TV: The Last of Us (HBO)

[HanSolo]

Ignoring that there are no zombies in this show, how many zombie shows are there? 2?

The Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead (I was stunned to find out from Google that this garbage got 7 seasons)
Zombieland: The Series
Z Nation
I zombie (barely counts. I didn't watch it but pretty sure the main character is an intelligent zombie who solves murders by eating part of the victim's brain)
The Last of Us

The rest are too obscure to matter. So yeah. Not that many all things considered. A lot more zombie movies if anything.

 

[HanSolo]

Why americans so much loves stories about f***ing zombies, it is not that interesting. Although this particular show are good, yet

Ignoring that it's not just Americans, if I had to give my best guess it's because in terms of the viewer fantasizing about themselves being involved in violent action that they see in TV and movies, a zombie apocalypse scenario is pretty cleanly a scenario where killing would not be morally unacceptable but necessary for survival. Past that I think a lot of people like to imagine how they'd fare in a zombie apocalypse or what they would do to survive. And last I'd imagine that there's something inherently interesting about humanity pushed to the brink of extinction and the threat of zombies gives that tangible threat and present dread that one wrong move could be your last and the human population is that much smaller.

I think the medium is limited in how many different stories you can tell with that concept but I've enjoyed what the last of us has given us. And technically gave us ten years ago.

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

Why americans so much loves stories about f***ing zombies, it is not that interesting. Although this particular show are good, yet

This and TWD and Last of Us are not really about zombies at their core, they are survival stories.

 

[Osprey]

Wow. Two people responded to sdf. That must be a record.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

The Walking Dead
Fear the Walking Dead (I was stunned to find out from Google that this garbage got 7 seasons)
Zombieland: The Series
Z Nation
I zombie (barely counts. I didn't watch it but pretty sure the main character is an intelligent zombie who solves murders by eating part of the victim's brain)
The Last of Us

The rest are too obscure to matter. So yeah. Not that many all things considered. A lot more zombie movies if anything.

I wouldnt separate TWD and Fear TWD as different shows even

 

[HanSolo]

I wouldnt separate TWD and Fear TWD as different shows even

I'll take your word for it. I watched one episode and immediately tapped out.

 

[T REX]

While, I hate review bombing and think it's a very dumb tool of a collective of passionate but very misguided idiots (this is fanbase that review bombed Last of Us 2 because they didn't like aspects of the story). I will say, in this case, it's not getting review bombed because the episode lacked action or focused on character development primarily. It's getting review bombed because they significantly deviated and changed the purpose of a great character in the game (Bill). What Bill emphasized in this episode thematically was there was hope for love and happiness in this world. In the game, he emphasized bitterness, and that love and trust will get you killed in this apocalyptic world. And, when you dramatically, change what a character does thematically in a story that has a very passionate fanbase, usually it results in backlash. Just look at what happened when Jack Reacher got played by Tom Cruise or how book readers reacted to certain changes in Game of Thrones. Not saying it's warranted, but I think you are misguided on one of the major reasons this episode is getting backlash.

I love the Last of Us games, and am one of the biggest proponents of HBO's premium shows (The Wire and Sopranos are my two favorite drama's of all time by a wide margin). I generally think video game adaptions are an absolutely terrible idea, but was hopeful for this one given the people and studio behind it. I'm enjoying this show, and hope these changes result in a masterpiece, but I am curious on how this change thematically plays out.

Any cursory glance at FB or Twitter tells you exactly why it was review bombed. I took a ton of screenshots of horrific comments. I can share them with you if you want. Gotta be real honest...it is obvious why.

 

[T REX]

If you take away any review bombing or any anti-LGBT bias Episode 3 was one of the best TV shows ever aired at least this millennium.

We laughed and we cried. The show is more than a game adaptation...more than a zombie show...it is about the human condition. I can see how many people wouldn't get it.

 

[RobBrown4PM]

And I don't think Zombies are strictly an American thing either, considering Train to Busan and it's sequel were pretty popular and weren't from the USA

A lot of Korean media has its roots in hollywood, American music industry, et cetera. S. Korea was essentially an American colony post WW2

 

[Beau Knows]

I'm not really a fan of the games, it works much better as a TV show for me.

 

[GKJ]

Finally get the Ellie and Riley story next week.

 

[Blender]

The show has been great.

 

[LarKing]

This show is crazy. Not even much action but the dialogue hits

 

[Bowski]

Why americans so much loves stories about f***ing zombies, it is not that interesting. Although this particular show are good, yet

America is a beautiful country, so it's escapism to imagine it ruined like your typical Eastern European slum.

Zombies = Alcoholics and Cretins that come out during the day too. Is good, yes?

 

[Tw1ster]

This show makes me feel like crying at least once an episode.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Yeah if they can keep this quality up all series I genuinely think it will go down as an all time great. Mind you that's a pretty significant if...


