmailing. A true, underrated gem of an episode which also serves of a sad-reminder to what Season 2 could have been had the writers stuck to their guns.
2nd Long Road Ahead- 9.5/10- Except for the train section being dragged out, this episode really was the emotional roller coaster it set out to be. Taking the risks of killing off characters we loved, such as Carley/Doug, Kajtaa and Duck in ways that weren't just your typical shot by a bandit, or eaten alive routes. The deaths we went through were slow and painful, or shocking and impactful. Lilly was gone, the group was falling apart, the true dark and gritty nature of this episode made me glued to the powerful story. I'd never felt so emotionally drained after playing through an episode of a video game before, but this one did it masterfully. Teaching Clem to shoot, it took the story on the path it needed too, rather than the one's the fans wanted or expected and I take off my hats to Telltale for producing such a masterpiece, only topped by one more episode...
1st No Time Left- 10/10- Perfection, quite simply. The cinematography was gorgeous, the tension at it's very highest, the story wasn't dragged for a second. The deaths all perfect and fitting send off's for a fantastic story (which kind of why I protested to Kenny being back in AHD, but you know...) and this was the episode that made everyone cry with it's sad end. A true masterpiece in every sense of the word. The stranger being the final boss, wasn't a big dramatic boss fight, but was quiet and extremely impactful for me and once again the ending... an episode able to draw grown men to tears earns it's place as the best walking dead episode Telltale have ever done.
What do you guys think? Feel free to post below and offer your own opinion, or agree or disagree with mine.
Comments
Lol from best to worst:
Im not even including season 3's utter shit episodes. Basically for me, after season 1, all the episodes got worse and worse
Season 1: Starved For Help
Season 2: In Harm's Way
¯_(ツ)_/
What about No time left?
He gave it a 10/10 and put it as his No. 1 favorite episode
etc etc
Honestly a tough list for me to make. I'm sure about the top five, but the rest were hard to rank.
All eps from season 1 were great from start to finish.
in order from best to worst:
Season 2, ep2, ep5, ep3, ep4, ep1
Season 3 - ep2, ep1.
Season 3 easily the worst so far.
Im not sure I can put them in order or anything, since I dont remember too well, but my 2 favorite episodes are definitely Episode 1 and 2 of Season 2, a super strong opener, which shows the struggles that Clementine has to deal with as a child in the apocalypse.
Episode 3 in Season 1, I love the whole trek across the country they do (probably not across the country, I dunno where from and to they actually travel, but you know what I mean), and with Ducks death and Katjaa, we see the start of what will become the madness of Kenny, and I think they really did an amazing job with Kennys character in this episode.
Episode 4 season 1, I like how you get the choice between leaving Clementine at the house, and taking her with you, and you also get to entrust her with a gun, (which in my mind, in an apocalypse situation, is the biggest trust you can ever show a child), I really liked going to Crawford and exploring, I really like Molley as a character. But episode 4 does have the most fucking stupid moment in the entire series in that Ben goes "neat, and axe" proceeds to remove axe that is obviously holding out all the walkers
Episode 1 Season 1, introduced us to Clem, everyones little sweet Pea, introduced us to Lee, best apocalypse daddy, introduces us to Kenny, probably worst apocalypse daddy, and generally was a really solid opener.
Episode 2 in season 1, I really enjoyed the whole sequence of trying to leave the store, and I really liked the conflicts that arose from Lees past, as it gave a clear view into who was the most sensible people in there, (spoiler, its Carley, she knows about Lees past, but doesnt hold it against him, because she knows the necessity of people, and will only escalate the matter if it becomes a problem)
Again, these are in no particular order, just episodes I really enjoyed
Season 1 Best to Worst:
1: No Time Left
2: Starved for Help
3: Around Every Corner
4: A New Day
5: Long Road Ahead
Season 2 Best to Worst:
1: A House Divided
2: No Going Back
3: All That Remains
4: In Harm's Way
5: Amid the Ruins
Not gonna include Season 3 since it's not finished yet.
I'll do it chronologically..
Season 1
Episode 1 - A new day - 8.5/10
It all started with the cop car scene... Was a good introduction, but it already shows what Telltale is about. Cool artstyle, chill atmosphere and music from time to time, stuff to click and conversations and in the end it all doesn’t matter, cause the car will crash anyway xd
Well, we all know what happens next and it all ends at the Motel, lights going out. Good cliffhanger, loved that scene.
About what happened in between… contained some unrealistic stuff imo, Lee slipping in Clems house twice, Kenny not helping Shawn, Larry getting furious about Duck being maybe bitten and wanting to kill him, without even thinking straight. Idk, it’s just typical unlogical Telltale way to create drama. E.g. by creating chars who don’t make use of their brains and you are one of the few reasonable ppl.
But feels good to come back here, the beginning of it all..
Episode 2 - Starved for help - 9/10
Now this Episode was crazy, it’s already come to cannibalism. I was shocked, when I found Mark without legs. Episode had it’s calm parts (when exploring the dairy), but also action packed moments. Ending was great as well. Overall awesome Episode.
Episode 3 - Long Road Ahead - 8.5/10
A LOT of highlights:
Was a great Episode, a little much train though imo.
Episode 4 - Around Every Corner 8.5/10
Uuh, wow. Lot of highlights here too, biggest one was Lee getting bit. Pretty good Episode, it happened a lot..
