The Last of Us TV Show on HBO

[Thorpesaurous]

Anyone else pumped for HBO's take on what I think is among the best post apocalyptic stories ever produced, regardless of medium.

I was a very tiny bit concerned about Pedro Pascal, who I love, just because the southern, private, hard nosed, bent that Joel has seems to define some of his characteristics as he ages, and Pascal seems to usually have a bit more flare, but The Mandalorian has a lot of character traits in common with Joel, so I've kind of set that aside.
I'm also a bit concerned about Bella Reese, just because there isn't a ton of experience, and Ellie is a complex character.

But whatever, I'm super pumped. HBO's track record and this content is more than enough for me.

[highwhey]

i didn't buy into the hype leading up to the premiere of this show. gave it a watch today with low expectations, was pleasantly surprised. i have never played this game so idk how close it is to source material but i hear it's perfectly close. i think Pedro's character is played well too, not sure how accurate it is.

[Thorpesaurous]

I found the first episode a little slow at an hour and a half, but I sort of expected that. Frankly the game is a bit slow right to the point where this episode ends. There is essentially a single action sequence in the game at this point that the shoe sort of skipped out on, a bigger shootout with Robert, the local smuggler guy.

The cold open ,with the 50's style talk show, I'm wondering if it will be expanded on every week, as it kind of serves as exposition for the virus with a quick straightforward approach, then they don't have to lose time explaining it in show. That varies from the game.

And what I believe they're calling tendrels that came from the mouth of the infected grandmother is just a different art design choice from the game that I'm ok with. But the more airborn spore style way on contagiousness that the game uses I'm hoping they don't do away with. I know there has to be some concern about it, because you will lose some of the facial acting elements with people wearing masks all the time, but I don't think it needs to be that invasive. I'm sure Pedro Pascal is tired of being masked up all the time for Mandolorian. But they didn't even cover their mouths when they ran into the fungus infected guy stuck to the wall on the way out of Boston.

I'm glad it was so well recieved by the general public. I've avoided reading any reviews, but know they've been generally very good. But those reviews have been based on the opening 4 episodes. If you had all 4 at once, maybe you'd forget any issues the first had by the time you were raving about it as a whole. That's why I'm glad the first one has been so well recieved by the general audience. I was afraid people would be a little bored by it and give up. I would argue we didn't see any of the monsters, but if you're unfamiliar with the games, then Nan and all the shit with the initial outbreak is probably plenty. The daughter dying is a gut punch in the game, and I'm guessing it was the same as a new viewer, so maybe some of the impact moments were a little lost on me.

But I was a little (and I mean very very little) disappointed by sets. I would've liked Boston to have felt more Bostony. Rebuild Quincy Market, show me the freedom trail, the Harbor where Robert works out of in the game, walk by a . None of that is in the game, but that's the sort of stuff I'm hoping the tv show expands on. And they obviously didn't go cheap. The effects were awesome. The plane crash in the opening sequence looked great. But I'm very hopeful for some serious world building set work. Something like what we got from Station 11, which if you haven't seen you should, it's on HBO Max and was awesome. And I think we will. Both Austin and Boston are the two shortest spans of time we play in the game, so hopefully there was a lets save some of the budget here, and get through this introduction to the story, and get going. That's my guess as to what's going to happen.

[Phoenix]

I appreciated the pace myself. If anything, it wouldn't have bothered me if we had an entire episode in line with the first half hour or so until shit hits the fan. Give us a full hour of Joel and his daughter, the day to day interactions with neighbours, Sarah going to school, give little glimpses into what's to come (like the male student and grandma twitching showing early infection). SHOW, not tell, the scene where Tommy ends up in the bar fight. That should have been the first hour, with the last 20 minutes being the outbreak and ending with Sarah dying. Roll credits just as Joel is cradling her lifeless body in his arms, onto Episode 2.

I played the PS4 remaster( my first time with the game) about 4 years ago, I don't recall too much of the moment to moment plot beats, just the overarching narrative. So I'm taking the show( including the casting) for what it is and not trying to parallel it 1:1 with the game. Your mileage may vary on how many changes you're prepared to accept, but it is definitely 'the Last of Us' in tone, style, visual, music, etc.

[Thorpesaurous]

I really dug episode 2. I felt like I got a lot of the Boston-centric stuff I'd hoped to see. I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be Quincy Market where the horde was laying around when they first saw them. And the Museum looked very much like the State House where the Boston Massacre happened (although I read it was a real museum called the Bostonian that I'm not familiar with).

I'm also kind of digging some of the game changes. Shifting the Museum into Boston makes a lot more sense to me, and skipping out on a lot of the Fedra stuff in Boston, and shifting the Clicker introduction up in the time frame, made a lot of sense to me, knowing the time they have.

