Review

The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode 5: No Going Back

Clementine has finally reached the end of the road. The trek was full of pot holes, untrustworthy individuals, and death. Her only solace – the relationships she’s made along the way – isn’t something she can hold onto anymore. The engine light is flashing and she’s out of gas…there’s no going back…

The ominous and somewhat vague intro aside, this last episode of the Walking Dead isn’t what I expected. I knew things would be bad and people would die, but I didn’t count on it being so straight forward. There are no big reveals or twists to the plot like what was seen in the last season’s finale. Any lingering questions I might have had were either answered already or no longer important.  No, this episode focused on how our group was dealing with their current state of affairs. And although that’s always been the case, there are usually some outside forces to deal with as well.

It’s interesting that Telltale went this route; even with the cliffhanger ending from the previous episode, this one, “No Going Back,” is really self-sustaining plot wise. Also the dangerous situation Clem was in is dealt with early on. What this does it cut the momentum built up from past events heightening the tension that we feel in this episode. Why? Because it’s entirely internal – the group doesn’t have an eminent threat anymore (outside of walkers). When things are going from bad to worse and there’s no one to really point fingers at, that’s when people start turning on each other. And that’s what happens here.

I won’t go into what happens for risk of spoilers. I will say that we finally see what happens when you put all of your burdens on a little girl’s shoulders. Even though there wasn’t a big mystery like in the last season or a sole antagonist to fear, the ensuing crazy is tough to witness.  Watching a certain someone blame Clem for another character’s death changed my temperament drastically (read: I was pissed). “How dare you!” I thought before clicking on a response. Being able to conjure up strong emotions in the player is a testament to the writing. At the same time, there is a level of absurdity in how much the group leans on Clem for support; it ultimately makes things less believable. Of course, these events could be different depending on your decisions.

Speaking of decisions, the outcome of the season changes depending on what you do. This is the first time where the major events can end in different ways. Last season, if someone was going to die, they were going to die no matter what you did; saving them one moment didn’t matter if the writers wanted them to die later in the story. And outside of a few small story beats, everyone reached the same end point. This season has multiple endings, meaning my final moments may differ wildly from someone else’s. Not only that, but the coming narrative (there will be a season 3) is up in the air – which ending will Telltale choose as canon going forward? You know you have a hit on your hands when your fans are anticipating a great follow up moments after finishing your game!