Alan Wake EP15: What Episode is This Again?

By Shamus Posted Thursday May 17, 2012

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 82 comments


Link (YouTube)

Josh is discovering an inordinate supply of haunted furniture. For the record, I have yet to see a single physics glitch or take damage from scenery. (Deliberately hostile items excluded.)

What episode was this again?

 


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82 thoughts on “Alan Wake EP15: What Episode is This Again?

  1. el_b says:

    Nothing to do with the episode, but have you noticed that the film darkness falls is practically uwe bolls Alan wake? I’m serious look it up. It’s set in a small town surrounded by forests that haunted by a hag in black whos weakness is light. They use a flashlights as weapons, uses any excuse to get the protagonist into a forest, a policeman helps you at the end but for the most part they are against you and it even contains a lighthouse. Hell even the name of the town is a similar and has essentially the same theme. Darkness falls, bright falls, night springs. The protagonist even looks a little like Alan wake. It’s not actually a terrible movie but it takes so many liberties with the Alan wake plot but it can only be by uwe… I guess we know where the other DeLorean went.

    http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/16532/the-plot-holes-and-paradoxes-of-the-back-to-the-future-trilogy

    1. Syal says:

      I remember Darkness Falls being advertised as “The scariest movie since The Ring”, like a month after The Ring came out.

      1. Bryan says:

        Well, at least it (probably) wasn’t a *lie*… that’s about all I can say, though.

        Yeesh.

      2. el_b says:

        the only scary thing about the American version of the ring is it that it got Greenlighted in the first place.

        1. Nick says:

          Being a little harsh there – the American version is plenty scary and atmospheric, it just has nothing on the Japanese one

  2. Daemian Lucifer says:

    That part about the hammer was great.First you get that violent page,and then imagine how these old geezers will be like as taken,then you see them with that hammer and its like “Oooh,they did it with a rubber hammer,its actually a silly page,nice reversal guys”.But then,you actually see that they did it with a real hammer in a double reversal.The whole game shouldve been like that,its awesome.

    Also,its revealed a bit later that they arent actually that good of a band,but they managed to mesmerize their audience with their special moonshine,and its secret ingredient:Cauldron lake water.

    I didnt mind that “its trash of course”,because the guy saying that is such a humongous douche that he even overshadows alan wake.Its more of a parody of the pretentious guys who think that they can criticize whatever they want simply because they have some diplomas and written a book or two.

    I love the parts of the game that are like this,that make you wonder if the dreamer is actually a dream.Its a shame that they usually lead to nowhere.But one of them at least remains pleasantly unanswered:Did zane write all of this,or was he just a figment of alans imagination,or is it something in between?

    1. el_b says:

      your trolling right? Old gods of Asgard are amazing! poets of the fall should do more songs like those ones, in fact they should make all The bands albums.
      I loved this scene but my favorite level is still the Anderson farm, particularly the stage.

      1. Even says:

        I think he meant that it’s just implied in-universe.

        I’m not too big of a fan of POTF, but if there’s one thing they can do well, it’s game soundtracks. There’s “Late Goodbye” from Max Payne 2 and “Grinder’s Blues” from Rochard that I know of. For Alan Wake, “Children Of The Elder God” doesn’t sink into me that well, but “The Poet and The Muse” has been playing in my head for weeks now.

        1. Jarenth says:

          I just keep wondering how well ‘The Poet and the Muse’ would have sold, in-universe. I can just imagine scores of fans listening to that track and going “Yeah, uh, well… so what are these guys even on about?”

          1. el_b says:

            considering that The poet and the Muse actually has a story to it with only the chorus being seemingly nonsense, And that most songs from the 60s and 70s were Random insanity because of all the drugs, I’d imagine that the more coherent parts of the story would be more Offputting to listeners of the era.

      2. Alex says:

        I wonder: Has anyone modded the concert finale in L4D2 to play “Children of the Elder God”?

        1. Jarenth says:

          I’m so tempted to say “Yeah, that happened. They called it ‘Alan Wake, Episode Four’.”

    2. I’m completely for them using the manuscript pages in more ways like this. Reveal just enough information to keep the audience guessing and (maybe) elaborate on events that already happened, but no more than that. That’s how it should have been used.

    3. swimon1 says:

      “I didnt mind that “its trash of course”,because the guy saying that is such a humongous douche that he even overshadows alan wake.Its more of a parody of the pretentious guys who think that they can criticize whatever they want simply because they have some diplomas and written a book or two.”