I've also thought both cold opens have been excellent, especially this last one. Fleshing out the outbreak part of this is all new ground to cover, and it's looked and felt like a great fit so far. I'm not 100% sold on the tendrils vs. the spores change so far. I can't see the periodic masks being that big of an issue. And the infected being "connected by miles long underground tendrils" so they wake up and charge after one is shot some distance away, is not something I'm not sure I like yet. It could, and already has, created some cool stuff. The horde charging the Capital Building I liked better than the game's Fedra shootout. But I'm fearful of it having some inconsistencies ... like why did the horde not care when they took out the Clickers? Either way, the whole contaminated flour, the entire background, I'm really liking the logic behind it. I hope they stick with a little cold open before every episode and keep working out the outbreak part of this. Even in the game world, I always thought a prequel that covered Joel and Tommy's survival up to the point they hook up with the Fireflys, and settle in Boston.

And I think most importantly, the performances have been excellent. Bella Ramsey has been better than I could've even hoped. Especially now in episode 2 where the critical relationship is already setting in. Pascal is excellent as usual. And the fact that a lot of these other roles are relatively short, means they can load them up with high end actors. Next weeks episode with Frank, has already been super well recieved by reviewers who've seen it. It's obviously going to feature some heavy flashback. And I can't wait to see the Winter season ... the David character is a juicy role.

With two of the nine episodes gone, and the third episode seemingly being a stand alone Frank episode, I'm starting to wonder how they'll break out the rest of the story. Two episodes in each of the remaining locations doesn't feel like it will get it done. And I haven't seen a hint at the iconic "Season" time cuts, which to me helped explain away some of the unshown advance in the Joel Ellie relationship, but I suspect we will see those time jumps. It makes me wonder if they will cut a section short. Pittsburgh has Sam. They can't cut David. And the last section is the end. Hopefully none of it gets rushed.

[Phoenix]

OP, just a suggestion you may want to edit your thread title to have 'SPOILERS WITHIN' or something like that. Just in case( though you'd think someone would come into this thread expecting some, but you never know nowadays).

Which brings me to the main gripe I had being Tess dying. Seems a bit too soon, like she should have had at least a couple more episodes, but I guess within the structure they wanted to get to the heart of the story ASAP, that being Joel and Ellie's relationship. If anything, they could have very easily gotten 10 episodes out of season 1 just to let certain things breath a bit more. Everything else about the episode was enjoyable for me.

[Thorpesaurous]

OP, just a suggestion you may want to edit your thread title to have 'SPOILERS WITHIN' or something like that. Just in case( though you'd think someone would come into this thread expecting some, but you never know nowadays).

Which brings me to the main gripe I had being Tess dying. Seems a bit too soon, like she should have had at least a couple more episodes, but I guess within the structure they wanted to get to the heart of the story ASAP, that being Joel and Ellie's relationship. If anything, they could have very easily gotten 10 episodes out of season 1 just to let certain things breath a bit more. Everything else about the episode was enjoyable for me.

You are probably right ... But I'm not sure I can now (If you know how I'll gladly do it.). Part of the reason I put this in here was that I figured this would draw the game players, and there'd be more knowledge of the source material and sort of drive a different conversation. But you're right ... I probably should've pointed that out.

I'm a little surprised the OTCL doesn't have a larger thread on the show specifically.

[highwhey]

wow ep3 was great. again, i've never played the game but this story is really good and i'm onboard for the ride.

[Thorpesaurous]

So I usually write here when I'm at work, and I've been busy lately, so I feel like I missed some stuff, but I want to get my take on the last few episodes down.

Episode 3 was really awesome. I do have a couple of nit picks that probably aren't even fully warranted. I have no problem at all with the changes made from the game. In fact I feel like it's the best example of what can be done deviating from the source material to put it on screen. There simply isn't enough action for that story to be told in a game. I'll put in the game version if anyone cares to read it, but I guess it's technically a spoiler if you haven't played it yet (I guess you can't do white text anymore?):

In the game, the area has been overrun with monsters. It's an action heavy sequence in the game, with Bill playing out much more like you'd expect him to had Frank not existed in the show. He was a shotgun toting hoarder who was overly paranoid. It introduces you to the Bloater, who appears to show up in Episode 5, based on the preview. We only learn about Frank, and Bill being gay, through notes picked up along the way, particularly a final note where Bill hangs himself after becoming infected while trying to abandon Bill, that basically tells Bill he was a paranoid pain in the ass and that's why he had to get the hell out of there.

The changed plot was fantastic. My only couple of gripes is that it got away from the main story for a hair longer than I would've liked, and there just wasn't enough action. I could've stood for another Joel visit along the way. Some trading sequence. Maybe Joel and Tess helping them deal with the Raiders. Just something that would've built the level of trust Bill had for Joel. It also would've given us another chance to hang out with Ana Torv's Tess, which is a nice bonus in it's own right, but would've also given them one more shot to flesh out that relationship with Joel, which has already been expanded on from the game's version, and could help serve as a motive for Joel's taking on Ellie after she made him promise to do it.

