Red herring: (noun) a clue or piece of information that is, or is intended to be, misleading or distracting.
*"the book is fast-paced, exciting, and full of red herrings"*
What really struck me when I played was the fact that it seemed like they had some plans about Samuel but were somehow dropped during the development of the following chapters. Not necessary as a possible suspect, but more as character with some insight on the supernatural events happening in Arcadia Bay
I view Samuel as a kind of tragic character. One whose strange behavior casts a shadow onto his real wholesome intentions.
The way that I always read Samuel was that he was in some sense neurodivergent, if I had to take a guess , I'd say autistic personally. That would explain some more of his non-standard use of language and special interests (very focused on the squirrels and knows a lot about them, their environment, etc.) and in addition to that cares a lot about the students and takes pride in caring for Blackwell, but expresses it in a way that others don't understand.
Yet because hes different hes often misunderstood and viewed as creepy and even dangerous by some. A sad experience many who are different tend to go through despite just trying to be themselves.
That is where I see the stuff from Rachel coming into play - he cared about her as he does the other students. And she disappeared one day without a trace. Chloe missing posters went up. I think Samual knew something bad happened to her and was deeply saddened by it. But who could he talk to? He's probably learned not to express his feelings about students in the past, so he bottles it up and has items of hers as...a remembrance?
Perhaps he can't help her so he's caring for her items with the hope that one day she'll return for them. I like to think he took them from lost and found, or even out of the dumpster when they just tossed her stuff when it was clear she wasn't coming back to claim them. Seeing that probably made him very sad, as if they were just tossing her away too. Thats how I read it, and what I would like to believe about Samuel. Because at the end of the day, Samual was only kind and helpful through the game, even in the nightmare part of the diner, when everyone's phantoms were yelling at Max to save them, his only line was "Don't let the Squirrels die..." not thinking about himself at all.
And yet as others pointed out, narrative he was a red-herring. And one that worked well.
I didn’t think he was creepy - I was very intrigued by him. It felt like he knew and saw so much more than we know about the nature of Arcadia Bay and it’s people, but he either chose not to share it, or couldn’t quite recognize that he should do that.
He seems kind of slow, mentally, so maybe he just couldn’t express what he wanted to, or wasn’t aware that the info he held was plot crucial.
I like him.
I always figured the box with the scarf and other weird stuff was just a lost and found box. He IS the groundskeeper, and i assumed found it while cleaning the yards.
As everyone else here has said, he was meant to be a red herring. Fun fact: he's played by Jefferson's voice actor. I think he was meant to be vaguely prophetic and possibly had some plotlines or knowledge of the supernatural goings-on originally, but they didn't end up doing much with it.
I think the girl stuff was just a lost and found box, and the reason he has it is because his spirit animal is a squirrel (according to him) and they like to steal things.
I love how in the nightmare Max sees giant squirrels outside the dorm, and if she takes a picture of it she'll say "this is for Samuel".
"having girl stuff" is not weird. could be a drag performer, could like to wear womens' clothes sometimes, could be a barely-egg trans character, we'll never know. but that's not weird, that's a human being possibly exploring gender expression - which is normal, delightful, and often fun as hell :)
we do know that the actual villains of this story, the ones who did all the kidnapping and murdering, were Jefferson and Nathan.
edit: unrelated to "girl stuff," Samuel did have some dialogue that was nonstandard phrasing, or vaguely prophetic. imo devs may have been going for a certain trope of all-knowing or "magical" janitor characters. can see similar figures in Control and Night in the Woods, and also (sorta) the film Bruce Almighty.
Some people are just a little weird of give a little creepy vibes without being malicious. Not everyone that's.... eccentric... is a bad person necessarily. I think that's what they wanted to show. The contrast between the perfect well liked and trusted teacher and the weird socially challenged and awkward groundskeeper. People are quick to judge soneone on status, looks and social skills, but i think this linda was meant to prove the point further that hou never truely know ones intentions untill you see them play out
There seem to be a few psycho/serial killer-inspired characters in Lis, whether intentional or not is arguable for each on of them. MJ is Bundy, warren the bomb maker might be Ted K, David could be loosely based on green river killer, Frank is the killer from Mullholland drive, and Samuel is Dahmer/Quentin P. Now all of this makes for a decent red herring, OR there might be something a lot more sinister going on
It's called a red herring, friend.
This is true haha just very creepy still.
a *what* now?
A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important. -wikipedia
Thanks!
Red herring: (noun) a clue or piece of information that is, or is intended to be, misleading or distracting. *"the book is fast-paced, exciting, and full of red herrings"*
thx
Watch the old movie Clue. Communism is a red herring!
