Telltale’s The Walking Dead: A New Frontier Episode 4: Thicker Than Water Review

The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series – A New Frontier Episode 4: Thicker Than Water Review

I am really late with this. But here’s my Telltale’s The Walking Dead: A New Frontier Episode 4 Thicker Than Water Review.

Thicker than water begins with Javi and David at the batting cages. Your choices are to either pretend to not be the amazing baseball player your are to help boosts David’s ego or be the superstar you are and boost your own ego and inadvertently make David feel bad about himself. Then back in the present time, Javi and David are in the holding cell being interrogated. David is taken away and you are left alone and need to find a way to escape. With some help from Kate, you are able to get away and meet up with the rest of your group. Together, you decide on a plan to save David. Part of the plan requires you to get some medication from the doctor’s office. There you find Clem and the drugged out doctor and have to decide to help him kill himself or not. After the plan is prepped, everything begins to play out. David is going to be hanged for his crimes, and you step out of the crowd the stop it. You are grilled, your choices are beginning to define you, and again you have choices to make, particularly choosing between the life of your friend, or David’s. Then you have to choose to kill Joan or let her live. And that’s when everything, goes out the window.

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This is the episode I’ve been waiting for! This is the pay-off episode where you really see what’s going on and what you have to do. Thicker Than Water explores what I think the overarching philosophy of A New Frontier is, what is family? Is it people who share the same blood, or is it those who have stuck by you? What about people who take you in without reason, and help you even after you kind of lead their whole family to death? There’s a saying, “Having a dog is the closest you can get to choosing your family.” But is that the case? Javi, Kate, and David’s kids faced the end of the world together, that of course made them really close. But is it closer than a father and son, or brother and brother, connection? Is blood really thicker than water?

It’s all up to the player, at least in this case. I’m not sure if it’s my choices or not, but I think David sucks. Although there are some redeeming qualities, for the most part he seems petty that he was out shined by Javi. He seemed to be doing better with Javi out of his life. Granted he is the older child and bears more responsibility, and can understandably be influenced by the added pressures, he seems really petty. However, his time with the New Frontier, he seemed honorable, and he seemed to really be good for the people. He was a pillar of the community. Without the pressures of being the eldest son, parent, and husband, he seemed to be able to be what the people of Richmond needed. The embodiment of this is an act of pure brilliance on Telltale’s behalf. Because some people in our families do suck, to us. But to the world, they’re down right heroes. Some people are better at being good to those they aren’t biologically related to.

It’s kind of like finding out your parents are cool. They might seem like they suck, because they’re being who they think they need to be to make you a better person, but without that pressure they get to be who they want to be and that might be the person you wish they were. It’s complicated, but people are. A lot of times, you have to go through an intricate network of interactions and moments to see another side of a person. It’s especially hard, the closer to the person you are. But somehow Telltale was able to capture it perfectly.

Thicker Than Water is Telltale doing what Telltale does best. It is the epitome of interactive storytelling. I don’t know how they did it, but Telltale was able to step up the emotional and dramatic intensity, while actually dialing back the stakes. The overall situation of course is insane and grand, but the drama is really on a personal level of brother to brother. It’s not a kid having to grow up in an instant, it’s not having to choose to keep your arm or not, it’s determining where or not your brother is family. My The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series – A New Frontier Episode 4: Thicker Than Water review gets a 10/10.