"Telltale's The Walking Dead: The Final Season" A Superb Sendoff to a Beloved Series

 

    As someone who has been playing all the Walking Dead games in consecutive order I've been graced with some absolutely masterful storytelling these past couple days, and I was still not prepared for how much I loved this new season. I can say with confidence this season was a return to grace after a very controversial third season that left many players worried about whether or not Telltale would be able to end the series well, especially with their planned closure.

    However, despite all these hurdles the game has managed to recapture what made it so great in the first place, while adding simple and basic systems to make sure fans of the series don't get tired of the same old formula this time around. As previously mentioned, this story continues the story of Clementine, as she finally finds her ward AJ as they find a new home among a school of troubled children.

    Despite never straying too far from school grounds, never once does this season feel as if it is wearing out the same old setting, and manages to explore all the dynamics that arise from this Lord of the Flies-esque environment. Coloring in the gaps of this scene are the students, a return to fun and enjoyable characters that was distinctly missing from the previous season. Personally, as someone who had the pleasure of watching Clementine grow up it was nice seeing her interact with students her own age.

    Although I absolutely adore this season and the sendoff it provides to Clementine, its time for me to address the big elephant in the room, AJ, and how I feel about him. While overall I do enjoy the direction they attempted to go with the character, by having his morals be shaped by the player, I think they went too far into the psychopath sort of storyline. Specifically, he suffers from the same issue as Kotaro from Kotaro Lives Alone, which is that AJ is way too intelligent to be a six year old, and while I understand not wanting to age Clementine about 9 whole years, it simply is difficult to hold the suspension of disbelief on his character.

    For example, in the final episode of the season, the characters reach a cave and AJ begins to go on a rant about how he has to be like a firefighter and kill those who are bad while also deciding who is good, hoping Clementine empowers him to make the right decision. While, this sort of scene would be fine with a 12 year old, which is basically how AJ acts, he is also six and no disrespect to six year olds like Kotaro or AJ, but emotional intelligence and philosophical conversations about how our circumstances shape our morality are unrealistic at that age.

    Moreover, he also wields what is presumably a very powerful revolver pistol the entire show, despite the fact that the recoil from said gun would make the weapon almost assuredly unwieldy for him, no matter how young he started shooting. I think if I were to design AJ, I would keep the whole dynamic of him being a child desensitized to violence, growing up without peace, but I would try to constantly hammer it in that this six year old is being given way too much power. Like realistically, even if you don't understand everything happening that doesn't mean you're just fearless like he is.

    It was very peculiar how they handled him I just felt that AJ would have served better as a foil to Clementine, a reminder that she's become desensitized to violence, and that she is doing this so AJ does not have to become like her, a hardened killer at age 17. Not to mention, the final decision to trust AJ basically forces you into what feels like the wrong decision, lest you lose a lover. Basically, AJ has the intelligence and strength of at least a 12 year old, yet in a tiny body covered in plot armour. 

    While I did rag on this season a lot, most of my issues with it stem from the final episode, which I felt sort of erased everything throughout the first couple episodes, in order to reach a satisfactory ending involving Clementine. For example, Violet hates you the previous episode but basically does a full 180 where she says she was wrong at you unfairly. In addition, her girlfriend Minerva, feels like a waste of a character who just dies, and does nothing but be brainwashed, with no further development.

Final Score: 80/100

    I'm not sure what I want to be honest, I felt that it was a good sendoff to a good series, yet it easily could have benefited from exploring its characters more, while also being extended one more episode to more cleanly tie up everything. In conclusion, this season was an outstanding swan song to a series and company that created great memories, despite all its flaws.