Bigby's got a rough job. As the Sheriff of Fabletown and one of the more fearsome fables around, you'd think he'd get a little more respect. You'd be sorely wrong. Telltale's third episode of The Wolf Among Us, A Crooked Mile makes that fact abundantly clear. Try as you might, through option after option, there's no silver lining to this episode. It's gritty, tough and bloody.
At least there are some solid leads to chase. There's a prime suspect that's about to skip town, and Bigby has to work fast to uncover the right clues to catch him before it's too late. Most of the characters from previous episodes return here and there. Bluebeard is back, trying to take over the investigation, and while I handled the situation a bit coarsely, I'm sure it could have been much worse.
Crooked Mile is full of those situations. How you handle them is up to you, but I think this episode, more than any other thus far, shapes who Bigby is to the other Fables in the game. You may not be able to stop bad things from happening, but you can do your best to minimize the damage. Maybe that is what being the sheriff is all about.
It's an important episode for a number of reasons. It's a turning point in the story, and as much as I thought I had everything figured out, Crooked Mile forces me to question my conclusions, even though they may not be wrong. The character development is some of the best yet in the series. Bigby is examined a great deal more this time around; his motives, ideals and limits are tested continuously.
It took about an hour and a half to finish episode three. Despite the short playthrough, I feel like more happened in that time. I'm very happy with the series so far, both as a fan of Fables, and a fan of adventure games. The Crooked Mile is dark and brimming with secrets yet to be revealed. But what's a Noir story without a few twists and turns?
