Let's Play Life is Strange Episode 5: Polarized
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- As things draw to an emotional close in our final episode of Let's Play Life is Strange, Johnny and Aoife prepare to find their way out of the Dark Room and make difficult decisions.
Subscribe to Eurogamer - www.youtube.com...
For the latest video game reviews, news and analysis, check out www.eurogamer.net and don't forget to follow us on Twitter: / eurogamer
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
We never did get around to making up some Life is Strange drinking game rules. Pop your suggestions underneath, why not?
Everytime Max is saying something she thinks it's cool like "Release the Krack-can"
Take a shot everytime there's a shot focusing on an object in an early instagram style.
Take a shot every Time Max says something cringy
Every time Chloe says Hella. (Double for Max in the alternative reality)
Plus a shot per squirrel
Edit: Jeepers, just saw the giant nightmare squirrels. They have to be worth more.
I think which ending you choose really defines what kind of story Life is Strange is for you. If you sacrifice Chloe, it's a story about accepting loss. If you sacrifice the Bay, it's about doing anything to save your loved ones.
This is one of the most spot-on comments I've ever seen. There isn't really a 'wrong' answer, the ending simply solidifies what the journey meant for that particular player.
I sacrifice Arcadia bay in a heartbeat.
@@TheFlyingHeifersame. It's not something I do lightly but if anyone deserves a shot at happiness it's Chloe
1:41:17 "WARREN, IM GAY. JUST GIMME THE PICTURE" - MAX
I like Warren a lot.
Jorah Snow She’s bisexual isn’t she?
she's not gay
@@SKOMEpocets Likely bi
I was serious. I really do want a snack.
yes
Omfg
I'm not sure I'm ready to cry for the 20th time...
That montage with Spanish Sahara - always in tears :(
"there's plenty of girls in the sea" not as many as there would be if you sacrificed Arcadia Bay
You could pick up the necklace, Max would wear it in the storm/diner part. It is so heartbreaking memory...
But did you steal that wine from arguing picnickers?
Oh! We're all better now! Byeeeeee!
It's interesting.
I never even tried sacrificing Chloe before, just to see what that was like. Couldn't physically do it.
And you have all these really good reasons. I really enjoy your perspective.
Still. Probably couldn't do it.
For me, like, just once, it's good that someone chooses Chloe. It's what she deserves after all of it.
Even if it's Max, who I'm not totally in love with.
(Also Joyce definitely would have wanted her to live)
I know I'm being unreasonable, but this is the hill I die on :'D
Thanks for a great series guys
Its pretty crowded on this here hill - after all 47% of players are here with us.
Love, *love* this comment.
Though I am still unswayed and remain firmly in the "Chloe and Max in Greedy Love FOREVER" camp.
the decision gets harder after you have played BtS bonus episode. :(
Two things.
1) Lupin is a reference to Arsene Lupin. Whom you may know as the inspiration for Lupin the Third.
2) There is one respect in which the final decision is all about Max. She's got to kill her best friend. Twice. After killing her dad. In that respect, it's an incredibly personal decision. It's absolutely Chloe's right to choose to die. It's absolutely Max's right to choose not to kill. And especially to not kill her best friend. She's the one having to live with the decision, after all.
Robert N'zengou-Tayo
1. A fellow fan of literature and manga/anime
2. Yes and that long walk was supposed to really hammer in the weight of the next decision’s rationality.
Bae over Bay forever. As a girl with a girlfriend, I'd let the world burn before I sacrificed her for anything. I'd jump into that storm if it meant she'd live.
To sacrifice yourself is a thing..
I'm really surprised you guys didn't sacrifice the town
Particularly with Johnny's comment at 1:50:47 : "You don't go this far in to just go 'Actually...'"
God the level of attention to detail in this game is just ASTONISHING. It’s been 6 years since the game came out. I’ve played through it myself at least 3 times. I’ve watched this series of playthroughs countless times. And yet it was only just this second that I realized the photo up on Jefferson’s board by the classroom door in the last time loop is one taken by him of Chloe and Max digging for Rachel’s body in the junkyard...
I think I would be a broken shell of a person if I had to go through the suffering and heartbreak Max went through. Thank you so much for showing me this game, I think I will remember it for a long, long time.
Oh man, you skipped Max saying "Life is.... weird" when she enters Zeitgeist. Just bringing it up because it's one of my favorite lines.