      But that’s why it’s awful. It’s so defensive and petty. If it had been the creators mocking themselves by having a character mock the sillier parts of game design it could’ve been some fun self-deprecating humour. Instead it’s an antagonist straw man that mocks them. This essentially turns it into the designers congratulating themselves, making them seem really smug tbh.

      1. LunaticFringe says:

        I think they kind of balance it out by strawmanning themselves with the representation of video game designers as petulant man-children.

        1. swimon1 says:

          Good point. I still don’t like the “it’s trash of course” line, but you do have a point.

          1. Vic 2.0 says:

            Or, you guys are reading a bit too much into this interaction.

            “Also,its revealed a bit later that they arent actually that good of a band,but they managed to mesmerize their audience with their special moonshine…”

            Where? I don’t remember that at all.

  3. anaphysik says:

    All the times mundane objects have tried to hurt Josh (of their own volition with no Dark Presence, uh, present) ought to be put in rapid succession in the credits, or at least as a stinger after the final episode.

    Right now I can think of: the chairs in Alan’s apartment, the tire Josh stepped in, this chair.

    1. Sleeping Dragon says:

      6:02 Yes chair, rise against the oppressor and avenge your sibling! Remember, the rugs are your allies, trodden upon by the vile bloodsuckers but trust not the sheets and mattresses, for they lay with the enemy.

      1. Destrustor says:

        Don’t forget the doors. Poor doors, always knobbed, handled innapropriately and then slammed against the walls when their purpose has been fulfilled. They deserve recognition!

      2. LunaticFringe says:

        The chair’s brother was murdered and blames Alan for it. Unfortunately, little does the chair know that it was actually Edward from the Alone in the Dark remake that lead to his brother’s demise.

  4. Johan says:

    Oh, so a few episodes ago I said I wished the game would mess with your perceptions, and now it has

    Of course this would have been a lot more effective if it had been doing this the whole time, and also if Alan didn’t say “yeah I’m pretty sure he’s lying,” and had let the player decide that for himself.

    See at the very beginning the player is suddenly confused and suddenly feeling some emotion, wait how much of this has been real? But Alan doesn’t want us to feel confused, so he comes right out and tells us what’s going on. Thanks buddy, and thanks for also doing that about the monsters, the falling buildings, etc

    Hell, probably the most effective jump scare in this game (josh even went “holy shit” when it happened) was when a big cargo container or something came out of no where, with no slowmo or whatever, and landed right in front of Alan Wake. THAT IS HOW YOU CREATE TENSION. There is no tension if everything is known.

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      “Hell, probably the most effective jump scare in this game (josh even went “holy shit” when it happened) was when a big cargo container or something came out of no where, with no slowmo or whatever, and landed right in front of Alan Wake. THAT IS HOW YOU CREATE TENSION.”

      Which is why they repeat it a bajillion times later.

    2. Mr. Guy says:

      It’s particularly disappointing to me that they don’t play up more the “wait – maybe this really IS all a dream” aspect when they named the bloody chapter “The Truth.”. It’s the perfect setup to mess with you again. And they wasted it with Alan’s determined “I know he’s lying to me” monologue.

      1. ehlijen says:

        In the game’s defence, Allan might just be actually insane and believe his insanity. Such a person would question all claims given to the contrary.

        The problem of course is that the player is conditioned to put Allan’s word over that of everyone else and isn’t given reason to question that. If the game were to show allan just being wrong and stubbornly refusing to admit so now and then, this approach could work. But I didn’t get the impression that was attempted, was it?

        1. Mr. Guy says:

          Right. If it had been played less “matter of fact” and more “incredulous disbelief” it would have worked. “No! Alice couldn’t be dead! She couldn’t!”. Or even with Alan-style terrible writing “His words hit me like a cold fist. Could this be true? I didn’t want to believe it. But how could I know for sure?”. THAT’S what a man questioning his own sanity would sound like. But Alan doesn’t go there.

      2. Thomas says:

        That could have worked though. Nothing is more suspicious and manic than continued denial.

      3. X2Eliah says:

        It would have been quite interesting to, perhaps, have the entire rest of the game just being Alan in this mental clinic, constantly refusing to accept that the Dark Presence etc. were his hallucination/dream things. Some small hints, shadow whispers etc. still happen, but eithout any shooting or Taken or so on, without anything to explicitly tell the gamer that “Yeah, Alan is right”.

