History Recap / LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStormEp01Awake

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

On the campus, Chloe meets her ex-who-hasn't-realized-it-yet boyfriend, Elliot, who asks if Chloe would like to go to the school's production of ''Theatre/TheTempest'' with him (whether she refuses or accepts, Chloe is less than enthusiastic about the play itself). Chloe can speak to several other characters, including Skip the security guard (who'd like her opinion on his band's latest demo), the Max-esque ShrinkingViolet Samantha, Victoria (whom she can trick into messing up her Chemistry homework), and Principal Wells (who wants a word with Chloe about allegations of drug use, amongst other things -- which the player can avoid with another backtalk challenge). To proceed, the player must go to meet Steph, Blackwell's resident DungeonMaster, out lesbian, and source of pirated DVD[=s=], to pick up Chloe's order of ''Film/BladeRunner'', Director's Cut. Steph quizzes Chloe about her relationship with Rachel Amber, before inviting her to play D&D along with her HollywoodNerd friend, Mikey.

The episode ends with a montage of people as they react to the fire (which is soon visible from the town): Frank is drinking beer outside his camper while [[spoiler: Damon]] is on his mobile; Joyce brings David a beer while he fixes the car; Nathan sits on the fountain alone and goes over his portfolio, as Steph, Mikey, and Drew pal around on a bench nearby; Mr. Amber argues with Wells in the parking lot; and the mysterious woman enjoys a cigarette from the same vantage point the girls were watching her from earlier that day (the only one who doesn't seem shocked or awed by it).

* TheDreaded: Damon, the owner of the barn where the concert takes place. It's hard to get anyone to say much about him. [[spoiler: The player has no way of knowing it's him yet, but he can be seen outside arguing with someone.]]

** A flatbed which looks suspiciously like the one Chloe drives in the original game can be seen in the junkyard. [[spoiler: Sure enough, she'll be fixing it in the next episode.]]
** A poster of Blackwell's production of ''The Tempest'' can be seen in her dream which [[spoiler: shows Chloe in the costume she'll be wearing.]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Chloe picking "Callimastia" as the name of her D&D character is an InUniverse example. Callimastia is classical Greek for "beautiful breasts", and given the fact that Chloe was quit into her studies until recent events, she probably knows this.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Chloe picking "Callimastia" as the name of her D&D character is an InUniverse example. Callimastia is classical Greek for "beautiful breasts", and given the fact that Chloe was quite into her studies until recent events, she probably knows this.

Chloe wakes up inside the wrecked car and contemplates her breakdown, before spotting a raven near the train tracks, which she follows. This leads her to the large oak tree in the park from before, where Rachel is stood. Relieved that she came, Rachel apologizes and explains the situation to Chloe. She's had a feeling that her father's been hiding something for a while, which is why she skipped school to track him down; the man they saw making out with the woman was her father, [[YourCheatingHeart but she has no idea who the woman is]]. Completely disillusioned, she shows Chloe the photo of her and her father she carries around and explains that on the day it was taken, he carried her to safety after she broke her wrist. Rachel asks Chloe to run away with her, before borrowing her lighter and burning the cherished photo in a trash can as "Flaws" by Music/Daughter plays. Chloe moves to leave, but Rachel, still feeling angry, kicks the bin into the tree while screaming in frustration. The wind carries it, and soon the entire forest's ablaze.

The prequel begins with a shot of a cigarette being lit by a lanky, hooded figure stood on some train tracks. She smokes it as a train approaches, before dodging at the last moment, lifting her hood to reveal our protagonist and PlayerCharacter, 16-year-old Chloe Price. It's been 3 years since her father, William Price, died in a traffic accident and her best friend, Max Caulfield, moved away, and another 3 years before they'll [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange be reunited]]. She's given up hope on receiving a response from her former "BFF", and taken to writing "letters" to an imaginary Max instead.

This evening's act of rebellion finds her on the outskirts of town, attending a concert being played by "Firewalk" in a rather sketchy barn. After hopping over a fence and needlessly antagonising a "keep out" sign, she proceeds to try and blag her way in past the bouncer by convincing him she can take care of herself. This serves as a tutorial for the game's "backtalk" mechanic (replacing the time travel powers Max had in the original game). Should the player fail the challenge (most likely deliberately, as the game marks the correct responses), she instead breaks in via a nearby barn door.