You guys are killing me with the synchronized face-wiping. I played through the game twice and it didn't really grab my attention until you guys started doing it. Now I can't un-see it. Thanks. :p
Love the game and loved the playthrough. Can't wait for the last BTS episode3/Bonus.
I knew following this series was a bad idea. And it was amazing all the same. Dammit Life is Strange, you got me crying again
Sooooo, I could go to bed, it being one in the morning here. Orrrr... I could stay up till 4 with a cup of tea, enjoying two grown adults getting judgmental about teenagers, and continuing my feeling of vindication in being skeeved out by Warren. No contest really.
Cup O' tea?
Schmorgen Arzt lol it’s 1:52am where I’m at rn
Me too rn just a year later
This playthrough was one of the best things this channel has done
I forgot how much the ending montage made me burst into tears when sacrificing Chloe 😢
Me: Where's the wine?
Girl friend: why?
Me: haha I... Just fancied a glass.
Gf: I finished it the other night
Me:....
Gf:....
Me: have we still got that Port?
Gf: from last Christmas? Yeah in the bottom cupboard.
Me: RAD.
*continues Eurogamer Let's Play*
Cheers!
I'm rewatching this while you are playing True Colors....honestly....it's been 5 frikin years and the ending still traumatizes me. I will never be able to listen to Spanish Sahara without sobbing. I also think I figured out why True Colors is now my favorite game. While it is better animated and written, the story is sad without being (what I consider to be) emotionally traumatizing. The ending of the game isn't too sad regardless. While some people don't like that, I feel that it still hold a sense of reality without completely screwing me over.
Everyone forgets Nathan is on serious amounts of medicine for his issues. Hes got serious problems and not only did Jefferson get him off his med's but then used it to worm his way into his mind controlling him completely. Is he entirely innocent as a result? No, but hes not even close to being a villain. regardless everyone treats him like a sane kid who's just scared of repercussions. It wasn't too little too late as he tries to reach out and tell people repeatedly throughout the game, but Jefferson completely isolates him, which isn't hard considering his family situation.
I still love how they made this your head tells you sacrifice Chloe, your heart that got invested in the characters and your heart is telling you not too.
After all no matter how much we may tell are ourselves that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few... we still want to save those closest to us in our heart.
Exactly! I think in this situation Max would save Chloe, like they've both shown how they don't have much care for Arcadia or the people in it and wanting to run away. Max just not really knowing anyone and Chloe wanting to run away for years. Not much reason she would choose to sacrifice Chloe.
I don't know if sacrificing Chloe actually saves Arcadia Bay. Max had a vision of the tornado *before* she ever used her power in the game (she also used her power to fix her camera in that timeline, before taking the butterfly photo). Maybe she'd already broken time sometime before the game and had somehow forgotten about her ability or didn't realize what had happened. She may have delayed the storm by not using her power as much in the ending timeline (despite how much she had to break time to even get to that point), but I think it's still coming.
Thank you Eurogamer, now I have watched both endings and.... Wow this ending is so much harder to stomach for me. Imagine being Max and having to keep everything to herself now that she rewinded all way back to the beginning.
She could write a book and say it was based on a true story. Nobody would believe it except Samuel, but who cares, right?
@@rj_ay8172 nice thinking
one of the things that gets to me about the sacrifice chloe ending is that max is going to have all these memories that never happened, she's mourning a time that never existed, and no one is going to understand
I look at it this way: Max was feeling really guilty about never having kept in touch with Chloe (when you clicked on something in Max's dorm room in E1, she comments how she should call Chloe), and these extra memories helped to remove that guilt. I don't think Max would care about what anyone else thought. Those memories are Max's and Max's alone, and I think that would help her be able to move on without any more regrets vis-à-vis Chloe.
Season 2 (not the prequel) is going to be so weird without Chloe. I still can't imagine a Life is Strange game without Chloe in it. She's the focal point for the entire story.
Petite Wolf For season 2 it will be pretty sad if Rachel is still alive, but Chloe ...... but I think Season 2 will be (new start).
I'm on the fence. While I hate to see these characters go, I also don't want them to overstay their welcome. It would be cool to start fresh with a brand new cast and story.
Chloe is my girl though :(
Petite Wolf Ooo and that lighthouse is too suspicious, and Rachel might be there...😱
Oh it will be a new start, I'm pretty sure that's already been confirmed. That's also a good point, SLAPAPOW. They can't continue this particular storyline without making one of the endings the canon ending, which would basically alienate half their audience. It's just going to be weird without Chloe. It'll take some getting used to.