        I wonder how long would most gamers keep thinking that Alan’s not crazy.

      4. Daemian Lucifer says:

        The problem isnt alan saying “I dont believe him,I know the truth”.That is how an insane person would act anyway.Denial at first,then some doubt later on.Thats fine.No,the problem is that they drop this so quickly when the shit becomes real,and have the doctor say “Yea,I was just messing with you,you arent crazy after all”.

        1. Vic 2.0 says:

          What do you mean? The darkness attacking the lodge sort of does that for him.

    3. Vic 2.0 says:

      I thought they waited long enough to have Alan say “I knew he was lying”. Honestly, I figured it was a lie immediately, though I’m not sure why. I guess I had been every bit as immersed in the world as Alan had! They did a good job of making that happen.

      As for jump-scares, this game isn’t even about that. It’s more about realizing the fears that are already there. If you allow yourself to get into the story and atmosphere, the events that follow are more like “Omg, here it is” moments than, well, “Holy shit!” for example :P

  5. Jingleman says:

    The manuscript pages eventually shed some light on why certain creative people seem to have more impact on the world, and why that painter is painting scenes from Alan’s adventure.

    The idea, at least as Dr. Hartman sees it, is that some creators/artists have some intangible quality that makes them more potent in shaping the world. The implication is that these artists are the best and most creative in their fields, but it doesn’t come out and say it, other than that the three confirmed Dark Presence-touched artists were extremely famous and commercially successful (Alan, Zane, Old Gods). They work in three different mediums (poetry, prose, music), so it doesn’t really matter what the medium is; it’s about the creative energy of the artist, which is presumably why Hartman invites all sorts of creative types to his clinic.

    Hartman says (or thinks) at one point in a manuscript page that that painter was not very good until Alan showed up, at which point the painter started creating dark images a that reflected Alan’s experience. So, Hartman thinks that that guy represents a heretofore unknown player with the ability to observe and chronicle the Dark Presence’s activity, rather than to alter the world directly. I haven’t played any of the DLC or American Nighmare, so I don’t know if this gets picked up, but it might be a cool way for outsider characters to get some exposition in a later game.

    1. anaphysik says:

      That would also mean that Alan *isn’t* supposed to be a terrible writer. Which means that the actual writers must be. (With this contradiction even being an example of their bad writing!)

      1. Exetera says:

        I’m not sure Alan is that bad; sure, the manuscript pages are pretty clunky, but keep in mind that he wrote Departure (apparently a full manuscript, though we don’t see much of it) in a week of solid writing trapped with the Dark Presence in a cabin underneath Cauldron Lake. And his wife was gone. This is not exactly the way to ensure flawless storytelling.

        (There are certainly some stylistic oddities as well, but keep in mind that English is not the first language at Remedy.)

        1. Daemian Lucifer says:

          But its not just the manuscripts.Alan himself says that he is a crappy writer at times.

          1. Vic 2.0 says:

            I seem to remember one time and he was feeling sorry for himself. Doesn’t count.

            And it’s glaringly obvious that it is just the manuscripts, as the rest of the game is very well-written.

      2. Daemian Lucifer says:

        No,he is a terrible writer.I mean,later in this chapter you see a guy dying,and his last words are “Who writes this crap?”.I really doubt that someone wrote that scene and thought that it should be taken seriously(well yes,its sad that he had to die,but he died out cracking jokes).

        1. Vic 2.0 says:

          Full quote:

          “It’s like a real bad follow-up to a real good movie, where the best friend’s suddenly the bad guy. Who wrote this crap anyway?” and then he dies.

          Now, first, let’s get this much out of the way: We have no way of knowing whether Alan actually wrote that line into the manuscript. It could’ve simply been Walter’s personality while (presumably) drunk and possibly not even knowing he’s about to die. If Alan didn’t put any lines in for this scene, we can assume the person will just say whatever they feel like saying.

          Second, if Alan did write the line into the manuscript, I think the argument that it was a rushed project with Wake in a panicked state of mind and was heavily revised by “Barbara Jagger” all the while stands on its own feet in more than one way:

          1. We all need to grasp the fact that the manuscript was neither Alan’s project done Alan’s way nor was it intended to be reviewed or published. Harping on the supposed lack of quality in the writing of the manuscript (including anything in the game you say “Alan wrote”, because that means you’re assuming it’s on one of the missing pages) just means that you’ve failed to see/remember the point of it and/or the environment in which it was written. The line could just be a product of a mixed up mind jotting things down however they come to it.

