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TV HBO's The Last of Us |ST| You know Ellie, we really are an ST subtitle [MARK SPOILERS]

Jaunty said:
That was it?
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Yep, that’s where Part I ends.


I don’t know how I feel about them changing some of the circumstances in the finale, but I guess the outcome was the same either way. Good show. Definitely looking forward to Part II, which was the stronger game imo.
 
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It did end up feeling a little short, which I wasn't necessarily expecting, but I think they did a good job. They made the shoot-out with the guards and murder of the doctor suitably awful, and the final conversation hit the right notes

I'm already seeing a brand-new generation of online chads with "Joel did nothing wrong!" takes, so that's nice
 
hologram said:
It did end up feeling a little short, which I wasn't necessarily expecting, but I think they did a good job. They made the shoot-out with the guards and murder of the doctor suitably awful, and the final conversation hit the right notes

I'm already seeing a brand-new generation of online chads with "Joel did nothing wrong!" takes, so that's nice
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I thought it was really well done with the slow motion. Made it seem like Joel was going through a break and didn’t really have control of his actions. Then they slowly come out of it and you can see that he’s competent and cognizant of his actions. Not saying wanting Ellie to make her choice is bad (that’s alluded to), but maybe not murdering everyone is a better option. Especially when Ellie was saying just before this has to all mean something. They played up the grief from Sarah quite well before too. Also glad they didn’t kill off the nurses as that was something I didn’t do in the game and showed a glimmer of sanity. Really Joel as a character has a lot to digest and thought Pascal played it perfect here.
 
I think season 2 eill be much better. In my opinion, the budget of this show was pretty constrained. The amount of cut content, mainly with zombies, made the show much worse than the game in my opinion. The sense of Dread was never really there in my opinion.

In the game, you actually get afraid of even remotely thinking on getting inside buildings.

I hope they take their time with season 2.
 
Notsowise said:
I think season 2 eill be much better. In my opinion, the budget of this show was pretty constrained. The amount of cut content, mainly with zombies, made the show much worse than the game in my opinion. The sense of Dread was never really there in my opinion.

In the game, you actually get afraid of even remotely thinking on getting inside buildings.

I hope they take their time with season 2.
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Looking at end of 2024 for the beginning of season 2 at the earliest. Also read Part 2 is being split up into multiple seasons. Won’t spoil that but there are a couple of ways this could be structured. Will be interesting to see how they spread it out. I quite liked that the infected took a back seat in a lot of ways because I felt their use was more gameplay focused anyway. Could see if someone wanted more horror elements how they would be disappointed because some key scenes were cut from the game. Part 2 has them even less of a focal point, save for one thing.

That ispoiler has story elements or game spoilers. Just mentions part 2 and wanted to give people the option to not read it.
 
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Hmm. Overall, the finale definitely wasn't bad, but it gave me a bit of a mid vibe, in a few different regards.

• Starts off okay, and I really liked the scene of Joel's confession to Ellie that he attempted to take his own life. Very well played by Pedro and Bella. Almost immediately after though, we see the entirety of the tunnel sequence replaced by... some Firefly Jim Bobs ambushing the pair. Huh? Though I do understand that the tunnel wasn't exactly "integral" to the narrative, it still served a purpose of giving us one final, tremendously tense encounter that Joel and Ellie were tasked with confronting as a pair. The panic of the rushing water sequence from the game was also better than just having some Fireflies stroll up and toss a grenade. I just rewatched it on YouTube, and there's even a really poignant shot of Ellie unconscious in the water, as Joel swims to her. The perfect visual to represent Joel's profound level of care for Ellie, and the emotional core of the story as a whole.

• We knew full well we'd only get to see an abridged version of Joel's hospital rampage, but I still feel like that little killing montage lacked appropriate weight behind it. Dunno. Game was superior here imo, especially the execution of the initial Firefly bloke that was tasked with escorting Joel out of the building.

• Jerry's death was appropriately unceremonious. He's just a dude in the way that Joel didn't think twice about killing, and that was conveyed well here. Very confused as to why they omitted Jerry's line "This is our future. Think of all the lives we'll save", though. Seems pretty important in keeping with the fact that Joel was making a deliberate choice here, and one of tremendous consequence.

• The emotional sequence with Joel running out of the hospital with Ellie in his arms while "All Gone (No Escape)" plays is completely absent. It's just not here. They opted to outright cut one of the best parts of the game's finale. Really scratching my head at this.

• Marlene's death is yet another aspect that was handled better in the game. The ringing sound and black screen that follow after Joel's gunshot are something I still haven't forgotten, even a decade later. Hell, I even remember the mediocre frozen pizza I ate that morning immediately after finishing the game, due to the stark contrast in quality between those two things. Here, it just doesn't give off the same strong impression.

I think my ultimate assessment of this adaptation is that it's a solid one, for folks lacking firsthand experience with the source material. This is still fundamentally the story of The Last of Us, and it's told through some very fine performances all around, with Bella Ramsey being a particular standout. That said, the show also serves as the perfect counter to the argument of "The Last of Us was already cinematic / show-like, so nothing is lost in the transition." This adaptation strikes down that flimsy argument with fervor. The game and show each adhere to radically different pacing structures, and there is indeed a whole lot that's been lost in the move from one medium, to the next. A 12-25 hour single player story has far more room for the quieter, more subtle, more contemplative character moments, for example. All of the little contextual convos between Joel and Ellie in the game may seem minor, but they serve a greater goal of endearing us to these two characters. Even pushing pallets around as Joel may seem boring, but it serves the purpose of giving Joel as a character (and perhaps more importantly, we, the player) ample room to develop a gradual care for Ellie, and the duo's father-daughter relationship as a whole. So, so much of that has been reworked here, if not lost entirely.

Now, has anything been gained in the transition? Sure, a little bit, here and there. Bill and Frank's episode was great, just to bring up the most notable example. Even that doesn't come without cost, however, as we saw the total omission of the Bill's town portion of the game, and that too was an important segment for Joel and Ellie's characters. At the end of the day, if I know someone is capable of enjoying both video games, and TV shows in equal capacity, I'll still recommend the game over the show.

Very curious to see how they adapt Part II, especially considering I vastly prefer it to the first game.
 
Random opening thoughts:

having Ellie’s mom get bit and transmit the fungus to her made some old scenes make sense when I didn’t think they did at the time (mostly Riley and Ellie being hit by same infected and only one turning. Now it’s obvious Ellie has always been immune).

What I don’t like is that there is almost no way that a fungal infection would cross the placental barrier in a couple of seconds. I don’t even think fungi can transmit that way. Just doesn’t make any sense. Also makes you realize that her mom would likely have been immune too and didn’t need to be killed. Obviously Marlene wouldn’t have known that. Maybe I need to rewatch to see how they frame it, but I think it was said it was the fungus that was the thing causing immunity.

I think the primate research was about this, but the fireflies should have just been collecting infected samples and seeing if anything didn’t cause zombie like conditions and develop from there. Of course, post apocalyptic genetic research would probably be hard to do, but if they can make a cure from ellie then they certainly could do it from my proposed process.

Sorry for going all science brain in this one
 
Barely Able said:
Random opening thoughts:

having Ellie’s mom get bit and transmit the fungus to her made some old scenes make sense when I didn’t think they did at the time (mostly Riley and Ellie being hit by same infected and only one turning. Now it’s obvious Ellie has always been immune).

What I don’t like is that there is almost no way that a fungal infection would cross the placental barrier in a couple of seconds. I don’t even think fungi can transmit that way. Just doesn’t make any sense. Also makes you realize that her mom would likely have been immune too and didn’t need to be killed. Obviously Marlene wouldn’t have known that. Maybe I need to rewatch to see how they frame it, but I think it was said it was the fungus that was the thing causing immunity.

I think the primate research was about this, but the fireflies should have just been collecting infected samples and seeing if anything didn’t cause zombie like conditions and develop from there. Of course, post apocalyptic genetic research would probably be hard to do, but if they can make a cure from ellie then they certainly could do it from my proposed process.

Sorry for going all science brain in this one
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Anna is pretty clearly infected. I think the implication is that some chemical messenger transmitted through the umbilical cord before the fungus itself was able to

It seems pretty unlikely it would actually work like this in reality lol, but IMO they managed to hit plausible sounding (much like the scientist in the very first cold open - from what I've read there's many reasons beyond body temperature why cordyceps can't grow in humans, but John Hannah's explanation sounded like it could be real)
I have more thoughts on the finale I'll share at some point. Still processing them
 
hologram said:
Anna is pretty clearly infected. I think the implication is that some chemical messenger transmitted through the umbilical cord before the fungus itself was able to

It seems pretty unlikely it would actually work like this in reality lol, but IMO they managed to hit plausible sounding (much like the scientist in the very first cold open - from what I've read there's many reasons beyond body temperature why cordyceps can't grow in humans, but John Hannah's explanation sounded like it could be real)
I have more thoughts on the finale I'll share at some point. Still processing them
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yeah. They did a good job in making these things plausible at least and do have consistency within the story, so that’s good.
 
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Big huge bump

I just watched the pilot and I am floored. That was incredible. First of all, the casting is amazing. Joel and Ellie are spot-effing-on. And the production values are unreal. I just played the PS5 remake of Part 1, and there are times when this episode and that game look identical, which is a compliment to both the show and the remake for looking so freaking good.

The opening scene is just as horrific and devastating as the game, by the way. Super happy that I got to experience that again. Knowing it was going to happen almost made it worse this time.

I can't wait to watch the rest of the show.
 
Red Monster said:
Big huge bump

I just watched the pilot and I am floored. That was incredible. First of all, the casting is amazing. Joel and Ellie are spot-effing-on. And the production values are unreal. I just played the PS5 remake of Part 1, and there are times when this episode and that game look identical, which is a compliment to both the show and the remake for looking so freaking good.

The opening scene is just as horrific and devastating as the game, by the way. Super happy that I got to experience that again. Knowing it was going to happen almost made it worse this time.

I can't wait to watch the rest of the show.
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Aw hell yeah, please keep us updated on your thoughts as you go!
 
Episode 2, oh my god. That was INCREDIBLE. They literally made a video game into a television show, shot for shot a lot of the time, and it works. I don't think we needed the opening stinger in Indonesia, but I get why it was there. To drive home that there's no hope for a cure, except now but here's Ellie. I get that, but it seemed unnecessary. Otherwise, that was a perfect episode. This show is something else.
 
Predictably, some people on the internet are already up in arms over this casting because she's not big enough

Personally, I think that's nonsense. Abby's size was a nice contrast to Ellie and was a cool visual cue for how she plays differently mechanically, but I'd be interested to see if anyone can actually explain why her size is an integral part of her actual character
 
hologram said:
Predictably, some people on the internet are already up in arms over this casting because she's not big enough

Personally, I think that's nonsense. Abby's size was a nice contrast to Ellie and was a cool visual cue for how she plays differently mechanically, but I'd be interested to see if anyone can actually explain why her size is an integral part of her actual character
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yeah its really not crucial apart from giving her
Joel's playstyle (or closer to)
in the game (and to make her appear more threatening/baddie at first glance), I suspect they are going to play them much more as mirror image equals of each other in the series. (I also suspect we might be seeing the flashbacks from the game making up a lot of Season 1, spending time with Abby and Ellie before the season climaxes with the "fateful moment" that sets off Part 2 game > Season 3 as an adaptation of the
revenge
arc, but we'll see)
 
aus89 said:
(I also suspect we might be seeing the flashbacks from the game making up a lot of Season 1, spending time with Abby and Ellie before the season climaxes with the "fateful moment" that sets off Part 2 game > Season 3 as an adaptation of the
revenge
arc, but we'll see)
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I've seen this theory, but I think it would be a mistake. Joel's death is the narrative drive of the second game. If you push it to the end of the season, there's no real narrative throughline to the events, and it will just be a series of "and then this happened" moments for an entire season.
I've said for a while that I'm interested in how they adapt the second game, as I think it's a much harder task than the first game, but I don't think making it more chronological is the answer.
 
hologram said:
I've seen this theory, but I think it would be a mistake. Joel's death is the narrative drive of the second game. If you push it to the end of the season, there's no real narrative throughline to the events, and it will just be a series of "and then this happened" moments for an entire season.
I've said for a while that I'm interested in how they adapt the second game, as I think it's a much harder task than the first game, but I don't think making it more chronological is the answer.
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The throughline is different, but basically is the end of Season One - Joel lying to Ellie, robbing her of her agency, murdering Marlene and the Fireflies, and the fallout from that leading to their lives coming crashing into Abby's and Joel's ultimate death . Slower burn season perhaps, but given the 2nd game is "more than one season" it makes a lot of sense, especially for a television series, and gives you time to get to know Abby before she comes into Joel and Ellie's lives. To me - "the event" happening and flashing back periodically is very "I bet you're wondering how I ended up here" and idk how great that would work either (and its hard to go back and forth in age with Bella Ramsey, so focusing on going chronologically allows her to age with the character). It's definitely an interesting challenge to adapt that game. We'll know very quickly by what locations they're filming and who is there... will definitely be interesting.
 
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This conversation is amping me up so much. I like Part 1, but Part 2 is like…dang. It’s a big, nasty, confrontational masterpiece if you ask me. I trust they’ll do a great job adapting it after how well (and how closely overall) they adapted the source material.
 
I think tv audiences will be a bit less toxic than gamers were about certain story elements. They’ve been a lot more accustomed to things like this after events in big shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.

There will surely be some weirdos, though.
 
The Bill & Frank episode is so much better than how it plays out in the game. The way that chapter goes in the game works better for the game of course; the whole escape from the high school is very tense and thrilling. But the way the show handles this story by tweaking it, is beautiful and touching and sad, and also happy. It’s a small bit of happiness in this bleak, depressing world.

I liked that episode a lot.
 
Red Monster said:
The Bill & Frank episode is so much better than how it plays out in the game. The way that chapter goes in the game works better for the game of course; the whole escape from the high school is very tense and thrilling. But the way the show handles this story by tweaking it, is beautiful and touching and sad, and also happy. It’s a small bit of happiness in this bleak, depressing world.

I liked that episode a lot.
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It's the single best episode of TV I have seen period. It really drives through the themes of Last of Us too, better than the actual game itself honestly.
big lantern ghost said:
This conversation is amping me up so much. I like Part 1, but Part 2 is like…dang. It’s a big, nasty, confrontational masterpiece if you ask me. I trust they’ll do a great job adapting it after how well (and how closely overall) they adapted the source material.
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Part 2 is going to be way better as a show than as a game. Partly because the audience having way better literary comprehension.

It's absolutely insane how many people see Joel as a hero in the game, just because they supplant themselves as the protagonist. When the actual game paints it so much more complicated than that.

I have not really seen that same sentiment from people who have seen the show. Everyone pretty much accepts he's a very flawed character, and they do a much better job showing his and Ellies atrocities.
 
Lozjam said:
It's the single best episode of TV I have seen period. It really drives through the themes of Last of Us too, better than the actual game itself honestly.

Part 2 is going to be way better as a show than as a game. Partly because the audience having way better literary comprehension.

It's absolutely insane how many people see Joel as a hero in the game, just because they supplant themselves as the protagonist. When the actual game paints it so much more complicated than that.

I have not really seen that same sentiment from people who have seen the show. Everyone pretty much accepts he's a very flawed character, and they do a much better job showing his and Ellies atrocities.
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Yeah. One of the reasons I like the Last of Us is because the characters are complex. Joel is a complicated and often straight up bad person and the decision he made at the end of Part 1 was the wrong one. Even if the game did such a good job getting me attached to Ellie that I wanted to do the same.
 
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Episode 4

At this point, whenever the show takes a line, a moment, or a setpiece from the game, I'm pretty much just squealing with glee. Unless it's something awful because it's The Last of Us and it's full of awful shit. But still, seeing the action scene after the ambush in Pittsburgh KC, how much it makes me feel like it's just a scene from the game, it's unbelievable. They even had a bit where the baddies called out when they found a body. And somehow that didn't feel cringe - it felt natural. It's incredible.

This is the greatest adaptation of a video game ever, and it probably won't ever be topped.

I'm not super looking forward to the sewers section after they escape the city. That nursery was pretty much the worst thing in the entire game for me.
 
Episode 5

This one I didn't like quite as much. I think the militia and the Kathleen character were unnecessary additions. I get why they wrote the story the way that they did (Henry's choice to save Sam is the same as what will happen later at the SLC Firefly hospital), but it felt very heavy-handed. It felt like they were shoving the central theme of the show in my face as hard as they could. Henry even lays it out explicitly: "Am I the good guy or the bad guy? I'm obviously the bad guy because I did a bad guy thing." All the subtly of a freaking brick through a window.

The ending is just as heartbreaking as it is in the game. JFC. Great work from the actors who played Henry and Sam; they were the best part of the episode.

Oh yeah, I liked the little nod to Ish. Thank god the nursery in the sewers wasn't as horrific as the one in the game.
 
Red Monster said:
Episode 5

This one I didn't like quite as much. I think the militia and the Kathleen character were unnecessary additions. I get why they wrote the story the way that they did (Henry's choice to save Sam is the same as what will happen later at the SLC Firefly hospital), but it felt very heavy-handed. It felt like they were shoving the central theme of the show in my face as hard as they could. Henry even lays it out explicitly: "Am I the good guy or the bad guy? I'm obviously the bad guy because I did a bad guy thing." All the subtly of a freaking brick through a window.

The ending is just as heartbreaking as it is in the game. JFC. Great work from the actors who played Henry and Sam; they were the best part of the episode.

Oh yeah, I liked the little nod to Ish. Thank god the nursery in the sewers wasn't as horrific as the one in the game.
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Yeah, the extended Kansas City portion is considered the lull of the season by most watchers. Great ending to that arc, but the whole thing didn't need two full episodes, IMO.
 
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Episode 6

Not much to say about this one. The famous scene between Joel and Ellie gave me chills, that was really well done. I understand why they cut out so much stuff from Jackson and the university, but all that cut stuff just makes Joel changing his mind feel even more unearned than it does in the game. Probably the biggest change this episode makes is the way Joel gets hurt - the way the game does it, it would have been a big stunt and probably more than a little dangerous. Even so, it was a bit of a letdown how quickly the university segment was over and done with. It felt rushed.

So the next episode will be Ellie taking care of Joel with flashbacks to the Left Behind DLC I assume. Ellie is probably going to meet David before the episode ends? God, everything from here on out is going to be a horror show.
 
It's been a few days but I'm finally back with another episode update.

Episode 7

Not much to say, really! The whole thing is Left Behind except they cut out the current mall stuff. The Riley/Ellie mall stuff is identical to the game version. You could watch this episode, or watch a playthrough of the DLC on YouTube.

It was good. That's all I have to say about that.
 
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Finished the show. Those last two episodes were tough to watch.

Episode 8
I like how they expanded on David's character a little, making him a preacher. It fits. He's even scarier here in the show than he was in the game. Bella Ramsey stole the entire show this episode. Also, hi there Troy Baker.

Episode 9
I hate that opening scene. It's nice to see Ashley Johnson, but that scene is incredibly unnecessary, and it's horrific. It's like they tried to think of the most awful thing they could come up with, and then put it in the show. Not only is it heartbreaking and tragic to the point of absurdity, but the idea that Ellie could receive immunity because she was being born as her mother was being infected is probably the dumbest shit I've ever seen. It was heart-wrenching, it was misery for misery's sake, and it was also padding. Cause damn is this episode short without that intro.

The rest of the episode, which follows the game exactly (save for the fact that they cut out all of the infected encounters in SLC), is incredible. The buildup with the giraffes, the scene where Joel explains his suicide attempt, his brutal attack on the hospital, all the way to the epilogue with Ellie in Jackson. It was perfect. Hard to watch, but perfect.

What a fantastic show. Now I can move on to playing Part II, and then I'll join the rest of you lot in waiting for season two.
 
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