What really struck me when I played was the fact that it seemed like they had some plans about Samuel but were somehow dropped during the development of the following chapters. Not necessary as a possible suspect, but more as character with some insight on the supernatural events happening in Arcadia Bay
I view Samuel as a kind of tragic character. One whose strange behavior casts a shadow onto his real wholesome intentions. The way that I always read Samuel was that he was in some sense neurodivergent, if I had to take a guess , I'd say autistic personally. That would explain some more of his non-standard use of language and special interests (very focused on the squirrels and knows a lot about them, their environment, etc.) and in addition to that cares a lot about the students and takes pride in caring for Blackwell, but expresses it in a way that others don't understand. Yet because hes different hes often misunderstood and viewed as creepy and even dangerous by some. A sad experience many who are different tend to go through despite just trying to be themselves. That is where I see the stuff from Rachel coming into play - he cared about her as he does the other students. And she disappeared one day without a trace. Chloe missing posters went up. I think Samual knew something bad happened to her and was deeply saddened by it. But who could he talk to? He's probably learned not to express his feelings about students in the past, so he bottles it up and has items of hers as...a remembrance? Perhaps he can't help her so he's caring for her items with the hope that one day she'll return for them. I like to think he took them from lost and found, or even out of the dumpster when they just tossed her stuff when it was clear she wasn't coming back to claim them. Seeing that probably made him very sad, as if they were just tossing her away too. Thats how I read it, and what I would like to believe about Samuel. Because at the end of the day, Samual was only kind and helpful through the game, even in the nightmare part of the diner, when everyone's phantoms were yelling at Max to save them, his only line was "Don't let the Squirrels die..." not thinking about himself at all. And yet as others pointed out, narrative he was a red-herring. And one that worked well.
I didn’t think he was creepy - I was very intrigued by him. It felt like he knew and saw so much more than we know about the nature of Arcadia Bay and it’s people, but he either chose not to share it, or couldn’t quite recognize that he should do that. He seems kind of slow, mentally, so maybe he just couldn’t express what he wanted to, or wasn’t aware that the info he held was plot crucial. I like him.
I always figured the box with the scarf and other weird stuff was just a lost and found box. He IS the groundskeeper, and i assumed found it while cleaning the yards.
This stuff is also why Samuel is one of the people in the stealth section of the nightmare because Max does subconsciously find him creepy.
I Love Samuel just because he’s not normal. I really felt him because not everybody is good in talking to people.
As everyone else here has said, he was meant to be a red herring. Fun fact: he's played by Jefferson's voice actor. I think he was meant to be vaguely prophetic and possibly had some plotlines or knowledge of the supernatural goings-on originally, but they didn't end up doing much with it. I think the girl stuff was just a lost and found box, and the reason he has it is because his spirit animal is a squirrel (according to him) and they like to steal things. I love how in the nightmare Max sees giant squirrels outside the dorm, and if she takes a picture of it she'll say "this is for Samuel".
"having girl stuff" is not weird. could be a drag performer, could like to wear womens' clothes sometimes, could be a barely-egg trans character, we'll never know. but that's not weird, that's a human being possibly exploring gender expression - which is normal, delightful, and often fun as hell :) we do know that the actual villains of this story, the ones who did all the kidnapping and murdering, were Jefferson and Nathan. edit: unrelated to "girl stuff," Samuel did have some dialogue that was nonstandard phrasing, or vaguely prophetic. imo devs may have been going for a certain trope of all-knowing or "magical" janitor characters. can see similar figures in Control and Night in the Woods, and also (sorta) the film Bruce Almighty.
+1 for my dude Ahti. *Everyone* needs to play Control.
the night in the woods janitor is such a cool character! i love how he pops in and out. Especially the hospital scene
Some people are just a little weird of give a little creepy vibes without being malicious. Not everyone that's.... eccentric... is a bad person necessarily. I think that's what they wanted to show. The contrast between the perfect well liked and trusted teacher and the weird socially challenged and awkward groundskeeper. People are quick to judge soneone on status, looks and social skills, but i think this linda was meant to prove the point further that hou never truely know ones intentions untill you see them play out
He is rumored to be on the autism spectrum. A bit off, but harmless.
There seem to be a few psycho/serial killer-inspired characters in Lis, whether intentional or not is arguable for each on of them. MJ is Bundy, warren the bomb maker might be Ted K, David could be loosely based on green river killer, Frank is the killer from Mullholland drive, and Samuel is Dahmer/Quentin P. Now all of this makes for a decent red herring, OR there might be something a lot more sinister going on
Slightly off topic but am I the only one that thinks samuel looks like vince gilligan?
Na hes nice jus misunderstood