          2. But this may indicate cleverness on Alan’s part, actually. If he did in fact add that line while trapped in the cabin, perhaps it was because some part of him knew he (or someone else that’s real) would have to actually live out the story, and wanted to leave this line as a hint. The way Walter sets up the line, you can’t tell whether he’s still comparing his fate to a movie… or now talking about the fact that someone wrote his fate into existence. This fact may have helped in sneaking it past “Barbara Jagger” in the cabin, who surely wouldn’t have let Alan just write “Walter told me that I was the one who wrote the manuscript and that we were living out events I had written down.”

  6. newdarkcloud says:

    I must say, this was also want of my favorite areas too. I like how it brings into question exactly how much influence Alan and the other creative people there really impact the events.

    The question of who ultimately caused each event is one of best parts of the game. It allows for such an interesting discussion of cause/effect and the true power of Cauldron Lake.

    I didn’t mind the game designer thing. It felt out of place, but that was far from the worse of it. Also, it fit with Hartman’s beyond irritating character.

  7. newdarkcloud says:

    American Nightmare directly stats what Chris said. Alan, as a writing, is able to obtain much more direct and literal results than people in music or interpretive dance… with a caveat.

    The implications behind what he writes also come true. For example, if he were to write that a fire alarm went off, the world would have to create a set of circumstances so that a fire alarm could realistically be set off. there must be a reason behind everything. Spoiler-ed because this becomes an important element of the plot later on.

    1. Even says:

      Makes you wonder how a story would play out if the writer was high as a kite constantly. Would the world react simply by going literally crazy when the writing doesn’t make any sense and it has a lot of glaring plotholes? Alan at least had the skill to remain somewhat consistent.

      It does give some more credibility to my earlier theory of Tom being the real author of the story. I think the difference may be in that Alan’s writings just make up the meat of the story, fulfilling the plot holes left behind by Zane and thus doing the lake’s work. The plot direction would still be firmly dictated by Zane’s writing. It would make sense for Zane to leave room for some creative freedom lest he ruin the story himself.

      1. newdarkcloud says:

        If there’s no possible circumstance that could lead up to the events outlined in the story, then the power doesn’t work. The story won’t come true. If the Dark Presence can fill in the plot holes with its own power, it will. Of course, since it is impossible to explain every single thing, there will be some events left to chance.

        Separated because this is major spoilers for the end game:
        In Zane’s case, he failed to specify exact how Barbara would return from the depths of Cauldron Lake when he wrote it. Since that was left to interpretation, the Darkness decided to fill in the plot hole by turning Barbara into it’s avatar, driving him to do what he did.

        1. Even says:

          But is it really an intrisic power to the Dark Presence or is it actually just a feature (or bug) of the power of the lake that anyone savvy enough could utilize/abuse? You could also argue that the Presence only succeeded gaining the form because it already had Barbara Jagger since she drowned in the lake. In that context there could never have been any other outcome to what Tom wrote.

          In the end, there’s no real telling. The Dark Presence is still bound by the story as much as anyone else and in that sense it doesn’t really have any more power over the course of the story than anyone else.

          Perhaps one of Hartman’s reasons for “capturing” so many different artists was just to look for those loopholes he could abuse. He would have already known that writing is one of the most potent way to harness the power, but potentially also the most dangerous.

  8. Even says:

    I felt kinda mixed at this part. I wanted to believe Alan’s just insane, if only to put some frame around the story. Then it throws the page at you, and then everything goes to shit eventually and all the silly darkness comes back kinda shattering any notion that the game wants to define any clear lines. Guess that’s just horror/thriller for you, but at this point I’m not feeling particularly scared or thrilled and just feel like it would be a good time to move on from the Taken, the Dark Presence, the Woods, the running, the shadows and the Taken, also, not to forget running.. and dodging. Move on from all of it at least for a good long while. Funny how that turned out.

  9. Jokerman says:

    Crazy….walks into a chair and it seems to knock his head back – thats weirder than the taken…

  10. Elilupe says:

    Mumbles, on the topic of your comment about Nick Cave and Tom Waits, I agree wholeheartedly. No matter how much I feel like I should like Nick Cave, I can’t help but always think, “Tom Waits is better”

    1. Mr. Guy says:

      Tom Waits the same kind of bad as me.