Chloe wakes up the following morning with a hangover and hazy memories of the previous night as "No Below" by Music/SpeedyOrtiz blares from her alarm clock. Photos of her and Rachel are all over social media (although nobody recognises her). After smoking (either a cigarette or a doobie, depending on if the player restocked her supply), the player chooses an outfit (which can include the t-shirt she stole the previous night). She's able to find her phone by borrowing her mum's and calling it, before she's called downstairs by the lady herself. Joyce chews her out for breaking curfew. The player can decide how Chloe takes this, by either having Chloe be understanding, or tell her mum how she feels about the way things are going (which strains their relationship further). If Chloe stole the money, but didn't pay off her debt to Frank, she can slip the money in her mum's purse instead. As Chloe missed the bus, she's being given a lift to school by Joyce's boyfriend, David. After a less than friendly exchange, they set off in his car. David will try to lecture Chloe, which the player can accept or try to "Shut. It. Down." with a backtalk challenge.

On the campus, Chloe meets her ex-who-hasn't-realised-it-yet boyfriend, Elliot, who asks if Chloe would like to go to the school's production of ''Theatre/TheTempest'' with him (whether she refuses or accepts, Chloe is less than enthusiastic about the play itself). Chloe can speak to several other characters, including Skip the security guard (who'd like her opinion on his band's latest demo), the Max-esque ShrinkingViolet Samantha, Victoria (who she can trick into messing up her Chemistry homework), and Principal Wells (who wants a word with Chloe about allegations of drug use, amongst other things -- which the player can avoid with another backtalk challenge). To proceed, the player must go to meet Steph, Blackwell's resident DungeonMaster, out lesbian, and source of pirated DVD[=s=], to pick up Chloe's order of ''Film/BladeRunner'', Director's Cut. Steph quizzes Chloe about her relationship with Rachel Amber, before inviting her to play D&D along with her HollywoodNerd friend, Mikey.

If Chloe decides to join in, she's given an elf barbarian character (who can be named Barb, [[GeniusBonus Callimastia]] or simply Chloe), to play alongside Mickey's fire spell wielding wizard, Elamon. The player can then proceed to follow the game as seriously as they like (or simply leave), including roleplaying an intimidation check with a dragonkin guard via another backtalk challenge. The final boss proves to be a Minotaur with a fire resistant bracer. Regardless of the player's choices, a bad roll causes Chloe's character to be fatally wounded, but she can still potentially chop off his arm (along with the bracer), allowing Mikey to have Elamon blast him.

After playing, or not, Chloe heads to the main building, only to run into Drew North, Mikey's JerkJock big brother. Drew's antagonising Nathan Prescott, son of the local robber baron. In a few years time, Nathan will shoot Chloe in the stomach and kickstart the plot of the original game, but for now he's just a mentally ill teen with an overbearing father...and [[JerkassWoobie short temper]]. Chloe can either let Drew proceed to throw Nathan's art portfolio in the fountain, or she can stand up for Nathan, and get Drew to back down with a backtalk challenge (to Samantha's approval, and Nathan's utter lack of gratitude). After this, Chloe opens the main door, only to find Rachel standing in front of her, and promptly finds herself whisked off to the drama lab (in more ways than one). After helping Rachel get changed out of her costume, Rachel asks Chloe if she'd like to skip school with her. Naturally, Chloe needs little encouragement and they set off (although not before Rachel helps Chloe cover up her black eye with stage makeup, if she has one).

The two girls hop on a train, and spend some time playing "Two Truths and a Lie" to pass the time. Regardless of what the player chooses, Rachel will easily SherlockScan her way through (and infer even more information on top of what Chloe gave her to boot), claiming that she's used to it, as the daughter of the District Attorney. Meanwhile Chloe learns that Rachel comes from California, is ambidextrous, hates Arcadia Bay as much as her, and her star sign is a Leo. Chloe then takes out her earbuds, and the player can choose to offer one to Rachel or let Chloe listen to "Through the Cellar Door" by Music/LanternsOnTheLake alone. Eventually, Rachel has them get off at a park. After climbing a hill and getting a viewfinder working, Rachel and Chloe proceed to play another "improv game" where they mock various people as they spy on them. However, on seeing a mysterious tattooed woman meet up (and make out) with a man in a suit under the oak tree which dominates the park, Rachel starts acting differently...

At Rachel's behest, she and Chloe steal a bottle of wine from a picnicking couple (with a backtalk challenge determining the exact outcome), and the two of them soon find themselves in the "American Rust" junkyard. Rachel continues to get more angry, but refuses to explain herself. This leads to an argument, which reaches its apex when Chloe demands to know what she did wrong, saying she doesn't want to ruin what they have. When Rachel demands clarification, the player can have Chloe clarify she means "a friendship" or "something more". Depending on her answer and RelationshipValues, Rachel will either storm off or apologise to Chloe but say she needs space. Regardless, Chloe is left alone in the scrapyard.

