Part 24: Blackwell Unbound - Update 10
Update 10Lauren and Joey have just finished sending two ghosts to their rest. In both cases the individuals were previously investigated by Joseph Mitchell, and were subsequently strangled to death by the Countess, who is apparently a medium. Something smells bigtime about this. Time to confront Mitchell one more time.
Mitchell's Theme 
Lauren: Hello again, Mr. Mitchell.
Mitchell: I was just about to head home.
Lauren's disagreeable tone makes it clear she's not just here for a pleasant chat.
She shuts the door.
Lauren: Oh, I'll just be a second.
Mitchell: Well, if you insist. Do have a seat.
Lauren: Thanks, but I'd rather stand.
Yup, she's in a disagreeable mood, alright. Joey eggs her on.
Joey: Go on. Let him have it.
Lauren: Mind if I smoke?
Mitchell: Well, actually-
Hahaha, Lauren is such a hard-ass here.
Mitchell: Miss Blackwell. My patience is wearing thin. My family is waiting for me. Tell me what you want.
Lauren is going to make Mitchell wait a bit longer, though.
Lauren: You finished your writing for the day, Mr. Mitchell?
Mitchell: Yes. Yes I have. And now I'm going home.
Joey: He's full of hot air. The page is blank.
Lauren: You haven't written anything today, have you?
Mitchell: Why do you say that?
Lauren: The paper is blank.
Mitchell: What, how did you know that?
Mitchell, who has been of calm disposition every time we've spoken to him, is starting to get a bit rattled here... but only a little.
Lauren: And there's dust on the typewriter.
Mitchell: Well. Can't contradict you there.
Lauren: So?
Mitchell: So, I don't think that's any of your business, Miss Blackwell. Now, if you'll excuse me.
Let's get to the point now.
Mitchell: So I gathered.
Lauren: You wrote about both of em.
Mitchell: Yes, I did.
Lauren: You don't find anything suspicious about that?
Mitchell: I've written about hundreds of people over thirty years. The fact that two of them happen to be dead does not surprise me. It's just a coincidence.
Coincidence? I doubt it.
Lauren: Funny thing about my life, Mr. Mitchell. If something looks like a coincidence... it normally isn't.
Mitchell: Well I hate to disappoint you.
Joey: Ooh, look at the sweat on this guy's brow. If he aint lying, I'm dying. So to speak.
Lauren calls Mitchell out on his lies.
Mitchell: And you are poking your nose into things you don't understand.
Lauren: You'd be surprised at what I understand, Mr. Mitchell. Try me.
Mitchell and Lauren stare at each other for a tense couple of seconds, and then...
He calmly takes his seat.
Mitchell: Who are you, anyway? You come in, out of the blue, and bring up... all this.
Lauren: All of what?
Mitchell: I don't KNOW. I... I honestly don't know. I write about people and they DIE. Can you understand that? Can you? My whole life I've been driven to write about people. Now, I kill them instead.
He's been evasive all this time, but he seems believable here. It honestly sounds like he has no idea why this is happening.
Lauren: Why is this happening?
Mitchell: I think it's a penance of some kind. I've shared the details of peoples' lives with the world. Perhaps I've shared one secret too many. I don't think about it anymore. I just come to work like nothing's wrong. Everyone's been very polite so far, but I'm sure the ball will drop someday.
It seems that Lauren believes Mitchell's sincerity.
Lauren: You're not a murderer, Mr. Mitchell.
Mitchell: No, I'm not. Five years back, I tried to write about a man. An old man. In a bar. He was killed the next day. Choked to death. I didn't think anything of it, at the time. Wrote about another man. Mr. Isaac Brown. You know him. He died the same way. Still figured it was just a coincidence. But then it happened with Mavis Wilcox. For the third time in a row! No, I didn't kill them. Not on purpose.
If we're to believe Mitchell's story, he's just an unwitting pawn in what's going on here.
Lauren: There's a woman called the Countess. She kills whoever you write about.
Mitchell: ... A Countess. Killing people. That I write about. That's a... tall story. And that's a lot to take in. Why would she do something like that? How did this happen?