    2. ps238principal says:

      I’m just glad they didn’t use Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand.” For a while, it seemed like you couldn’t have a horror movie made without putting that freakin’ thing in the soundtrack. It was like Smashmouth’s “All Star” for any film where someone gets killed in the dark.

      And if that wasn’t used, it was the overture from Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

    1. PAK says:

      Implying that there’s nothing already in the canon? Sure there is! One of the best-crafted examples being Plotkin’s Shade.

  11. Mr. Guy says:

    …and when he woke, he did or know if he was an Alan Wake who had dreamed he was a Thomas Zane, or a Thomas Zane who had dreamed he was an Alan Wake.

    1. Tzeneth says:

      Nah, he was completely a butterfly dreaming he was a character in a videogame being played the fabled Reginald Cuthbert.

      1. Alex says:

        Alan Wake is Foster Kane’s childhood sled.

        But only if you agree with the Indoctrination Theory.

        1. X2Eliah says:

          I don’t not see how you couldn’t not disagree with the Indoctrination Theory.

          1. Mr Guy says:

            Alan Wake is on a mission to find the people on the mission.

            1. Sumanai says:

              So he is out finding himself? I think there’s kernel for a truly horrible feel-good film tag-line.

  12. Thomas says:

    This game has severe symptoms of undifferentiated schizophrenia. I mean what is this? All of sudden we’ve got this doubt and it seems like all these people are being drawn to creative work and having it twisted and you could see Alan reacting violently to anyone who tried to make him write, because it feels like it’s the Prescence manipulating him. But then if he just did have a mental breakdown, triggered by writers block, wouldn’t he also begin to act violently to people who tried to make write and create these stories to justify it?

    The other bits of the game weren’t even bad (except for the combat), there were interesting bits, it’s just interesting bits from a completely different game.

    ‘The genre of the story seems to be shifting’

    This game is far to self-referential for it’s own good

    1. newdarkcloud says:

      By the very nature of the plot, it has to be at least somewhat self-referential.

      1. Thomas says:

        But on the other hand when you’re accidentally exactly quoting the actual genuine one serious serious flaw of the game you’ve made :D

    2. Vic 2.0 says:

      “This game has severe symptoms of undifferentiated schizophrenia.”

      No, that would be your comment. Let’s analyze it a bit, before I make a diagnosis.

      “I mean what is this? All of sudden we've got this doubt and it seems like all these people are being drawn to creative work”

      What’s there to suggest there are that many people (especially any more than there was at whatever point you’re comparing this point to) suddenly being “drawn to creative work”? Doesn’t seem like the lodge is exactly overflowing with patients to me. Maybe it’s just your imagination?

      “and you could see Alan reacting violently to anyone who tried to make him write, because it feels like it's the Prescence manipulating him.”

      At what point? I thought it made plenty of sense given Alan’s personality, the writer’s block, the fact that he thought he was going to be able to get away from it all and instead found he had been essentially tricked… by his own wife? I’m not saying he didn’t overreact. He certainly did, but in a way that is not hard to understand and definitely not attributable to some supernatural force.

      “But then if he just did have a mental breakdown, triggered by writers block, wouldn't he also begin to act violently to people who tried to make write and create these stories to justify it?”

      Are you referring to the part where “Barbara Jagger” encouraged him to write and fix the events that just transpired? Because:

      (THE REST OF THIS POST IS A SPOILER! Idk why, but it refuses to put the spoiler tags over the next paragraph.)

      1. You do realize that after diving into the water he emerged into the Dark Place (because that’s how you get there) and therefore was intoxicated enough to buy just about anything.

      2. And any part of him that did remain sober must’ve been feeling quite guilty (because if he hadn’t have left her in the cabin alone, this might never have happened) and therefore attentive to any suggestions on how to undo it. Why would he act out in rage so soon after seeing what it could cost him? Most people who act out in anger will calm down after they realize the consequences of it exceed the price they were truly willing to pay.

  13. Mr Guy says:

    OK, so I like “the old Gods.” They’re interesting, funny without being clowns, and add some depth to the madhouse. That said, this scene really irritates me in retrospect, because it guts the point of the entire next chapter. Don’t get me wrong, from a gameplay perspective it’s one of the better chapters of the game, and the stage fight is great (if a little over the top). But at the end of the scene, the ENTIRE POINT of the chapter is to get to the house and hear a SIX WORD song lyric “Find the lady of the light.” Really??? They couldn’t have just TOLD US that? Is it a secret? They couldn’t have hinted at it? Did they really forget that nugget, but remember it just well enough to remember it was on a record at their place? That’s (to paraphrase Shamus) a very specific amount of “forget”. There’s just no good reason for the entire next chapter to exist.

