What if the hoodie you gave Clementine belonged to Jolee's daughter? Considering what's implied about what those bandits did to her...that could be awkward.
from what we've seen of the bandits, for them to spot clem wearing the hoodie, is the least of our problems...
The ironic side of me wants there to be some huge problem to arise if you took the food from the car. People are saying you do what you can to survive but the whole episode was about we cant lose our humanity or we are no better then the zombies so i'd love it if something terrible happened to those who stole the food.
In my case i didn't steal it i want the lee im playing to believe in himself to keep his humanity why i didnt kill the brothers or steal the food
The ironic side of me wants there to be some huge problem to arise if you took the food from the car. People are saying you do what you can to survive but the whole episode was about we cant lose our humanity or we are no better then the zombies so i'd love it if something terrible happened to those who stole the food.
In my case i didn't steal it i want the lee im playing to believe in himself to keep his humanity why i didnt kill the brothers or steal the food
it'll be a carley/doug style change not too small not to big..
i'll take a guess at when the bandits come knocking with boom sticks, they can shout out 'you stole our shit / food '
and if you didn't loot the car they go with something like
' you bastards destroyed the farm now we gonna destroy you/ now you gonna pay!'
or a 'heyoooo' (gunshot) maybe even see a little robot dancin...hehe
i wonder if clem keeps the hoodie or looses it in ep4/ep5..
The problem I had with this choice was just... Why isn't there an option to only take some? That's what I would do in this situation. There's like 3 boxes of food and a huge amount of supplies there. Why can't you just take the one box, maybe some supplies, and leave a note that's all DON'T LEAVE YOUR KEYS IN THE IGNITION NEXT TIME.
Honestly, it just bugs me that you're choosing between starving or taking every damn penny these people have. Since when is there no middle ground?
Edit: It's even worse when you think about how apparently Kaatja (or Lee, if you choose to steal) has absolutely no problem also going as far as to not only take a child's sweater, but to not at least PAUSE and go "oh shit, they had a kid". No it's just HEY FREE SWEATER.
Edit 2: I also would've accepted "Let's wait a few minutes and see if the owners come back first" or "Let's look for them first". But apparently the choices have to be friggin binary 0 for no, 1 for yes choices or they just aren't difficult enough.
In the end that's an opinion from our point of view. Living that hell can change persons mentality, it would be different if this happened only a couple of weeks after the first episode but 3 months is a different story. Sometimes snap decisions have to be made, especially in a forest full of unknown dangers.
I agree with Aguyuno, there should have been a choice to take the food only or something. Though I also don't think the people it pisses off will care if you took everything or a single aspirin tablet. One of them blew away one of his friends for eating a little bit of food.
You can argue the difference, but I trust these bandits about as far as I can spit Manhattan.
I agree with Aguyuno, there should have been a choice to take the food only or something. Though I also don't think the people it pisses off will care if you took everything or a single aspirin tablet. One of them blew away one of his friends for eating a little bit of food.
You can argue the difference, but I trust these bandits about as far as I can spit Manhattan.
You're assuming this is the bandits at all, though.
I'm glad the choices are all or nothing. If there was a middle-ground, for example taking some food rather than none or all of it, then everyone (providing you aren't mentally loose) would make this choice. They may as well then give you a choice to save Doug and Carley, rather than just one of them. Crazy days - crazy decisions.
I'm glad the choices are all or nothing. If there was a middle-ground, for example taking some food rather than none or all of it, then everyone (providing you aren't mentally loose) would make this choice. They may as well then give you a choice to save Doug and Carley, rather than just one of them. Crazy days - crazy decisions.
First of all there's no "stealing" going on here. You are seriously mistaken if you think taking abandoned provisions is a 'crime' when your whole group is starving to death.
Frankly, I think there's only one way to view the end of e2: either you take everything (and are happy to have it!), or you are officially commiting suicide. EVERYONE would take that stuff in real life. It's only in a game that people have the luxury of 'deciding' whether they want to eat or starve to death on purpose.
