So basically in the last couple of weeks, I bought seasons 1 and 2 for my PS4 and played it every night instead of watching TV, off and on. I finished after a few weeks. My thoughts.

Spoiler

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I was a lot more invested in the characters from season 1 than I was in season 2. They were way more fleshed out, and while Season 2 had a LOT more going on, it just wasn't as... two dimensional? Think of it like this. In season 1, you basically start off when the whole thing starts. In a panic, you settle in a motel. You decide to check out a ranch which turns out poorly. You're then forced out of the motel, onto the road, then onto a train. Then your in Louisiana (?). You try to find a boat, you find a boat, the boat and your pseudochild are stolen by two different groups. Your bit. You rescue your pseudochild. You die. In season 2, you start off camping, traveling north. You then become alienated. You find a new group of survivors, which share their past history and differing opinions. You now have to prove yourself to the new group, who distrusts you enough as it is. You then get seperated from your new group. You then meet their past antagonist, whom you share no opinion of. You then leave, because the past antagonist. You settle down in a lodge, meeting an old friend. Then the antagonist reveals himself. Your 'taken hostage', but also 'are trying to prove yourself'. You decide that this place is prison, and you must escape. You escape. The pregnant lady begins to give birth. You then have a child, but the mother dies, and your being held hostage by a bunch of russians. Gunfight. You now have a hostage russian. He shows you his crib, which is half finished. He flees with scarface and shoots you. The two bickering adults who both lost family members are now you and this orphans only hope. Orphan 'dies'. They fight. You find orphan, and find a place to live. Doesn't season 2 seem like a lot more eventful? NOW I want to talk about major character and deaths! Season 1 had really powerful characters and deaths. Duck getting bitten made me sad, and the sudden Katjaa suicide also really hit home as a powerful segment, and turned Kenny into a really sympathetic character. Lilly shooting someone was a random but also very powerful death that led to a really intense decision, can you forgive Lilly? (protip: I didn't), however I even sympathized with her after the Larry incident, which was a very scarring and 'feely' moment. BEN, holy shit, I sympathized with him so hard. He always fucked up, and it affected him. He cracked, and when he died by the impalation, and Kenny tried to save him, that was one of the most underrated moments for me. Ben, this kid who can't do anything right and is too young to be an adult but obviously too old to play with Clementine, get's impaled after failing yet another simple task that everyone else seems to do fine at. Holy shit! Literally the only character death that was anticlimactic was probably Chuck, and even he was a very two dimensional character. A nomad who knows what it's like to be alone, and the minute he finds a gang, he dies. Season 2's major character deaths were really poor in my opinion. Carlos, Nick, Reggie, Luke all had HORRIBLY anticlamactic deaths. Carlos, the overbearing controlling father of his daughter, had so much potential. He didn't want his daughter to learn about the real world, I thought surely Sarah will die because she was ill-preparred and Carlos will have to live with the consequences. NOPE! He died from a bullet and his daughter became emotionally unstable. Literally no one else was like "Poor Carlos D:" Reggie seemed like he'd be interesting, but he literally just died for being incompetent, like Ben but without the feels, and I don't think Rebecca or anyone other than BONNIE of all people gave a shit about Reggie. Nick either died around episode 1, died around episode 2 in an amazingly complex decision (loved the Walter/Nick relationship), or just turned into a character with zero impact and died in a very anticlimactic way in episode 4. Lukes death, the worst of all, just had him falling in ICE! They didn't even milk the scene, and I have no idea how Bonnie could've possibly felt like that was my fault at all. SHE was the idiot who walked closer to him. Even Sarah, Sarita, and Rebecca had crumby deaths imo, but at least they were partially interesting and fleshed out characters. Yeah idk, clearly a lot more happened in season 2 but it was just so blah when it came to characters. The only new characters I felt anything for and had an interesting death or finishing scene were Jane, Alvin, and Rebecca. Luke was cool in episodes 1-3 but he turned into boring mcgee in episodes 4 and 5 and his main purpose was to either disagree with Kenny in a reasonable way, or get laid and be a part of weird love triangle. IDK, I complain a lot, but it seemed like in season 1 they focused on characters while season 2 they focused on story progression. I prefer the fully fledged characters. Also, Arvo is literally the least sympathetic hostage. I know Kenny was the hardheaded unlikable antihero in season 1 but he was the only rational person by the end of season 2. Damn straight, ARVO'S FUCKING GANG SHOT US ALL UP AND THERE COULD BE MORE OF THEM. IS NO ONE ELSE WORRIED ABOUT THIS??? CHOICES! Spoiler + Episode 1 Lied or tell the truth to Hershel? Told him the truth - Why lie?? Who did you save first? Saved Duck - HONESTLY though, who wouldn't save a child? I was surprised that so many people opted to save Shawn. Who did you side with? Sided with Kenny - Another surprising one for me. Kenny was completely reasonable, and Larry was making the worst of a bad situation. Did you give Irene the gun? Refused - She did not seem very stable, and I was hesitant to trust