Chloe wakes up inside the wrecked car and contemplates her breakdown, before spotting a raven near the train tracks, which she follows. This leads her to the large oak tree in the park from before, where Rachel is stood. Relieved that she came, Rachel apologises and explains the situation to Chloe. She's had a feeling that her father's been hiding something for a while, which is why she skipped school to track him down; the man they saw making out with the woman was her father, [[YourCheatingHeart but she has no idea who the woman is]]. Completely disillusioned, she shows Chloe the photo of her and her father she carries around and explains that on the day it was taken, he carried her to safety after she broke her wrist. Rachel asks Chloe to run away with her, before borrowing her lighter and burning the cherished photo in a trash can as "Flaws" by Music/Daughter plays. Chloe moves to leave, but Rachel, still feeling angry, kicks the bin into the tree while screaming in frustration. The wind carries it, and soon the entire forest's ablaze.

The episode ends with a montage of people as they react to the fire (which is soon visible from the town): Frank is drinking beer outside his camper while [[spoiler: Damon]] is on his mobile; Joyce brings David a beer while he fixes the car; Nathan sits on the fountain alone and goes over his portfolio, as Steph, Mikey and Drew pal around on a bench nearby; Mr. Amber argues with Wells in the parking lot; while the mysterious woman enjoys a cigarette from the same vantage point the girls were watching her from earlier that day (the only one who doesn't seem shocked or awed by it).

* {{Irony}}: Chloe thinks she's getting away with her bad behaviour because everyone feels sorry for her about her dad, but in reality she's mainly getting by on excuses Joyce gives Wells, and Wells himself (as Steph can warn her) considers her a "high risk" student because of her situation.

* WhatDidIDoLastNight: Downplayed in that Chloe more or less remembers the important parts (i.e. Rachel Amber saving her life), but she still has trouble finding her phone, is clearly tired/hungover and there are embaressing pictures all over social media.

The two girls hop on a train, and spend some time playing "Three Truths and a Lie" to pass the time. Regardless of what the player chooses, Rachel will easily SherlockScan her way through (and infer even more information on top of what Chloe gave her to boot), claiming that she's used to it, as the daughter of the District Attorney. Meanwhile Chloe learns that Rachel comes from California, is ambidextrous, hates Arcadia Bay as much as her, and her star sign is a Leo. Chloe then takes out her earbuds, and the player can choose to offer one to Rachel or let Chloe listen to "Through the Cellar Door" by Music/LanternsOnTheLake alone. Eventually, Rachel has them get off at a park. After climbing a hill and getting a viewfinder working, Rachel and Chloe proceed to play another "improv game" where they mock various people as they spy on them. However, on seeing a mysterious tattooed woman meet up (and make out) with a man in a suit under the oak tree which dominates the park, Rachel starts acting differently...

** During the three truths and a lie game, Rachel reveals that she's ambidextrous, knows what a radial fracture is and mentions her father means she's all too familiar with lies. These all come up at the end when she relays the story behind the photo she carries around with her.

Episode 1:
!Awake

!Tropes featured in this episode of ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm'':

* PsychicDreamsForEveryone: They take a very different form to the ones Max will have, but Chloe's dreams all contain a great deal of foreshadowing for the events in the miniseries.

Still tired, Chloe falls asleep. She has a dream where she's in her dad's, car, just before his accident. Various items (depending on what the player interacted with) are strewn about the back seat and her journal is replaced by a letter from Max, saying she's coming back after all! After receiving some words of wisdom from dear old dad, the car is hit by a truck and Chloe is jolted awake. Just in time for David to drop her off at Blackwell Academy.

Chloe wakes up inside the wrecked car and contemplates her breakdown, before spotting a raven near the train tracks, which she follows. This leads her to the large oak tree in the park from before, where Rachel is stood. Relieved that she came, Rachel apologises and explains the situation to Chloe. She's had a feeling that her father's been hiding something for a while, which is why she skipped school to track him down; the man they saw making out with the woman was her father, [[YourCheatingHeart but she has no idea who the woman is]]. Completely disillusioned, she shows Chloe the photo of her and her father she carries around and explains that on the day it was taken, he carried her to safety after she broke her wrist. Rachel asks Chloe to run away with her, before borrowing her lighter and burning the cherished photo in a trash can. Chloe moves to leave, but Rachel, still feeling angry, kicks the bin into the tree while screaming in frustration. The wind carries it, and soon the entire forest's ablaze.

!!Awake