Highly misrepresented as a "zombie series" as well. Its clearly about far deeper themes. Like those ridiculous arguments after episode 3 about how TLOU isn't about love.... Love is one of the biggest, most resounding theme's of the series and that is blatantly obvious at this point.

 

[Natey]

I'm so f***ing happy they put my favourite scene from the game in. It was great too, even though they slightly changed the words.

Another awesome episode. I wish they just made the show 15 episodes and gave us more action, but overall I still absolutely love it. They decided to make it more about the relationships and it's definitely still working for me on that end.

I still can't believe people were worried about Bella as Ellie. She's f***ing killed it. And obviously Pedro is incredible.

I hope they decide to go a different direction with the show and give us a bunch of the inbetween years that weren't in the games. I just need more Joel and Ellie. More Pedro and Bella.

 

[Super Cake]

Spoiler

For non-gamers, I hope they show at least one scene that shows Joel is still alive next episode so that they can enjoy the left behind story. It would be kind of torture if they didn't.

 

[Natey]

Any cursory glance at FB or Twitter tells you exactly why it was review bombed. I took a ton of screenshots of horrific comments. I can share them with you if you want. Gotta be real honest...it is obvious why.

It doesn't mean that's the only reason though - although there's always going to be those types of disgusting people that review bomb for gross reasons.

I didn't like the 3rd episode purely for the reason that it did nothing for me. It took away one of the coolest parts of the game and gave us a love story between characters we'll never see again. It just did nothing for me. I think it would have been much better served showing half of that episode during episode 2 and then giving us the finish during episode 3. It wouldn't have felt so out of place in that way and I would have still loved the story. Could have been something as simple as Tess & Joel mentioning Bill as a place they could grab supplies on the way then fading into that story. Giving us up until the gunshot to end episode 2. Start episode 2 with showing Bill better and Frank sick. Then go back to the present with Tess' death and Joel & Ellie on the way to see Bill. Go back and show the end of the Bill & Frank, which would have hit so much harder, and then have Joel and Ellie show up.

It was an incredibly well done piece of television with wonderful acting, but yeah, when the season is as short as it is, wasting one of the longest episodes on two characters who are only in that single episode and did nothing for the main story (just the main theme). Just not for me.

PS. Not towards you, but the guy you quoted - Last of Us 2 sucked as far as story goes. Not for their decisions on character fates, but the ridiculous amounts of plot armor and stupid decisions that characters would never make. The also set the game up poorly with how they laid it out since they wanted you to fall in love with one character, but they made a bad decision in the set-up. They should have made you play a bunch of backstory with that character first. Well that, and the false marketing.

Spoiler

For non-gamers, I hope they show at least one scene that shows Joel is still alive next episode so that they can enjoy the left behind story. It would be kind of torture if they didn't.

Spoiler

My guess is that she's going to get Joel to safety, while he's still not responding and then "dream/think" of the story which will show us the story because she's scared she's going to lose someone else and there's nothing she can do. When the story ends, she's going to say f*** this and that she's going to save Joel and we end up seeing him wake up.

 

[HanSolo]

Loved the episode. No complaints. Best opportunity for Pedro to shine since episode 1.

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

Phenomenal episode.

It walks a beautiful line of staying so true to the destination of the story, but taking a new path to get us there.

That’s really how I’d describe so much of TLOU. Every episode, every scene, every line pushes the characters forward in a way that is true to the original, yet wholly its own expression of art.

It’s almost too bad that this show has become as popular as it is, as the number of takes from people struggling with media literacy (whether it’s as high concept as struggling to understand Bill and Franks staggering thematic impact on the show, to the head scratching lows as believing this would be John Wick with zombies) unfortunately seems to drown out some of the discourse.

It was a problem with the discussion around Part II as well. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with someone disliking that story or having a negative emotional reaction to it, I actually think that’s totally valid. I know I really struggled many pieces of that game, but I couldn’t deny it was a masterclass of storytelling, even if I hated experiencing it.

A lot of people seem to struggle with separating the negative emotions a complex, deep, and moving narrative can bring up for them, and then blame it on the narrative itself. Many only have a surface level understanding of what they’re looking at.

 

[TheAngryHank]

Excellent episode , Tommys wife was on true blood.
Really enjoying this show.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Excellent episode , Tommys wife was on true blood.
Really enjoying this show.

Tommy's wife told Ellie that she used to be an assistant DA before everything went to shit.

She looked far too young for that right? This is 20 years later and she looked like she was still in her 30s.

 

[Osprey]

I enjoyed that episode the most. There was more character and plot development in it than any other episode.

Also, HBO really spared no expense on it. All of that shredded styrofoam must cost a fortune.

 

[JoVel]

America is a beautiful country, so it's escapism to imagine it ruined like your typical Eastern European slum.

Zombies = Alcoholics and Cretins that come out during the day too. Is good, yes?

Whenever watching a US based zombie show, I like to imagine the rest of the world is still functioning just well. Canadians are up there thinking "oh the yanks are up to some shit again".