Blackwell Parking Lot

Life is Strange

Before the Storm

Blackwell Parking Lot
Type:	Parking Lot
Location:	Blackwell Academy, Arcadia Bay
State:	Oregon
Appears in:	Episode 1: Chrysalis Episode 2: Out of Time (cutscene) Episode 3: Chaos Theory (cutscene) Episode 4: Dark Room (cutscene) Episode 5: Polarized (cutscene)

The Blackwell Academy's Parking Lot is used by students and teachers alike to park their vehicles. Max Caulfield has the opportunity to explore this location in the first episode Chrysalis.

Episode One - "Chrysalis"

Max goes to the parking lot to bring Warren Graham his flash drive. Warren shows Max his car and the two talk about the films on the flash drive. They are interrupted by Nathan Prescott, who accuses her of being in the bathroom and spying on his argument with Chloe Price. Warren intervenes to protect Max, but Nathan headbutts him to the ground. Max tries to get Nathan away from Warren, but falls to the ground as well and breaks her camera in the process. Chloe shows up in her truck and drives away together with Max. David Madsen is then seen running up to Nathan and Warren.

Episode Two - "Out of Time"

The parking lot is shown in the ending cutscene. Mark Jefferson has a short argument with Principal Wells before driving away.

Episode Three - "Chaos Theory"

Before arranging to meet up with Max, Chloe parks her truck in the school's parking lot. When the girls get spotted by the Blackwell security, they run to Chloe's truck and escape to her house.

Episode Four - "Dark Room"

Max and Chloe drive to Blackwell together to confront Nathan at the End of the World Party. As they move from the parking lot to the swimming pool, they run into Warren, who insists on taking a picture with Max. Max agrees and stops, but Chloe moves on, driven by revenge. Max follows her after taking the photo and warning Warren to stay away from Nathan.

Episode Five - "Polarized"

Having her diary burned by Jefferson, Max learns that the only way to save Chloe is to use the picture Warren took of them on the previous day. After she focuses on the photo, the scene from Episode 4 plays out again, but this time Max doesn't let Chloe enter the party. Instead of springing Jefferson's trap as they did before, Max and Chloe stay at Chloe's house until the storm is about to strike.

Interactions

Before giving the flash drive to Warren, Max may walk around the parking lot and interact with several objects.

PC users: Hover over the text to see Max's comments. See here for all interactions in the game.

• She can look at a sign advertising the Two Whales Diner. (Comment: "I better go there soon to see if Joyce is still there... and get a burger.")
• She can look at a "Cars=Death" graffiti. (Comment: "Good thing I don't have a car. Yet.")
• She can look at a "ReTARDed" graffiti. (Comment: "I wonder how long before Samuel has to repaint that?")
• She can look at a bike covered with toilet paper. (Comment: "Who toilet papers a bike?")
• She can look at Rachel Amber Missing Person posters. (Comment: "The whole town is turning into one giant 'Missing Persons' poster."
  "Too bad those posters will be trashed and ignored."
  "At least Rachel Amber has people who care about her...")
• She can look at Chloe's truck. (Comment: "Now this really pisses me off. So entitled. 'Sorry, handicapped folks,
  my truck needs these two spots more than you do.' Bastard.")
• She can look at a pile of Missing Person posters in the back of Chloe's truck. (Comment: "Damn, somebody is seriously devoted to putting up these posters.")
• She can look at Pompidou. (Comment: "That dog looks peaceful asleep but if I get too close... Cujo!")
• She can look at, draw on and take an optional photo of Frank's RV window. (Comment: Before: "That layer of dust is begging for my finger."
  After: "There. Now it's officially a dirty window."
  Photo: "I could use this picture for a series on Arcadia Bay lots...")
• She can look at a "Car Theft Warning" flyer. (Comment: "A new surveillance system? That's how it starts...")
• She can look at Warren's car. (Comment: "Look at Warren and his Wayback Machine. He's a brave man.")
• She can look at and speak to Juliet Watson. (Comment: "Juliet still looks upset about Zach and Victoria. I don't blame her.")
• She can look at and speak to Warren (required). (Comment: "And there's Warren... Did he actually buy a used car?")

Easter Eggs

The license plates of all the vehicles are references to different television shows.

• "PRKSNRC" for Parks and Recreation
• "THWR" for The Wire
• "CRNVL" for Carnivàle
• "BFFVMPRSLR" for Buffy the Vampire Slayer (probably Victoria Chase)
• "THXFLS" for The X-Files (Warren Graham)
• "TWLGHTZN" for The Twilight Zone
• "THSPRNS" for The Sopranos
• "BRKBD" for Breaking Bad (Frank Bowers)
• "BRDCHRCH" for Broadchurch (probably Kate Marsh)
• "TWNPKS" for Twin Peaks (Chloe Price)
• "QNTMLP" for Quantum Leap
• "THPRCTC" for The Practice
• "SXFTNDR" for Six Feet Under (Nathan Prescott)
• "TPFTHLK" for Top of the Lake (Mark Jefferson) (Only seen in the end cutscene of Episode 2)

Theories

• It is possible that Chloe ran directly to the parking lot to hole up in Frank's RV after the scare in the bathroom with Nathan pointing a gun at her (Episode 1). The Rachel Amber Missing posters scattered along the ground from Blackwell's main entrance steps lead off in the direction of the parking lot. When Max attends the parking lot to give Warren his flash drive back, she can explore this area before she interacts with him. There is no sign of Chloe anywhere near her truck. Frank's dog, Pompidou, is outside the RV and may have been put there to guard the entrance while Chloe holes up with Frank for a while.

Trivia

• A scene in the parking lot in Episode 1 varies only slightly from promotional material: After being scratched by Max on the parking lot, Nathan Prescott shows red marks on his cheek. In a promotional shot for the episode, these scratches are not visible.

Promotional image.

Game screenshot.

• In Episode 1 and in David's files, Nathan's vehicle is a red 4x4 truck with a license plate of SXFTNDR. In Episode 4, before Max and Chloe attend the End of the World Party, a truck bearing the same license plate is parked on the parking lot, but it is green in colour. It is also the same model.

Gallery

Screenshots

The parking lot in episode 1

The parking lot in episode 3

The parking lot in episode 4

Concept Art

Concept art by Edouard Caplain.