The Walking Dead: Season Two — “All That Remains”
The sequel to the best game of last year has begun, and while it does nothing which fails to live up to the considerable legacy it bears, it also does little to distinguish itself thus far. The first half of the smartly titled “All That Remains” sends now-protagonist Clementine headlong through a series of emotional hurdles, rife with teases of security and camaraderie which are abruptly stolen away. By the time she reaches her ultimate destination for the episode, Clementine’s old wounds have been made tenderer by new ones atop them.
However, in its notably short length of ninety minutes, briefer than any episode in the first season or 400 Days, “All That Remains” never quite steps out of the shadow of Lee Everett’s groundbreaking story. The experiential moments of raw emotion we expect from Walking Dead are there: I winced with pain as Clementine is forced to suture her own wound, cursed aloud when a companion betrays her, and (the true hallmark of the series’ brilliance) felt genuine relief at finding a place to stay, with a group that is, for the most part, not unconditionally hostile. What I found to be the most affecting part of the episode, though, comes as Clementine tells a new friend the story of losing her parents, yielding a four-word option on the next conversation prompt: “Then I met Lee.” I began to cry as I read it.
Therein lies the bittersweet issue with “All That Remains” — while it can still successfully trade on the reservoir of memories and emotions accumulated in the first season, not enough time is devoted to realizing this new setting for its own game. The episode feels transitory, as though it could have been released in place of 400 Days this summer. Contrasted with the first episode of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us, which fought against the tide to successfully establish a new series post-Walking Dead, “All That Remains,” while far from lacking promise, is too much a reflection of things past.
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