Episode 5 - No Time Left - 9.5/10
I like this Episode a lot, only the stranger scene where he was listing our “mistakes” didn’t phase me, was kinda boring, but the end was so heartbreaking. Epic scene, never forget. Great Episode.
Season 2
Episode 1 - All That Remains - 7.5/10
Omid death was a shocker… I would’ve liked to see them strolling around more. I’m not sure about the introduction of the cabin group, all those new faces. I enjoyed sneaking around with Clem. But parting ways with Christa & Omid sucked. Also we are so in the woods now, I liked town more actually. The stitching scene was weird, I never bonded with Nick aka Ben v2, Luke was kind of a milkboy, but nice. Also they should’ve just chopped off Pete’s foot immediately after he got bit.
Episode 2 - A House Devided 7.5/10
Kennyyyy! That was a cool moment, also hanging out at that ski lodge was nice, till Carver showed up. Got pretty brutal, wasn’t too bad Episode, but I already got a bit numb to all the violence etc and I think it was a bit early for Carver to show up.
Episode 3 - In Harm’s Way 7/10
Idk, it all went kinda fast, I didn’t really bond yet with the cabin grp and already half of them is dead and they are in a lot of trouble. Kenny turned into a psycho and everything feels weird. Trapped at Carver’s, I liked sneaking around as Clem, Reggie’s death was sick and obviously killing Carver was pretty nice. But tbh I lost a bit of interest in TWD S2 at that point. Also Kenny cussing at Clem, he really lost it…
Episode 4 - Amid The Ruins 7/10
Hmm I remember actually enjoying them finding SOME peace after all the Carver action, when they get to the observation deck. Also hanging out at the Museum was nice. I actually liked this Episode, but was nothing too crazy going on besides Kenny being a dick and the Russians showing up.
Episode 5 - No Going Back 6.5/10
Damn, the Russians were bad shots, they circled the group and managed to kill none of them… Just wow.
And WELL, what happens after that… First of all, Arvo deserved getting beaten, Kenny and Jane are both crazy in the end and Telltale decides to kill off Luke and the both crazy ones as well… and start a whole new story with ANF. Dunno what to think about that, lol. S2 turned into a shitfest by Kenny being so crazy, the cabin group getting into so much trouble with Carver, them all dieing or running (Bonnie/Mike). I really disliked, Jane and Kenny becoming so nuts. I actually forgave Jane for doing so and in my playthrough, I ended up being alone with AJ and Jane and sending the family away and I was actually happy with that ending, but TTG made a cut there with ANF. Unlucky. ;/
Btw, I don't remember all the details from S2, cause it wasn't as rememberable as S1. xd
Uh, I think you forgot one
Uw...this is tough, since I don't think I ever properly ranked all of the Season's by themselves, let alone by together.
Season 1(Need to completely replay for in-depth)
Starved for Help(Rations, Many favorite characters, Jolene).
No Time Left(Ben's speech, Meeting the Stranger).
Around Every Corner(Varied character focus, huge choice with drastic changes).
Long Road Ofhead(Duck, Revealing the Past, Boring Second Half).
A New Day(Establishment, Boring First Half).
Season 2
A House Divided(Surprisingly Most Balanced Character Focus, Most Interactive Gameplay, Suspense, Nice Quieter Moments)
)
)
All That Remains(Immersive Atmosphere, Great Character Establishment, Exploration and Survival, Ambiguous Alignment, Two of my favorites in one episode
No Going Back(Continuity Issues, Interestingly Unconventional Plot, Forced Plot Points, Biased Morality)
Amid the Ruins(Interesting Ideas, Determinant Choices Suck, Most Uneven Character Focus, Sloppy Writing Decisions)
In Harm's Way(Hype Backlash, The Kenny Show, Bare Bones Plot, One-Note Villain, Two of my hated in one episode
A New Frontier
Above the Law
Ties that Bind Part 2
Ties that Bind Part 1
Hmm, this is gonna be hard, but I'll try.
1. No Time Left
2. Starved for Help
3. Long Road Ahead
4. A House Divided
5. Around Every Corner
6. A New Day
7. All That Remains
8. No Going Back
9. Give No Shelter
10. In Harms Way
11. Ties That Bind - Part 2
12. Ties That Bind - Part 1
13. In Too Deep
14. A(O)mid the Ruins
15. 400 Days
Did I forget any?
EDIT: Added 400 Days and foxes Michonne episode 1's name.
Haha oh balls so i did! How the fuck did i forget that:
You forgot episode 3 of Michonne (What We Deserve)
In Too Deep.
I haven't actually played episode three of Michonne yet.
Oh, okay. Thanks.
Ok I will not make a list 'cause I'm too lazy...
No Going Back. Words can't describe this episode. Shit happened so fast and in this episode we see the attributes of the characters (e.g. Kenny- If you choose to kill Kenny he will say that you made the right decison. If you choose to leave him he will say the same thing.)
Also, the credits song fits every ending.
Season 1:
Starved For Help
Around Every Corner
No Time Left
A New Day
Lond Road Ahead (only because most of the train part makes me want to sleep)
400 Days
Season 2:
In Harm's Way
A House Divided
Amid The Ruins
No Going Back
All That Remains
Michonne:
What We Deserve
In Too Deep
Give No Shelter
Season 3
Above The Law (I'm sure!)
Ties That Bind - Part 2
Ties That Bind - Part 1