I was also just a touch bothered by the production design. I found the neighborhood a little too bright. A little too clean. But again these are really minor gripes.

I do know there was a lot of blowback online about the overall "gayness" of the episode. And in a addition to that, I know there was a lot of blowback where if someone had even a tiny critique of the episode, they were pretty quickly deemed a homophobe ... ya know ... conversations taking place on the internet. I think you can make a real case that not only does the fact that this story is centered around a gay couple not matter, I'm not sure it works if they're heterosexual.
I feel like if that's a lone woman in that hole in Bill's yard, that his aggression reads more threatening. That his feeding her reads more as him leveraging her into sexual favors. That her approaching him at the piano reads more as manipulative use of her sexuality. That her sleeping with him reads as her selling herself for the security he provides. I just don't think it works as well.

So that's my episode 3 take.

[Thorpesaurous]

So on to Episode 4. This is obviously a bridge episode. They had to get Joel and Ellie back moving, and they're re-establishing the pace. It was another one of my slight issues with episode 3, is that knowing how much ground there is to cover, I'm not sure the full hour and twenty minutes to this aside, albeit an incredibly well done aside. My memory is that there are only 9 episodes. I'm guessing two episodes in each region of the game, and the ninth was that Bill and Frank episode.

Anyway, the bad guys from Pittsburgh, which in the show has been changed to St. Louis, are among the weakest in the two games. So I'm actually super pumped that they're fleshing them out into this larger thing. Melanie Lynskey I kind of fell for watching Yellowjackets last year, so I think shes a cool fit here. This is a little harder to "review", just because it's clearly setting up the next episode in this region, and it's hard for me to say much without giving away what are some awesome story beats from this section of the game that are just being set up in this episode. However, I do feel like adding this depth to the enemies is going to really pay off, and I can't wait for Friday night to watch it early.

I would like to add a slightly spoilery theory about the change in location from Pittsburgh to St. Louis. In the game, during the game play, you're consistently seeing the three river bridge in the background, suspiciously well lit, as the beacon point to the end of the sequence. It was also done with the Boston Capitol Building in the first section of the game, and was given a little tip of the cap during the second episode as they moved out of Boston, as they showed it in the background, and Ellie has the same line she has in the game "you can't beat that view". I'm guessing some altered version of the ending of the Pittsburgh, now St. Louis, section will result in a heavy use of The Gateway Arch.

Another very minor gripe, I'm not sure the show is expressing the amount of time that's going by. To travel on foot to Bills, then drive to St. Louis, would be a lot of time. Over that time, there's sort of a presumed advancement in Joel and Ellie's relationship that I think is clearer in the game than it is in the show. I could simply be remembering this more fondly than it actually happened, but that's my gut instinct. In the game, some of these large swaths of time are denoted by a change in season. IIRC the first season is summer, and runs from Boston to the end of Pittsburgh. So it's probably unfair to complain it hasn't happened yet. But their relationship, and Ellie's general awareness, should grow at a rate the show hasn't indicated yet. I'm hopeful the show pushes that. And I'm hopeful Bella Ramsey can handle it, because while overall I think she's been great, there have been a couple moments that felt a little off to me.

[Phoenix]

It's not clear to me ( and maybe this becomes clear in future episodes) why Melanie Lynskey's character has emerged as the leader of this group.

[Thorpesaurous]

It's not clear to me ( and maybe this becomes clear in future episodes) why Melanie Lynskey's character has emerged as the leader of this group.

Her character is completely original to the show, so there isn't any way to add to this. But I'm sure they will flesh out whatever it is that happened to her brother, and it will explain it to some degree. I wonder too if they can explain it enough. But in the game, this group is completely nondescript, so I like that they've done something with it.

[highwhey]

So on to Episode 4. This is obviously a bridge episode. They had to get Joel and Ellie back moving, and they're re-establishing the pace. It was another one of my slight issues with episode 3, is that knowing how much ground there is to cover, I'm not sure the full hour and twenty minutes to this aside, albeit an incredibly well done aside. My memory is that there are only 9 episodes. I'm guessing two episodes in each region of the game, and the ninth was that Bill and Frank episode.

Anyway, the bad guys from Pittsburgh, which in the show has been changed to St. Louis, are among the weakest in the two games. So I'm actually super pumped that they're fleshing them out into this larger thing. Melanie Lynskey I kind of fell for watching Yellowjackets last year, so I think shes a cool fit here. This is a little harder to "review", just because it's clearly setting up the next episode in this region, and it's hard for me to say much without giving away what are some awesome story beats from this section of the game that are just being set up in this episode. However, I do feel like adding this depth to the enemies is going to really pay off, and I can't wait for Friday night to watch it early.