If they wanted to keep Arcadia Bay as the setting they could possibly go back in time. A Life is Strange game set in the 80's, back when the Vortex Club was still cool, could be interesting.
Although, I'm not opposed to a completely blank slate myself.
I started crying when Johnny opened the bottle of wine, and 5 years later, I'm still crying 😭 this game was so good
So... what does everybody think about the "spirit animals?"
Samuel says that the doe is Max's spirit animal, but I think it's actually Rachel's, especially given as how we see a ghostly deer in the junkyard, where Rachel is buried (after Max takes the picture, there is no doe when you look at the picture, so it's not really there). Also, it sort of give extra significance to Chloe having a doe in a snow globe in her room.
I've heard people say that they think the blue butterfly represents Chloe, but I think the bird represents Chloe. It dies smashing itself in the window and Max has to save it the same way she saved Chloe. It's trapped in the house the same way that Max has "trapped" her by saving her life and (for the Bay over Bae folks), twice in the game, Max has to let it go. Also, I think all the dead birds in Chloe's yard are a pretty big neon sign that "SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE."
So... I've thought that the butterfly must be Max's spirit animal but just now I've decided... no. So far, all the spirit animals have belonged to people who died or who should have been dead. As if their deaths transformed them into an animal rather than the animal being some sort of companion/protector. I think we see the butterfly around Chloe so much because it is William's spirit animal, and he came to her at the moment she died in the bathroom and at her funeral.
I'm a bit late PLUS I've played "before the Storm" thus agree with you completely, except for your statement, that spirit animals of some only appear after their respective deaths. Reference: Chloes crow in "before the storm".
@@jothesurvivor5269 If I'm not wrong (and I totally may be wrong, so someone feel free to school me if I am), spirit animals were meant to be guides for the living. But video games are not reality, and in the game, for some of the characters anyway, they were more shadow images of death. Could be that the devs just weren't clear on the whole "spirit animal" thing, I don't know.
@@purpleiguana208 what do you mean by "shadow images of death"?
Plus, I was only talking about the display of spirit animals in the game. I was only implying, that some indeed showed up while the character they portrayed was still alive. Which brings me to... is that what you wanted to explain when you mentioned those images of death? Spirit animals showing up as a death prognosis?
By the way, I really loved the analogy you pointed out between the saved - but trapped - bird and Chloes' cage. The only part this parallel would not fit with is, that once the bird is set free again, he doesn't necessarily die - he's put at risk again. Chloe on the other hand would DIE. On the other hand, while writing this comment, something else came to my mind: Max says something quite peculiar, in regards to our current subject. Simply put, she asserts that being trapped inside the Prices House will result in its demise. How can we attach that to Chloe? Maybe the game wants to tell us, the life Chloe is going to live through once saved is only subject to more suffering, it'll be a fate in which "death", as the other option is true redemption.
I sincerely don't believe that though, the comics don't show further suffering. With Max's decision at the end of LIS she seems to be able to nullify this hinted prophecied reality. Feel free to join further discussion.
@@jothesurvivor5269 If Rachel's spirit animal is the doe, then we only see it after it has died. We don't see it guiding HER so much as we see it around... and the bit in the junkyard, you might even see it as the doe guiding someone TO her. So that's what I meant by a shadow image of death, even though that doesn't really fit in to what a spirit animal is really supposed to be.
I don't really have strong feelings on this matter one way or another and not trying to prove I'm right or anything. It was just a feeling I had at the time. It was two years ago that I even wrote the post you're responding to, and in that two years, I don't honestly think I've given the matter that much thought. And I haven't read any of the comics, so I don't know about that. I really only know that in LiS2, if you picked to save Chloe in the first game, you can overhear David having a conversation with... I forget if it was Max or Chloe, I think Chloe... and it certainly doesn't seem like any other bad things have happened since Arcadia Bay.
@@purpleiguana208 yeah, no worries, wasn't judging or anything. I thought it might be misguiding. Limitations of words:) well, you're definetely right about Rachel, but spirit animals are seen alive as well in the game (with Chloe it's pretty clear, maybe not from LIS, but from BTS (Crow-Shirt, Crow accompagning Chloe and Rachel on their trip, etc.)).