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      But there is.Remember that all of this is a book.By a popular,but not very good writer.Written to be one thing,but tonally shifted in the middle.And written in such a way that someone reading it as it is being written cannot perceive where it is going.

      Huh…Maybe that is why combat is so tedious.Alan wake tried to confuse the dark presence and make it fall asleep.

      1. Mr Guy says:

        “Alan wrote it, therefore it has a point,” and “Alan’s not a good writer, so expect plot holes” don’t excuse stupid writing on the part of the video game writers.

        The problem I describe could easily be fixed. For example, they could have hidden the key that would let them into the Light Lady’s power station in the cabin. Hey – an actual reason to go there! Or they could have made the “spiritual journey” of drinking the moonshine more of a deliberate plot point – Alan could have been SENT to drink the moonshine, not to get the song lyric. The gods could have sent him here to take a “spiritual journey.” That happens, but it’s BY ACCIDENT! “Yeah, while we’re here, why NOT get drunk?” That’s an INCREDIBLY throwaway rationale.

        My theory on this is that the original reason to go to the cabin WAS the moonshine and to get the revealations. At some point “someone” decided it wasn’t politically correct to encourage people to drink moonshine they found in some guys cabin. So they changed the reason the Gods send Alan to the cabin to some weaksauce “get the song lyric that we could just tell you but for some reason won’t” quest, which guts the whole point both of the Gods sending Alan in the first place AND the whole revelation of “what actually happened” that Alan gets in the moonshine haze.

        1. Daemian Lucifer says:

          Ah,but was it an accident?Them geezers are clever in their madness.Maybe they knew alan wouldnt be able to resist the smell of the sweet sweet moonshine,and….yeah,I cant really justify it with a straight face,sorry.

          1. newdarkcloud says:

            You could make the argument that they didn’t want to let Hartman or his goons find out about it, but I’m just going to say that “Alan’s manuscript is a rush job that only took one week to write.” instead.

      2. Vic 2.0 says:

        There is no evidence that Alan is a bad/hack writer, when actually writing what he wants to write and when, instead of what he’s forced to write and in a hurry while he mourns the apparent death of his wife and is confused/unsettled by his surroundings. There is actually more evidence that he’s a great writer, considering the contents of The Alan Wake Files. Judging the quality of his writing by the manuscript only demonstrates your own poor judgement/memory.

    2. Vic 2.0 says:

      “But at the end of the scene, the ENTIRE POINT of the chapter is to get to the house and hear a SIX WORD song lyric ‘Find the lady of the light.’ Really??? They couldn't have just TOLD US that? Is it a secret? They couldn't have hinted at it? Did they really forget that nugget, but remember it just well enough to remember it was on a record at their place? That's (to paraphrase Shamus) a very specific amount of ‘forget’. There's just no good reason for the entire next chapter to exist.”

      The point of him going there is not simply to tell him “Find the lady of the light”. The point was to give him classified information linking Cynthia Weaver to Thomas Zane. It’s why the song tells the story in every verse, and why you have to fix the player and hear more than just those six words that are repeating when you walk in the door before the story continues. Remember that Cynthia asks Alan to prove that he’s a friend, even after it’s made obvious he’s not a Taken. Now, ask yourself: Why would she still need proof he’s a friend? Well because there are threats to her purpose who are 100% human and she knows it. Notice how they additionally made sure Alan told her “You knew Zane!” and not just “Yo, you’re the light chick!”, lol. That implies that knowing/guessing her nickname around town or in the lodge wouldn’t suffice as proof.

      Also note that they told him their special “moonshine” had the power to “clear your head right up”, which in Alan’s case meant “refresh your memory regarding what happened that night on Diver’s Isle”. This was another point of him getting to the farm, where it was thought to be safe enough, at least from the darkness, (hence why all the lights were switched on. It was unfortunate that the breaker went out. I think this was just by chance). At any rate, they wouldn’t have been able to store it at the lodge, so they did the best they could at protecting the key to gaining Cynthia’s trust which would lead of course to getting the Clicker.