That's... a good question, actually.
Lauren: Probably because of your connection to humanity. I don't know.
Mitchell: You said "probably." So you're not sure?
Lauren: Not as such, no.
Mitchell: Well then.
Lauren: I can't leave it alone, Mr. Mitchell.
Mitchell: Oh, rest assured you can. You seem like a capable young lady, and I'm sure you think you know what's what. But I don't want any more deaths on my conscience.
He's happy to just leave things how they are?
Lauren: I'm trying to HELP you.
Mitchell: And I never ASKED for it. People die when I write. So, I don't write. The problem is solved.
Lauren: Don't you want to write again?
Mitchell: Oh, yes. But people are safe, as long as I don't write about anything real. I've always wanted to try my hand at fiction. Had a story in my head for years. I'll probably give it a whirl. But no more deaths. Not on my watch.
This is probably as good a time as any to point out that Joseph Mitchell, the character, is actually based on a real life journalist by the same name. Joseph Mitchell was a semi-famous writer for the New Yorker, who wrote primarily about people on the fringes of society, and about the lessons we could learn from their lives. However, shortly after publishing one of his more in-depth works, Mitchell stopped writing altogether. He turned up to work every day for the next thirty years, but never wrote another article again.
Mitchell is one of those New York characters of minor repute, and Gilbert was fascinated by his story. Why did he stop writing? What could have happened to the man for him to turn up to work every day for thirty years, but not write anything? What if he had to stop... because the people he wrote about started getting murdered?
I like the way Gilbert weaves an actual character into this fictional story, though there are a couple of holes. The "man in a bar" Mitchell mentioned refers to someone he wrote about in 1964. Isaac was apparently killed five years ago, so around 1968. And Mavis seems to have been killed around the time Seagram Realty tried to buy out her apartment, which according to Harriet was only a year ago. Yet Mitchell claims the deaths occurred "three times in a row", so either Mitchell only writes one story every four years (which I guess is possible), or the timeline is a bit messed up here. Even still, it's a pretty neat tie-in.
While I'm talking about behind-the-scenes stuff, Mitchell is actually voiced by Gilbert himself, who seems to have been a fan of the real-life writer. Apparently Mitchell was reknowned for having a very slow, southern drawl. Gilbert puts on a southern drawl (as best as a born-and-raised New Yorker can) but forgoes the slow speech for the sake of making the dialogue flow.
Back to the game, Lauren isn't willing to take no for an answer.
Lauren: There is a KILLER out there.
Mitchell: Who only kills people I write about. So, I stop writing about people. Problem solved.
Not good enough for us.
Lauren: If you won't help me, I'll have to go to the police.
Mitchell: Oh? and tell them what?
Lauren: All those deaths. All killed the same way? So soon after you met them? I'm sure they'd be interested in that information.
Mitchell does not take kindly to this.
Mitchell: Is that right. Well, I'd be careful if I were you.
Lauren: Careful?
Mitchell: I'm not without defenses, if you know what I mean.
Wait... is he saying what I think he's saying?
Lauren: ... Is that a threat?
Mitchell: I didn't say anything.
Lauren does not take threats well.
Lauren: You know what? Go right ahead.
Mitchell: What do you mean?
Lauren: You want to write so bad? Write about me. Dust off that typewriter and get to work. Knock yourself out.
Mitchell is taken aback, and tries to backpedal...
Mitchell: Listen, I spoke out of turn. I didn't honestly MEAN-
...but Lauren cuts him off.
Lauren: Just do it.
Joey: Hey, this is dangerous-
Lauren: I know what I'm doing.
Even Joey is a bit concerned here.
Mitchell: I can't do it.
Lauren: Like hell you can't. You've been writing for how long? Thirty years? More? I know you can do it. I want to meet this thing head on. It's the only way. Do it.
Lauren's motivation here is to meet the Countess. She obviously has some very important questions for her. But damn, this is a seriously risky approach.
Mitchell: You don't know what you're asking...
Lauren: What's the worst that could happen?
Mitchell: You could DIE.
For Lauren, who is surrounded by death every day, it seems death holds little fear.