What happened to "I don't want to choose wisely, I want to choose Chloe"
Never even considered sacrificing Chloe. Left Arcadia Bay in the rearview and didn't look back.
Although I love this whole series, I remember thinking that this episode was longer than it should have been. Seeing someone else play it made me realize though that maybe Dontnod did this on purpose, with the goal of making the player feel so emotionally exhausted that by the time you had to make the final choice, it would be that much more difficult. The "intensity meter" is turned to 11 this whole episode where as in previous episodes, there would be these sort of cool down periods between intense moments. This, combined with some potentially tedious puzzles scattered throughout the episode can really start to wear the player down as they come towards the end of the episode.
Rewatching this series because of lockdown and 2 years on my decision remains the same, Bae over Bay, always choose Chloe because we all have that one special someone we would do anything for. For Max, that's Chloe.
oh my god I died when Johnny went like "SPICE is the SPICE of SPICE" XD
"JUST KIIIIIIIIIIIIIISS!!!" lol classic
It’s genius how the nightmare before the final choice messes with your head. Making you change opinions whether to choose Arcadia bay or Chloe
Thank you so much for doing this! I know it was rough-- it was rough to watch-- but I so enjoyed having your commentary alongside the game itself. Very happy to hear you'll be doing the second season as well.
I remember I ended up playing this episode drunk, got way too emotional about it all, then sacrificed Chloe at the end and regretted it ever since
Happy LiS Monday! My God, that bit with David and Jefferson, I've never seen that before! I'm really surprised how powerful that scene is. Really felt David grew from a cookie cutter character throughout the episodes into a deep and complex, albeit troubled. character
You two are a gem of Let’s Play. Much love and respect from a Canadian fan.
This was amazing. I've tried to play this game to experience the story for the longest time, but could not get into it for some reason. This series was perfect.
I love how as you guys progress with each new ep you guys are less excited in each thumbnail
All the characters have these reused gestures they use during conversation, Max wiping her face is the worst but then you see others like Victoria doing it too. Max also sometimes makes weird explanatory hand gestures after making a statement which feel awkward, Frank does the exact same thing. I think they all do all of them. There are probably more subtle ones.
So that's the booze you guys hid from Chris and Ian, huh?
KuroiYuki88 Nothing wrong with two grown-ups enjoying a bottle of wine, after tucking the office man-children into bed.
I've been waiting all weekend for this.
I’m betting now that someone is going to end this episode in tears
Strange to think that every time Max rewinds time distant galaxies spin backwards. That's some power
14:49 It looks like you are sitting on the couch opposite Max. Also, I think Mr. Jefferson's personality change is because he is trying to terrify Max to get the appropriate reaction (that moment when innocence turns into corruption)
Frank's neck tattoo at the end was new, well spotted. Thanks for the playthrough and your insights, this was the first time I've seen the game (havent played).
+eurogamer i have never played LiS, thank you for not spoiling it, really enjoyed your playthrough!
Felt sorry for Warren in this run, he's literally the nicest guys in the game (he got an obvious crush but he'sthe only teenage boy that didn't force you on about it, he genuinely cares). Too bad he was hated at the end.
what johnny says at 1:09:36 - boy oh boy would that be a neat prequel: Life is strange: Before the Military. I'm not even kidding i think it would be so so weird to see him in his youth and play like teen David in this game format
You picked the wrong ending!! (Love this playthrough, and all your LiS content)
Thank you both for doing these videos!! Your friendship makes me very happy and also is a great lens to take in all kinds of games. I'm so glad Life is Strange is getting your #friendshipgoals treatment.
YES! It makes my day whenever I see a video from you two, I laugh so hard every time.
A lot of the winners surnames are SF authors - Atwood, Pynchon, Coupland, Vonnegut, Ballard for sure, and probably others, and at least some of them have written books featuring time travel.
I never have time to watch this let's play on the day it comes out so let me just say: I love and appreciate your Rupaul's Drag Race references, Aoife. They make me giggle everytime and no one seems to give them the proper recognition they deserve. I'm not sure if you make one this episode, but if you do, just know I get them and they are always relevant and hilarious.
Yayyy! You’re my people. If just one person gets them, it’s worth it to me :)
I once tried to be poetic, and named the section that begins at 2:21:09 the "Museum of Memory" - but the "Trail of Reused Assets" is pretty apt, too.
I just loved the duo.
Watching this as a woman is absolutely terrifying. This is a crude example of the danger we face in this society. Femicide.
