The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - The Final Season Episode 2: Suffer the Children

If this is indeed the end for the series (and the studio) at least it goes out on a strong note.

A fine second episode, but a terrible series finale. Those who've been along for the journey should stick it out, but don't expect the grand conclusion we were all hoping for.

The Walking Dead: Final Season episode 2 tries to surprise but leaves us in no man's land.

Telltale plucks the same emotional string it always does. The “humans are the real monsters” melody played for the 20th time sounds weak and distant, but Episode 2 does just enough to resonate with the audience, in no small part thanks to Melissa Hutchinson and other actors who managed to give this banal story a semblance of plausibility. [12/2018, p.64]

Less inspired than its predecessor, that second episode is more of a transition for the second part of the season. But there’s still some good stuff, among which its good writing.

That the whole story ends here, with the franchise that started this wild ride, in a manner that leaves the fates of its characters in limbo, is somehow fitting to The Walking Dead as a whole. In the end, we were the real monsters.

Suffer the Children is an episode of discreet quality, which even without touching particularly high peaks can assert itself for some successful action sequences.

Suffer the Children is an unsatisfying conclusion to Clementine’s journey, temporary or otherwise, as both she and Telltale Games have seen much higher highs over the years. The evolution of the core combat makes up for the lack thereof in the season’s plot, which feels unnecessarily hurried even during the slower moments of the episode. After playing this second episode, it’s hard not to be left wanting more, as Clementine deserves a better resolution to her multi-season adventure, even if it ends up being as depressing as the fate of the developer that created her.

Alvin Jr.'s survival education remains the most interesting aspect of the production, which begins to sharpen the blades of his screenplay.

As an installment that mostly revolves around setting up Clementine and her group for a dramatic confrontation that would have unfolded in the next two episodes, Episode 2 of The Final Season doesn’t quite deliver the same thrills that the first episode of the season provided, but is still an entirely worthy entry in the story so far. However, the question now is what “the story so far” really looks like.

Too bad The Walking Dead by Telltale ends like this. Because it's pretty sure with this second episode that this final season would have been a good one. We will never know if we were to say goodbye to Clem with joy or pain because of this sad interruption.

As heartfelt and emotionally painful as Episode Two of The Walking Dead: The Final Season may be, I can’t help but feel like we’ve seen this all before. The groundwork has been laid for a brutal war, and everything from now until then seems to be dwarfed in comparison. Friendships are still the beating heart of this Final Season though, and it’s the moment to moment interactions between characters, and the writing, where this second episode excels.

As a middle chapter of what was supposed to be a four-part series, The Walking Dead: The Final Season Episode 2 gets the job done just fine. It gets a bit bogged down in plot, but still delivers some moving scenes and interesting new and returning characters. As possibly the final statement of one of the best narrative video game developers of all time, it's a crushing disappointment. Here’s hoping the remainder of The Walking Dead: The Final Season can somehow rise from the grave.

Episode 2 also brings two strong new characters into the cast, a mysterious new friend and a dangerous antagonist, with the narrative immediately stamping the importance of both roles into the story.

A nice episode that creates some intrigue, but offers nothing new in terms of gameplay.

Episode 2: Suffer the Children gets off to fiery and heart-pounding start in the aftermath of the previous episode, as the various characters begin to draw their battle lines regarding their own morality of the situation. Meanwhile, the actual villains of the piece, the undead horde, also get a bit of a morality discussion that hints that maybe they are just misunderstood beasts after all. Unfortunately, the pacing slows to a bit of a slog, with a boring middle act that does little to further the story - before the ending is literally lit, though the combat sequences bring this episode down because of how cumbersome they are to play; as well as the inclusion of so many of these sequences.