Review: The Walking Dead Season 2, Episode 3 - "In Harm's Way"

After months of waiting, Telltale has, at long last, released the third episode for The Walking Dead: Season 2. Episode 1 was, in my opinion, rather disappointing, but Episode 2 really brought The Walking Dead back to proper form with several perfectly executed scenes that gradually built tension. Needless to say, my expectations had risen once more. “In Harm's Way” picks up with Clementine and the other survivors as they are relocated to a new base while under the watchful eye of Bill Carver and his group. Tensions rise between the two gangs of survivors and, soon enough, it becomes clear that co-existence is not a possibility.

If there's one major disappointment with “In Harm's Way”, it would lie with Carver and his group. Previously, Carver had been introduced as a new antagonist to the series. His demeanor fully encapsulated everything that a human antagonist from The Walking Dead should be. Unfortunately, Telltale felt as if Carver's actions in the previous episode were not enough for the player to despise this man. With every scene involving Carter, it seemed Telltale wanted the audience's hatred of this character to fester and grow. At first, it worked; quite well actually. As the episode progresses; however, Carter's acts of depravity start to become borderline comical. The group following Carter are not much better. Of the entire group only four are actually given more than one or two lines. Three of these characters are just overtly malicious and the fourth is completely delusional. These are not deep characters; they are mustache-twirling villains.

Clementine's group of survivors, by contrast, are far more human and are allowed a few moments of surprising competency. The supporting cast aren't allowed much room to continue growing, but, given the situation, this is more than forgivable. What is there works well for the episode and feels natural. Even the addition of even more characters to the group does not serve to distract from the overall story or threat. Clementine herself continues to be a shining example of how to write a child character that is forced to grow up during the apocalypse. “In Harm's Way”, more than any other episode, really starts to push against Clementine's morality. Almost every decision made feels like a tug-of-war battle between Clementine's innocence and this new, cynical aspect that persists throughout the episode. Ultimately, it will be up to the player to guide Clementine through the middle path or fall completely on one side.

The tension that permeated Episode 2 has certainly diminished quite a bit. The atmosphere is far more relaxed whenever Carver himself is not on-screen which is the exact opposite of how the threat of Carver's group should have been handled. Thankfully, the last moments of the episode do bring back the tension and allow the game to actually feel like The Walking Dead. This episode, as with the last one, clocks in at about two hours in length as this seems to be the standard with Telltale episodes. I still wish for the longer episode to reappear and the, almost hysterically, abrupt ending to this episode does little to diminish those thoughts. Overall, “In Harm's Way” is a decent edition to The Walking Dead: Season 2. This episode may not live up to the expectations set by "A House Divided", but it does a fine enough job.

Final Score: 8/10