TV: The Last of Us (HBO)

[TheAngryHank]

If the night king went to bear island..he would have been f***ed.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Damn. That was a very well paced episode. Really loved the head preacher guy's performance, knew he was hinky from the get go but it really ramped up nicely.

Joel when he gets his game face on is a scary dude. "It's alright, I believe him".. chilling.

I have to say too, Bella Ramsey is really stealing the show. Maybe one of the best teenager performances ever.

 

[HanSolo]

Outstanding. I don't know how it is in the game but it did feel like David was written a tad bit as a catharsis device for when Ellie eventually kills him, in that they really ramped up how twisted and despicable he was in the 15 minutes prior. But it worked so my only gripe isn't really a gripe. Oh and I guess it's a little implausible that Joel went from barely awake to fit for killing but I understand we don't have time for a plausible recovery.

My attempts at critique out of the way, such a good episode with some really strong payoffs. It's sad to think we only have, what 48 more minutes with this season 1 story? Agree with @Bounces R Way, Bella Ramsey is just phenomenal in this role. I don't know and I don't care how close she comes to game Ellie. This is a fantastic character backed by a fantastic performer. All the grief she got leading up to this show's release was grossly unwarranted.

 

[Hoverhand]

I think this series has done a much better job of showing how groups/pockets of society would develop over time than other post-apocalyptic shows. We've seen FEDRA, we've seen some of the Fireflies, and the KC resistance, but tonight we got a good glimpse of a smaller group that still maintains some structure and the lengths they've gone to survive.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

you know, its a good show and it was a good episode. but why do they have to skip every part with an infected? look im not saying they should have killed like 20 infected including a bloater but maybe one here or there.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Outstanding. I don't know how it is in the game but it did feel like David was written a tad bit as a catharsis device for when Ellie eventually kills him, in that they really ramped up how twisted and despicable he was in the 15 minutes prior. But it worked so my only gripe isn't really a gripe. Oh and I guess it's a little implausible that Joel went from barely awake to fit for killing but I understand we don't have time for a plausible recovery.

My attempts at critique out of the way, such a good episode with some really strong payoffs. It's sad to think we only have, what 48 more minutes with this season 1 story? Agree with @Bounces R Way, Bella Ramsey is just phenomenal in this role. I don't know and I don't care how close she comes to game Ellie. This is a fantastic character backed by a fantastic performer. All the grief she got leading up to this show's release was grossly unwarranted.

David is a little creepier in the game, you run from him longer but they did a decent job with him, felt really rushed. Joel is in crazy pain, in the game once Ellis gets captured she spends the night there, is that enough time for meds to help a badly infected wound? lol but yeah shows how much of a beast he is.

 

[sdf]

you know, its a good show and it was a good episode. but why do they have to skip every part with an infected? look im not saying they should have killed like 20 infected including a bloater but maybe one here or there.

Because that's not need to do

 

[LarKing]

Honestly, not watching the main characters hit headshots on zombies/infected for 5 minutes straight like in every other post apocalyptic show/movie has been a breath of fresh air. I do agree they could be shown more but leaving the John Wick action scenes out is more than okay with me.

 

[JoVel]

This has to be the best episode for me so far. Ramsey peaked here and the interrogation scene was so good.

you know, its a good show and it was a good episode. but why do they have to skip every part with an infected? look im not saying they should have killed like 20 infected including a bloater but maybe one here or there.

I don't know what that would've really added here.

 

[Tuggy]

It was a great epsiode. Bella Ramsey's best as Ellie.

The final scene in the steakhouse instantly brought me back to the game.

Spoiler

 

[stephenball]

you know, its a good show and it was a good episode. but why do they have to skip every part with an infected? look im not saying they should have killed like 20 infected including a bloater but maybe one here or there.

Because those are sections that are fun and interesting to play in a game but are in the long run superfluous to the story. They’re cool to play. But incredibly expensive to film and logistically challenging without the payoff of advancing story at all.

Basically what I’m saying is HBO isn’t going to spend a lot of time and money to do it just to make gamers happy because gamers will never be happy. You give them big infected set pieces and they’ll start complaining there’s no episodes that’s all Joel opening drawers to find crafting supplies. It would never end. If an infected scene is integral to the story it’ll be there I’m sure. Until then, play the video game again.

 

[John Price]

Pretty good episode

 

[HanSolo]

I'm actually going to agree that at this point in the series, the level of presence from the infected is just a little too low. It's not a huge negative because they aren't the focus of the story. In the show format they serve as a background threat that has kept humanity on the brink and the real threat is the people who will do anything to survive. I'm assuming in the game they serve the same purpose but you also encounter them more often to create action set pieces in between story threads. And I'd agree that this show doesn't need it for that purpose, but as a background threat you do need a little more presence to remind that they are as real a danger as the people Joel and Ellie are encountering. Off the top of my head, since the big action sequence from Episode 5, we've had like what? One infected?

Like I said, it's not a huge issue but it is an issue that the infected are practically irrelevant right now.

 

[kook10]

If I had to guess why there are fewer than expected infected, I would say it's simply because they look stupid.