I guess none of you who decided not to "steal" the food have ever gone a week without food. If you had, you'd know what it feels like and you'd be more honest with yourself. Hungry people don't pass up food unless they want to die. Hell, I'd go a step further and say they should have gone ahead and eaten Mark's legs until they couldn't eat any more, and taken the rest to make jerky. This is survival, not a day at the mall. His legs were already gone--why not put them to use? If my legs got sawed off by some crazies I'd be damned if I'd let anyone throw them in the garbage after that. I mean, did Mark really lose his legs for nothing? That's way worse than losing them to feed your friends/fellow survivors.
Same goes for the stuff in the car. This is survival, not a trip to pottery barn. And for the record, if you chose to not "steal" the items from the car, you shouldn't get a share of the food/items in e3. You wanna act like you're too good to take abandoned items (aka "stealing) then suffer the consequences. It's a coward's move to be verbally against taking the supplies only to later eat the food and use the items after you've made sure everyone knows that you're "against" it.
I've gone a week without food and it's not something I'll ever forget. Sure, you can survive at least 30 days without food, but it feels absolutely terrible the entire time, you can't think about anything else, and your energy levels and mental acuity plummet as your body cannibalizes itself to stay alive. Are you seriously trying to pretend that in real life you'd choose to feel that way on purpose with a high likelihood of ensuing death by starvation because you didn't want to "steal" supplies from an empty abandoned car in the woods? Really? I'm not buying it. I think the only way to make that choice is to not take this seriously. Obviously this is a game so everyone's free (possibly encouraged) not to take this seriously, but I'm willing to bet my life that there is no person on this forum who in real life would pass up those supplies. Only in the game.
Oh, and by the way--where do you think all that food came from that everyone has been living on for months? Did you buy it? You "stole" it from stores. That wasn't Mark's food that everyone was eating for the last 3 months--that was food that Mark "stole." The food Lily and her group fed you with at the pharmacy--that was "stolen" from Lee's dead family. I guess if "stealing" is so difficult for you to come to terms with you would've died of starvation about 3-5 weeks into it and wouldn't have even made it to episode 2.
First of all there's no "stealing" going on here. You are seriously mistaken if you think taking abandoned provisions is a 'crime' when your whole group is starving to death.
I never said it was or wasn't. I'm just pretty sure that whoever's food it was isn't going to be reasonable. I could be mistaken in saying it's the bandits, but if it's anyone else, I think that won't connect to the rest of the story. The bandits are set up to be the next threat. No reason to do anything else.
It's definitely stealing, but it's justified stealing, everyone here if put in that situation would take the food, I doubt anyone here has felt true starvation (including me) and a little girl telling me it's wrong wouldn't change that, yeah it's wrong, but it's a man eat man world and i let everyone have enough flesh as it is anyway clems always whining about food so it's a no brainer...but like I said taking something without consent = stealing.
First of all there's no "stealing" going on here. You are seriously mistaken if you think taking abandoned provisions is a 'crime' when your whole group is starving to death.
Frankly, I think there's only one way to view the end of e2: either you take everything (and are happy to have it!), or you are officially commiting suicide. EVERYONE would take that stuff in real life. It's only in a game that people have the luxury of 'deciding' whether they want to eat or starve to death on purpose.
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I didn't take the food and I do agree with you. I've missed lunch a couple of times and that sucked. So why didn't I take the food? We are all hungry but Clem and Lilly were willing to continue to suffer without food to do what they thought was right. Then Kenny and Kat are outright lying to their son that the car is abandoned and thus belonged to the group. Even Duck, not the sharpest tool in the shed, looked at Kenny funny. Then the game waits for you to make the call.
The sound of one hand clapping, if a tree falls in the forest, these are buddist koan. A queztion to focus on while meditating. I think traditionally there is like 36 of these.
The group walks up on an abandoned car, out of gas.. Recently as the door open beeping was still sounding meaning the battery wasnt dead yet.
So, I would assume, whoever had the car, ran out of gas, took what they could carry and left.
If they were worried about the food and supplies they left behind, wouldnt they lock the car and take the keys to recover them later?
As far as consequences for looting the abandoned car, we know from Episode 3 previews that we meet new characters.. Some may have been the owners of the car and realize it when they see Clem stylin her new hoodie.
It's something we'll have to deal with if/wehn that time comes.
It's not like we carjacked anyone, forced them out at gunpoint, took thier stuff.
