The story for Grand Theft Auto Online's new mission, The Last Dose brings bad news for those who killed Dr. Friedlander in GTA 5's main campaign. The Last Dose is the most recent addition to GTA Online's Los Santos Drug Wars story which began in December 2022 and sees a variety of factions fighting to take control of the Los Santos psychedelics trade.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for GTA 5 and GTA Online: The Last Dose]
Dr. Friedlander appeared in GTA 5 as one of Los Santos' top therapists, having treated both its celebrities and criminals and was a leading authority in the field of sociopathic personality disorder. This led him to take on one of GTA 5's protagonists, Michael De Santa, as a patient before Friedlander was offered his own TV show outside of the city. After unwisely implying that he would use Michael's criminal exploits as a case on his new TV show, an intense chase broke out and Friedlander's fate was left in the hands of the player.
Dr. Friedlander Might Return From The Dead For Some GTA Players
By the events of The Last Dose, which take place almost a decade after GTA 5, Dr. Friedlander's established the FriedMind Pharmaceutical Corporation, used his medical knowledge to produce a new hallucinogen, and hired a small army of mercenaries to do his bidding. Outside of the former therapist's somewhat extreme career change, Friedlander's return isn't that jarring for some players, as he was last seen being let go from Michael after their chase. For others, however, Friedlander's return is quite a surprise, as they chose the option to kill him instead.
Regardless of his fate in GTA 5, a Los Santos Meteor news article mentioning Friedlander's death still appeared, much like articles referencing other optional killings, which was likely an oversight on Rockstar's part. This article also revealed he published details of Michael's sessions (giving his patient the not-so-discreet alias of Marky De Santos) in a best-selling book, anyway. Despite this, Friedlander would still post on GTA's Twitter parody, Bleeter after some time, and if Friedlander lived, he would send an email asking forgiveness from Michael as well.
GTA Online's "The Contract" Wisely Avoided GTA 5 Retcons
Dr. Friedlander wasn't a major character in GTA 5, but the option to kill him was still one that players got to make themselves, making Rockstar's retcon of this choice annoying for some, even though The Last Dose delivers a solid story if it were standalone. Although it makes sense with Friedlander's medical history, given how many characters players have met in the world of GTA, and how the drug trade has appeared in nearly every entry to date, there were several others that could have been brought in from the wider series to run a drug gang instead.
GTA Online avoided a GTA 5 retcon in its Dr. Dre starring mission The Contract when it brought back Franklin. Franklin was the only character out of GTA 5's playable trio that didn't have an alternate ending where they die, as he was the one who had to make the decision for GTA 5's final mission to kill either of the game's other protagonists, Michael or Trevor, or team up with both of them to take down their various antagonists from the game, such as FIB agents, Merryweather mercenaries and billionaire Devin Weston.
The latter option, titled "Deathwish", was the only one in which all three characters could survive and evidence suggests that it is GTA 5's true canon ending. Despite this ending being widely considered as the canonical one, Franklin's return in The Contract didn't reference it except for a throwaway line about Franklin knowing a producer in the area, which could have been a nod to Michael, or to any other producer Franklin may have met prior to The Contract arc - and therefore didn't break continuity regardless of which ending players chose.
Despite this, 2017's Smuggler's Run missions did give players some information that retconned the "Something Sensible" ending where Franklin killed Trevor. In Smuggler's Run, the player teams up with Trevor's former partner in crime Ron. Upon meeting Ron, he rants that Trevor has left him behind and has moved to Vinewood, where he is trying to clean up his act as a "guru" or "lifestyle coach" years after the events of GTA 5, which is an entertaining idea given Trevor's chaotic nature.
Both of these examples could have been avoided with an alternate line or even the omission of them depending on the player's choice at the end of GTA 5, and would have no impact on the specific GTA Online missions' story and how those events unfold. Dr. Friedlander's return is the most major, and inescapable GTA Online retcon, however, because rather than being a throwaway cameo or reference, Friedlander and his company FriedMind are the main antagonists in The Last Dose and appear prominently from its third mission through to Los Santos Drug Wars' finale.
Player's Still Don't Get A Say In Dr. Friedlander's Fate In The Last Dose
By allowing the player to choose story points, a game can offer more unique experiences to share and compare with others and furthers players' immersion in a title. A developer opting to retcon this and decide what the definitive story is negates this idea of control and can be detrimental to a player's experience. Although in some cases this comes down to logistical reasons when developing sequels and having to pick an arc to follow, it can often be avoided for smaller decisions, with moments like Dr. Friedlander's fate in GTA 5 being a prime example.
GTA Online further sets this retcon in stone with The Last Dose's finale. Despite Dr. Friedlander's fully antagonistic role in The Last Dose, the story still doesn't allow the player to kill the therapist-turned-drug lord upon its conclusion. After fighting through Dr. Friedlander's army of hired mercenaries and hijacking the cargo plane he is trying to escape on with his stockpile of drugs, the player sees him emerging from a packing crate down in the cargo bay. Although this would have been a great opportunity to confront and kill him, Friedlander jumps from the plane wearing a parachute, and the objective turns to securing the drugs instead.
Of course with GTA Online now firmly following what Rockstar believes to be GTA 5's true events, Friedlander's escape could be building up to the return of Michael regardless of whether he died in GTA 5's finale. A dataminer found clues that could indicate Michael is returning to GTA Online last year, and although Ned Luke, who portrays Michael, was careful not to confirm or deny anything, this would make sense following Friedlander's return. Michael's last interaction with his former therapist if he let him go was a death threat he may now act upon, potentially teaming up with players' GTA Online character to do so now both characters have a mutual hatred of Friedlander.
It's unlikely that Michael, Franklin, and Trevor will cross over into Lucia and Jason's story in GTA 6 due to the series' nature, usually following new protagonists with each entry. Whereas earlier games like GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas had crossover moments, these have lessened somewhat in GTA's "HD era" with GTA 4 and GTA 5. Therefore, with GTA Online being tied so closely to GTA 5's story and world, something like Dr. Friedlander's fate should be tied up in GTA Online prior to GTA 6's eventual release, and could finally satisfy those who wanted him dead.
Sources: Rockstar Games/YouTube
