I also assumed Act III was a flashback. With that interpretation, it had the effect of slightly flattening the characters for me: the serial killer came across as a bit cartoonish, and the decision to dispatch him in Act II, therefore, felt more neat-and-tidily justified.
But one thing these Acts do is constantly re-frame each other contextually, so I might change my mind when Acts IV and V are released!
Regarding the time period, I don’t think I ever believed in a single “baseline” era in these games. Act I initially planted me in Elsinore–the conundrum about scheduling a murder to properly coincide with a confession, and how the wrong order might or might not damn the murderer’s or the victim’s soul–is straight out of Hamlet. Bluebeard itself is also a story that roughly fits the era: castles, dungeons. But then, at the end, when Ye Olde-Timey English was punctuated by contemporary profanity, I was left with the impression that the language was simply the bubble-wand to blow the destined-for-popping bubble. The text became unmoored from any time period; the text itself felt like a performance, with the words merely actors on a stage.
Act II had a “Pit and and the Pendulum” vibe, and the mention of modern technology brought me closer to the current year. Act III felt very “now”–or rather, like the 1980s from American Psycho crossed with “now.” This gave me the final impression that, if the RGB Cycle is anchored to any era, it’s the present era, but with allowances to throw on other eras as costumes.
I might be off-base with the American Psycho comparison. It’s partially what made Red feel too cartoonish to me in Act III. Blue is also cartoonishly evil in Act I, complete with wicked sneers and the classic Bloody Chamber stocked with eight dead wives; but Blue’s cartoonish evil is layered over real social complexities that come pre-baked into the Bluebeard story and Hamlet. American Psycho is all about superficiality–complex in its own paradoxical way, but I can’t sink my teeth into Red as deeply.
Green, meanwhile, is justified in Act I–up to a point. With text that’s so brief, every word has weight, every action counts, and “maim” is just one step too far, one too-extraneous verb. It barely crosses the line, but it does. And then “murder” keeps going. The word isn’t “kill” or “slay,” but “murder.” “Murder” has weight indeed, and casts a sort of silver lining around Green’s actions–if the silver lining were red, to mix these color metaphors. Justice in Green’s hands is still justice, but it’s tainted by something unnecessary.
Act II continues to deepen this complexity… until Act III waters it down by making Red such a complete douche that even Bluebeard looks better in comparison. Bluebeard. The archetypal monstrous bastard!
As you can see, even in my piddling criticisms, I find these games fascinating. There’s so much to think about! They’re so rewarding. And my analysis might be entirely wrong! Acts IV and V could flip everything on its head.
Dare to be Stupid!