I think that the consequences will be that if you didnt steal clem will guilt trip you with her "im really hungry Lee" making you second guess your choice. If you did steal Clem will be a little mad at you for taking the food and will show it in dialogue making you feel kinda bad for stealing but really at least youre not starving. Oh and I believe that subtly this was a Lilly/Kenny choice as well so they'll probably mention their approval/dissapproval in certain conversations and try to use your choice as leverage in certain situations like "you took food from the car same as us Lee you know its about survival now". (im on my phone so not as neat as can be sorry)
Ah, my bad--nothing in my post was directed at you--just general statements about the use of the word 'stealing' on this forum to describe taking stuff with no owners present, etc. I wasn't calling you out by any means.
I (and others on here) like to think about possibilities, scenarios, what-ifs, etc. I also enjoy a friendly debate. I'm an ideas guy. If you don't enjoy those things, that's cool, but why on Earth did you join this forum? Your reply to my post added nothing to the discussion about the game. It added nothing to anything. The point of a community like this is that everyone adds something. If all you've got to add is 'douche,' it's okay, we don't need any--jog on. If you've got something non-douche to add I'd love to hear it. That's why I'm here on this forum--to hang out and chat with other people who like this game about non-douchey game-related stuff.
I didn't take the food and I do agree with you. I've missed lunch a couple of times and that sucked. So why didn't I take the food? We are all hungry but Clem and Lilly were willing to continue to suffer without food to do what they thought was right. Then Kenny and Kat are outright lying to their son that the car is abandoned and thus belonged to the group. Even Duck, not the sharpest tool in the shed, looked at Kenny funny. Then the game waits for you to make the call.
I sided with Clem. What a day we had.
Well, I see why you made the choice you did. I just don't think you would've made that choice if you were actually in the position Lee is in at the end of e2. On the other hand, this IS a game and I'm glad that we didn't all make the same decisions. If we did, what would be the point in having choices at all. Oh, but I don't think that Kenny and Katja were "outright lying" to Duck about the car being abandoned--it was abandoned. It's possible that it was only abandoned with the expectation of the owners that they'd be coming back for their stuff soon, but it was abandoned. If the car was closed and locked, the keys were missing, the lights were off, etc. then you could say it wasn't abandoned and I'd agree with you. I do think the looks Duck, Clem, and Lilly were giving during that scene were pretty manipulative though. Trying to peer pressure us into feeling guilty about taking stuff.
Oh and I believe that subtly this was a Lilly/Kenny choice as well so they'll probably mention their approval/dissapproval in certain conversations and try to use your choice as leverage in certain situations like "you took food from the car same as us Lee you know its about survival now".
Very good post! I agree this is a perfect setup for another dispute in the power play between Lilly and Kenny. Possibly the last one before an explosion and possible schism in the group.
So to sum up the "stealing" concept, In normal society, possession is 9/10ths of the law, in the zombie apocalypse, possession is 10/10ths of the law. Therefore, no stealing is possible.
So to sum up the "stealing" concept, In normal society, possession is 9/10ths of the law, in the zombie apocalypse, possession is 10/10ths of the law. Therefore, no stealing is possible.
I completely agree with that statement. Their would be no legal system anymore so "stealing" would be re-defined as "taking to survive".
The Justice system would be more like, if you had something taken from you, take it back! Not like a call to 911 would produce a CSI team to find your food and supplies.
I doubt I would be quite on the side of the Bandits, though I think that would be a common occurance during a ZA. I couldnt see myself in a group, raiding other survivors, killing them to take their gear, but looting abandoned cars, houses etc would be fair game!
How many of us searched through the drawers and cabinets at Clems house looking for anything useful? What about breaking into a truck to take an ice-pick? Did anyone actually pay for the energy bar's in the pharmacy???
Well, I see why you made the choice you did. I just don't think you would've made that choice if you were actually in the position Lee is in at the end of e2. On the other hand, this IS a game and I'm glad that we didn't all make the same decisions. If we did, what would be the point in having choices at all. Oh, but I don't think that Kenny and Katja were "outright lying" to Duck about the car being abandoned--it was abandoned. It's possible that it was only abandoned with the expectation of the owners that they'd be coming back for their stuff soon, but it was abandoned. If the car was closed and locked, the keys were missing, the lights were off, etc. then you could say it wasn't abandoned and I'd agree with you. I do think the looks Duck, Clem, and Lilly were giving during that scene were pretty manipulative though. Trying to peer pressure us into feeling guilty about taking stuff.