her. Who did you save? Saved Doug - My brain was all like "Carley has a gun, she can save herself. Doug is defenseless! Kinda regretted it, because I liked Carley more, but I felt she had more of a chance at surviving. Episode 2 Did you chop off David's leg? Chopped off David's leg - Was that his name? Anyways yeah, seemed more appropriate. Who shot Jolene? Waited until Danny shot her - I wanted to hear what she had to say. She was speaking interesting things. Did you help Kenny kill Larry? Helped kill Larry - Again, Kenny seemed well thought in his ambition to kill Larry here. Kenny made good sense, we had no medicine, and we were in a prison cell. I didn't want to deal with zombie Larry. Danny's fate? Killed Danny - Dickhole had it coming! Andy's fate? Spared Andy - Clem saw me slaughter Danny, and I didn't want to scare her any more. Did you take from the car? Took from the car - Had to survive bruh. Episode 3 Did you shoot the girl? Did not shoot her - This is around the time Kenny started to become irrational to me. She was already screaming and distracting them, wouldn't shooting cause some noise on my part too? Did you leave Lilly? Abandoned Lilly - Fuck her. She deserved it. Doug was cool. How did you convince Kenny to stop the train? Fought him - I didn't realize this was some big decision. I guess I'm aggressive. Who shot Duck? Shot him yourself - Yeah no father should shoot their kid. Who did you save first? Helped Omid first - Seemed like a no brainer. Omid was injured. Episode 4 Who killed the boy in the attic? Killed the boy yourself - I thought it was too soon after Duck to have Kenny do this. How did you deal with Vernon? Reasoned with him - Threaten someone with a gun? Wat? Did you bring Clementine to Crawford? Brought her along - She was already bitchin about not being with me earlier, so I felt like I owed it to her. Ben's fate? Pulled him up - If I have the chance to save someone, I'm saving them. Regardless of how bad they are at doing things. I made sure I let Ben know how crumby he was at life, though. Did you show the others your bite? Revealed the bite - Seemed like common sense to me. Who came with you? Omid, Christa and Kenny - I think Ben didn't want to come with me since I sided with Kenny against him EVERY TIME. Episode 5 Did you chop off Lee's arm? Got rid of the arm - Yeah!! Did you lose your temper with Kenny? Lost your temper with Kenny - I don't remember this part very well. Was it the attic scene? Did you give up your weapons? Gave up your weapons - Didn't want to play games with homeboy keeping Clem hostage. Figured I'd rather just do what he wants. Did you kill Clementine's captor? Killed him yourself - UM YOU CAN HAVE CLEM KILL THE DUDE? I just kinda shot him. Did you stop Lee from turning? Made sure Lee didn't turn - I figured Lee should be selfless for his last few moments and get killed rather than become a walker. Massive respect. Season 2 Episode 1 Survival: Did you try to save Christa? Distracted scavengers - Who is heartless enough to not at least try to help out homegirl Christa? Mercy: Did you kill the dog? Killed the dog - Another no brainer. That was such a sad scene. Powerful. Trust: Did you accept Nick's apology? Accepted - Hey, he had balls and admitted that he goofed. Couldn't say no. Generosity: Did you give water to the dying man? Refused to give water - I thought he shot Christa. Couldn't reward that. Heroics: Did you save Nick or Pete? Nick - He wasn't bit. That was the main reason. Episode 2 Friendship: Took blame for Sarah's photo? Took blame - I figured they would think it wasn't a big deal. Loyalty: Who did you sit with at dinner? Sat with Kenny - I thought Luke would understand that I had history with Kenny. Honesty: Told Walter the truth about Matthew? Told the truth - Nick wanted to apologize. I figured if that's what he wanted. Forgiveness: Nick's fate? Convinced Walter to forgive Nick - LOL I still can't believe people would convince Walter to not forgive him! Like, Nick wasn't my favorite either, but that seemed harsh. Bravery: Left to find Kenny? Surrendered - Didn't want Carlos to get hurt and leave Sarah alone. Episode 3 Compassion: Helped Sarah with her work? Helped Sarah - I felt like I was Sarah's caregiver in a way, not like a friend, but more of a 'mother'? Trust: Told Bonnie about Luke? Told Bonnie about Luke - I was REALLY conflicted with this, but I think I made the right choice. I don't think I had much rationale aside from 'she should know'. Selflessness: Admitted to stealing the walkie talkie? Tried to hide the larceny - Figured Carver wouldn't find out. Vengeance: Watched Kenny kill Carver? Watched - Fuck Carver! Risk: Chopped off Sarita's arm? Chopped it off - Yeah huge mistake. I forgot that losing an arm causes TONS of pain. woops! "Amid The Ruins" Pragmatism: Left Sarah at the trailer park? Took Sarah - Figured it'd be the right thing to do. Compassion: Robbed Arvo? Did Rob Arvo - Rebecca was giving birth. She needed meds, straight up! Selflessness: Crawled through ticket booth? Crawled Through - I didn't know there was an option. Nurturing: Held the baby? Held the baby - That baby was like the center of this entire game so far, of course I was gonna hold it! Survivalism: Shot Rebecca? Shot Rebecca - Panicked, thought the kid was gonna get munched otherwise. "No Going Back" Selflessness: Protected the baby? Protected the baby - Had to rescue the kid and be the hero! Risk: Went to help Luke? Covered for Luke- yeah I did that. Loyalty: Asked to leave with Mike? Didn't ask to leave with Mike - Fuck Mike! Survivalism: Shot Kenny? Looked away/Didn't pick up the gun - It seemed like Jane was asking for it. Friendship: In the end, who are you with? With AJ at Wellington - What an ending :'(

Very true. Binge watching it probably took out a lot of the experience.