- Sep 20, 2018
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At the risk of wandering into a minefield, I agree Maya's presentation definitely changes after Episode 1. It's clear her niche in the cast is intended to be the girl the MC can protect and comfort.Since ep2, Maya, is portrayed as the vulnerable sweet little thing the MC is supposed to protect and comfort all the time. Quinn bullies her, Sarah and Melanie mock her, she has a shitty relationship with her father, she must hide her relationship with Josy, she worries about Derek's cheating, she can't deal with the pledges sexual list, she's insecure with the MC because she never felt attracted to a boy before and the list goes on...
I mean she basically spent the whole episode 4 crying and trying to apologise and AGAIN in ep5 the MC has to comfort her because she felt jealous over the fatherly love Josy received from her father. It feels like the MC has to be the "Ken Doll". We don't really see new sides of her character and she clearly lacks moments when she genuinely bonds with the MC and actually offer real support in return.
By comparison, Sage is introduced as the typicall Girl Posse but she has shown hidden depths. The relationship feels more balanced and organic not only because they are actually bonding on several points (guitar lessons, sex-games, mutual dislike of Dawe, romantic issues...) but also because they comfort and support each other. The MC gave her the affection and the attention chad didn't provide and act like a confidant. On her side, Sage spent the whole ep4 helping and warming the MC up. She's more equal and far less needy. Even the whole fuck buddy things become more and more tender and romantic, showing a real progression.
Same thing for Bella and Jill. They share more activities ( Tennis, Yoga, music, cooking, real dates...) and the MC has to be more mature and subtle with them. They have vulnerable side but the MC doesn't have to act like a big brother figure (actually it's the opposite). Their past and connection is also more intriguing.
The fact Maya has to share his plot with Josy don't help either.
That said, I don't think it's quite true that she never offers support to the MC after that. She is trying to help the MC sort out his feelings for Josy when he returns from the date (before she is interrupted by plot contrivance). She cleaned up after him when he returned from the Pink Rose completely plastered, and tried to find him the night he spent drunk at Bella's. She did want to help him complete his Hell Week tasks the night Josy arrived. And in an odd way she DOES support then MC when he worries about having to stop dating other girls during the picnic on the Maya/Josy path.
Moreover, Maya hasn't really had a chance to comfort the MC the way Sage or Bella could because she never had the opportunity. That was the only time the MC needed that level of support and Maya was the direct cause of it! Had the MC had been able to talk to Maya about it, the crisis would have been over automatically. If and when the MC's relationship with Jill/Bella/Sage/Karen Rebecca Johnson blows up in his face, I think we will see Maya step up to help him through it (if the player hasn't cut all ties with her, of course).
So I think it's less that she stopped supporting the MC and more that the game chose to gloss over her support for the MC and focus on the times she needed support from the MC as much as possible. I do think the game has gone a bit overboard on that, so I would be happy to see more of Maya acting as a peer to the MC.
But I also think the Maya we saw in Episode 1 was a very incomplete picture. It's Maya as she aspires to be, friendly and free to indulge her quirks without worrying about being judged. As she got to know the MC and value his opinion, and as he got to know the serious quirks that have ruined her life, it was natural she would turn to him for help and thus show a much more vulnerable side.
Which is why I think we will eventually get the old Maya back if the game gets far enough. Fleshing out that impression is going to be Maya's character arc: gaining the confidence to show her serious quirks with same grace she could only show the inconsequential ones. That's certainly what I'm hoping for. We'll see if the game delivers.