TV: The Last of Us (HBO)

[Kcb12345]

That Ending is a joke?
f*** me that was AWFULLLL
Wtf with the Jurassic Park Girraffes...

Good lord...

The ending has always been controversial. Some love it, some feel like this. I personally love it. The giraffe scene is a classic. A fan favorite from the games

The action scene in the hospital was very well done. Quick and brutal, the way it needed to be.

 

[Bowski]

That ugh...kind of sucked.
Some nice highlights to help wrap it all up, but the conclusion was very bleh IMO.

Good VG adaptation show overall, lord knows we needed a well produced palate cleanser after Halo.

If they decide do a S2 that includes Brockina Lesnar...

 

[John Price]

Bella Ramsey Will Return for 'The Last of Us' Season 2

The Last of Us creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann confirm that Bella Ramsey will return for Season 2 of the acclaimed HBO series.

www.thewrap.com

‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Will Have ‘A Lot More Infected,’ Creators Address Complaints About Lack of Action

'The Last of Us' creators tease more infected and address the complaints about the lack of action in Season 1

variety.com

 

[ArGarBarGar]

People disliked the ending in the game? I thought it was universally praised?

I think the show adapted the final part of the game incredibly well.

 

[Karterthadon]

If they decide do a S2 that includes Brockina Lesnar...

That would be like doing A Game of Thrones without the Lannisters, kinda hard

 

[Kcb12345]

People disliked the ending in the game? I thought it was universally praised?

I think the show adapted the final part of the game incredibly well.

It was always controversial, but I'd say most liked it. I remember when I played it it caught me so off guard but I loved it. Had me thinking about it for a long time after. 2nd one had me thinking even longer tho, can't wait to see the reactions to that

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Why was ending controversial? We all know they would survive..

Anyways the episode was fine I guess... I've only watched the show I don't understand how you have people calling this a masterpiece by any means.

Annoying problem I have is you get the whole "bad guy monologues then lets good guy get away" I know it has to be like that but c'mon... keep him in custody until after the surgery, or have 10 armed guards walk him out lol

 

[T REX]

The short episode really hurt it for me.

It was still good, but really felt like another 15 minutes or so would have made damn near perfect. Made some sections feel rushed and not as fleshed out as they could have been with even just that tiny little bit more.


Still, truly overall a phenomenal season. Sucks that we're most likely looking at ~2 years before season 2. Not sure what to do with my Sunday nights again

This needed another 15-20 minutes to really end it well.

It is a great show. It is a great episode. I feel like they could have knocked it out of the park with a little more story. I imagine they had no idea it would be this popular and budget was tight

 

[Kcb12345]

This needed another 15-20 minutes to really end it well.

It is a great show. It is a great episode. I feel like they could have knocked it out of the park with a little more story. I imagine they had no idea it would be this popular and budget was tight

It was just like the games final mission length really, just less combat. I'm not sure what else they could've added story/dialogue wise.

They definitely knew it was gonna be popular though, it had a very high budget (like mid seasons Game of Thrones type budget)

 

[Hivemind]

Aside of the intro, this was probably the most faithful episode to the game. And even the intro has a game element to it, with the voice actress who played Ellie in the game getting to play Ellie's mother. They shortened the combat compared to the game, but otherwise not many changes. While I agree it feels rather quick in the TV format (the longer combat sequences in the game give you more time to dwell on Ellie's surgery and the decisions coming up), I don't think a further extended action sequence would have done much for the episode, nor do I think there was really much more that could have been done in the dialogue sequences between him and Marlene.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

I think I just may watch part 2 on youtube tonight rather then wait a year and a half to see why so many people hate part 2

 

[HanSolo]

I liked it...but I didn't love it. I'll try to be concise and just go bulletpoints

-I thought Pascal knocked it out of the park with his performance from start to finish. He didn't overact it where a less talented actor would have. He went through a wide range of subtle emotions in a real short time and the tension between knowing his actions were wrong and his desperation to cling onto the person he cares most for, I thought it was terrific.

-Conversely I don't think Ramsey was all that great in this one after back to back to back excellent performances. I get that Ellie is supposed to be pensive and nervous heading into this momentous destiny but I just wasn't feeling much from her until the last scene.

