In defense of Steven. (Spoilers)

[ToxicTofu]

Exactly HardKor (but i do think steven can become a like-able character easily)

[John Bruno Tristan]

am i clear to think now that pippen was a traitor....i think i heard scratch talking to someone about if he radioed back or not

[Cabbage Patch]

I agree!
Michael didn't want Pegs in the room with Pippin and got her out of guard duty

In Michael's defense, Pegs has a special status in the relationship with the Mallers. Michael knows that Scratch wants to kill her because she killed Latch. If there was any chance that Pippin was still working for the Mallers it made sense to keep her out of his sight, both because he might have attacked her, and because he could have gathered intelligence about her to share with Scratch.

[usmcludwig]

God- again forced to entirely disagree with everyone.

OK- 1- I In fact do think that Steven was avoiding watch over Pippin because Pippin indeed would have recognized him. Why? Simple. Steven is the rat.

You may ask why try to be such a dick and kick Lizzy out the tower. Let me break this down for you:

1- It was in the middle of the night. Steven was looking for an excuse to set her (or anyone perhaps) up (in my opinion, based on a plan coordinated with Scratch)
2- His probable MAIN goal in calling out Burt was to spread discontent and a feeling of segregation within the tower to make people take sides, breaking the unity that they had made- playing on the peoples emotions.
3- When Steven said "That's not what he said", he was trying to continue his route of trying to spread discontent- but failed- but at the same time, accomplished his secondary goal of getting one of the key Tower members kicked out of the tower to play a part in an even more insidious plan coordinated with Scratch: Leverage.
4- Micheal said something to the degree of "The rat has been here a while and is now loyal to us again." This leads me to think that the jack ass that is Steven suddenly turned tides (as seen in ch 24 for the most part) in order to play his role.
5- I assume Steven died? I am re-listening now- but he was going to get more people to the Motor Pool- which I assumed is buried in ruble. Perhaps HE is what Scratch found possibly (if he is dead)

[nikvoodoo]

Your point 5 is exactly the reason why Steven is not the rat. What do you gain as an audience from a rat that is dead? There's no repercussion, there's no confrontation, there's nothing but a let down. There's no way the Tower can react except to go "oh ho hum, woe is me" and kick some dirt around.

Steven was not the rat. He was a completely unlikeable character because he stood up for things we as an audience didn't believe in (like Burt's leniency for Lizzy, not wanting to watch Pippin etc), but he was not the rat. The Rat is still alive because the payoff will be stronger when they are revealed.

[usmcludwig]

I disagree good sir.

Whats to gain is simple: closure.
It ensures that wherever the Tower people go- they are safe from subterfuge.
He was obvious in ways, but also covered his trail by throwing in a few positives- a good smokescreen for the audience.
I am going to edit this post once my brain choose to function again so I can further explain my thoughts.
Steven was more of spy to me than a mere informer- I do strongly believe that his goal was to sabotage the inner-workings of the Tower.
Time shall tell.
Who do you think it was if not Steven?

[nikvoodoo]

For the same reason you think he's the obvious choice, I see red herrings. Much like how I saw them with Kalani. They have always been the obvious choices because we as the audience don't like them. Which was one of the reasons I hung my hat on Datu very early on. He's a character you wouldn't expect it from, he had a reason to want the situation at the Tower to change at the point the Mallers came to attack (because of the events with Samantha) , and he's the only one not heard from at all in chapter 12, giving him the opportunity to fire the first shots of the War to incite the conflict.

Do I still believe that? Nope, not really but I'm riding that pony to glory on the really off chance I'm right.

But Steven being the rat makes less sense to me than Datu. All Steven was reacting against was the favoritism and cliquey nature in the Tower. He is the manifestation of all 25 some-odd nameless people in the Tower we never hear opinions from. If Steven was still the rat at the point that you think he was, and was still acting in tandem with the Mallers to gain leverage on the Tower why would he have not told Scratch that Pegs was on a mission down south with a busted up Michael and Kelly? Or have them come destroy the Tower when the only people to defend it were Burt and Angel?

The Rat just murdered a man in cold blood. That is not something that deserves closure at this moment. It still deserves conflict. And Steven is incapable of being a part of that conflict as he is either ripped to shreds or crushed. And I think having that little nugget of doubt among your fellow compatriots makes the story far more interesting than bringing this chapter of the story to a close right now.

We've always said the difference between We're Alive and other stories similar to it was it didn't focus on the zombies as the main antagonist. It's the other people. The Rat storyline, I feel, is the driving force behind We're Alive right now. It's the constant mystery. I do believe the Rat will be revealed by the end of the series (and probably the end of Season 3) to set up the ultimate conflict between the Mallers and the Tower with the zombies nipping at their heels the whole way.

[usmcludwig]

I am forced to agree with you fully.

I always do like logic over assumption.

BUT- I will hold onto what has now been lowered to a 10-of-diamonds in my back pocket..just in case.

[nikvoodoo]

but I will always admit, sometimes those blind stabs in the dark are fun too

[h3half]

I've got it!

Saul did it. He beat his sickness after a few hours, pretended to be sick the entire time, cut the wire, stole the silenced pistol, killed whats-his-face, and called the Mallers to the tower while he was drunk and partying it up. He then ran upstairs and shot at them. All while drunk. What a boss.

Makes logical sense.

/sarcasm