Luke's 'Underdevelopment'
I'm pretty pissed with the Luke hate going back and forth, it's no longer intelligent conversation, but bashing of opinions I believed was above the fine folks on this site.
I found this on tumblr: pandasanddinosaurs.tumblr.com/post/86567883114/symbolism-of-the-bridge-and-lukes-role-as (not written by me, but user @espurr)
Here's some bits I really wanted to share with y'all.
'Recently Luke hasn’t really lived up to play the major role he’s given, especially in episode 3 where he’s side-lined for Kenny, the tritagonist. Many think this makes Kenny the deuteragonist, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The fact that Clementine crosses the bridge (202) with Luke symbolizes that the two of them are on this journey together. As we saw in episode 3, Luke is still a character that keeps his humanity in tact and has a sort of naive innocence to him, in that no matter how much he hates Carver, he can’t bring himself to kill him, and we all know that isn’t how you survive in the world of TWD. This goes to show that Luke will probably have to go through a journey to overcome this and change in order to survive. This season is about his journey and his changing too, not just Clementine. That’s why he’s the deuteragonist. Kenny on the other hand is well adapted to the world they live in now and is not on a journey, at most he is just there to support Clementine throughout the season.'
I remember reading somewhere that Luke was originally designed to be... Clementine’s moral compass... Instead they now have Luke acting as a character with morals in tact, while Kenny plays the opposite role, and it’s up to us as the players which one we want to side with, so it isn’t as black and white as do whatever your moral compass says, it’s choose whether or not to keep your morals or lose them, which I personally think is a much more interesting direction to take...
...For the most part many people had Luke pegged as your classic perfect hero type character, but as we’ve seen from Luke in episode 3, these types of characters fall short in the world of TWD. His plan failed. Why? Because he’s human. He went days without food or sleep, and he gets caught doing what any other living human would do, trying to survive. He couldn’t pull the big hero act because this world doesn’t allow it. He has the makings of a leader, we’ve seen that. He took charge of the cabin group after Pete’s death, he makes well thought out plans, and he equally cares about each of his group members, but he needs an extra something to help him reach his potential. That extra something I think is Clementine, and she will help him on his journey. That’s why these two characters are growing and benefitting from each other as the story goes on this season..'
I know, it's long, but go to the link and read the full thing. I've felt a lot of this but I can't verbalize it as well as this guy has, but I hope this sparks better discussion around here!
I found this on tumblr: pandasanddinosaurs.tumblr.com/post/86567883114/symbolism-of-the-bridge-and-lukes-role-as (not written by me, but user @espurr)
Here's some bits I really wanted to share with y'all.
'Recently Luke hasn’t really lived up to play the major role he’s given, especially in episode 3 where he’s side-lined for Kenny, the tritagonist. Many think this makes Kenny the deuteragonist, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The fact that Clementine crosses the bridge (202) with Luke symbolizes that the two of them are on this journey together. As we saw in episode 3, Luke is still a character that keeps his humanity in tact and has a sort of naive innocence to him, in that no matter how much he hates Carver, he can’t bring himself to kill him, and we all know that isn’t how you survive in the world of TWD. This goes to show that Luke will probably have to go through a journey to overcome this and change in order to survive. This season is about his journey and his changing too, not just Clementine. That’s why he’s the deuteragonist. Kenny on the other hand is well adapted to the world they live in now and is not on a journey, at most he is just there to support Clementine throughout the season.'
I remember reading somewhere that Luke was originally designed to be... Clementine’s moral compass... Instead they now have Luke acting as a character with morals in tact, while Kenny plays the opposite role, and it’s up to us as the players which one we want to side with, so it isn’t as black and white as do whatever your moral compass says, it’s choose whether or not to keep your morals or lose them, which I personally think is a much more interesting direction to take...
...For the most part many people had Luke pegged as your classic perfect hero type character, but as we’ve seen from Luke in episode 3, these types of characters fall short in the world of TWD. His plan failed. Why? Because he’s human. He went days without food or sleep, and he gets caught doing what any other living human would do, trying to survive. He couldn’t pull the big hero act because this world doesn’t allow it. He has the makings of a leader, we’ve seen that. He took charge of the cabin group after Pete’s death, he makes well thought out plans, and he equally cares about each of his group members, but he needs an extra something to help him reach his potential. That extra something I think is Clementine, and she will help him on his journey. That’s why these two characters are growing and benefitting from each other as the story goes on this season..'
