[SPOILERS]Ben's character and deeds

[rachellouise85]

I kind of neglected Ben. I didn't do anything against him, but I haven't really done anything for him. (didn't give him food, didn't show trust to him by speaking of Lee's past) So if it's based on that, I'd get against him reactions. Maybe I'll get him a fresh pair of pants, without telling anyone of the incident...

[Cyreen]

I'm in the "wait and see" camp. Puppy dumb Ben probably isn't going to survive much longer, but I still hope he has the opportunity to mentally grow up before he goes out.

[Phoenix VII]

Meh, Ben is acting exactly how I expected him to. He wants to be in the group for protection but either feels no loyalty toward it or doesn't know how to express it. He's incapable of understanding that surviving a ZA takes team-work, and from the looks of it just wants the benefits of being in a group without any of the responsibilities. And to think, the brat had the balls to tell me that he was going to be able to step up, not that I expected him to. Well, I knew he would continue to be a liability, which is why I was upset I couldn't exile him in Ep. 3, and now from the looks of the trailer, he's still carrying a gun, so that's one gun that won't be of any use unless I get the opportunity to boot him after he abandons Clem.

I said before I don't hate the kid, I think I still don't, he's just the average or somewhat below-average scared 18 year-old, but as he is, he's not just dead weight, he's a parasite living off the group's goodwill without contributing anything in return and Lee's entire group is in jeopardy if they don't cut him off. *sigh* Someone is going to need to get the group a copy of the ZA Survival Guide for Dummies if they want any of the group members to survive the season at this rate.[/rant]

[Hoqt]

I don't hate the kid when he was the one who stealing supplies and give them out to the bandits. He's doing it for his and everyone's safety.
After I saw episode 4 trailer, I don't like the way he ran away and left a little girl alone with the zombies. That move that he made, I know I can't trust him at all. He can do this move again on anybody. Being a wussy can't keep you living and you must fight back. I guess he doesn't get it yet.

[Rommel49]

Originally Posted by Hoqt

I don't hate the kid when he was the one who stealing supplies and give them out to the bandits. He's doing it for his and everyone's safety.
After I saw episode 4 trailer, I don't like the way he ran away and left a little girl alone with the zombies. That move that he made, I know I can't trust him at all. He can do this move again on anybody. Being a wussy can't keep you living and you must fight back. I guess he doesn't get it yet.

That's not true; Ben says he did it because the bandits claimed to have one of his friends. Giving into their demands was just stupid anyway, as I've noted elsewhere; even if the bandits were telling the truth (which I doubt, we know what sort of people they are thanks to Jolene), they have no incentive to ever let that friend go, he's their new golden goose.

As much as Lilly may have lost it, she was correct that the theft of those supplies was like sneaking into somebody's room and killing them. Hell, I've made the same observation even before the current episode on the topic of "post-apocalyptic justice". It's not like today where you can just make another trip back to the grocery store or pharmacy if somebody stole your food or medicine. In a post-apocalyptic scenario? Nobody's restocking the store shelves, the "low-lying fruit" is likely going to be gone within the first few months - if somebody gets an infection, the theft of stuff like antibiotics could be a death sentence, to say nothing of the obvious effects of a food shortage.

[Hoqt]

Originally Posted by Rommel49

That's not true; Ben says he did it because the bandits claimed to have one of his friends. Giving into their demands was just stupid anyway, as I've noted elsewhere; even if the bandits were telling the truth (which I doubt, we know what sort of people they are thanks to Jolene), they have no incentive to ever let that friend go, he's their new golden goose.

As much as Lilly may have lost it, she was correct that the theft of those supplies was like sneaking into somebody's room and killing them. Hell, I've made the same observation even before the current episode on the topic of "post-apocalyptic justice". It's not like today where you can just make another trip back to the grocery store or pharmacy if somebody stole your food or medicine. In a post-apocalyptic scenario? Nobody's restocking the store shelves, the "low-lying fruit" is likely going to be gone within the first few months - if somebody gets an infection, the theft of stuff like antibiotics could be a death sentence, to say nothing of the obvious effects of a food shortage.