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I'd be willing to say the car was "abandoned" if, however we found it (doors open/closed/locked, windows up/down, etc.), the car appeared to have been there since the ZA began. That is, obvious signs of having been sitting there unused by anyone for over 3+ months.
This car showed signs of use during the ZA. Recent use...maybe even that same evening. That's not "abandoned" that's risk assessment. Is the person or group who recently operated this vehicle coming back? Are they dead? Will they be upset with us? what's the risk?
If it was just me, I'd take the food because the benefit outweighed the risk. But the half of the group I like and trying to work with (namely Clem and Lilly but Ben too to a lesser degree - Carley gave no opinion) thought the risk was too high. It's not a Leetatorship...yet so I sided with what I hope will continue to be my group.
So I just started poking around the forum after I finished the first two episodes last week, but I notice a lot of these arguments based on the idea that, "This is the apocalypse, and survival has to come first." Which I totally get. But my problem is that it seems like in a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, including The Walking Dead, that line pretty much just gets thrown out as a justification for people to do what they were planning on doing anyway, even if it's not necessarily what actually makes sense. Which applies more to Kenny freaking out in the meat locker than it does to the car, but still...
In this case, yes, they were starving. But why were they starving? It's largely because Lilly insisted on staying at the motel. Of course they're going to run out of food after three months of that. Staying in one place like that really only works if you have a decent distribution network bringing you regular shipments of food from the farms. Once that system collapses, the food supply at your local grocery store is going to run out fast. Even supplementing that supply with hunting like we see at the start of Episode 2, you're still in Macon (or pretty close to Macon). While that may not be Georgia's biggest city, it's still a sizable metropolitan area. Which means there's probably not much wildlife around to hunt. That's why I agreed with Kenny about leaving the motel and heading for the coast. Sitting around the motel is pretty much just waiting to die.
There should actually be quite a bit of food once you move away from the cities. Even if the animal life gets eaten by the walkers, as we see with the one eating the rabbit at the start of the episode, there's still plenty of edible plants in Georgia to sustain a small group like that. It seems like they're not suffering from lack of food as much as food prejudice. In their minds, "food" is only the packaged product that comes from the grocery store. This has actually been the case in a lot of historical cases of people starving. Take the Donner Party. Before they began starving, they had encountered some Native Americans who had given them pine nuts to eat. This was commonly used in the area as the food you could always rely on when all else failed. The Donner Party died in the middle of a pine grove. None of them ever ate the pine. Even after having been shown that it's perfectly edible, it still never even occurred to them to think of that as food. That's why I told Kenny that we'd find a way to survive without the supplies from the car.
Not that I think taking the food would be "wrong" per se. But I sided with Clementine in part because there were simply too many unknowns. Whose car is this? Are they still nearby? Is the car truly abandoned, or are the owners making their way back once they get rid of some pesky walkers? Or are they just hiding in the bushes, afraid to come out because they heard Lee and company coming and thought they were bandits? Or perhaps the owners are bandits themselves or some other group we don't want to mess with that won't take kindly to someone coming along and taking their stuff. Maybe the supplies are booby trapped. Or poisoned. And once we take the supplies, then what? Carly and Ben left the motel. What if it's not safe to go back to? Are we just going to carry around all these boxes with us? And even if it is, how safe is it to be carrying all these supplies on a road we've already seen to be crawling with bandits? We'd already just barely survived one situation that seemed too good to be true, and now Kenny wants us to jump feet first into another one.
As for the long-term consequences, I don't know how, but something tells me they won't be good. A lot of post-apocalyptic fiction is a bit of a morality play. If anyone's guaranteed to die, it's the guy who's the biggest jerk. Just ask Larry how that worked out for him. I don't know that that particular decision will necessarily be the make-or-break decision of the series. But I kind of get the feeling that something bad is going to happen to those who abandon their principals for the sake of short-term convenience.
If anyone's guaranteed to die, it's the guy who's the biggest jerk... I kind of get the feeling that something bad is going to happen to those who abandon their principals for the sake of short-term convenience.
Please, if only the biggest jerks died, I'd have better neighbors.