Mitchell: But-
Lauren: Quiet.
Mitchell: ...
Lauren: I was born in Troy. Upstate New York. My mother's name was Patricia. My father...
Mitchell is still just staring at Lauren, unsure what to do.
Lauren: You getting this stuff down?
Lauren's Theme (Alternative) 
Lauren: I'm never happy.
And it's out for yet another trip to the balcony.
Joey, however, is concerned, and more than a little pissed off.
Joey: We're supposed to be a team. You can't make this kind of decision without asking ME first.
Lauren: Button it, Joey. If this broad's a medium, like me, then I have some questions for her. If I'm going to end up like that, I want to know.
Joey: And if she kills you for your trouble?
Lauren: Well, then I won't have to worry.
That's a pretty fatalistic attitude.
Joey: And what happens to me, huh? You die, what the heck happens to me?
Lauren: You'll move on to whoever's next. That's how it works, doesn't it?
Joey: It's not about that.
Lauren: Maybe you'll end up with my baby brother. I'm sure you guys would get along great.
Joey: Yeah. Great.
There is the ever present underlying tension here that Joey loves Lauren. She doesn't seem to mind if she dies, but he sure as hell does.
Knowing he won't be able to change her mind, Joey starts to focus on what they should do when the Countess arrives.
Lauren: I don't know. I feel her coming, though. She knows who I am.
Joey: How can you feel that?
Lauren: I just do. She was right. She's like me. Maybe mediums call out to each other.
Sounds like she's on her way.
Joey: So. Any thoughts on how to handle her?
Lauren: Nope. Not a one. I just want to talk to her.
Joey: Well, she can see and hear me. So I can help. You're not alone.
Lauren: Yeah.
All in all, this game is filled with really tragic characters, and Joey and Lauren feature among them. The strength of feeling between Lauren and Joey is very real, but neither of them are able to really speak of it, which is tragic in itself.
Lauren: I'm tired, Joey. I'm so tired.
Joey: All right. I'll just... leave you to it.
Lauren: Yeah.
The Countess Approaches 
Joey: So polite of her to knock.
Almost immediately, however, there is a knock at the door. The Countess has come.
Lauren: Yes. You know me. Come in.
I'm not so sure this is such a great idea, Lauren.
Joey is aggressive and intense. He doesn't like this idea any more than I do. But Lauren is cool as a cucumber.
Lauren: So. What's your story?
Countess: I want to help you.
Lauren: Help me, huh?
Countess: You're in pain? Lost? I can help.
I don't think "help" means what the Countess thinks it means.
Lauren: Who are you?
Countess: I am the Countess.
Lauren: Do you have a guide? A spirit guide.
Countess: I still feel her. She is gone, but not completely gone.
So the Countess did have a spirit guide at one point.
Lauren: What do you mean?
Countess: Yes. She snapped my mind. She went away, and my world... expanded. I see everything. Everything. It... hurts.
Apparently her spirit guide left somehow, and it drove the Countess insane.
Lauren: You're bonded with Joseph Mitchell.
Countess: Is that his name? The guide who is not a guide? Yes. The non-guide. He speaks to the world. He spoke to ME! He tells me what to do. He is so often silent. It's been years since I heard his voice... But tonight, I heard him! He told me to help you.
Again, the timeline is off here. It clearly has not been years since the Countess killed Mavis. Though I guess her sense of time probably isn't all that reliable.
Lauren: He didn't tell you that.
Countess: Why else would I be here? I... I'm here to help you.
Lauren is still calm and upfront even when she's face-to-face with an insane murderer. Damn.
Countess: No! I don't kill! I will set you free.
Joey: Hey, watch it lady.
Let's see what else we can find out about her...
Lauren: Who was your spirit guide?
Countess: She had a name? I no longer know. I wish I knew. I can not... think. Not without her. Why did she leave? Why?
The Countess sounds panicked, pained and confused throughout much of this dialogue. She might say she sees everything, but it's clear she comprehends very little.
Lauren: Where is your spirit guide now?
Countess: I don't know. Her voice is gone... I'm lost. I found that other voice... but he is so quiet.
Lauren: You mean Mitchell.
