Anyone else think they kind of dropped the ball in writing Larry?
Don't get me wrong, I love TWD, but Larry as a character always struck me as extremely frustrating, and for reasons that I don't think were intended.
We're introduced to him arguing that a little boy should be thrown outside or have his head smashed in because he might be bitten. He doesn't wait for confirmation of the bite; he immediately starts demanding it and abusing everyone in the room, going out of his way to be as much of a jerk about it as possible. At this point, he will have hopelessly alienated Kenny, Katja, Duck and I would suspect just about anyone else in the room who doesn't approve of pointless child killing or doesn't like being told to 'shut the f*ck up'.
Later in the same episode, he punches Lee in the face and leaves him to be devoured by Walkers, even after Lee risked his life to get him heart medicine. Lee only survives through Kenny's intervention. Note that Larry does this even if Lee sided with him or took no sides in the earlier dispute about Duck. Even if Lee doesn't talk about this, Clementine saw it happen and I suspect Kenny must also have had an inkling.
All of this happens before the group leaves the pharmacy...and all of this to me indicates a man who isn't simply a mean curmudgeon who deep down is a good guy, but a dangerous psychopath who resorts to murder as a first resort, even if the victim is a child. His behavior indicates a man who would, in short order, alienate everyone in the group who isn't Lilly. He's a danger to everyone there and makes little effort to even hide that fact.
So how is this character still with the group after the extended gap between Episode 1 and 2? After his behavior in the pharmacy, I would think everyone in the group except for Lilly would realize just how much of a danger he poses and tell him, basically, to hit the road and find another group before he starts getting people killed. Lilly would have to leave with him, of course, but once a man has attempted to murder another member of the group for seemingly no reason, what other choice is left? No sane group would keep someone like Larry around for long.
But the game doesn't seem to understand just how beyond the pale Larry's behavior has placed him by the end of Episode 1. It instead seems to treat him as just a guy with a grating personality rather than an attempted murderer. I would pretty much say that, after intentionally leaving Lee to be devoured alive and screaming, humble gestures of reconciliation are a thing of the past between Lee and Larry, but Larry (like a true psychopath) seems genuinely outraged when the man he tried to kill doesn't give him food or an axe or whatever else he wants.
That would be fine if it were just him. Aggravatingly enough, though, Lee himself doesn't seem to recognize the seriousness of what Larry tried to do or how drastic a difference that makes in their relationship. All his conversation options suggest Larry is just a big jerk rather than a complete psychopath.
Some of it can be handwaved away as Lee not wanting Larry to expose him, and therefore not mentioning the Larry incident at the pharmacy...but frankly, if faced with the hard choice of having to reveal that I'm a convicted felon to the group or spending months trapped in close quarters with the man who tried to kill me and shows not the least sign of regret for it, who might in fact very well try again at the next big opportunity, I know which one I'd pick in a heartbeat.
TLDR: I think the writers made a mistake and took Larry far past 'jerk' and well into 'psychotic' territory in Episode 1, and it made all the interactions with him in Episode 2 feel very weird.
Comments
I See it that way: He knows about Lee Everett being a convicted murderer and thus tried to get rid of him as a risk to the group/Lilly while nobody was witnessing the Situation. After he failed killing Lee Larry made very clear he'd finish him if Lee turns out to be danger.
I can see your point, but a zombie apocalypse is a very extreme situation, in which everybody goes Crazy. You don't actually know what happened to the pharmacy group before Lee and Kennys family approach. WE only know the group had more members - some got bitten and turned. Maybe Larry proved himself as a hero, making him an indisponible member even with that Temper. In My opinion the story benefits of Larry being the angriest jerk possible. In a World like this: do you overlook his bad attitude and profit of one more member in the group for defense or Do you restrict the group to the minimum with just the most trustful members? Thats actually what the first three seasons are about. Making you question Larry and the groups behaviour Telltale made a pretty good job. Besides, the story wouldnt be so thrilling without Larry being the ass he was.
I'm not denying that Larry worked best as an ass, or that he should have been cut. I'm just saying there is a very big line between 'ass' and 'psycho', and that line can is quickly crossed via attempted murder.
Episode 2 had a number of cases where you could extend an olive branch to Larry, such as giving him food or the axe or saying he's just trying to protect his daughter and so forth. All of them were undermined by the scene where Larry punches Lee and leaves him for the Walkers. Had Larry just been rude and obnoxious and made it clear he considered you a danger without the attempted murder or the lunatic insistence on throwing a little boy to the walkers before even confirming he's bitten, he would have been a much better character.
Let's look at the scenario from Larry's point of view:
He sees a convicted murderer barge inside the group carrying a girl with him who may not his daughter, that would set off alarm bells to most people in real life. Why is a convicted murderer allowed to roam around and keep a child, of all things, near him? He killed the senator, and possibly his wife too, so what's stopping him from killing the child too?
And before this, Kenny and Duck were causing a ruckus that attracted walkers outside the drug store, and Carley's rescue attempt brought back even more. Had it not been for Glenn locking the security gates, the walkers would have gotten inside the drug store and killed everyone inside, including Lee and Kenny's group. Of course, over this, the group argues.
According to Larry's dialogue, Lilly's group supposedly had already brought in a survivor once who was bitten and turned, thus how they knew (at the time) how walkers came to be (could be the walker in the bathroom). Larry didn't want to take any more risks since the new group barging in the drug store and almost brought the walkers with them, and the last thing Lilly's group needed was bringing in yet another survivor who was bitten.
Then he has a heart attack due to the stress and the panic of the walkers breaking in the drug store due to another of Carley's rescue attempt, and he sees the convicted murderer agreeing to find medication for Larry. Larry probably suspected that the convicted murderer is trying to buy his way in the group, using Larry's medication as an bargaining chip. Then the alarms are set off in the medication room, and of course causes the walkers to break in the drug store and causing Carley/Doug's death, and yet the convict is still alive. It was the last straw for Larry's patience, and he lashes out at the convict, for being the biggest perceived threat, and for (inadvertently) setting the alarm off and causing someone's death in Lilly's group.
Of course, that's just my two cents, and I'm certainly not advocating Larry's actions here, but trying to explain why his drastic actions may be justifiable.