Some thoughts about the Long Dark: Wintermute Ep 5
The ending. While I do have grievances with HOW they got there, how they build up to it, the ending itself is fine. In fact I quite liked it.
I liked how it sets up the next game and I liked how it subverts some expectations. Primarily how Mathis and Mackenzie both survived instead of there being some sort of big deadly showdown, Mathis sparing MacKenzie and basically having him join his group. However, while I like these choices in a vacuum there is the HOW.
First all the lolwut contrived decisions they had Mackenzie do in order to get captured. “Hey we just finally reunited and all but lemme dramatically tell you how I need to go do some thing alone and unarmed while fully aware there are dangerous convicts around. Also it's a perfect place to take a nap.” And then Mathis… he was like this cartoonishly evil guy, ready to burn people in their houses, getting angry af whenever his plans got foiled, obsessing over killing Mackenzie, swearing how he’ll destroy everything the man loves, etc. But then, in the end, he’s like: “Man I hate Mackenzie and I’ll butcher his ass if you don’t do what I- Oh? They didn’t do what I told them. K lol. Come along Mackenzie.” “Sure thing. Btw, I want to give that old lady your group harassed a proper funeral.” “Cool lets go.”
Again, I like where they end up BUT they should have done more with the how. The dynamic between these characters needed more work for the ending to make sense. Like have their relationship gradually change from a purely antagonistic one to something with tentative respect. That as much as Mackenzie is a pain in Mathis' ass he's also a great asset with more tenacity and bravery than his own henchmen. Or just have Mathis be less like a saturday-morning cartoon villain from the beginning, have him be a threat but someone with more depth and relatability. They already had elements that could have been used for that with him obviously caring for his son, maybe the two could have even formed some unexpected connection over both having experienced the same loss.
Like, you don’t need to be giving Mathis a redemption arc, his motivations could be primarily villainous, but their dynamic and characterizations needed SOMETHING more for the ending to feel like something they could naturally reach. Now they basically made Mathis a very one-note evil villain with simple motivations... only for him to pull sudden depth in the end with him basically laughing at the face of his failure of getting into the bunker as if it was what he wanted, also being able to see past his hatred towards Mackenzie to a point he not only spares him (which you could argue is only to torment/use him) but also allows him to bury Grey Mother while respectfully standing at the distance. And I really like it that he actually reached this point but how he reached it is a freaking mystery.
