Clementine, one of the best-written characters in recent gaming history?

Disclaimer: What follows is a detailed reflection on Telltale's video game The Walking Dead, seasons one and two. As such, spoilers on both seasons will obviously be abundant, so those of you who still haven't played those games but plan to enjoy them, please don't let me ruin them for you.

I finished the second season of Telltale's The Walking Dead adventure game series a week ago, but it took some time to arrange my thoughts in a coherent manner and actually have them produced in writing. This is not a review of the game but more a reflection of my journey, the experience going through the story, and I will also focus on one central character in both seasons, the little girl Clementine.

First of all, I played both seasons after they were released in entirety, which means I was able to play through each season in a relatively short span of time, just a few days (a week, tops) between episodes. As such, I believe I was able to form a more general overview of the season's story arc, instead of playing the within-season episodes one-by-one as they were released, often months apart from each other, possibly leading to a more disjointed experience.



Criticisms on the second season

If one indeed went and read those reviews, one might have noticed that generally, they often remark the second season not quite matching the intensity and excellence of the first. Also, some reviews have noted how some of the episodes in the second season came out uneven. I want to offer a differing angle on this and argue that in one sense the second season did triumph the first: Clementine's character development.

But before that, let's just go back and look at a couple of the criticisms that have been leveled at the game, specifically the second season:

Some incredible events happen, to the extent of implausibility, such as: the group escaping the firefight with the Russians at the beginning of episode 5 almost unscathed while being on their gunpoint at the end of episode 4's cliffhanger ending, or that the walkers seem to always attack in a very convenient moment for the story, then vanish in the next instant when things are cooling down.

I agree that at times, some of Telltale's scriptwriting might be sloppy, but a degree of suspension of disbelief has always been a prerequisite. Ultimately, I don't think it's about how realistic the world is in that who happens to survive a shootout, how thin the ice should be to hold the mass above it or whether the zombies can swim or not.

To me, it's always been how the relationships between characters, and these characters themselves, develop during the events that unfold. Plot is something that is taken at face value to see how far these relationships can be pushed. If one can't deal with implausible happenings, maybe watching or playing something that is about zombie apocalypse wasn't one's cup of tea in the first place.

Events earlier in the game leading up to the confrontation with Carver in episode 3 is all good, but after mid-season climax the story loses steam and episodes 4 and 5 are aimless meanderings and fail to deliver another unforgettable ending like the one in the first season.

Sure, season two started off with a bang with some really good, subtle writing (Clementine and not-anymore-pregnant Christa without the baby nor any comments about it), very unexpected plot developments (Clementine and Sam the dog), and wincing, gory moments involving Clementine's wrist in the hut. Further, gameplay-wise, of course a more action-packed first half and especially episode 3 satisfied the needs of gamers. But the last two episodes, while being poorer in the gameplay-enabling plot points, was richer in developing these characters, an important feat as I mentioned earlier and a topic which I will discuss in detail later.

Agreed, towards the end, the "Kenny losing it" card was played ad nauseam, and a fewer instances of those would still get the same point across. But in general, episodes 4 and 5 shaped things up for the ultimate showdown between Kenny and Jane, two very different personalities, often at odds. And this time, choices do matter, at least pertaining to what kind of ending one will get.

Talking about gameplay vs. story, Telltale's The Walking Dead series was never a game-game to me. I view it as an interactive story, where one gets to choose how their tale is told. For the first time, I realize how well the name Telltale actually fits this concept. True, many of the choices are shallow in that apart from a few lines of changed dialogue, nothing else changes. Oh but it does: I've been co-developing my character together with the writers, and it's those subtle differences between dialogue choices that makes my character unique.

Even bigger choices, those between the fates of two characters (an often used mechanic throughout the series), tend to end up badly for both of them, just in different points of time. As this kind of choice-and-consequence model has almost become a predictable format, it is something that the writers should use sparingly going forward, or then add complexity to the consequences side so that they really feel unique.

Of course, this would lead to game design problems as it will become increasingly difficult to juggle various story parameters if the plot line starts to diverge too much. For example, season two can end in three major ways, and in two of them, two more but minor variations each, leading up to five wildly different endings. When season three starts, they will have to really go above and beyond to pull all these different directions back into one major plot line without letting the players feel cheated out of their earlier choices. But I digress now. You can find additional reading about this topic here.

Let's talk about Clementine

Clem, as she is affectionately named by many of her short-lived companions, was introduced to us as a fragile 8 years old girl in the first season when the player-character Lee runs into her family's home, finding her hiding in their tree-house and saving her from her babysitter-turned-walker. Thus starts the incredible stranger-little girl relationship that spanned almost the entire first season. Well, too bad Lee died in the end. It was tough for Clementine already back then but it pushed further character development for her. She had to steel herself for what will come.

