Who is Lee Everett, and what does he mean to you?

Let's start by saying that it's my intention to discuss Lee from Telltale's The Walking Dead in terms of his growth as a character over the four episodes released so far. As such, it should be assumed that by reading this post, and the subsequent replies you're likely going to be given a heavy dose of spoilers along the way.

In a bare bones, superficial way, we know who Lee is. He's a University professor who taught American History, his parents owned a drug store that his brother worked at, and most importantly in terms of his arc in the series-- a convicted felon. The crime, we're told, was an accident-- but resulted in Lee being convicted of murdering a Senator who was having an affair with his wife.

In episode one we were led to believe that 'Lee as felon' would be a key conceit throughout the series, but the payoff so far has been rather lackluster. Outside of a few interactions early, we're supposed to suspend disbelief enough that a man who murdered a Unites States Senator isn't immediately recognized by every single person he comes across, especially in the state in which it took place. This isn't a huge issue in and of itself; after all, this is a game. Unfortunately it feels a little too much like a potentially complex situation has been reduced to 'Lee is a bad man', everyone just doesn't know it.

The problem I have is that Lee has not experienced the same arc throughout the series that other characters have. Perhaps it's because he's been saddled with Clementine, thereby taking on the Archetypal role of protector, rather than allowing him to find his way through this world. In many ways Kenny had the same role when the game began-- he was a protector, but because such a large degree of change was allowed to be placed upon him we now have a broken, single-minded man who is struggling to survive, but who drifts in and out of true lucidity when he comes to the realization that he's not even sure what he's trying to survive for.

Then we have Lee. His goal since meeting Clementine has been singular-- protect her. The main issue with this relationship is that it hasn't really been allowed to grow. Sure, we're given brief moments like Clementine reminding Lee he told her to always stay close, or the payoff of her killing a walker being a direct relation to his survival skill lessons. However, in a world that feels so fleshed out, and so complete, often it feels to me that the character we as the player has the greatest relationship with, and have the most invested in, is also the most flat.

Herein lies my issue heading into episode five-- I can't help but feel that for the first time I know exactly what is going to happen. Sure, there have been in-episode moments where I know what the 'gotcha' is, but now it feels there's only one path left for Lee post-bite-- rescue Clementine, tell her that he loves her, and ultimately kill himself for the best of the group.

Does anyone else feel the same emotional detachment from Lee, and if so why do you think it is? Are we separated from him more by pure virtue of Lee being the controllable character? Are there some key decisions that maybe I didn't make that you think fleshes him out more, and makes him more of a viable character? Finally, do you think it's intentional that he's left rather flat when compared with the rest of the cast, so he becomes they player's tabula rasa?