I’m going to try to keep this write up as spoiler free as possible. If you want to avoid any potential spoilers for the end of episode 3 & beginning of episode 4 perhaps wait to read this. What I put forth is my own personal interpretation that struck a chord deep within me which is, perhaps, I’m sure not what the creators intended. A painting speaks uniquely to everyone, and this sequence of events did to me.

With that out of the way, a little background on where I’m coming from. In college and bit after, I had a problem with drinking and blacking out. There was an over 50% chance every time I went out drinking I would lose the evening and come to in the morning after. Filled with only assumptions of how I had come to be where I was.

When Max looks at the picture and “stuff happens”, it seems like a dream, where it could just be her imagination and not real. There is this discrete space that is not fully realized with just light pouring on the edges of the scene. After figuring out how to “have an impact”, Max is overfilled with joy of what she has done. Suddenly she wakes up or comes to in the circle of other characters where things seem off.

So at this point I lost it. It’s hard to articulate how much this sequence feels like coming out of a blackout. The amazing quality of blackouts is sometimes they can erode the sober memories of the time leading up to the huge consumption of alcohol. Familiar is the experience of “coming to”, towards the end of night with a group of folks who you don’t know or don’t normally talk to. “Coming to”, in a diner the morning after because somehow my body has been functioning for that long, and now I’m getting breakfast with people, and have no idea how I got there. To me, I was struck with the immediate thoughts of “Oh god no, Max went to the vortex club party and drank too much or was roofied”. The experience of being around and bullshitting with people that I normally wouldn’t interact with after such a heavy drinking experience is just something I’ve experienced. That is why the possibility seemed so plausible to me.

Time when you are blacked out, often this incident is an absence of memories, sometimes it’s like a dream. The events of the evening being as vivid as a dream, while in reality never occurring. This is hard to describe, but being blacked out, thinking “Oh wow I’m reliving this memory or I’m having a great time at this party. Then “coming to” and the anxiety just ramping with thoughts of “Oh no, that wasn’t real. What have I been doing?” all too familiar to me. The sequence of events occurring at the end of episode 3, while I don’t think intended, one of best miss-intended representations of blacking out that was hallowing to me.

Now, this is not what actually occurs. We find out what reality is shortly after a foreboding bus ride. Yet, for the few moments hanging over me that this sequence created, it was impactful and unique enough to me that I felt compelled to share. <3 Life is Strange.

It didn't occur to me at the time, while playing the game, but now you've drawn the link... Ye, I completely see it too.

I've not blacked out for some years now (I no longer drink) but yes, that's definitely triggering the memories of some of them. The moment of coming to and jumping back into your body, surrounded by people you know but maybe don't really talk to, and having to try and deal with total confusion; working out how you're here, what has been going on, what you've been doing and saying. Right down to the way someone often comments that you look like you just spaced out (because from their perspective you just spaced, unaware that from your perspective you spaced out hours ago and are now totally lost).

Thanks for sharing. I don't think I'd have drawn that link without someone else picking up on it.

I had that same feeling, having once been a blackout drinker that also no longer drinks. There were actually a lot of moments in the game that made me see parallels with problem drinking, especially every time something happened that I caused that I wanted to go back and redo. When I drank I had so many moments that I wanted to rewind and do over. The difference is that you can't do that in reality. But...the game did resonate with me on a personal level in that way many times based on my own personal experiences.