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Something about the atmosphere surrounding Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us has been a huge draw to me. The dark and twisted story surrounding some of history’s most endearing fairy tales makes for some really interesting narratives, because of our ingrown attachment to these characters. Episode 1, “Faith,” set a great precedent for episodes to come and Episode 2, “Smoke and Mirrors,” continues to build on that foundation.

The strength of “Smoke and Mirrors” lies in character development. Starting with a bang, after the dramatic conclusion of episode one, it managed to catch me off guard with a few twists right out of the gate. While the start is strong, the episode does manage to slow down considerably. The slower pace is due to the exploratory nature of Bigby’s adventure. Once known as the infamous Big Bad Wolf, Bigby continues to try and solve the mysteries of Fabletown as their detective, despite not having the utmost trust of everyone around him.

The plot of this episode is very much tied into the events of the previous episode. However many of the choices and consequences aren’t very visible aside from a pretty huge moment towards the beginning, and a few moments at the end.  However, there are still many interesting character moments. The premise of classic fables being transferred into the gritty real world still held up for me. There were a few fables I ran into and immediately wondered how they managed to get themselves into such a situation. The characters are well written and believable, and kept me caring for their “real world” plight.

While the slower pace of the episode is understandable, I couldn’t help but feel that “Smoke and Mirrors” wasn’t given enough development time in comparison to “Faith”. The first reason is the lack of meaningful and lasting decisions. Telltale’s games pride themselves on their tough choices, and while there were plenty of decisions to make, I didn’t get a huge sense that the options I chose in episode one had a huge effect on the outcome of the story so far. Additionally, there weren’t many huge decisions in this episode that felt like they will carry over into the next.

The sudden and rushed ending also made it feel like “Smoke and Mirrors” was pushed out the door too early. While the ending was surely a cliffhanger, I had a very vocal “That’s it?” moment. I felt like it just abruptly ended with very little indication of it coming to a close. I’m still very much invested in the story, and can’t wait to see how the characters handle the situation in Episode 3, but I couldn’t help being a little disappointed in the finale.

Part of me feels like Telltale is holding their cards for a huge Episode 3, as they did with The Walking Dead.  The emphasis on slower, more detective and puzzle solving elements really did make for an interesting episode, though I really am hoping that the next one picks up the pace. If the preview for the next episode is any indicator, there is much to look forward to.