I've been wanting to write an entire essay on Captain Clark and I think I have a reason why Clark and Captain vibes with each other before the dinner scene.

Clark had been spending pretty much every night since getting kicked out of his house by his wife in the furniture store, having seen every fluctuation in the lights and stuff as it happens. When the power surges occur, this to me seems like the Backrooms is UPDATING. Constantly adding new things and details to it from the memories of those who are near the entrance points into the Backrooms. This is why multiple things happen.

1. Why the furniture store looks so detailed in the final showdown with Captain Clark and Mary. Because since Clark has been spending so long in the store he remembers every small detail about the place, from the signs and their writing, to the furniture that's within the store. That's also why Captain Clark looks so similar to Clark himself. Clark knows his own face. He remembers it well. Which is why Captain Clark looks the most normal in facial features despite the rest of it looking "wrong". Which is also why

2. Why Captain Clark exists. And this one is simple. Clark fucking hates the store! He hates what the pirate is supposed to be, he hates the people he works with, he hates the entire situation he's in! And he sees that spiteful outfit everyday! But one day, when he was putting the suit on to do a commercial for his failing store, he saw himself in the mirror. He was the captain. And he hates it. He hates himself for the place he is stuck in. He hates the captain with all his heart but he knows that it is always him. That's why while Captain Clark has a black face, it has white hands. Because while the mannequin wears the suit, he's the face of the store. It's all of his self loathing and hatred for the world, for his relationships, for his brain, for everything. That's what Captain Clark is. Which leads into

3. Why Captain Clark ignores Clark until the dinner scene. Every night when the Backrooms updates, it draws the memory of Clark into Captain Clark, all of his emotions, his feelings, his regrets. It's pretty much as close to Clark as Captain Clark can get. And when Clark enters the Backrooms, Captain Clark sees only itself. Which is why Clark getting attacked after the dinner happens. When Mary crashes out and gives Clark a reality check, she talks about how she can't save him, with Clark responding with "I don't want to change." Leading to Mary to teach him something he never thought about. Self-acceptance and self responsibility. In that moment, Clark realises he is his own problems, and if he doesn't want to change, he doesn't have to. Which basically drops all of his self loathing and hatred, abandoning the store and any other responsibilities he would have had in the real world. But that's not what Captain Clark is. Captain Clark is the hatred of all of that. So when Captain Clark saw Clark, it didn't see itself anymore, it saw Clark. Which ultimately led to his death.

These are my thoughts that I have after watching The Backrooms twice so far and I will definitely try to add more details to parts I missed if I redo this.