Ok, so, from the top I guess. Starting out, I liked that they made that whole exposition dump from Rachel's dad into an interactive thing, that really helped to set up that backstory in a neat way rather than just having him talk the whole time. Then, of course, I was super pumped that I got to go up to Rachel's room and check that out. Loved exploring around there. The scene with them on the bed was great. The dream sequence was really sad, that was the first time I cried during this episode. I don't remember what it was exactly, just some of the dialogue there between Chloe and William just made me tear up. Then at the end, I don't know if this happened in everyone's playthrough, but as Chloe is sitting there crying after William gets hit by the truck, right when it starts to fade out to black, Victoria Chase yells "Boooooo" from the crowd and I went from crying to laughing in an instant. Loved it.
So, then in Chloe's room, which for me had been searched through by David. Lots of good stuff to explore around there, loved the bit with the plant, just highlights how different Chloe and Max are as characters haha. Then I searched through Joyce's room and saw that it was Mother's Day, and also noticed that she sold her ring for like $300 bucks or whatever, which makes me wonder if she would have kept it if I would have slipped the money into her purse in episode 1.
Next was when Chloe found the hair dye in the bathroom, loved how good that streak of blue looked, especially when they would do a profile shot and she was really starting to look like Chloe from season 1 again with just that bit of blue around her face. I also liked how she grabbed that box of William's old clothes to try on. Then the scene downstairs with Joyce and David. Since I had been being bitchy to them in the first two episiodes I kept that up, though I did tell Joyce happy mother's day, I did not accept David's picture. Then at the junkyard, really liked the little truck-fixing puzzle using the different tools and stuff, that was cool.
And then shit went nuts. Damon and Frank show up, Damon is all interested about Sera, Rachel nails him in the face and then he stabs her. What the fuck. Did not see that coming. It didn't feel very high stakes since obviously we know that's not how Rachel dies, but it was still pretty shocking, and it was sad to see Chloe all worried like that.
Second time I cried was when Chloe was crying in the hospital. In my playthrough, I stayed in the room with Mikey in episode 2, so I went to see Drew in the hospital there. I liked the little interaction with their dad outside too. Then yeah, there wasn't much to do in the hospital room, couldn't play DnD with Steph and Mikey and I didn't really feel like backtalking my way into Drew's pudding (I had just at a candy bar from that vending machine anyways). Then, here was a weird one, down the hallway past Rachel's room, I heard Samantha talking to Nathan. Apparently she fell and got hurt or something, and Nathan came to the hospital with her and was all caring or something. It was weird.
Then I go see Rachel, she's fine but in pain, and still wants to meet her mom. So then it was back at the Amber residence, snooping through James' shit. And then here's fucking Eliot! What!? Oh my god, he fucking followed me from the hospital? I tried calling the cops with the backtalk challenge and got all the way to the last bubble but failed it, so instead Chloe chucks that trophy through the window and sets off the alarm, causing Eliot to book it out of there.
Then, before we get to the scene at the mill, I really liked that talk that Chloe has with her mental image of her Dad on the side of the road. It was a good bit of foreshadowing for the final decision too, and kind of played into my through process about that.
But, anyways, I get to the mill and see that knife in the wall still, so I grabbed it. I did not use it when I had the chance though, and just got beat up by Damon instead. That whole scene was fucking intense, holy shit. As far as I could tell, James was going to pay-off Damon to kill Sera to get her out of his and Rachel's lives? Wow, that is some fucked shit! Then I talked to Sera and told her Rachel needs her and she should meet her but she refused and left, telling me to lie to Rachel about what James was trying to do.
Then, of course, the final decision. I decided to tell the truth, and told Rachel everything about what happened that day. The final scene there was pretty rough to watch, as James comes back in and Rachel is obviously furious, but looks pretty terrified too, which is understandable, he did some fucked up shit and she had the right to know as far as I'm concerned. I did think back to the conversation I had with William before going to the mill though, and I had told him that I didn't want to know if he ever lied like that to me because it would ruin the "perfect dad" image that I have in my head of him. But then, when faced with that exact decision, I couldn't just let Rachel not know those things. I think the difference for me was that we already knew that James had been lying about her mother this whole time, and I wasn't going to let him keep getting away with his lies like that.
Final montage for the episode was alright, but kind of sad in some ways. Since Drew's knee was fucked, he was hanging out with Steph and Mikey and playing DnD outside school now, so even though he might be done with football and might not get that scholarship and go pro, he also might end up being a better person and not such a jock bully who sells drugs? I don't know, I hope so at least. Nathan and Samantha were together. David proposed to Joyce and Chloe flicked them both off. Then Rachel came out of the school and hopped into Chloe's truck and they went off.
Finally, the final final montage. WAS SO GOOD! Third time I cried, but it was tears of fucking happiness. As soon as I saw Chloe come in with towel wrapped around her head, and then the reveal of her full blue hair, and Rachel all happy and stuff, god I just couldn't take it. That whole montage of Chloe and Rachel being together was just great, happy as fuck, just loved it.
Then the final final scene, of Rachel's phone... in the dark room... and Chloe is desperately trying to call her.... while a fucking camera clicks in the background.... fuck me.