At the beginning of the second season, we (as in the player) are now in direct control of Clementine. A few months has passed since the events of the first season, but actually after a really brief introduction sequence, we jump yet another 16 months ahead to find the now 11 years old Clementine still trying to weather the zombie apocalypse, alone or in groups of people, depending on the situation. But we all know that the setting is just an excuse to bring the extremes of people out for dramatic plot devices. Because in the zombie apocalypse, it's the other (ordinary) people that one has to fear the most.

The hardships Clem has suffered during her growing up years have changed her and not always for the better. Here, as we'll be controlling Clementine, effectively becoming her, we get to choose how she deals with various situations. She had to become brave enough to be able to dress and sew her own wounds. As a player, we can also make several other mature choices for her, such as trying out alcohol or cigarette when offered by other people, occasional swearing (originally shunned by Lee while being her de facto guardian in the first season), or in one of the sickest and most graphical moments of the entire series, choose to stay and watch as Kenny beats the living crap out of Carver at the end of episode 3. I actually made my Clementine stay through it even as many other adults in my group turned and walked away.

(Warning, extremely graphic content)

Many reviews or other pieces written about the game specifically mention one event or thing that purportedly signifies the loss of childhood or innocence for Clementine. You would have thought that the Carver scene was something that would score high there. Granted, it was some sick stuff.

However, for me, and this is a prime example of how up and personal this choose-your-own-adventure experience can be, it was the swearing that ended up showing me how the writers of the game subtly tackled this theme. The loss of innocence is a long process, not to be pegged on any single moment, although granted, this process is a series of these moments. Still, I believe the same point would come across fine even without the whole Carver scene.

The thing is, swearing by itself is so commonplace in the game that one doesn't really pay attention to it. All of the characters curse at each other or at their own misfortunes, repeatedly, with kids in earshot range. In the season one, Clementine once made a remark about a stink being "like shit," to which Lee replied, asking Clem to not use swear words. Later, when Lee runs a foul mouth, Clem actually calls him out on it. Seeing as Lee is not around anymore and Clem has matured between the episodes, it's no wonder that she picked up a more varied vocabulary. However, the subtlety comes in that there are maybe just two or three instances where we can actually choose for her to swear, and I believe only once that she says "shit" during an scripted, non-choice dialogue.

I first noticed this subtle change in her when I played episode 2, and I was wondering if Clementine ever develops to using the f-word during this season. I had to wait until the last moments of the final episode, where that option was finally available.

They timed it perfectly. The dramatic showdown between Kenny and Jane had just ended, with me choosing to shoot Kenny and saving Jane, as the mental deterioration of Kenny was becoming more and more apparent. But then I found out the whole argument was for nothing as Jane feigned the death of the baby, something that tipped Kenny off in the first place. I was furious. Clementine, with her usual guards against swearing gone, was not going to have any of it. 

"Upset? You're fucking crazy. How could you do this?"

At that exact moment, I felt both pride for the awesomeness that she is standing her ground, but utter, poignant sadness that the final shreds of her so-called innocence is finally gone. My dear Clementine, who as her first instinct goes to pet a stray dog and who refers to sexual act as the "kissing stuff", is finally growing up. As I mentioned above, I was even looking forward to this moment earlier on in the season, but it doesn't mean I have to like it when it happens.

Of course, I also chose to accept booze every time someone offered it to me, and to occasionally say "crap" or "shit," leading up to this moment of verbal liberty. On the other hand, I did refuse that smoke offered by Bonnie. But I still have faith in, or at least hope to see the good in every person, so I'll always give strangers the extra benefit of the doubt too. So yeah, I'm still making conscious choices, shaping my Clementine exactly up to how I want her to be.

What made me feel even more attached to my play-through as "the right storyline" (as one can imagine, there are huge debates over which ending is the best one), after completing the game, I went back and watched all of the endings on YouTube. Turns out, only some of the choices even lead to the player being given the option to drop the f-bomb. Telltale made me feel more like the co-writer or co-director myself, guiding my story to the point that all of this was even possible, and allowing me to follow through with it when the opportunity presented itself.

I also went to watch some other YouTube videos from various points in the game. It's funny to see how differently Clementine can act in certain situations, making her a totally different person. Some of these outcomes are actually outright bad-ass. But they're not my Clementine. Just some other manifestations of her in the infinite space of parallel universes.

Choose your own story

Who knows, it might very well be that this upheld impression (some would even say, illusion) of choice, consequence and tailored story is all just an elaborate ruse of digital smoke and mirrors, but then so be it. It's what great interactive storytelling should be and why I think that in this regard, season two triumphs over the first one, if nothing else. Too bad that the greatness of Clementine's writing seems to partially come as a trade-off for that of almost every other character in this season, so much so that everyone else except Clem and one other (or zero, if we choose to) end up being totally expendable in the story.

Well, here's hoping that season three will make up for any other shortcomings but keep up the awesomeness that is Clem, the one constant in the series so far.

For what it's worth, if I ever get a daughter, I might just consider calling her Clementine.