  14. Axiomatic Badger says:

    Obviously the Coffee is how one becomes Taken.
    An innocent man wanders through the woods, and finds a thermos. Naturally he just slams the whole thing down, not knowing that the coffee has been prepared with Lakewater… and EVIL(artificial sweetner).

    By collecting the thermoses, alan is conteracting the spread of the darkness – That’s why he finds them whereever he goes.

    The Taken Are Filled With Coffee.

    1. Jarenth says:

      CoFFEe? I lOVe cofFEe!

  15. Deadfast says:

    Am I the only one who flashes back to Max Payne every time Josh runs into a locked door? And now the elevator ding as well!

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      I knew that sound was familiar.Though I swear its the same as the sound of locked chest in baldurs gate.

  16. rayen says:

    maybe it’s just cause i watched shutter island, but i figuredhe’d wake up in a mental ward at some point. now he has and i find the whole thing cliche.

  17. newdarkcloud says:

    I should probably wait until the next episode comes out before I ask this but:

    Do you think Hartman was always a self-serving, smug, arrogant and downright evil jerkass, or do you think he’s that way because Alan wrote him that way?

    Think about it, the only thing that Alan knows about Hartman while writing the manuscript is that he works with creative people and he’s the reason Alice brought him here. In Alan’s mind, all of his problems might be Hartman’s fault. He even says in the beginning after the car crash, once you inspect the trunk and find Hartman’s book that he hates the smug look on Hartman’s face. Perhaps Hartman was a genuinely nice guy who cared about his patients until Alan fucked things up with his manuscript.

    1. Jace911 says:

      It’s an interesting theory, but after all of the other disappointing dead ends in this plot I don’t have enough faith in the writers to believe they were going for that.

    2. Jarenth says:

      I’m pretty sure Hartman is revealed to have played a somewhat-nefarious role in Zane’s story, too. So it’s still possible, but only if you believe Alan wrote Zane into existence, instead of otherwise or not-at-all.

      1. Vic 2.0 says:

        I don’t remember that, but maybe? Otherwise, it could be just as newdarkcloud said.

  18. Torsten says:

    The Death Rally poster next to the Xbox was a nice touch. Remedy seems to like to fill their games with references to their older titles.

  19. Michael says:

    When I first saw the guy with the long neck I had the same “What the fuck is up with that guy’s neck?” reaction as Josh. Then I remembered that I often have the same reaction when I look in the mirror.

    Some of us just have long necks. However, not all of said necks are quite so elastic. That, I will concede, is odd.

  20. rabbitambulance says:

    You people need to fucking look up Nick Cave.

    1. Shamus says:

      I did. Now explain to me why I was supposed to care? What does this have to do with anything?

      Protip: Make sure your next comment is more polite than your last one.

      1. W.D. Conine says:

        Well, Shamus, if you look at it from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, Nick Cave is a metaphor for Alan Wake.

  21. Vic 2.0 says:

    :50 – Well the following is me being a total apologist; I won’t even deny it. But there are some workable theories that could explain why Alan didn’t die when he hit the water/”water”.

    First theory is that, if this is Cauldron Lake, we’ve more than enough reason to think it may not really be water that he hit. It may have been something with much less mass and therefore more easily displaced.

    Second theory would be that the dark presence was gripping at him as he fell, slowing him down, but couldn’t keep a grip on him due to the flare.

    Third, he hit the water and did actually die but was brought back to life by the dark presence itself and then also delivered to Hartman. The question at this point, of course, would be “Why?” But then, it just took out the kidnapper for no apparent reason, so yeah, the thot plickens!

    1:15 – Hunting and pecking! Most compelling evidence so far that he was possessed while writing the manuscript, I win! ;)

    12:15 – “And I keep saying, oh this game is failing to hit the tone that it’s aiming for. But… We don’t know what tone this game is aiming for!”

    Finally! It’s about time you guys admit that. Well in regards to the silliness in the previous room you said “didn’t work”, perhaps it was just that they were going for? Silliness? After all, it had been quite a long time since anything like it was seen in this game. Since the scene in the diner at the very beginning probably, right? Sometimes things really are as they seem, and when there’s a bunch of silly dialogue in one scene, it’s possible that’s no accident! :P

    16:40 – Did you guys seriously neglect to comment on that TV sequence with Alan in the cabin? Where one particular line is voiced by both Alan the narrator and Alan the prisoner? *hits you with a rubber hammer* Pay attention!

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