Rockstar just dropped its second Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer outta nowhere, and it's managed to do something I wasn't expecting: It made me totally invested in protagonists Jason and Lucia's whole dynamic, despite the fact I've seen less than five minutes of them.
While the first trailer was a broader overview of Lucia and a modern-day Vice City—with Jason only speaking a single word and appearing for less than 10 seconds—the second trailer has honed in a lot more on the Bonnie-and-Clyde-esque relationship between the two. Tender moments are spliced between criminal activity, helicopter fights, and swamp chases, and leaping from motorbikes on highways.
We already knew Lucia has spent an undisclosed amount of time in prison, and the latest trailer shows Jason picking her up as she's released. While the reunion doesn't seem to send sparks flying straight off the bat—the initial awkwardness has me theorising she's been in there for at least a couple years—it takes approximately two seconds before we're treated to a scene of the two rolling around on the bed, ankle bracelets and all.
There's beer drinking (lots of it), heavy petting (even moreso), and clearly a severe lack of lesson-learning as it doesn't take the two long to ingrain themselves in some classic crime committing. But even among the chaos and the violence—I mean, it's GTA, of course there's an abundance of both those things—the few sentences that the two do share are full of care and affection. It's a perfect juxtaposition, one which shows a surprisingly normal and healthy relationship between two delinquents.
Maybe it's 12 years of being hit over the head with GTA 5's Michael and Amanda De Santa's toxicity and marital problems, but getting glimpses of the dynamic between Jason and Lucia is incredibly refreshing. It already has me both excited for their story and anxious for their inevitably tragic ending. It's a dynamic which feels like the two actually like each other, which is already a rare win, but also like it's a couple on equal footing with one another. Couples who rob convenience stores together, stay together, or however that saying goes.
It also doesn't feel like Lucia only exists to be the nagging woman, or the sassy woman, or any other stereotype that Rockstar has cribbed from in the past. When she comes home from her community service towards the end of the trailer to Jason lazing on the couch with a half-drunk beer, she doesn't deride him. She goes straight in for a lie down and a hug. Hell, there's even a second beer on the table, one which I've already headcanoned Jason had ready for her when she got back.
It's one of those incredibly normal moments. They're not caricatures, they're not over-the-top zany criminals. They're just people. A woman tired after a long day of… work? That moment when you get to share an intimate moment with your partner and all the stress melts away.
Though we've still not seen much of them, Jason and Lucia feel like a breath of fresh air after GTA 5. While I love Michael, Franklin, and Trevor, it's nice to see a return to more grounded protagonists. As grounded as you can get for a GTA game, mind. It's made me even more interested in just how these two have fallen into a life of crime, and how they ended up finding each other.
Honestly, props to Rockstar for already having me so invested in these two and their story in what amounts to an entire four minutes and 16 seconds of trailer footage between the two teasers—hell, they're not even in it for all of that time, much less together. If I'm already this hooked off such little exposure, I imagine Rockstar's going to be taking me on a hell of a narrative ride when the game launches next year. Just for the love of god, don't put me in a situation where I have to kill one of them.
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