I would like to add a slightly spoilery theory about the change in location from Pittsburgh to St. Louis. In the game, during the game play, you're consistently seeing the three river bridge in the background, suspiciously well lit, as the beacon point to the end of the sequence. It was also done with the Boston Capitol Building in the first section of the game, and was given a little tip of the cap during the second episode as they moved out of Boston, as they showed it in the background, and Ellie has the same line she has in the game "you can't beat that view". I'm guessing some altered version of the ending of the Pittsburgh, now St. Louis, section will result in a heavy use of The Gateway Arch.

Another very minor gripe, I'm not sure the show is expressing the amount of time that's going by. To travel on foot to Bills, then drive to St. Louis, would be a lot of time. Over that time, there's sort of a presumed advancement in Joel and Ellie's relationship that I think is clearer in the game than it is in the show. I could simply be remembering this more fondly than it actually happened, but that's my gut instinct. In the game, some of these large swaths of time are denoted by a change in season. IIRC the first season is summer, and runs from Boston to the end of Pittsburgh. So it's probably unfair to complain it hasn't happened yet. But their relationship, and Ellie's general awareness, should grow at a rate the show hasn't indicated yet. I'm hopeful the show pushes that. And I'm hopeful Bella Ramsey can handle it, because while overall I think she's been great, there have been a couple moments that felt a little off to me.

you called it...in this latest episoe they imply their chemistry has grown. during the horde scene specifically

[Thorpesaurous]

Loved episode 5. With both the human enemies, and the infected enemies, and using the infected against the humans, it felt the most like an adaptation of the game yet. And while doing that, they really blow out the story in a huge way. The 2+ hour story arc for Melanie Lynskie is all totally fresh material from the game, and while it has some questions, I thought it worked incredibly well. And the extra story we got backgrounding Sam and Henry I thought was a great addition, and the differences with them, like Sam being deaf, I felt like helped the story too.

I've played through this game probably a half dozen times, and frankly I'm blown away with how well this is being received so far, mostly because the areas we've covered so far, are the weakest in the game IMO. Boston's Fedra section is really sluggishly paced in the game. And game Pittsburg / show Kansas City, is extremely non-descript as far as the enemies go. I expect the last few chapters to be some of the best stuff we see on tv just based on how good the source material is, and how exceptionally they've handled what in my opinion is the lesser of the source material, up to this point. And while I was a little concerned about the remaining time, four episodes, especially if they have a little extra runtime, as some of them have so far, I can at least now envision the blueprint to finishing this as it should be finished.

I was really enjoying the cold opens, but it seems they've run their course. I probably liked them because they gave me new content, and added to the existing world and story, but I understand that they've pretty much run their course. There's much more to say about the original outbreak unless you're going to really show cities being bombed, which at this point I'd rather that budget be put into the main plot. I'm hoping was see some more Flashback of that time frame between Texas and Boston with Joel and his brother Tommy. It's a period that is hinted at in the game, and further in the show, but it's never been seen. I think we might get some in this coming episode six when Joel and Tommy reunite.

[highwhey]

Loved episode 5. With both the human enemies, and the infected enemies, and using the infected against the humans, it felt the most like an adaptation of the game yet. And while doing that, they really blow out the story in a huge way. The 2+ hour story arc for Melanie Lynskie is all totally fresh material from the game, and while it has some questions, I thought it worked incredibly well. And the extra story we got backgrounding Sam and Henry I thought was a great addition, and the differences with them, like Sam being deaf, I felt like helped the story too.

I've played through this game probably a half dozen times, and frankly I'm blown away with how well this is being received so far, mostly because the areas we've covered so far, are the weakest in the game IMO. Boston's Fedra section is really sluggishly paced in the game. And game Pittsburg / show Kansas City, is extremely non-descript as far as the enemies go. I expect the last few chapters to be some of the best stuff we see on tv just based on how good the source material is, and how exceptionally they've handled what in my opinion is the lesser of the source material, up to this point. And while I was a little concerned about the remaining time, four episodes, especially if they have a little extra runtime, as some of them have so far, I can at least now envision the blueprint to finishing this as it should be finished.

I was really enjoying the cold opens, but it seems they've run their course. I probably liked them because they gave me new content, and added to the existing world and story, but I understand that they've pretty much run their course. There's much more to say about the original outbreak unless you're going to really show cities being bombed, which at this point I'd rather that budget be put into the main plot. I'm hoping was see some more Flashback of that time frame between Texas and Boston with Joel and his brother Tommy. It's a period that is hinted at in the game, and further in the show, but it's never been seen. I think we might get some in this coming episode six when Joel and Tommy reunite.

wth is up with that abomination of a monster? are they also in the game? how do you stop them? a bazooka? and what makes them grow so big and strong?

i agree with you btw, i think this is the best episode yet.