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I just beat Death Stranding and my take on Sam was he is someone who is cynical about the world but overtime as the game went on he would open up more and care more about others. And To Some Extent he does ,but it feels at the end he does not really change and I never really understood why. Does anyone understand his character well and could explain it to me?
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The closest bond Sam forged throughout the game was to BB. Deadman explained that he could try to take her out of the pod, but he’d be breaking the law, which would put him at odds with the new president and administration. Lou was Sam’s second chance at a family and I think that was more important to him than anything else.
ID: hqbsh9dID: hqcmj18Exactly. Fragile is probably the second closest person to him by the end and yet she asks him to join her company as partners and he’s like “lol no.”
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I believe Sam did change. From a guy who gave zero shits about anyone including his mom, to a guy who cried for a piece of "equipment" his BB/Lou. I think this is because Sam spent a lot of his life alone and is used to being that way. He is comfortable with not letting anyone in. But when he finally does he does it with his whole heart. He spends a lot of time with Lou and maybe that explains his deep connection to him.
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The scene that make him seem like he hasn’t change is with Fragile at the end right?
I took it as him falling down its isolation habit after losing the person he cared for the most in the game (BB)
ID: hqdoy7pYea his harsh rejection of friendship with Fragile made me upset. It kind of felt like after everything, he hadn’t really changed at all.
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While I felt the same way at the ending, I feel it makes sense. You just went on this journey and made connections with all these characters and then Sam just tells Fragile that he’s doesnt have ties to anyone or anything. In my mind, this is Sam’s habit of pushing the people he loves away, either for their benefit or his own. I’m sure a lot of introverted people like myself can relate to that, and just like with Sam, it isn’t always consistent.
ID: hqbrh6pSo he must really love Mama/Lockne, as he literally pushes her away
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I do think that Sam learns to care about others more through the course of the game, and personally I don't think the ending necessarily negates that growth. He cuts ties with Bridges because he's breaking their protocol by getting BB out of the pod, so he basically has no choice but to go rogue.
The death stranding ends, and he is (presumably) free to live life as he wishes with BB anywhere in the country he wants, away from the UCA.
The cut-off he's doing is basically a legal maneuver. He's avoiding punishment for a crime, and getting away from all their obligations, rules, and commands.
But since the death stranding ends, people can go back out into the world and form communities of their own. The UCA and Bridges won't be absolutely necessary for people's survival anymore.
So while he cuts himself off from Bridges, he isn't cutting himself off from humanity. And he could still potentially visit his friends Fragile, Deadman, Heartman, and Lockne in secret.
With all that we see and learn with Sam throughout the game, I could only see a future for him where he connects with and loves other people. And the ending absolutely allows that, uncertain as it may feel.
The difference is that he's not serving and connecting with others strictly by the mandate of a hierarchical power structure anymore; he does it on his own terms. And hopefully, the rest of humanity will slowly follow suit. That's my personal headcanon.
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Sam Porter Bridges-Strand
ID: hqb711mThe most troppy name ever. So many trigger words lolz
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When my ex introduced to the game the 1st time, I found it sooo boring, but as the story progressed I came to understand what his character really portrays especially during the Pandemic, my ex sees him and explained to me that he is like those delivery services during lockdown.. Working their asses out to help us get what we need.. And we don't even realize how hard their work is.. And the ending of the story is really so much.. Somehow I cannot explain him in a better way but for me his character is one of the characters in a game I salute to soo much..
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One of the themes on this is being disconnected from people and the lack of human touch and interaction causing people to become isolated to the point where they synthesize oxytocin and ship it out to everyone for mental health and keeping a functioning society. Connecting people on a more real level with the network allows them to share not only ideas but produce physical objects to interact with that is from another person.
Then you have Sam who's been through a lot of shit. Brought to the beach regularly as a kid, family died as he's getting ready to start one, and went into a line of work that is also isolating, dangerous, and traumatizing. Knowing him, he doesn't take oxytocin and his self isolation combined with aversion to touch seals it.
Finding his dad and getting hugged, Lou's influence, and finally seeing an impact from what he's doing - he transitions from observing a network being built to participating in it, caring for its health. At max level, he gives a little hand wave to people, which for him is a lot.
When he gets his chance to do what he wants, he relinquishes his contacts. I think his feeling of duty to the people felt satisfied, they'd be fine without him. But someone wouldn't be fine without him; he got to take a first new step in a long time - the one that was interrupted when his family was taken from him. He may not have changed much, though he may have grown enough bonds to understand what it might take up raise a baby. He was not ready to take care of a kid in the beginning. He changed just enough.
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The ending was very, very silly.
For 95% of the game Sam feels no ties to anyone other than BB and Amelie. Then, before the last battle, he gives a rousing speech about the ties that bind and how connected he has become.
And then he saves the world, and I'm supposed to believe die-hardman would bust his balls about opening a BB pod? Don't be ridiculous. Sam instantly reverts to how we find him at the beginning of the game, no real change in personality except now we are expected to believe he's going to raise an infant, alone, off the grid, in a post-death stranding world somehow.
ID: hqc4sziPeople aren’t always open about their feelings... When Sam gave that speech it was him finally opening up about everything he had learned, and he was potentially facing his end
ID: hqc5pa9Sure, but then immediately after (as far as his time perspective goes) he does a 180 and returns to mute monke who don't need no man.
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I think this is the objectively correct answer. A lot of people in this thread are saying that Sam has gotten used to pushing people away and just prefers isolation because that's natural to him (paraphrasing obviously), but there are a loooooooot of details about Sam's history in the interviews outlining the traumatic loss of his wife and unborn child.
For anyone that sees this, read the interviews. It recontextualizes a lot of things.