-I think part of what probably held Ramsey back was that the dialogue scenes didn't get enough room to breathe. I agree with what someone else said, it wouldn't work to extend Joel's rampage more than what we got. I think that risks extending into tedious action for action's sake. People are saying this was note for note just like the game so idk what more you could add but maybe you let the Ellie and Joel moments breathe a little more. It's not that I think those moments weren't powerful, but they did feel a bit rushed.

-I didn't play through the game so I only knew what actually ends up happening but I don't think Joel's rampage went as well as it could have. The shots of dead Fireflys were a solid touch but as for the action itself, like I get Joel is a well seasoned killer but it just felt...too easy for him. It didn't feel like a brutal and desperate rush to save someone, it felt like a video game player with a cheat code on. The last scene with Marlene and the killing of the doctor worked well enough for me though.

-the intro with Ellie's mother was pretty strong but all I could think was how dirty those birth conditions were. Ellie's lucky in more ways than one.

-I agree that it's pretty stupid that Marlene sent Joel out with a couple Fireflys, knowing full well what he's capable of instead of keeping him restrained until the surgery was over. Like I'm willing to excuse stupid decision making in characters because people are flawed and they make mistakes. But they make such a fuss about how Marlene understands what it means to kill Ellie given her relationship with Ellie's mother and how this is what has to be done. Joel is the single greatest threat to their goal around. If you're that serious about sacrificing Ellie for a cure, you keep Joel restrained with at least two guns constantly pointed at his head. This criticism extends to both iterations of the story, it's a plot contrivance and there's no way around it. I wouldn't have even minded if a couple of infected made their way into the hospital giving Joel an opportunity to take everyone by surprise. It would be a contrivance too, but a less stupid one.

-Ultimately, I don't agree with Joel's choice and his lies after the fact. But the show, as a whole makes the choice easy to understand. It's selfish and it's cowardly but he came to love Ellie like he did Sarah. He came to look at Ellie like the only reason to keep going and keep fighting. It's awful and deplorable, yet eminently human and understandable all the same. I'm not super crazy about the circumstances that led to the result, but it's an appropriately nuanced ending that tied up the rest of the story pretty well thematically. I'm team Joel was right and wrong, but mostly wrong.

 

[JoVel]

I already thought 45 minutes is short for the finale for the amount of storytelling they still needed to do. The beginning sequence with Ellie's birth meant the present story got just about 30 minutes of air time, which is short no matter which way you put it. I still liked it, but it could've been better. I loved the conversation between Joel and Ellie about Sarah and the start of the pandemic, his suicide attempt etc.

Ellie's mother being bitten just as she was giving birth suggests that that's how the immunity happened. Now, what I'm surprised about is that Marlene and the Fireflies haven't set up camps where they have pregnant women being bitten as they're giving birth and try to figure out a cure that way. That's some Unit 731 shit but the Fireflies aren't exactly a humane group of people. I mean, Marlene was willing to kill a child that she had known her entire life for that cure.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Pretty good stuff. I had a tough time feeling as much emotion as I did earlier in the series. Perhaps it wore me thin. I'd give the first season an 8/10.

 

[LarKing]

Pedro Pascal deserves all of the awards. I knew the ending from a friend playing the game years ago, but man it still hit me hard. Back then I thought it was extremely stupid but now you can understand why he made that choice as selfish as it might be.

 

[Jugitsu]

I already thought 45 minutes is short for the finale for the amount of storytelling they still needed to do. The beginning sequence with Ellie's birth meant the present story got just about 30 minutes of air time, which is short no matter which way you put it. I still liked it, but it could've been better. I loved the conversation between Joel and Ellie about Sarah and the start of the pandemic, his suicide attempt etc.

Ellie's mother being bitten just as she was giving birth suggests that that's how the immunity happened. Now, what I'm surprised about is that Marlene and the Fireflies haven't set up camps where they have pregnant women being bitten as they're giving birth and try to figure out a cure that way. That's some Unit 731 shit but the Fireflies aren't exactly a humane group of people. I mean, Marlene was willing to kill a child that she had known her entire life for that cure.

But did Marlene really know Ellie was immune before the events of the story? Ellie was bit only recently. Setting up pregnant women to be bitten seems a little far fetched when you potentially already have a walking cure in your hands.