Countess: The true guide... she is gone. Gone.
Where?
Joey: How did she... go away?
Countess: I don't know. She found a way. Why did she do that?
Finally, Lauren asks the question she's been dreading to know the answer to.
Countess: Like you?
Joey: You know. SANE.
Lauren: Joey.
Countess: I was... happy. I was smaller. Saw the world in muted colors. And there was music. Sweet music. We helped people. It felt good.
The Countess sounds almost deleriously calm here, but only for a moment.
Countess: Now she is gone.
The Countess is probably the most tragic character in this game. It's impossible to even comprehend what she has been, and still is, going through.
Lauren: Will I... become like you? Please tell me. That's all I want to know.
Countess: You? You are loved.
Lauren: Loved? Loved by who?
The Countess doesn't answer the question, however, instead changing to a different topic.
Countess: You are in pain, my child. Let me help you.
I really don't think we want that
Lauren can refuse the help:Lauren: I don't need help. You need to leave.
Countess: I'm sorry. But you do need my help. There's nobody else who can give it.
Offer to help the Countess instead:
Lauren: I'd like to help you, instead.
Countess: Help me? I need no help.
Or simply accept the "help":
Lauren: Yes. Please help me.
Countess: Oh, my child. It will all be over soon.
Whichever way Lauren goes, Countess follows up with one impassioned cry:
Countess: You... need to be free.
Lauren and the Countess 
As she has done at least three times before, the Countess reaches out and begins to strangle Lauren, much to Joey's horror.
Joey: Let her go, you old witch!
Joey yells at the Countess, but his voice falls on deaf ears. He floats around frantically.
Joey: Damn it. I can't do anything. Fight her! Lauren, fight BACK. Fight BACK, damn you!
Despite Joey's earlier claims, Lauren is very much on her own in this skirmish. She is unable to overpower the Countess, and can't escape from her vicelice grip to retrieve any weapons. But, she does have one possible weapon on her person...
In a last-second act of desperation, Lauren takes her lit cigarette and jams it into the Countess' eye, to which she lets out a blood-curdling scream and clutches at her face. Lauren collapses to the ground, unconscious.
Joey: All RIGHT. That's what happens when you mess with US. Stay away from her!
Joey and the Countess (Alternative) 
In a fairly gruesome display, the Countess starts to bleed from the eye. Note there are two alternative themes here - apparently Regin felt the alternative theme was too dramatic ("it felt like Joey and the Countess should be dancing to it"), and rewrote it, but I actually prefer the alternative theme. You can take your choice for this scene.
Countess: No... she needs help.
Having momentarily distracted the Countess with his words, Joey tries to keep her attention.
Joey: Hey, you wanna help someone? Why don't you help ME? You wanna free a spirit? Well I'm the real McCoy.
Countess: You...?
Joey: Yeah, that's right. Come and save me. I'm right here.
Countess: I...
Countess: I'm supposed to help HER. Oohh... My HEAD.
I'm not sure whether the Countess is sore because of the cigarette, or her "world expanding". Probably both, I guess. Either way, she is clearly in enormous pain. Joey picks up on it as well.
Joey: She's confused, in pain, and very very insane. For the first time, I'm glad I'm already dead.
The Countess keeps returning to Lauren, but Joey isn't going to let her go without a fight.
Joey: Help me.
Countess: Help? I can help you. Wait... The connection is gone. I can not save you. But I can still save her.
Joey: Hey! I said HEY! I need HELP!
Each time Joey asks for help, he lures the Countess a bit further away from Lauren.
Countess: I can help you.
Countess: You...
Contiuning to taunt the Countess and not letting her reach him, Joey is successfully putting some space between Lauren and the Countess.
Countess: You... need me?
Countess: I can help you.
Countess: I will set you free.
Joey: What are you waiting for?
After a while, Joey succeeds in bringing her all the way out to the balcony. The Countess is dismayed and confused by his behaviour.
Countess: I.. I want to help you! Why won't you let me help you?
Meanwhile, Lauren regains consciousness.
Lauren: J-joey?
Lauren: What is she DOING? What is HE doing?