I still stand by my theory that the car was brought there by Jolene, no harm, no foul. However, while it's all well and good to take the moral high ground from behind your computer screen, on a full tummy, those people were hungry to begin with and (other than maybe Duck), were that much hungrier at the end of the day.
Clem is a child, idealistic, and Lee for all intents and purpose is the parent in charge of her well being in a world that is less than ideal with very few options. In the instance of the car, her physical well being took priority because while that food it might be a "short-term convenience", it will keep her alive and strong for the time being.
Comments
from what we've seen of the bandits, for them to spot clem wearing the hoodie, is the least of our problems...
That would be cruel for the zombie apocalypse, lol. What is the average lifespan in the apocalypse? 10 months? A year?
That's what water is for.
I don't think it matters what consequences may arise.
What's going to happen if we loot an adandoned car?? they going to make a zombie apocalypse on us?? oh yea!!!
Are we going to have them shooting arrows at us or try to cook our legs for supper?? been there, done that!
IMO, it doesnt matter because every day is some sort of new horror and adventure that we'll just have to deal with.
Edit to add: that part about having no toilet paper, now that's just too much horror to comprehend!
In my case i didn't steal it i want the lee im playing to believe in himself to keep his humanity why i didnt kill the brothers or steal the food
it'll be a carley/doug style change not too small not to big..
i'll take a guess at when the bandits come knocking with boom sticks, they can shout out 'you stole our shit / food '
and if you didn't loot the car they go with something like
' you bastards destroyed the farm now we gonna destroy you/ now you gonna pay!'
or a 'heyoooo' (gunshot) maybe even see a little robot dancin...hehe
i wonder if clem keeps the hoodie or looses it in ep4/ep5..
you did what clem said so she likes you and can trust you....
Honestly, it just bugs me that you're choosing between starving or taking every damn penny these people have. Since when is there no middle ground?
Edit: It's even worse when you think about how apparently Kaatja (or Lee, if you choose to steal) has absolutely no problem also going as far as to not only take a child's sweater, but to not at least PAUSE and go "oh shit, they had a kid". No it's just HEY FREE SWEATER.
Edit 2: I also would've accepted "Let's wait a few minutes and see if the owners come back first" or "Let's look for them first". But apparently the choices have to be friggin binary 0 for no, 1 for yes choices or they just aren't difficult enough.
You can argue the difference, but I trust these bandits about as far as I can spit Manhattan.
Frankly, I think there's only one way to view the end of e2: either you take everything (and are happy to have it!), or you are officially commiting suicide. EVERYONE would take that stuff in real life. It's only in a game that people have the luxury of 'deciding' whether they want to eat or starve to death on purpose.
I guess none of you who decided not to "steal" the food have ever gone a week without food. If you had, you'd know what it feels like and you'd be more honest with yourself. Hungry people don't pass up food unless they want to die. Hell, I'd go a step further and say they should have gone ahead and eaten Mark's legs until they couldn't eat any more, and taken the rest to make jerky. This is survival, not a day at the mall. His legs were already gone--why not put them to use? If my legs got sawed off by some crazies I'd be damned if I'd let anyone throw them in the garbage after that. I mean, did Mark really lose his legs for nothing? That's way worse than losing them to feed your friends/fellow survivors.
Same goes for the stuff in the car. This is survival, not a trip to pottery barn. And for the record, if you chose to not "steal" the items from the car, you shouldn't get a share of the food/items in e3. You wanna act like you're too good to take abandoned items (aka "stealing) then suffer the consequences. It's a coward's move to be verbally against taking the supplies only to later eat the food and use the items after you've made sure everyone knows that you're "against" it.
I've gone a week without food and it's not something I'll ever forget. Sure, you can survive at least 30 days without food, but it feels absolutely terrible the entire time, you can't think about anything else, and your energy levels and mental acuity plummet as your body cannibalizes itself to stay alive. Are you seriously trying to pretend that in real life you'd choose to feel that way on purpose with a high likelihood of ensuing death by starvation because you didn't want to "steal" supplies from an empty abandoned car in the woods? Really? I'm not buying it. I think the only way to make that choice is to not take this seriously. Obviously this is a game so everyone's free (possibly encouraged) not to take this seriously, but I'm willing to bet my life that there is no person on this forum who in real life would pass up those supplies. Only in the game.
