Too many relationships?
Okay before I begin and before anyone points it out, yes there were a number of relationships in Season 1 and 2. Using Kenny and Katjaa, Kenny and Sarita, Omid and Christa, hinting at Carley and Lee, a bit of Luke and Jane, Matthew and Walter, Leland and Dee/Bonnie, a bit of failed one between Rebecca and Carver, Rebecca and Alvin hell I could go on, but for whatever reason it didn't bother me so much in the first two seasons.
Mainly because our protagonists had other focuses outside of relationships, for Lee it was keeping Clem safe, for Clem in Season 2 it was about survival, yes there were relationships and it was nice to see them, but they didn't dominate the plot and they weren't forced down our throats.
Come Season 3, let's count the number of main characters on our side who are in relationships or have crushes on one another.
Tripp and Eleanor once a thing, now he still fancies her and I have to listen to him bang on about it.
Kate and David were once a thing, but now she fancies Javier, but despite her advances, at least it was made detriment in Episode 4.
Eleanor has some flirty lines with Javi in Episode 1, but that doesn't appear to go anywhere by Episode 4.
Gabe having a crush on Clem and dear God the thought of her actually returning those feelings...
Conrad and Francine, I didn't mind as much as it was established beforehand, but then almost instantly Francine has to die.
Marianna, obviously not going to have any romantic interest yet at her age, yet she's dead by the end of the first episode.
Jesus, leaves.
It's why I find Ava such a breath of fresh air, she seems to be the only character not focused on relationships at the time being and I like her and David's dynamic, for once people of the opposite sex can be friends and respect one another without a romance coming into play.
I say Ava, because she's one of the only people on our side not tangled in the relationship web, others who aren't Dr. Lingard, Max, Badger, Joan, Lonnie, Clint, etc... they're all antagonists to varying degrees depending on how you treated them as Javi (e.g. sparing Max) and I used examples from people on our side, because we see less of the other characters on the other side and spend our time mostly talking and arranging plans with our allies.
Yes, you can also argue that Clem has another focus this season on finding AJ rather than being focused on Gabe's crush on her, it's just the fact Kate goes on about it when they are playing cards and Gabe making it obvious in Episode 3 that he wants to see Clem again, just ugh... no Clem needs to find AJ, that's her main character arc for this season, that and learning to trust again I guess.
Whenever I re-group with Clem as Javi, I don't want everyone making comments about her and Gabe being a thing.
and don't get me started on how as Javi I've had to deal with the love triangle drama, Because I can't speak to Kate for more than 10 minutes without the game throwing a "moment" or offering me a option to kiss her as for Gabe when he's not backstabbing us I have to be reminded on his crush with Clem whenever the two are within close proximity.
Just... can we have a finale where this takes the back-seat a little? Feels like too much forced shipping is going on and with characters and plot arcs that have so much more potential then that.
Make Javi a potential leader figure in Episode 5, have Clem find AJ, make Gabe redeem himself, have Kate (if she's still alive) do something other than gush over Javier. It did feel like her main purpose this season was to be the Lori almost and when in Episode 4 the option is finally given to make the relationship official or not, after the kiss/slap. Kate apparently dies a mere 10 minutes later, it just felt like she stirred up enough drama between me and David and now we've either reached the relationship point or not, her purpose is done so she can be killed off. I hope it's not the case, as I want to see Kate's character and how she learns to cope and survive knowing that Javi just wants to stay good friends with her, giving her another role and more character rather than simply being Javi's potential love interest.
As for Tripp and Eleanor (if Tripp's still alive) just get together or not, or redeem yourselves as well, as for Ava and Conrad, well they can just stay awesome and the way they are, no complaints there (that's if they are alive as well).
What do you guys think? Do you think there are too many relationships or forced ships going on? Does it take away from the experience or doesn't it bother you?
Feel free to give your answers!
Comments
It's only human to want to connect with people in the midst of possible death at any day.
I think it's realistic and I especially like Tripp/Eleanor because they show the side of relationships not working out perfectly where one person rejects the other.
Fair enough, I suppose with more people and communities in Season 3 it would feel more natural for more people to get together, I probably just prefered the smaller, surviving groups we got in Seasons 1 and 2, but hell that's just me.
Behold, the real reason Joan had him arrested!
This. Kate was always one of my ANF favorites in part because she was the only character who seemed to come with any built-in complexity as a person, with her free-spirited nature and mannerisms being eclipsing in the face of the binding roles of responsibility she'd accepted and maintained from her pre-apocalyptic life. The sexual tension between her and Javier didn't bother me in part because it was an extension of that duality and seemed like it would be a key to delving into her character. So not only do I genuinely believe she survived the crash for a number of reasons, but I really hope she does in favor of actually getting to do stuff.
Oh i definitely prefer the smaller groups, they're a lot more trusting and loyal when push comes to shove. And after what happened in New Richmond, I think that's where we are headed.
What's up dude? I feel like we haven't chatted in forever
Yeah, I feel ya. Having a relationship is nice every once in a while, but it kind of feels like Kate's sole purpose is to be a romantic interest for Javi. It's not a bad idea to have that as a possible option, but there needs to be more development with her as a character... well, if she's not dead at this point.
Tripp and Eleanor? I'm really not feeling it. There's not really any chemistry there that I can see, and to be honest, the whole thing kind of felt like it was shoehorned in to make up for the fact that neither Tripp nor Eleanor are interesting enough to hold their own.
...ugh, I hate being so negative. Episode four was actually pretty enjoyable, too.
I find that relationships in video games work better if they're a slow-burner, and the characters actually behave like human beings. I'd rather watch Glenn and Maggie develop their relationship over the course of the series than watch Kate macking on Javi like a school girl.
And don't even get me started on Gabe. Clem should beat the kid off with a stick before he gets too close.
yeah. i believe david is going to die. gabe is going to blame david death on javi and try and attack him. clem is going to end this shit right away with a bullet in gabe's head. clem is going to find aj and javi will replace kenny as a father figure for both of them
i hope to god episode 5 can fix all the problems with this game. hopefully starting with ending the whole gabe and clem thing. (which ill never let happen and if it does happen im going to look into getting some type of treatment to remove this game from my mind and preventing me from ever seeing it afterwords)