Seizing the opportunity, Lauren walks up behind the Countess, and pushes her over the edge of the balcony. The Countess' awful scream is quickly interrupted by the pavement below. Jesus. Lauren's got some backbone.
At this point, the music dies out.
Lauren: I can't look. Is she...?
Joey: Yeah.
Lauren: There's no...?
Joey: No ghost. She's gone.
Thank heavens for that.
Lauren: Gone.
Joey: It was either her or you, darling. You made the right choice.
Joey tries to comfort Lauren, but she's not convinced.
Lauren: Did I? What if that's me one day, huh? What if I'm old and confused and alone-
Joey: You won't be alone. I'll make sure of that.
Lauren: You say that NOW. But look at HER. Her guide was gone.
Lauren shows genuine emotion in this scene. She really feels for the Countess, despite having just killed her.
Joey: I can't speak for the future, kid. Maybe someday we'll meet someone like her, and then maybe we'll find out more. But right here? Right now? I'm here and I'm staying put. That's something, isn't it?
Lauren: ...
Joey: Isn't it?
One last puff on her cigarette.
Lauren: Yeah. It's something.
Solitude Begins 
After a fade to black, we return to this scene at an unspecifed time in the near future, with Lauren placing a long-overdue phone call.
Joey: You don't need to do this.
Jack: Hello?
Lauren: Hi. Jack?
Jack: Lauren? Sis? Is that you?
Lauren: Yeah, Jack. It's me.
Lauren has decided to get back in touch with her brother Jack.
Jack: Where've you BEEN?
Lauren: It's not important. I... miss you. Tell me about your life, Jack. How's Maria? When's the wedding?
And with that parting message...
We say goodbye to Blackwell Unbound, and to Lauren Blackwell. I don't know about all of you, but I'll miss her.
The Solitude Begins song plays over the credit sequence, and is surprisingly good. I assume that's Regin singing the lyrics, though it's not mentioned anywhere in the credits.
I assure you, if you included all the times I loaded the games to check out the various dialogue options, these numbers would be a lot higher
So we've come to the end of the second game. What did you all think? I'm unashamedly a big fan of Unbound. It has it's flaws - it's the shortest game in the series, and every major puzzle involves just cycling through the dialogue trees of the relevant characters until you hit on something important. But in terms of atmosphere, I think it's great. The small cast of characters are all fleshed out, each of them feels realistic, and each have an important story to tell. The music ranges from atmospheric to beautiful. The art is surprisingly warm and pretty. The game is a pleasure to control. The voice acting, on the whole, is well superior to Legacy, and the combination of writing, acting and music combine to create genuinely chilling or moving scenes. If it weren't for the short length, it would probably be my favourite of the series.
Of course, the strength of the game is the interplay between Lauren and Joey. The fact that Unbound starts well into their relationship means there are dialogue opportunities that simply didn't exist in Legacy, where Rosa had just met Joey. Fortunately, these same opportunities will allow for some great dialogue in the next two games, though Lauren and Rosa are two very different people. Having Lauren appear as a one-time character (remember, the story in Unbound was originally intended to form an extended flashback scene in the sequel to Legacy) is a luxury, as it means her character is allowed to brute-force her way through the scenarios that arise. Rosa can't do that without making it difficult to design meaningful puzzles in subsequent games.
The weaving of a real-life mystery (Mitchell's famous thirty year dry spell as a writer) into a storyline is another aspect of the game that I liked. It was done well enough that you could easily play the games without realising that Mitchell was based on a real-life character, but for those who want to look further, there is plenty of nods to real life as well.
Of course, the Countess character is very interesting as well. We know that Lauren does not end up like the Countess, though she suffers a similarly awful fate. But there are plenty of unanswered questions there for later games in the series to tackle.
Tomorrow, we'll have a bit of a look at how the third Blackwell game - Blackwell Convergence - came about. It has somewhat higher production values than the first two games and is a pretty tight story in it's own right. I'll also take a look at one of the interesting marketing approaches that Gilbert used to gain publicity for the games.
Anyway, I'll stop there. I'm keen to hear your thoughts! Convergence will start up shortly.