I know, it's long, but go to the link and read the full thing. I've felt a lot of this but I can't verbalize it as well as this guy has, but I hope this sparks better discussion around here!
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Comments
I am with you, as long as Luke does things I can defend
True, true. He is human, after all, so he'll mess up occasionally. I would hate for him to become an antagonist or ditch the group (though I really doubt either one). I just wonder what his reasons for leaving the group are this time. He's too loyal, at least from what we've been shown, to just up and leave.
I just really love me some Luke.
Come on man. Go big or go home.
The Boss: Okay people, we need to change some things for TWD Season 2 since the first one was so successful. Sean, you have the floor.
Sean: This is what I think. Since Season 1 was so successful, why do we need to change anything, but the story?
The Boss: That's fucking stupid, Sean. Okay Johnson, you have the floor
Johnson: Here's my idea boss. We shorten episodes, remove hubs, and cut out character development.
The Boss: I love it! Sean pack your things because Johnson is taking your office.
And that's why Sean Vanaman is no longer working for Telltale.
They're even arguing that CLEMENTINE is there to support LUKE'S emotional journey hahahaha.
Motivated Reasoning is less interesting to me than a good bowel movement. Just admit you want to blow him and work from there.
Many other characters have just as many flaws as this kid, but he somehow gets a lot of hate. I will wait it out because I am sure he has a legit explanation, for now, my theory is he was top slept deprived so he probably fell asleep after he made it out hahaha
'I just hope he's safe'
Kenny protects the folks he cares about and sometimes you have to do bad things. He has a clear goal in mind. I know him and can get behind this guy. So about Luke? Why doesn't he want Carver dead? Isn't he a bit too nice considering Zombie Apocalypse and all? Don't tell me "Oh, he doesn't lose his morals and humanity in a bad situation. That makes him a good character". No, I still like a reason for it, because most of the cabin group HAD a reason to act like jerks in Episode 1 (Season 2). So what's this guys deal?
Those posts are assuming Luke is the deteuragonist. If that is the case, then usually, the deteuragonist's journey is supported by the protagonist. Every character is flawed, right? Absolutely no character is better than any other and anyone suggesting that is wrong, all are equally important in propelling the story forward.
Therefore, all characters have equal importance and can be discussed as much as any other. They're still important no matter how ugly/attractive they are.
This is why I like Nick. He talks about himself, his experiences, his friends and families. I don't know a thing about Luke other then that he's is a good guy. If he's supposed to be a tool for the writers to have a moral compass for Clem then he's not doing his job right. It's not like they'll benefit from keeping the man who hunted your groupd down and kidnapped them alive.
His hair is freaking majestic.
Honestly, I think a lot of it is rooted in everyone's loyalty to Lee and Kenny. It might have been difficult to watch Clementine bonding with people outside of that core group featured in season one, so they might see Luke as trying to be Lee's replacement. This could further be emphasized with Kenny's reunion with Clem, representing the past, and the possible decision of having to choose between them as leaders. Does that make sense? I don't know, I don't mind if people don't like Luke but it's disappointing to see SO MUCH hate for him.
Not going to lie, I'm scared for Luke's fate in this season.
I don't think he'll die next episode though mainly for the fact that it's highly likely that we'll have to choose between Kenny and him. At least for a little while and then the groups paths would have to converge again.
People mistake my analysis of him for disliking him because I point out a lot of his flaws. It's a bit more complicated than that. I think Luke's a great character and he means well but sometimes I'd want to slap him.
And that is a great character. Someone who you love and want to slap!! Flaws is what makes a character real!
LukeFlowerCrownBuddyyyyyy
I'm a flower crown Luke!
I saw the Kenny/Ben reference there.
Yesssss.. I see what you mean. We all love Lee, but fact is, NO ONE can replace him. As a partner, a friend, Luke and Kenny are perfect candidates. I almost see Luke/Kenny as Future/Past. There's ridiculous amounts of hate for Luke, for reasons unrelated to him and that is just wrong.
I sure hope he lives into the potential season three. He's a great character who could be used so much more, and I look forward to seeing a cool character arch.
AYYYYYYYYYYY Hi Five
Let's unite and form an army!
#FLOWERCROWNBROSTWDG
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE