TV: The Last of Us (HBO)

[Dubi Doo]

The show is really struggling without Joel. It doesn't work with the two girls being the predominant storyline, they don't have chemistry and it's boring tbh. I'm just not invested into their characters and the arc.
I'll stick with it but the greatness of Season 1 is such a distant memory now. Too bad

Once I saw he was out, I just gave it up.

 

[Osprey]

A lot of those are from people not liking the actress of Abby and Bella. It's just highlights how the quality of a tv episode or a movie has nothing to with the ratings there. It's become a rarity to find something there which isn't review bombed. And I still stand by my opinion that if they went from a 1-10 scale to a 4-10 scale, it would help.

That episode (E2) has a 9.4, tied for the most of any episode of this series, and most people seem to agree that it's one of the best of the series, if not the best, so the rating seems to match the quality. Also, IMDb already gives less weight to low ratings. For example, the unweighted average for the current episode is 6.7, whereas the official average is 7.3. I just ran the numbers and 7.3 is exactly what you get when you replace all of the 1-3/10 ratings with 4/10 ones, so they're basically already doing a 4-10 scale, like you want.

Anybody who has actually watched the episodes would say even if they didn't like them, they weren't 1/10 quality either. A fair negative review for these episodes would be like a ~3-4/10 type of review.

3000+ 1/10s are clearly people reviewing with an agenda. Half of them probably didn't watch it at all.

And again I don't think it's been very good despite wanting to like it. Personally I'd say the last 2 episodes have been like 5.5/10 type quality. Just extremely meh.

As I just pointed out, the 1/10 ratings aren't impacting the average any more than if they were all 4/10s. What are skewing the average, though, are all of the 9/10 and 10/10 ratings. If we really care about fair, unbiased ratings and feel that these episodes are only 5.5/10 quality, we should have a bigger problem with all of those really high ratings that do a lot more to skew the average than the really low ratings that are barely even being counted.

 

[Jussi]

That episode (E2) has a 9.4, tied for the most of any episode of this series, and most people seem to agree that it's one of the best of the series, if not the best, so the rating seems to match the quality. Also, IMDb already gives less weight to low ratings. For example, the unweighted average for the current episode is 6.7, whereas the official average is 7.3. I just ran the numbers and 7.3 is exactly what you get when you replace all of the 1-3/10 ratings with 4/10 ones, so they're basically already doing a 4-10 scale, like you want.

As I just pointed out, the 1/10 ratings aren't impacting the average any more than if they were all 4/10s. What are skewing the average, though, are all of the 9/10 and 10/10 ratings. If we really care about fair, unbiased ratings and feel that these episodes are only 5.5/10 quality, we should have a bigger problem with all of those really high ratings that do a lot more to skew the average than the really low ratings that are barely even being counted.

The main point was there's no verfication process what so ever at IMDB.

 

[Osprey]

The main point was there's no verfication process what so ever at IMDB.

I don't think that it really matters with TV shows and other streaming content. When something is easily accessible at home and cheap or even free, people are going to give it a chance. There's no reason to believe that any meaningful number of people are rating these episodes without having seen them. If a verification process were somehow implemented to weed out the insignificant number that didn't watch it, far more people who did watch it wouldn't have their opinions counted. Also, the average would likely skew heavily towards favorable because verified, paying customers tend to be more invested than those who watch content on others' accounts or pirate it. I think that having a huge sample size gives a more accurate picture of the general reaction to each episode than a much smaller sample of only verified, paying customers would.

 

[Sad People]

I didnt mind the episode. Probably my least favorite of the season so far. Enjoyed every scene with Isaac in it and i look forward to learning more about his character, hopefully. Wasnt the biggest of the theater scene i just feel like the writing could of been so much better. Still very much invested in the show though.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I'm surprised ratings mean so much to people. It's so obviously imperfect and I don't know why it gets used as a stamp of approval. "Battle of the Bastards" is (I think) the highest rated Game of Thrones episode and I completely disagree it's a nearly 10/10 product.

I haven't watched this season but I'm not surprised at all to see people liking it less. TLOU pt 2 as a game uses Joel's death as a launching point for moral relativism (lame) as well as Ellie learning about the effects of revenge. The dynamic is just different. Someone in this thread said Joel wasn't the main character of the first game, that is completely false. He absolutely was and that's why what happens to him was so impactful. So taking him out of the picture of what I'm assuming is a show with worse writing than the game was always going to drag the season down.

Maybe I'll watch S2 with my wife at some point but honestly we both prefer to just play the games together again.

 

[M88K]

The shocking thing is Ep2 is rated so highly.

Tommy quite literally spent the whole episode with an impenetrable Plot Armor field. Ruined the whole siege on Jackson, when all of the zombies are running past the easy kill because "reasons".
Cheapening the Joel death scene also highlighted the poor quality of writing. Then there is the Bella problem. I fail to see how any episode could be rated higher than a 4. That one is getting buoyed by Joels death, and it is completely undeserved.
Checked out after episode 3. Everything this season felt so cheap and Bella is so unconvincing in the role that now they're going to spend more time with her, just can't do it. There's better things to watch

 

[zombie kopitar]

It's funny because I defended Bella for the first season, I think she worked great as Ellie, because there was good chemistry with Pedro. It's just not there without him. But the dude that's been anti Bella since the beginning I guess had a better pulse on it than a lot of people. People who are blindly defending her on other platforms because 'it's just bad writing' are wrong imo, I'm honestly not sure if it's the writing or just the way she's portraying Ellie's character development as the root of the problem.

Anyway, it will still be a legendary first season, it's just not easy to carry a show into greatness for multiple seasons. I will still enjoy the rest of the story, I just care far less.

 

[x Tame Impala]

It's funny because I defended Bella for the first season, I think she worked great as Ellie, because there was good chemistry with Pedro. It's just not there without him. But the dude that's been anti Bella since the beginning I guess had a better pulse on it than a lot of people. People who are blindly defending her on other platforms because 'it's just bad writing' are wrong imo, I'm honestly not sure if it's the writing or just the way she's portraying Ellie's character development as the root of the problem.

Anyway, it will still be a legendary first season, it's just not easy to carry a show into greatness for multiple seasons. I will still enjoy the rest of the story, I just care far less.

She's not matching Ellie's attitude the right way from the games. It's like a guitar out of tune. Either that or you're a weirdo who doesn't like her looks according to @Pierce Hawthorne

 

[PeteWorrell]

The dynamic that existed between Joel and Ellie was the main draw of the story and without it, we are left with a big gaping hole. Bella Ramsey could do better but the original material is poor and they did nothing to address that problem in the show.

 

[GKJ]

It's funny because I defended Bella for the first season, I think she worked great as Ellie, because there was good chemistry with Pedro. It's just not there without him. But the dude that's been anti Bella since the beginning I guess had a better pulse on it than a lot of people. People who are blindly defending her on other platforms because 'it's just bad writing' are wrong imo, I'm honestly not sure if it's the writing or just the way she's portraying Ellie's character development as the root of the problem.

Anyway, it will still be a legendary first season, it's just not easy to carry a show into greatness for multiple seasons. I will still enjoy the rest of the story, I just care far less.

Isabela Merced should take over the lead of the show

 

[Shockmaster]

The dynamic that existed between Joel and Ellie was the main draw of the story and without it, we are left with a big gaping hole. Bella Ramsey could do better but the original material is poor and they did nothing to address that problem in the show.

They really needed to completely ignore TLOU Part II and come up with a new story line after season 1, but I guess they didn't want to upset Druckmann for whatever reason.

 

[PeteWorrell]

They really needed to completely ignore TLOU Part II and come up with a new story line after season 1, but I guess they didn't want to upset Druckmann for whatever reason.

He is heavily involved in the show so they probably can't overrule him.

 

[Shockmaster]

He is heavily involved in the show so they probably can't overrule him.

Sucks for HBO. Though at this point, even if they could sideline him I doubt there's any salvaging the show for season 3.

 

[Osprey]

The dynamic that existed between Joel and Ellie was the main draw of the story and without it, we are left with a big gaping hole. Bella Ramsey could do better but the original material is poor and they did nothing to address that problem in the show.

They made it worse, IMO. Ellie in the game was likable and needed protection and a parent. Ellie in Season 1 was foul mouthed and acted like she didn't need anyone. She softened up and warmed up to Joel by the end, but then the writers threw that progress out at the start of this season by having her be unlikable and back to not needing him again. In fact, she repeatedly asserted her independence from him and was nothing but rude to him in Episode 1, and we're supposed to buy her grief over losing him and her lust for revenge? I think that they should've made her more likable in Season 1 and shown her even closer to Joel at the start of this season, so that the shock and anger of losing him and not knowing what to do without him would make her quest for revenge more believable and emotional. If they had done that, I'd likely be on her side and rooting for her. Instead, I don't like her for how she treated Joel, don't buy the sincerity of this revenge quest and don't really care if she succeeds or not.

 

[zombie kopitar]

She's not matching Ellie's attitude the right way from the games. It's like a guitar out of tune. Either that or you're a weirdo who doesn't like her looks according to @Pierce Hawthorne

Looks didn't bother me s1 at all, I've played a few hours of the game so wasn't that attached in that sense. The aura of s2 and the way she's carrying the role is different in s2, maybe the looks are more noticeable in s2 because of that, but it wouldn't bother me if I liked the character development

They made it worse, IMO. Ellie in the game was likable and needed protection and a parent. Ellie in Season 1 was foul mouthed and acted like she didn't need anyone. She softened up and warmed up to Joel by the end, but then the writers threw that progress out at the start of this season by having her be unlikable and back to not needing him again. In fact, she repeatedly asserted her independence from him and was nothing but rude to him in Episode 1, and we're supposed to buy her grief over losing him and her lust for revenge? I think that they should've made her more likable in Season 1 and shown her even closer to Joel at the start of this season, so that the shock and anger of losing him and not knowing what to do without him would make her quest for revenge more believable and emotional. If they had done that, I'd likely be on her side and rooting for her. Instead, I don't like her for how she treated Joel, don't buy the sincerity of this revenge quest and don't really care if she succeeds or not.

I think it was realistic in a typical angsty teenager sense. Showing the unspoken rift that Joel wasn't telling her the whole truth with the Fireflies as the root of the resentment was fair too. But the fact they had no reconciliation was brutal, and I agree there's just not enough grief about Joel displayed in Ellie currently. But the bigger problem is they just don't have a hit show without Pedro as the lead, he was 10/10 in that role. You can't really get mad at them for going with canon, it's just the reality that the show is suffering for it.

 

[DaaaaB's]

So is Ellie transgender? I thought she was a lesbian but the Dad comment made me think otherwise. Doesn't matter to me either way but made me wonder if that's something they changed from the game.

 

[Jussi]

So is Ellie transgender? I thought she was a lesbian but the Dad comment made me think otherwise. Doesn't matter to me either way but made me wonder if that's something they changed from the game.

No. It might be "queer thing" as former WWE wrestler Sonya Deville also had some daddy nickname at a time. Not an expert on the subject matter, just my impression.