So why did Kenny try to "save" him, anyway?
Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I think Kenny trying to save Ben is the weakest scene in the entire series from a writing standpoint, because the only possible explanation that I can possibly think of, that Kenny wanted to die but changed his mind or just fought through the crowd of walkers on total survival autopilot, is on shaky ground at best.
First of all, Kenny had to have known that Ben was not going to be saved. We can see this because five seconds into this "rescue attempt", he shoots Ben in the head and then takes off. Nothing about that indicates a desire to save Ben, just to put him out of his misery. Hell, even if he was stupid enough to think so, closing off the gate to the rest of the group was the worst possible thing to do when trying to save someone about to be set upon by a crowd of walkers. But that's all irrelevant because even Kenny had to have known he was straight up bullshitting when he said "either I save the kid or I get to be with Katjaa again". He went in there fully expecting to die...
...Or at least that might have been an acceptable explanation, except Kenny tells Clementine the same thing long after that, that he tried to save the shitbird. Now, okay, he may be lying again since it's Clem and he probably doesn't want to come clean about trying to die. But if he did want to die, then the question becomes, was he lying during his anti-suicide spiel in the room with the couple? Really, it all comes down to two possibilities as far as Kenny is concerned. Either he lied, or he's really stupid.
Well, I suppose a third option is that that whiskey bottle in the mansion attic was actually filled with "Temporary Stupidity Juice"... actually, that would explain a LOT. It would explain Kenny trying to "save" Ben, it would explain Christa jumping into a deathtrap with no plan or idea of getting out, it would explain Kenny saying the gun has "at least one shot left" when it clearly had many (in the Christa scenario), it would explain Kenny telling Lee that he should give the Stranger a call and tell him they're on their way when that's actually the worst possible thing to do when you're trying to pull off a rescue attempt which requires taking the enemy by surprise, it would explain Lee trying to pick up Christa with that bar on his own with one arm, and especially if he cut off the other arm earlier, and so on. I think I'm on to something here...
But seriously, I suppose other options could be that seeing Ben fall gave Kenny that final loss of hope in a moment of weakness. Or perhaps Kenny was punishing himself for how he treated Ben? Or perhaps he had the secret ability to summon the power of Shelphanie awesomeness to create a shield around himself to bulldoze his way through the walkers? (And no, I will not get over those two, leave me alone)
Anyway, I made this thread so a) I could rant and make jokes, and b) because maybe someone can bring something to my attention that I've overlooked all this time. My proposed explanation is one I could accept, even if I think it's silly as all hell, but maybe someone has a different view of it. If so, I'd like to hear it. As it currently stands, this scene confounds me.
Comments
Cause he felt bad and wanted to make it up for him for being quite cruel to him. That's my guess.
I think he thought he could keep the walkers back, then realized he couldn't, and shot Ben so that he wouldn't get eaten.
The problem with that idea is that he could have made it right with Ben by shooting him right there and then escaping, maybe even have a few words of apology with him in the time they had. All Ben wanted was to be put down before the walkers got him. Staying with him until the final possible minute and risking his life was a needless risk, and ultimately pointless from a narrative standpoint because he got away and his escape doesn't even matter in the long run.
So then that whiskey probably was stupidity juice, then? :P Considering Kenny was horrified of the prospect of just Larry coming back, I don't see why he would think he could handle fifty on both sides.
Although I love the idea that Kenny had that thought in his head and then had a moment of clarity once the whiskey wore off. "Man, this ain't shit! I got these walkers! I got these... I'm a horror game sidekick... oh, shit! I'm a horror game sidekick! It's not gonna work!"
Points to whoever gets the reference.
Instead of creating the whole "is Kenny dead?" drama why didn't Kenny call Ben a "tough kid" or say "I'm sorry" at least and just shoot him in the head to put him out of his misery and just leave with Lee. Then when the sign rickety sign breaks Omid and Christa could be on one side, and Lee and Kenny could be on the other. Lee tells them both to [pick an option] and then him and Kenny could climb down the broken sign like Lee does and then Kenny could kill a walker and wipe the guts on him. Kenny and Lee could go to the Marsh House, confront the stranger and save Clementine. Then in Lee's final moments, he could gave Clementine advice and have the final goodbye to Clementine and Kenny. Kenny promises to look after Clementine and then Kenny and Clementine are outside of town and notice Omid and Christa on the hills and boom, perfect ending lol But then Season 2 would change a whole lot
Pretty much. It'd have been just as emotional and without the fairly transparent attempt to get him out of the game just to lessen their numbers. Hell, they could have even just had everything end the same way, but have Kenny fight with Lee against the herd, but the numbers get too high, so Kenny runs off to draw the herd and buy Lee time to get into the Marsh House, leaving his fate ambiguous for the next season.
That would have been so awesome. Kenny and Lee against a herd of walkers
Watching each other's backs and making sure Kenny doesn't get bitten 
Hopefully a full explanation as to how Kenny survived will come soon, so it can shed some light on things. But, to me, the most likely scenario is like this:
Kenny didn't intend to live. He clearly wanted to die, so he stuck around until the swarm of walkers were on top of them, intending to both put Ben out of his misery and to get himself killed so he can be with Katjaa and Duck again. But, while he was in the zombie swarm, he managed to somehow find an out (as he said he got lucky), and decided **** it, I've been given this chance, so I'm going to take it.
Makes me glad I dropped Ben. At least Kenny's sacrifice for Christa holds some significance by giving a young family a chance to make it work.
Yeah, I think that's the only way it could really go. It's certainly possible for one to change one's mind when it really comes down to it. Apparently that happens in the comics too; some guy wants to end his life but when the walkers get close enough he starts to regret it. Considering how that poor guy ended up, Kenny was really lucky. :P
Sorry about the lack of spoiler tags.
That would have been so badass. St. John's dairy all over again.
Oh and on another note: Shelphanie...?
Is that a question or a "Really...?" kind of thing?
If it's a question, it's the pairing of Shel/Stephanie, which is basically my version of those "Kenny's saltlick", "Kenny's mustache", "Clementine's juice box" kind of posts. Although I don't mention it nearly as much as those other things get mentioned on here, in my humble defense. :P
It's a question. I assumed it was a hybrid of Shell and Stephanie but I wasn't sure. And how would their powers bulldoze walkers? Lol
Well, the bulldozing would be Kenny running through them. And it basically makes the same amount of sense as Kenny's moustache giving him the power to escape, which a lot of people have pretty much adopted as the official explanation. :P
Ah, I see. Everything makes perfect sense now :P
Kenny treated Ben like he was trash. Then after Ben went off on him in the yard and spoke of his side of things about how he doesn't know his family's fate. Then told Kenny he at least knew what happened to his family. After that Kenny thought about it. Then Kenny saw how hopeless it was to save Ben, but tried anyway. From here I guess Kenny got Lee out of there and attempted a suicide mission to save or at least protect Ben in his last moments as a sign ultimate forgiveness. Then looked back on it and thought just how stupid he was for doing it. That's all I got out of it.
He very obviously wanted to die.
That scene doesn't really make sense. I think that was the start of TTG losing logic.
It was a fantastic passive suicide and end to Kenny's character arc before s2.
Now that he's back? It's just a ruined and logically fragile scene. Guess he changed his mind about dying.