You left Chloe's necklage back at the Dark Room!
If Aoife admitted she dressed like Victoria for the playthrough, does that mean Johnny is cosplaying as his beloved Warren?!
Also be nice to David in episode 3! He can be a bit of an arse but underneath the facade, he's not a bad guy....and considering ye iced Chloe before he could express his feelings for her, maybe a bit closure for the two is in order.
It's been so long since I had to make that decision. I am still upset about the fact that by sacrificing Chloe, not only she died in the "natural" course of events , but she got robbed of all the time she got to spend with Max, she didn't even know that Max cared for her more than ever. Also why is it ok for Max to go "back" to the present and use her knowledge to help the investigation, but not to ring the allarm and save Chloe (without ever using her powers again)? Even if it would've been for a short period of time, at least they would've spent some time together, and Chloe would've gotten to know that those responsible for Rachel's death were arrested.
Damn, that never gets any easier.
Look at it this way... Max wouldn't have got her superpower if she hadn't been meant to change what happens.
Having the storm be incidental and unrelated to your powers would have been a cruel but good twist that would've stung like hell for anyone that chose to let Chloe die, but its a twist that only works once since in all future playthroughs you'd know to just save Chloe. Wheras the Bay or Bae choice as it stands is one that retains its full impact on every playthrough since it's never any easier to decide between the one you love and the town full of innocent people you've grown to know
They have a graphic novel series (still going I think) that takes place after the storm in the Save Chloe ending...
All the games in this series have wonderful soundtracks
I didnt even know victoria would be in the dark room with you. Wow.
Well working my through this with half a bottle of jack daniels. May need more. This whole let's play has been awesome. No emoji
You guys are the best ❤
Much love
Ive been waiting for episode 5 to see how violent your reaction to the Warren scene in the diner
*WARREN IM GAY JUST GIVE ME THE PICTURE*
I JUST SPAT OUT MY COFFEE
Burn the world, choose bae
What I would like to say is thank you for playing the whole game and, what more important, not spoiler it, despite you know what will happen next. It was especially appriciate when Chloe and Max found Rachel (in previous episode)... damn those feels!
No wonder you needed bottle of wine.
I agreed with most of your choices and well... TEAM NOT WARREN!
As much as I hated it, I chose to sacrifice Chloe.
Here's why I thought it was right:
We don't know if the storm was the last of the events. It could be that Max and Chloe would still see bizarre, unexplainable events, and another disaster that wipes out another town because Chloe was supposed to die when she did. She died each and every day leading up to the storm, and if it wasn't for Max rewinding time, she would have stayed dead. Max and Chloe, I don't think, would have been happy seeing another random group of strangers go by the wayside because fate was cheated. Not everyone in Arcadia Bay knew or screwed Chloe over, so it wasn't just to let them suffer. Also, even in the alternate timeline, Chloe was suffering and near death, just in a different way. She was fated to have died at 19, and I'm sick thinking about that. Of course, it's a lot easier to make this decision when you're looking at someone's life and relationships as a spectator
Here's why I hated my decision:
I loved Chloe because Max, like me, became very insecure and withdrawn. Chloe's wild streak and love for her long lost friend helped give Max the confidence to come out of her shell and be capable of handling life's ups and downs, and stand up for herself. Max was lucky to have a special someone in her life that could help her do that. None of my friends to date appear to be able to do that (to the extent Chloe was able to) for me. I envy Max, and wished that fate would have been able to go easy on both Chloe AND Arcadia Bay.
Max was lucky to have an extra week with her best friend, even if, in the timeline that was SUPPOSED to have occurred before the rewind, Chloe would never have known Max was back. I think Max will always remember the lessons that Chloe taught her, and the time they spent together. Max will never go back to her own dark place of solitude.
On a more personal note about God's (or fate's, or whatever you want to think of it as) timeline:
We aren't in control; He is. When He says it's your time, you can't fight it (delay, maybe). I want so badly to rewind time and try to change something to save my father from dying last year. He was given a timetable by his original doctor, and he went to a new one who performed a procedure to try to extend his life. It was working until he caught an infection while recovering, so he ended up dying , anyway. I would give ANYTHING to have him back, but I can't imagine what might have to happen to offset this selfish desire. I couldn't go through with saving him if I knew the end result would be that severe, but that's just me (I'm typing this as I am crying, wishing I could undo my loss). I can't find it in myself to be even a little selfish, and I don't get the sense that Max could, either. That said, maybe I could for someone I was in love with, but I will need to have that special someone in my life to say for sure.