Oh, and by the way--where do you think all that food came from that everyone has been living on for months? Did you buy it? You "stole" it from stores. That wasn't Mark's food that everyone was eating for the last 3 months--that was food that Mark "stole." The food Lily and her group fed you with at the pharmacy--that was "stolen" from Lee's dead family. I guess if "stealing" is so difficult for you to come to terms with you would've died of starvation about 3-5 weeks into it and wouldn't have even made it to episode 2.
I never said it was or wasn't. I'm just pretty sure that whoever's food it was isn't going to be reasonable. I could be mistaken in saying it's the bandits, but if it's anyone else, I think that won't connect to the rest of the story. The bandits are set up to be the next threat. No reason to do anything else.
if a tree falls in a forest does it make a sound ? even if there is no one around to hear it?
the sound of one hand clapping
That's easy.
(pat, pat, pat)
I didn't take the food and I do agree with you. I've missed lunch a couple of times and that sucked. So why didn't I take the food? We are all hungry but Clem and Lilly were willing to continue to suffer without food to do what they thought was right. Then Kenny and Kat are outright lying to their son that the car is abandoned and thus belonged to the group. Even Duck, not the sharpest tool in the shed, looked at Kenny funny. Then the game waits for you to make the call.
I sided with Clem. What a day we had.
nice you got the reference, but the answer is there isn't one...another shrodingers cat moment methinks
The group walks up on an abandoned car, out of gas.. Recently as the door open beeping was still sounding meaning the battery wasnt dead yet.
So, I would assume, whoever had the car, ran out of gas, took what they could carry and left.
If they were worried about the food and supplies they left behind, wouldnt they lock the car and take the keys to recover them later?
As far as consequences for looting the abandoned car, we know from Episode 3 previews that we meet new characters.. Some may have been the owners of the car and realize it when they see Clem stylin her new hoodie.
It's something we'll have to deal with if/wehn that time comes.
It's not like we carjacked anyone, forced them out at gunpoint, took thier stuff.
Ah, my bad--nothing in my post was directed at you--just general statements about the use of the word 'stealing' on this forum to describe taking stuff with no owners present, etc. I wasn't calling you out by any means.
I (and others on here) like to think about possibilities, scenarios, what-ifs, etc. I also enjoy a friendly debate. I'm an ideas guy. If you don't enjoy those things, that's cool, but why on Earth did you join this forum? Your reply to my post added nothing to the discussion about the game. It added nothing to anything. The point of a community like this is that everyone adds something. If all you've got to add is 'douche,' it's okay, we don't need any--jog on. If you've got something non-douche to add I'd love to hear it. That's why I'm here on this forum--to hang out and chat with other people who like this game about non-douchey game-related stuff.
Well, I see why you made the choice you did. I just don't think you would've made that choice if you were actually in the position Lee is in at the end of e2. On the other hand, this IS a game and I'm glad that we didn't all make the same decisions. If we did, what would be the point in having choices at all. Oh, but I don't think that Kenny and Katja were "outright lying" to Duck about the car being abandoned--it was abandoned. It's possible that it was only abandoned with the expectation of the owners that they'd be coming back for their stuff soon, but it was abandoned. If the car was closed and locked, the keys were missing, the lights were off, etc. then you could say it wasn't abandoned and I'd agree with you. I do think the looks Duck, Clem, and Lilly were giving during that scene were pretty manipulative though. Trying to peer pressure us into feeling guilty about taking stuff.
Yep. Good point about the condition of the car. It certainly didn't have the look of a car that people were planning on coming back to.
Very good post! I agree this is a perfect setup for another dispute in the power play between Lilly and Kenny. Possibly the last one before an explosion and possible schism in the group.
So to sum up the "stealing" concept, In normal society, possession is 9/10ths of the law, in the zombie apocalypse, possession is 10/10ths of the law. Therefore, no stealing is possible.
I completely agree with that statement. Their would be no legal system anymore so "stealing" would be re-defined as "taking to survive".
The Justice system would be more like, if you had something taken from you, take it back! Not like a call to 911 would produce a CSI team to find your food and supplies.
I doubt I would be quite on the side of the Bandits, though I think that would be a common occurance during a ZA. I couldnt see myself in a group, raiding other survivors, killing them to take their gear, but looting abandoned cars, houses etc would be fair game!
How many of us searched through the drawers and cabinets at Clems house looking for anything useful? What about breaking into a truck to take an ice-pick? Did anyone actually pay for the energy bar's in the pharmacy???
we're all trixy lil thievesesssss
I'd be willing to say the car was "abandoned" if, however we found it (doors open/closed/locked, windows up/down, etc.), the car appeared to have been there since the ZA began. That is, obvious signs of having been sitting there unused by anyone for over 3+ months.
This car showed signs of use during the ZA. Recent use...maybe even that same evening. That's not "abandoned" that's risk assessment. Is the person or group who recently operated this vehicle coming back? Are they dead? Will they be upset with us? what's the risk?
If it was just me, I'd take the food because the benefit outweighed the risk. But the half of the group I like and trying to work with (namely Clem and Lilly but Ben too to a lesser degree - Carley gave no opinion) thought the risk was too high. It's not a Leetatorship...yet so I sided with what I hope will continue to be my group.
In this case, yes, they were starving. But why were they starving? It's largely because Lilly insisted on staying at the motel. Of course they're going to run out of food after three months of that. Staying in one place like that really only works if you have a decent distribution network bringing you regular shipments of food from the farms. Once that system collapses, the food supply at your local grocery store is going to run out fast. Even supplementing that supply with hunting like we see at the start of Episode 2, you're still in Macon (or pretty close to Macon). While that may not be Georgia's biggest city, it's still a sizable metropolitan area. Which means there's probably not much wildlife around to hunt. That's why I agreed with Kenny about leaving the motel and heading for the coast. Sitting around the motel is pretty much just waiting to die.
There should actually be quite a bit of food once you move away from the cities. Even if the animal life gets eaten by the walkers, as we see with the one eating the rabbit at the start of the episode, there's still plenty of edible plants in Georgia to sustain a small group like that. It seems like they're not suffering from lack of food as much as food prejudice. In their minds, "food" is only the packaged product that comes from the grocery store. This has actually been the case in a lot of historical cases of people starving. Take the Donner Party. Before they began starving, they had encountered some Native Americans who had given them pine nuts to eat. This was commonly used in the area as the food you could always rely on when all else failed. The Donner Party died in the middle of a pine grove. None of them ever ate the pine. Even after having been shown that it's perfectly edible, it still never even occurred to them to think of that as food. That's why I told Kenny that we'd find a way to survive without the supplies from the car.
Not that I think taking the food would be "wrong" per se. But I sided with Clementine in part because there were simply too many unknowns. Whose car is this? Are they still nearby? Is the car truly abandoned, or are the owners making their way back once they get rid of some pesky walkers? Or are they just hiding in the bushes, afraid to come out because they heard Lee and company coming and thought they were bandits? Or perhaps the owners are bandits themselves or some other group we don't want to mess with that won't take kindly to someone coming along and taking their stuff. Maybe the supplies are booby trapped. Or poisoned. And once we take the supplies, then what? Carly and Ben left the motel. What if it's not safe to go back to? Are we just going to carry around all these boxes with us? And even if it is, how safe is it to be carrying all these supplies on a road we've already seen to be crawling with bandits? We'd already just barely survived one situation that seemed too good to be true, and now Kenny wants us to jump feet first into another one.
As for the long-term consequences, I don't know how, but something tells me they won't be good. A lot of post-apocalyptic fiction is a bit of a morality play. If anyone's guaranteed to die, it's the guy who's the biggest jerk. Just ask Larry how that worked out for him. I don't know that that particular decision will necessarily be the make-or-break decision of the series. But I kind of get the feeling that something bad is going to happen to those who abandon their principals for the sake of short-term convenience.
Please, if only the biggest jerks died, I'd have better neighbors.
I still stand by my theory that the car was brought there by Jolene, no harm, no foul. However, while it's all well and good to take the moral high ground from behind your computer screen, on a full tummy, those people were hungry to begin with and (other than maybe Duck), were that much hungrier at the end of the day.
Clem is a child, idealistic, and Lee for all intents and purpose is the parent in charge of her well being in a world that is less than ideal with very few options. In the instance of the car, her physical well being took priority because while that food it might be a "short-term convenience", it will keep her alive and strong for the time being.