so, i can't say i'm surprised that this game ends pretty unimpressively. after the obvious peak that was episode 2, there was nowhere to go but down. i wouldn't say that this game was a wholly negative experience, but it was far more disappointing than i'd have liked.

i think ultimately the biggest flaw i keep coming back to with this game is that it is doomed to be a prequel to LIS, so by default anyone and anything that doesn't appear in LIS immediately doesn't grab my attention. and, while this is a relatively unfair and cynical view to take with a prequel, i feel ultimately validated looking at what came of all the new storylines and characters. samantha remained a noncharacter, stephanie remained shackled at the ankle to mikey, skip doesn't even exist in this episode, damon might as well be wearing mask that says "Spooky Bad Guy" for as much depth that he has, and eliot, while getting a somewhat noteworthy (in a bad way) stint as a weird abusive ex-boyfriend type situation, still remains completely forgettable and unimportant to the story of chloe price, the protagonist. obviously not all of LIS's side characters impacted max and chloe, but at least they helped build the world of arcadia bay and made it feel like a more lived in place. so many of the side characters in BTS do the opposite for me and make the world feel tiny, insular, and static. i won't repeat too much of what i said from episode 2's review, but the LIS characters begin and end this game as the exact same characters they are in LIS' introduction. nothing ventured, nothing gained.

i guess ultimately i'm still not that sold on rachel amber. i get glimpses of her being important to chloe, but i see that more indicative of chloe's co-dependent personality than i do that rachel was really that special of a girl. the game ends up playing all the adoration and praise for her completely straight, and i get the feeling that we're supposed to walk away with the absolute most charitable possible interpretation of rachel's character, despite the evidence in LIS that indicates she was not only unfaithful but inauthentic. it just like really sucks that the only character who's willing to even explore the idea that rachel has this manipulative and darker side to her that's constantly hinted at in LIS is the r/niceguys dude who recreates a domestic violence scene for shock value. i'm obviously not supposed to side with him or give his viewpoint any sort of credibility, so all negative interpretations of rachel are null and void. boring.

the sera subplot also feels incredibly squandered. i didn't get her to talk to rachel (which i've heard is possible with the stars aligning), so forgive me if that encounter makes the narrative end in a more satisfying way. but why in fuck does sera literally threaten legal action against james amber just for visitation and then when given the chance to meet rachel she goes "actually nvm you can't EVER tell rachel that her dad is Count Dracula levels of evil because she needs a good father". if i had gotten any chance to know this character beyond loredumps, maybe i'd be able to see why she bends to contradicting herself so quickly and easily. but as is, the conversation between her and chloe feels completely unsatisfactory and borderline nonsensical. and this is the last major conversation of the game! end with something stronger! you can tell me "actually deciding between telling rachel the truth or not is the last conversation of the game", but we see none of the dialogue and none of the real impact from that decision besides an end of game montage. i know it's old hat to bring up the illusion of choice in these types of games, but i'd at least like some resolution if i'm going to tell my character to make such a major character-affecting choice.

above all else, i just found this to be the weakest of the three episodes because it dragged f u c k i n g a s s. it's been a minute since i touched LIS, but i feel fairly confident calling this the worst paced episode of the series by this point. part of that can be attributed to so many failures of character moments, and some of it can just be moments like "why are you dangling rachel's fate after being stabbed above me when i know she survives this and lives for another 3 years?". i think ultimately this episode was doomed to be a slog because of how muddled and confused the first two episodes were, but even independent things from those episodes are poorly executed. we see damon all of twice and both times he's subdued offscreen by frank, the second time fatally. wouldn't the death of the primary antagonist be something we should be privy to or at least get some closure for? i just don't understand. was it a budget issue? i genuinely can only give so much softened blows for that when this is a final product.

rushed, muddled, confused, bloated, and apathetic are all words that come to mind when i reflect on this game. i don't necessarily regret playing it, i just see why so many don't talk about it. there's very little to dig into here on the whole, and even by an interactive drama game's standards, it feels light on content and narrative variation. i can't imagine what went down behind the scenes that resulted in this game being the way it is, because i cannot fathom this final product being someone's artistic vision. in a way, it feels like punching down. i feel as though i just spent the better part of my week eviscerating someone's middle school creative fiction assignment.