Headscratchers / Rides With Strangers

• Why does Father Donald Earl Mcarthur torture the little boys he rapes and kills? I can understand rape and murder, but why torture? What's the point? He does imply that he wants to be rid of his pedophilia, which is part of why he kills heretics, as he believes that focusing on killing others can suppress his pedophilia, so if he does feel some sort of remorse, why would he torture them when it's completely unnecessary?
  • ...You can understand rape and murder?!
  • You're assuming that the torture isn't part of his fetish. If he's all about defiling innocents...
• It seems to only take Elora ten minutes max to reach her destination by car from where she is. If the meeting isn't until morning, why can't she just walk?
  • Ten minutes is the amount of time gameplay takes, not how long it takes in-game time. Plus, the game's not completely finished, and assuming she walked to her destination, she'd likely be too tired by the time she got there.
• Why does Elora not call her potential hirers and tell them of her situation to see if they can give her another job interview date or show her some mercy for arriving a little late? Her car has broken down at night in the middle of nowhere after all. Even if they were to say "No", it couldn't hurt. She must have a cell phone since the description says that she called a towing company and heard they couldn't come until morning.
  • Maybe she did call, off-screen, and they said no.
    • While we are on the subject, I am unsure, but couldn't Elora call 911? She is stranded out in the middle of nowhere, there are no cabs available, the towing company won't be available until morning, and it's very late at night. Can't she call 911 and say that she's stranded with no cabs at a very late hour? If she is stranded, she could ask 911 for help. Remind them that it is dangerous to hitchhike. I don't know if Elora knows it, but the spot she's stuck in seems to be infamous among people. In Welcome to the Game, it is mentioned that The Breather preys on hitchhikers, and the ending suggests that the game is not far from where this game takes place. Donald also mentions that it's a dangerous place to hitchhike, so people must know that this place has a bad reputation. Elora might not know of the road's reputation, but once she gave her location to the 911 operator (so they could find her), they would realize that she's in danger. I know that 911 is primarily for life or death situations, but I still think her situation is pretty serious. I know that The Detective, but he's just supposed to be one of the people you can hitchhike with. You will almost certainly have to get his attention, and have the ability t refuse to ride with him like with the others. I highly doubt he is going t be responding to a call she sent in. With this in mind, why doesn't she call 911?
    • Maybe her phone died after she called the towing company.
  • The backstory has since been changed to her wanting to see her dying mother, making her journey more of a time crunch.
• On the WMG page, someone suggested that the Breather could be a reason why Elora does not walk. Some people have even suggested that he be put in the game as a feature to Elora if she goes too far on foot. Why would he be a threat to her? He only targets Deep Web browsers and hitchhikers. If Elora is walking, she's NOT hitchhiking, and does not fall into either of his two killing groups. We know he has a van, which can be seen outside in Welcome to the Game. Presumably, he uses this to pick up hitchhikers and kill them. Shouldn't he be a reason TO walk rather than NOT TO? Adam states that the Breather has a strict code he follows, and if he were to kill her when she was walking and not hitchhiking, he would be breaking his own code. What sense would it make for him to be a reason why she doesn't walk?
  • it would make more sense for the Executioner to be a reason why Elora does not walk since The Secret ending of Welcome to the Game seems to reveal that the Executioner's lair is near the road where Elora is and thus the Executioner could potentially hunt and capture Elora as one of his victims
• What archetype does The Pharmacist represent? All of the strangers are supposed to represent an archetype. Donald is a Pedophile Priest, Lydia is a slut, Carol is a neckbeard, Charles is a gentleman, specifically the "tall dark and handsome" type, the Joke Teller is a Monster Clown, The Mommas Boy is, well, a mommas boy, specifically the Norman Bates type, The Detective is a killerCop, The Grandmother is a creepy old lady, and The connoisseur is a drug addict. What archetype does The Pharmacist represent? Are creepy pharmacists an archetype? I have never heard of them being one. I don't recall any pharmacists that were horror villains. I am sure we have all heard about child molesting priests, evil clowns, corrupt, murdering officers, psycho mommas boys, gentlemen, and creepy old women across the street being horror villains, and drug addicts and neckbeards are at least well known archetypes. Since when were creepy pharmacists a thing?
  • Well, it could be that The Pharmacist is meant to represent medical specialists in general. Afraid of Doctors is a fairly common trope, and there are plenty of other tropes having to do with physicians in a horror setting, such as: Mad Doctor, Back-Alley Doctor, Deadly Doctor, Battleaxe Nurse, Creepy Physical, Depraved Dentist, and Plague Doctor.
  • There's a more recent archetype I've seen on plenty of crime/detective shows of the methodical specialist who uses the poisons and drugs they have access to in order to commit murders. Perhaps that's what the pharmacist is playing at.
• How exactly are Elora's glances and small talk stopping these Strangers from killing her? They're, or as far as we know, at least Father Donald, depraved serial killers, wouldn't they kill her anyway mid-trip?
  • It could be that they just want to catch her off-guard, as attacking her while she's paying attention to them might give her more of a chance to resist. Notably, when the sketch meter fills up, they attack her anyway, which indicates that they do eventually grow tired of waiting and decide to just get it over with.

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