 

[Kcb12345]

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I already thought 45 minutes is short for the finale for the amount of storytelling they still needed to do. The beginning sequence with Ellie's birth meant the present story got just about 30 minutes of air time, which is short no matter which way you put it. I still liked it, but it could've been better. I loved the conversation between Joel and Ellie about Sarah and the start of the pandemic, his suicide attempt etc.

Ellie's mother being bitten just as she was giving birth suggests that that's how the immunity happened. Now, what I'm surprised about is that Marlene and the Fireflies haven't set up camps where they have pregnant women being bitten as they're giving birth and try to figure out a cure that way. That's some Unit 731 shit but the Fireflies aren't exactly a humane group of people. I mean, Marlene was willing to kill a child that she had known her entire life for that cure.

Probably because that would require killing two people instead of just one?

Who on earth would sign up to kill themselves and their unborn child?

 

[King Makar19]

- What was the point of the big Zombie? Never saw any of them after in last 5 épisodes

- I know its a VG adaptation...but it truly felt liked it... point A to Point B..some scenes felt Video Game...

Fans of the game prolly liked it way more than people who never played it.

Ill rated it 7/10. Some of the stuff was amazing...but the Ending was awful....

 

[JoVel]

But did Marlene really know Ellie was immune before the events of the story? Ellie was bit only recently. Setting up pregnant women to be bitten seems a little far fetched when you potentially already have a walking cure in your hands.

Yeah my brain didn't work while making that post. But at this point it has been around a year since Ellie's immunity was found out, and about the same period of time since Marlene last got confirmation that Ellie is even alive.

 

[Saskatoon]

After the first few episodes I thought this show was going to end up in the S tier of shows but it didn't quite hold up (I am one of the people who really like the Bill and Frank episode).

The first episode in particular nailed the tension and I was on the edge of my 'seat' the whole time. I think I only really felt that way again in the escape from David scene.

Still really good television. I am not even 100% sure what I would change. But the pacing never felt quite right starting on episode 4. I didn't have a problem with Kathleen either like some people. Thought was an ok character - I think I felt a little bit like they built up the resistance fighters too much to have them all killed off maybe? Not 100% sure

Anyways, enjoyed the show overall.

 

[JoVel]

Probably because that would require killing two people instead of just one?

Who on earth would sign up to kill themselves and their unborn child?

Considering it is the Fireflies we're talking about here, I never said it needed to happen voluntarily.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

- What was the point of the big Zombie? Never saw any of them after in last 5 épisodes

- I know its a VG adaptation...but it truly felt liked it... point A to Point B..some scenes felt Video Game...

Fans of the game prolly liked it way more than people who never played it.

Ill rated it 7/10. Some of the stuff was amazing...but the Ending was awful....

What do you mean what is the point of the big zombie? It had its point in the episode it appeared. It didn't need to be any more than that.

 

[LarKing]

I'm gonna agree that the season had some pacing issues. It just felt like everything was a little rushed. I think they should've made each game into two seasons. Overall a great season and show so far for me. But I do agree that it felt kinda rushed at times.

 

[Osprey]

I was underwhelmed by the finale. It was OK until they were captured, but then started to feel contrived. Marlene came across as incredibly stupid. First, she might've avoided everything if she'd just asked Ellie to submit to the surgery, which she probably would've, since she came all that way and wanted to help. If she had refused, then Marlene could've forced her. Second, letting Joel go (especially after he implied that he had the choice to stop the surgery) was one of the dumbest decisions that I've seen. I could tell that it was straight out of the game. At the very least, it could've been written so that Joel was being moved to a higher security wing to be held there for the time being, which still would've been risky, but smarter than setting him free before the surgery was finished. Finally, Joel shooting unarmed and incapacitated people (including even a surgeon) in the head and lying to Ellie afterwards (after all they'd been through) soured me a little on Joel and put a damper on the episode and season.

Overall, I'd say that the series was fairly good, but not one of HBO's best. It didn't grab me like Game of Thrones, Band of Brothers, Rome, Deadwood, Westworld (Season 1), Mare of Easttown and House of the Dragon, but I still enjoyed it and will watch Season 2 whenever it comes.