He said one of the bandits was his friends? What episode is that? Don't tell me episode 3, I didn't play that yet on ios

[thestalkinghead]

Originally Posted by Rommel49

As much as Lilly may have lost it, she was correct that the theft of those supplies was like sneaking into somebody's room and killing them. Hell, I've made the same observation even before the current episode on the topic of "post-apocalyptic justice". It's not like today where you can just make another trip back to the grocery store or pharmacy if somebody stole your food or medicine. In a post-apocalyptic scenario? Nobody's restocking the store shelves, the "low-lying fruit" is likely going to be gone within the first few months - if somebody gets an infection, the theft of stuff like antibiotics could be a death sentence, to say nothing of the obvious effects of a food shortage.

so in a country as big as america, where a low estimate is that 80% of the human population are dead, everyone is just gonna run out of medicine in a few months, not likely, i couldn't quite say how many pharmacies are in macon or storage warehouses but as a rough guess i would say loads.

maybe in a few years certain things would expire and the heavily used things will be scarce but by then the clever humans who have survived should have come up with some alternatives, the only good thing about a zombie apocalypse is the abundance of everything that has been left behind

[Rommel49]

Originally Posted by thestalkinghead

so in a country as big as america, where a low estimate is that 80% of the human population are dead, everyone is just gonna run out of medicine in a few months, not likely, i couldn't quite say how many pharmacies are in macon or storage warehouses but as a rough guess i would say loads.

maybe in a few years certain things would expire and the heavily used things will be scarce but by then the clever humans who have survived should have come up with some alternatives, the only good thing about a zombie apocalypse is the abundance of everything that has been left behind

Odds are you're not the only people out there ganking stuff, that's the problem. The most common ideas like looting nearby stores and warehouses when the crap hits the fan are just as likely to get you killed... The nearest stores to your home are also the nearest ones to the homes of a thousand other shmucks. Within a week of Katrina hitting New Orleans there were already armed people looting places like grocery stores.

Even if we assume death tolls of 90 - 95% that's still literally millions of people in the country that need the same supplies and may well have beaten you to the punch (atleast for low-hanging fruit) which means having to take bigger risks, etc. for the same resources, and those resources aren't getting replaced, once they're used, they're gone.

It's important to remember that when you talk about "clever humans" you're also talking about your competition.

[Chris-Sabian]

Actually lol, those guys just wanted to get high on Oxycodone, that’s it.

But, still, if you see the beginning of Episode 2, you can notice many arrows embedded in the makeshift barricade, so they got harassed this whole time.

Maybe by another group, I don’t know, but in Episode 3, you can clearly notice that one of the bandits got a crossbow.

I do hope he will redeem himself some time later on in the game!

[Scolecite]

Technically, Ben may have saved everyone. Ben was the one that told everyone that you turn if you die, so no-one would know and Larry might have come back and killed someone in the meat locker.

[Platinumb]

I feel for Ben.

He's a young man. Incompetent in a lot of ways, but he's not an adult. Frankly, I think Mark was more of a whiny, incompetent drain than Ben - and given he had army training and was an adult, that was less forgivable.

By Episode 5, Ben does start helping. He gives Lee the gun he drops while the group hides out in the attic. He's the last one up those attic stairs, and he's the last one to jump out the window (which ends up being a huge sacrifice). Even in Episode 4, he's the second to last to leave the school. During all these times, he put himself at risk so others could get away first.

Running away with Clementine surrounded by walkers was no different a move than Kenny running away from Shawn at Hershel's farm. But like Kenny, Ben can start redeeming himself.

Mark is just a big blubbering baby from the start to finish of Episode 2.

[Rock114]

I wouldn't call Ben jumping last on the balcony a "sacrifice", so much as I would call it bad luck. same for being one of the last to leave Crawford. At the time, I thought he was just too stupid and scared to move when the bell started ringing.