 

[MM425]

I actually think the on-screen absence of the infected is what sets this show apart.

Let’s be honest, the fear and horror of zombies gets lost very quickly in other shows in this genre. Most of them end up feeling like a mindless action video game ironically. TLOU is the inverse… an adapted video game that mostly abandons the game action for drama, storytelling, world building, etc. It’s better TV for it.

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

This was the first time I was conflicted about a change from the game, specifically Joel being seconds too late to save Ellie from David, pulling her off his mutilated body, and comforting her. It was such a pivotal moment in the game for me, and having Ellie go through that moment alone seemed like the wrong choice.

However, I was reading others thoughts on the episode, specifically those who are SA survivors, and it’s made me rethink how I see the ending. Having Joel come in and save Ellie by comforting her is something that is a wish fulfilment for SA survivors, something that just doesn’t happen to any of these victims. The aftermath of an assault is something victims go through alone and is accompanied by shame and judgement.

Having Ellie go through that moment alone is awful and isolating, but after understanding this perspective it feels more real. The hero is never going to run through the door, as much as we hope they are.

It’s a change that I’m struggling with because that moment in the game is so precious to me, but I can understand that for taking the “truth” of the characters to their furthest point, Joel could never have been there for her.

This narrative is challenging me all over again.

 

[Jussi]

Pretty good episode. Just one thing irked me. When Dave said they can track the gir's footprints in the snow, you show a brief montage of a heavy winds and snowfall before it, which would mean, you're not tracking any footprints. Leave that our for the sake of verisimilitude.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

I don't like that the finale is such a short episode. There's still a lot of content to cover and I'm worried they're going to really blunt the climax of the game.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

It's Left Behind man, the story is moving forward. in the game, she takes him to a mall where she looks for medical supplies. as she's there she has flash backs of her last experience in a mall along with a story of her first love and how she got bit.

the story has pushed forward and more so than you think. she's showing she can be independent and things have flipped, now she's the one taking care of Joel

the episode wasn't that bad to be honest. would be kind of unrealistic to have ellie sneaking around killing clickers and infected with her knife.
would have been cool to see her run into a group and she throws a bottle to wake up infected and have them clear the way. then she sneaks by creating alot of tension but hey it is what it is

Yeah, that was definitely my favorite part of the DLC. Saw the opportunity and wanted to see if it would work and then just sat back and watched. That was so much fun. I can see why they skipped that part in the series though.

 

[JoVel]

I don't like that the finale is such a short episode. There's still a lot of content to cover and I'm worried they're going to really blunt the climax of the game.

To be fair the last chapter of the game is mostly combat which we've seen hasn't understandably been a big focus on this show time wise.

 

[HanSolo]

I actually think the on-screen absence of the infected is what sets this show apart.

Let’s be honest, the fear and horror of zombies gets lost very quickly in other shows in this genre. Most of them end up feeling like a mindless action video game ironically. TLOU is the inverse… an adapted video game that mostly abandons the game action for drama, storytelling, world building, etc. It’s better TV for it.

I almost want to agree. Scaling back heavily does set it apart in a good way but it can be very easy to forget as a pervasive unseen threat and they almost become little more than a cause to the effect of humanity living in an apocalypse than something that actually poses a threat. I'm not asking to see them every other scene and I'm not looking to them for horror effect and I'm more than fine going whole episodes without seeing them since, yeah, the story isn't about them. But throw in that they are an ongoing threat and one that Ellie can potentially eradicate through her immunity, I think you could stand to have them show up a little more without rubbing them in our faces.

 

[stephenball]

This was the first time I was conflicted about a change from the game, specifically Joel being seconds too late to save Ellie from David, pulling her off his mutilated body, and comforting her. It was such a pivotal moment in the game for me, and having Ellie go through that moment alone seemed like the wrong choice.

However, I was reading others thoughts on the episode, specifically those who are SA survivors, and it’s made me rethink how I see the ending. Having Joel come in and save Ellie by comforting her is something that is a wish fulfilment for SA survivors, something that just doesn’t happen to any of these victims. The aftermath of an assault is something victims go through alone and is accompanied by shame and judgement.

Having Ellie go through that moment alone is awful and isolating, but after understanding this perspective it feels more real. The hero is never going to run through the door, as much as we hope they are.

It’s a change that I’m struggling with because that moment in the game is so precious to me, but I can understand that for taking the “truth” of the characters to their furthest point, Joel could never have been there for her.

This narrative is challenging me all over again.

I saw a comment I liked that said it changed it from Joel getting there as a savior to her in that moment, and instead he got there as a father for her after the fact.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

To be fair the last chapter of the game is mostly combat which we've seen hasn't understandably been a big focus on this show time wise.

While that's true, it seems to me this is one of the combat pieces that they can't really omit.

 

[sdf]

I'm about to watch it

 

[Walkingthroughforest]

I saw a comment I liked that said it changed it from Joel getting there as a savior to her in that moment, and instead he got there as a father for her after the fact.

Damn. I really like that.