Episode 3 is excellent; deviating from the plot of the game, it is a highly original and touching story. The writers should have binned the rest of the series and made a feature film of episode 3, for the rest of the show suffers from many of the issues with mainstream American drama more broadly. Namely, endless exposition, pointless dialogue, filters that add a veneer of artificiality. It feels like a lot of money was spent on it, but little else. The relationship between the two characters - i.e. The essence of the story - is absent. Watch episode 3 in isolation, then play the game if you want to explore the story further.