Artistically, the bae ending left a lot to be desired, felt rushed, and cold toward others even though Max was feeling seriously guilty about the devastation. It left way too much open. I kind of wish we had some glimpse of what life was like for them within a few days after they left the devastated town. It would help squash my anti-bae theory, at least. :p
I really want a prequel that shows how and why Max got to be so insecure and shuttered.
The first time i saw Chloe actually die... God, i didn't expect you to do that choice
I still think a good ending would have been possible, David was right outside that bathroom. If Chloe was shot and wounded rather than killed outright everything would have proceeded flawlessly. 50 cent got shot 9 times and is still kicking it in da club.
You could've taken Chloe's necklace. And Max would wear it. When you were leaving the Dark Room.
Imagine ur in that stealth but at the end and a button prompt comes up in all of it’s Life Is Strange font and it says Y for takedown. AC Strange
So... How about those #TeamnotWarren t-shirts? I need one asap! 😂
For me it's like, sacrificing Chloe requires Max to actually *do* something. It would be so easy for Max to just let the picture slip out of her hands and convince herself that not *everyone* will die in the storm, than it is for her to will herself back into that picture and go through all the trauma all over again. Given time to think it over, I think Max would probably come to the conclusion that she can't live with herself sacrificing Arcardia Bay, but she's not really given time to think it over, and in the moment...I don't think she'd be able to go through with sacrificing Chloe.
Given rewind powers, I would do the only sensible thing to do: eat the same doughnut over and over and over again until dead.
that butterfly gives me chills... i think it was chloe all along trying to distract max to take a photo of her because she knew max would be infatuated by it... i think she wanted to stop the cycle all along
How guilty would Max feel if she let Chloe die, let the opportunity to assume her powers and later that week, the storm came anyway?
you know, i was fine until the shot of that damned coffin then i cried myself an ocean so, thanks for that
I had the same feeling watching this the first time I finished LiS: I need to call an old friend and check in with them.
I don’t know if you ever played LiS2, but it shows that David is a good guy, and Max and Chloe are still together. You did pick that ending, right?
Awesome playthrough, I love ur vids❤️❤️❤️
If I wasn't already dead inside I'd say now it's time to die inside again.
Nooo Bae over Bay, always!
Sometimes I re-watch the episodes ...
...
To watch Warren crumble. LOL
I am so glad you played it again after BTS! Even with just two episodes out, it changed my view on this game so much.
While the ending is hard, I now prefer it - as you said it, Chloe does it all for Rachel. And by travelling back in time, Chloe would forget the fact that Rachel is alreday dead...
Eight more days until "Hell Is Empty"... I can hardly wait for more Amberprice.
Also, so Team NotWarren - you should have searched for his locker in the nightmare, that's super-creepy!
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit crying.
Go Team Not Warren!
These videos have been really great - the only Life is Strange play through I have managed to stick with all the way to the end. Can't wait to play episode 3 of Before the Storm and then watch your video to see what I missed.
I wish I'd watched this last night and not first thing this morning. Eight a/m is not drinking time.
You surprised me with the final choice, but you were doing the "what would Max do" roleplaying thing all the way, so it's... understandable. Still wouldn't do it myself. Still think you're rotten sods.
Thanks for this series. It's been great.
I'm going to have to play the damn game now.
"Your girlfriend isn't mre important than the whole universe"!
"She is to me"!
Good wine choice, looks like the same (usually reduced, but not really reduced) bottle I tend to pick up for just this kind of occasion!
I think for the part with Nathan to seem like less of a last-minute ass-pull, you need to have thoroughly explored his room to get the full picture on what's going on in his life. He was desperate to make Mr. Jefferson, the father-figure in his life (his real father showed very little emotion towards him) proud, and he thought it could accomplish this by making a portfolio of a girl just like Mr. Jefferson does. The fear he feels for screwing up and accidently killing Rachel is centred entirely around disappointing Mr. Jefferson, not for his own life. And in his last moments, he realizes Mr. Jefferson never cared about him, he was using him for the connections his family has to the drugs he needs to continue making his portfolios. It completely re-frames Nathan, from a sociopathic, spoiled rich brat, to a naive, easily-manipulated little boy, desperate for his father's approval.