He does finally grow up in Episode 5 though. He controls his fear and grows a pair. The kid was actually starting to become, dare I say, competent before that balcony fell. Poor kid must have walked under a ladder or something before the apocalypse.

[Platinumb]

I can't argue his being last on the balcony was a "coincidence," because he was also last up the attic stairs. He was letting other people get to safety before he did, in my honest opinion.

[Wynne]

Originally Posted by SouthWardRB

Either you saved Carley or Doug. These great characters shall be avenged. Yeah, Lilly killed them, BUT Ben was giving the extra stuff to the bandits, wich caused the whole thing.

Incorrect. Ben in fact kept people alive by ensuring the bandits didn't attack during the night or on a day when the walkers weren't there to distract them and kill a good number of them, giving the group a chance to escape. Ben gave away hard drugs like Oxycontin that no one needed and in exchange bought the group their safety from armed robbers for as long as he could. Lilly's investigation is the reason that it all went wrong, as she had Lee take Ben's drug drop.

Granted, this could've been prevented if someone like Lee just gave him a good talking to; then they would've had a warning and might've been able to leave soon enough to prevent the bandit/walker attack. But with a mentally unstable, paranoid psychopath in the camp, would his teenage stress--which has been scientifically PROVEN (see #4) to be much stronger for teenagers than adults or children--not prevent Ben from being able to calm down enough to fess up?

So who really killed Carley or Doug, both directly AND indirectly? Who is therefore solely responsible for their deaths? The answer to both questions is, naturally, Lilly Caul. If you want to blame someone besides Lilly, go for Lee or Kenny, as her father's death was the beginning of her break, but I personally don't see that as preventable.

Without Lilly's presence in the camp, Ben would have no reason to be terrified and stressed out enough to conceal what he'd done, because any reasonable authority figure such as Lee would have understood and, y'know, not pointed a gun at anyone or ranted about how whoever was doing this was a murderer. If Lee hadn't been pushed to find the drugs and remove them, the bandits would've been pacified for another day, and without Lilly there to frighten Ben, he would've had every reason to warn the group.

The OP pointed out that Ben is basically a child. Well, in my book, kids shouldn't be blamed for being kids. Being a teenager sucks under the best of conditions.

I have saved and will save Ben every time. I have left and will leave Lilly Caul every time. Yes, I do believe in justice for Carley and Doug--real justice, not some fabricated blame laid at the feet of a very young person whose hormones and emotions are going crazy (which is NOT happening to Clem or Duck.)

[HelloCthulhu]

Originally Posted by Wynne

The OP pointed out that Ben is basically a child. Well, in my book, kids shouldn't be blamed for being kids. Being a teenager sucks under the best of conditions.

And as I would like to quote Sheriff Rick Grimes... "There is no more child stuff." Its the zombie apocalypse. If you threaten my family's welfare either directly (as ben has done multiples times) or indirectly, I'm going to leave you to die. I felt not a single moment of hesitation when he asked me to drop him.

[Platinumb]

Originally Posted by HelloCthulhu

And as I would like to quote Sheriff Rick Grimes... "There is no more child stuff." Its the zombie apocalypse. If you threaten my family's welfare either directly (as ben has done multiples times) or indirectly, I'm going to leave you to die. I felt not a single moment of hesitation when he asked me to drop him.

His request to drop him was in stark contrast to Irene begging for the gun since she'd been bit -_-

Ben didn't threaten anyone's welfare. He didn't stick out his neck to save Clem, but that's a far cry from being the threat.

[HelloCthulhu]

Originally Posted by Platinumb

His request to drop him was in stark contrast to Irene begging for the gun since she'd been bit -_-

Ben didn't threaten anyone's welfare. He didn't stick out his neck to save Clem, but that's a far cry from being the threat.

and we are forgetting that this directly caused the demise of another party member, or are we just going to forget that as well?
And fyi, I shot Irene.