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Looks familiar, doesn't it? Especially after exploring the FW and finding the cell where The Entity was kept for over a century, the game even pinpoints these similarities itself. Not to mention the Wayne's Theme playing in this moment which highlightes how alike the situations are.

Of course, Reese is not some Scarlet who is going to be sacrificed for the Greater Good™ of Scarlet Hollow, but an abused, gaslighted, poisoned, drugged, isolated and eventually locked away from the whole world man whose mother was afraid of him that much because he was born wrong. His cell is not for some prosperity of the town, not because of some bargain with a devil that happened a long time ago, but because of the fear of what he is.

Reese is not our MC, who is currently kinda a normal human being; not also gaslighted, abused, isolated Tabitha who was always one step away from being in the Rich People Dungeon; he is literally a Jersey Devil, a satanic child, a creature that could literally rip you apart. I mean, he gobbles down his own mother pretty fast, lol. For Joan abuse (and also let's not forget she tried to kill her son, she explicitly says so) was the solution because, well, Reese is dangerous. I'm of the opinion that Reese is as naturally dangerous as the lion in the wilderness, especially considering we currently don't know to what extent Reese devilish genes even work. Does he have some, idk, eldrith instincts? Does he have some primal urge to eat people? (i mean, he ate his mom when he could just kill her and no, i don't think he thought about the ways to dispose of her body in his state of total fear and anger) Is there a possibility he has some innate desire to destroy? Wayne called him a failed weapon. Plus, even on the Tame The Beast route, where Reese doesn't decide to have your cousin for breakfast, he still has lines like that:

What a normal way to respond to a question, Reese! With a creepy smile and a bright red text! You go, boy! Moreover, we play a horror game, so I would expect (and hope) them to actually explore all of the dangers of having a local devil-man running around the town free. But does this mean Reese deserves to be locked up in the cell because maaybbeee he wants to eat people or some other eldritch stuff? Even if he actually wants to eat people and has some innate desire for destruction, does this mean we can lock him up against his will? Does him being a monster against his will justifies locking him up for good? Does us being a Scarlet against our will justifies locking us up for the better of the town? And does Tabitha being a granddaughter of Edwardina against her will justifies demanding her to pay the sins of the father? Possibility of Reese having a crashout and eating people is scary. But also is the possibility of the whole town dying, and not to mention we don't know what price did Vivian pay for escaping the town. And, of course, haunted City Hall is also dangerous and maybe even deadly. Of course, it can be said it's all different situations with different consequences, but stripping other person of autonomy isn't. At least Tabitha wasn't actually forced to give up her years (except she is forced to run the mine and continue the legacy even without her abusive mother around), but with MC and Reese they're not being asked, but violently shoved into the cell.

When you try to open the door after witnessing the horror of Reese situation, Joan tells you this: Reese must be in the cell, but our case isn't the same. But, well, it's the same.

We must be in the cell to keep the town from eating itself. Reese must be in the cell to keep him from eating the town. I make these compasions because you can literally have this dialogue with Reese in this scene:

And in the same chapter you can have a very lovely chat with Tabitha and Stella about locking you up for your whole life. WELL, HOW TABLES HAVE TURNED!

What about what I want? What about me? Our independence is stripped away just like Reese was. And, if you have a Powerful Build, you can do the same thing that Reese did or tried to do: kill your future captor.

If we can try to kill Tabitha for our own freedom, why Reese can't? Why defending yourself is seen as a crime? There is no difference between MC trying to kill Tabitha with their own hands, and Reese doing the same with claws and teeth. We are humans, we get scared.

I think Reese is working like a direct parallel to our situation, especially with Wayne's theme in the scene. But actually does anyone in this town have their autonomy respected? MC and Reese are just direct examples of stripping a person of their autonomy with four walls and total isolation. Joan Kelly wasn't asked if she even wants a child— she just happened to be pregnant because some eldritch horrors decided so. Then she found out her son is an eldritch horror. It all happened against her own will and yes, she is an abuser, but also nobody asked her if she wants a demonic child in her uterus. Just like nobody asked Tabitha if she wants to have a child in her uterus too because she was likely forced to produce an heir, so they could potentially lock her up in the dungeon cell instead of Vivian's offspring. Unfortunately, Tabitha has no autonomy over her womb in all senses— she's likely infertile. Even if she wants children, she can't have them. Nobody asked her if she wants to carry a child, if she wants to be a mother— not even her body. Tabitha liked Wayne as she says in the Toxic Yuri encounter, but no one asked her opinion when Wayne was killed off for maybe some eldritch ritual. And if theory about Tabitha killing Perleanne after the later killed Wayne is true— is Tabitha inherently wrong for taking revenge on a person who is not only abused her for her whole life, but also took her chance at some little happiness again? Nobody asked Stella if she wants to have her parents killed in a road accident because she lives in a horror town that won't let you go. Nobody asked Oscar if he wants his life to be ruined just because Holler wants him back. Nobody asked Kanneka if she wants to be wiped out of people's memories after returning to the town she wanted so much to escape. Nobody asked Charlie if he wants to be killed and then being unable to rest in peace even in death, so he now haunts the library in his own personal hell. Not to mention the whole mind controlling stuff Sybil does not only to her daughter, but THE WHOLE TOWN IN GENERAL. Avery are being rejected by the town, residents can't leave, ditchlings are not asking wild animals do they want to become an incubator for some eldritch horror. Yeah, nobody asked Betty the Chicken if she wants to have a parasitic egg inside of her. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention Wayne, who is likely body-hopping from Scarlet to Scarlet, whose autonomy are stripped away, while his own autonomy is also stripped away in the process. Nobody asked the eldritch entity if it wants to be in the cell for over a century also. It wants to see some nice beaches but it can't. Scarlet Hollow, as the whole town, is not letting anyone out. Yes, the freaking demonic town with some devil ritual doesn't respect your autonomy as well.