I Need You to Understand How Insidious This Was (Life is Strange: Reunion)
Last night, I finished Life is Strange: Reunion and got one of the four main endings. It wasn’t the best outcome. I didn’t guess right at all on who was involved in the arson of Caledon or who blew up the Abraxas house. But this isn’t a review. I’m focusing on one character, one disturbing exchange that felt so insidious I couldn’t articulate it in the moment. I didn’t want to react too much on camera to what I was hearing and seeing as the exchange unfolded. I didn’t push other dialogue options, but the ones I did… I need to discuss this while it’s fresh in my mind.
Yasmin Fayyad is the character I’m talking about.
There’s a scene where Max confronts Yasmin in Owen Teller’s office after he storms out, infuriated. Max sits across from her, and we engage in the dialogue.
Spoiler alert: I’ll be revealing key details.
We confront Yasmin head-on about the box of human bones hidden in the basement of the Abraxas house. Her response? She claims she doesn’t know what Max is talking about and then says Max is unwell. That’s deflection. That’s weaponizing mental illness to discredit someone who was specific, clear, and emotionally grounded.
And it’s not the first time she’s done it. Yasmin used the same tactic with Maya Okada, whose work was plagiarized by Lucas. Yasmin used mental illness as the sole reason Maya ended her own life, even though there was a core reason behind it. I have to keep re-mentioning this to everyone because it gets lost in her quiet demeanor, her role as a mother, and her kindness. She took in two people — Max and Vinh — gave them opportunities at Caledon, and propelled them forward. But that’s where the grooming begins.
Yes. I’m using that word because of Vinh, particularly.
You have to understand how Yasmin used their vulnerability of being struggling individuals who lack resources and upward mobility in life. Max only had a GED. Vinh was a struggling, talented actor. Our reality is that you have to know people if you want to change your situation in life. You have to be given a chance. To be chosen by the people who hold the keys to those doors. Vinh blew up the Abraxas house for her. He died doing it. The illegal demolition plans… he knew about it and didn’t talk about them, even though it almost killed a student. Loretta. These are all extreme situations that can’t be ignored, because he was willing to hold all these secrets for a woman who preyed on his vulnerabilities and gave him the invitation to all these doors she had access to. That’s not protection, that’s the byproduct of manipulation.
Let’s rewind a bit.
Before confronting Yasmin, we learn that a town local once attended a Mabon party at the Abraxas house. Yasmin was a member. We see her in a group photo with other Abraxas members. These parties served drugs for the experience. They performed mock rituals with a literal dagger. But the outsider who got in, high on the drugs, believed the ritual was real. He unalived himself with the dagger.
Most of the members were high. They panicked. Didn’t know what to do. One sober member took control: Yasmin.
She convinced them not to call the police. To protect their reputations, because the kid died on their drugs at their party, she led the cover-up. They dealt with the body themselves. And hid his remains in a box behind a brick wall in the basement. That gave me Edgar Allan Poe vibes, just to point it out.
That’s the box Chloe and Max found.
That’s the truth Yasmin denied.
And the masked figure with the sledgehammer? That was Vinh. Knowing that, I wonder what Vinh was willing to do when caught by Reggie. These things are left in the air and up to the imagination. However, I really hope Vinh wasn’t considering hurting Reggie. That’s too diabolical. But then again, this is Life is Strange. They have characters do some unspeakable things in these stories.
But back to Yasmin. That night set her path. She became the person people turned to in a crisis. She managed an entire cover-up of a person's death at a party attended by future elite figures. She revealed that many of those members are still involved with the school. She’s the one behind Owen Teller. Safi speculated that Owen was just the face, and her mother was the puppet master. And yes, it shows. Owen kept her informed. She said he was ambitious, that she didn’t always agree with his plans for Caledon 2.0. But something stuck with me: she said people turn to her.
Owen wanted to illegally demolish the house. But he looked to Yasmin “to get the okay.”
That’s how accountability gets sent up the ladder. Yasmin became the figure people sought for validation, for comfort, to do horrendous acts. Because she herself had covered up a death. A death she claimed would’ve ruined everyone’s lives if exposed.
But think about it. A person died. And all she could think about, no matter how young she was, was how to make that person disappear. That kid probably had a family. Friends. People who probably thought he ran away—disappeared. But he died at a party. And his death was covered up. His body was stashed behind a brick wall in the same house where he died in.
Do you understand how insidious that is?
I couldn’t say that on stream. I focused on getting through the exchange because I felt rotten inside. This is a woman who doesn’t come across as a predator. She’s soft-spoken. Kind to the vulnerable. A mother who cares about her daughter. You wouldn’t think twice that she was capable of making those decisions.
Yes, she showed guilt. Yes, those emotions eat away at you at some point. Especially when being the person people turn to, to figure out how to make the problem go away, or even to just say “okay” to doing horrible things, it all carries a cost with every decision. I don’t see Yasmin as heartless. But she knows how to psychologically defend herself — even if it means manipulating the people who call her out.
Using mental illness as a tool when Max confronted her — that automatic deflection — shows how wired she is to protect herself. Even though Max did so much for her. Risking her friendship and trust with Safi to bring her the truth. Yasmin still went to that length.
And Vinh — despite me not liking him — died for her reputation. All for the woman who opened doors for him, gave him opportunities, and knew exactly what she was willing to do to protect herself and the elite she’s aligned with.
Tell me that’s not grooming at its finest.
Let that sink in.