Spoilers THE LAST OF US (TV Show) - SPOILERS (for all mediums)

[Casey]

6 hours ago, AxB said:

Thy're going to have a hard time doing one game per season, when there's only two games so far.

To be fair, the first season is pulling from three sources: the original game, the DLCs for that game, and most likely the American Dreams graphic novel.

The second game is way different than the first, since Abby and her group are important to the story. You don’t just have a standard storyline of “Joel needs to get Ellie to Point A and they fight along the way”. I could see Part 2 lasting two seasons, easily.

[Coletti]

They should go all in on the ambition of "one season one game" and release TLOU Part III shortly after season 2 finishes. The hype would be out of control. 

[Andrew POE!]

Tonight's episode was great. They captured almost all the parts from the game where Tess/Joel/Ellie go through the hotel to the Capitol although they did change who was chasing after them (in the game it was FEDRA agents, in this it's the infected). I can't complain about that too much though.

I got a little chuckle when Joel was boosting up Tess on the show because....that happens a lot in the game.

I still think Anne Wersching's scenes in the game at that part where she gives herself were better than Anna Torv's on the show but again I'm amazed they captured that on the show.

I'm curious though about the character we saw in the early parts of the episode. Will she be in The Last of Us Part III somehow?

Next week looks great and it looks like parts of it will be in flashback (probably to spread out Bill's Town a bit).

[EVA]

I think the infected communicating through the fungus is a good addition to the lore that helps further differentiate what this show is doing from other zombie-type shows. 
 

I also appreciated that they established early on that even a badass likeJoel would struggle to stop just a couple of clickers, as opposed to THE WALKING DEAD, where pretty much anybody could drop a walker with a running, 360 no-look headshot.

[Casey]

2 for 2 with opening scenes that just absolutely fill you with a sense of dread.

This show is killing it so far, my god. And next week’s episode is another long boi at around 80ish minutes apparently.

And the neat part for me is that I never played the first game, just watched a supercut on YouTube of cutscenes and gameplay before the second came out, so I barely remember anything about the first game. No recollection of who Frank is, but I remember Bill but only because he was a really odd character. The only things that stuck with me from the first game are the opening with Sarah, and the ending of the game.

Now if we ever get to Part 2, then oh boy, that’s my shit right there.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Casey

[Andrew POE!]

8 hours ago, Casey said:

2 for 2 with opening scenes that just absolutely fill you with a sense of dread.

This show is killing it so far, my god. And next week’s episode is another long boi at around 80ish minutes apparently.

And the neat part for me is that I never played the first game, just watched a supercut on YouTube of cutscenes and gameplay before the second came out, so I barely remember anything about the first game. No recollection of who Frank is, but I remember Bill but only because he was a really odd character. The only things that stuck with me from the first game are the opening with Sarah, and the ending of the game.

Now if we ever get to Part 2, then oh boy, that’s my shit right there.

Frank was Bill's partner, which they briefly mentioned in the game as Joel & Ellie are leaving with a truck that eventually takes them to Pittsburgh. It sounds like the next episode will expand upon that.

[EVA]

Episode 2 grew first night viewership by 22%. Very rare in this day and age of TV.

[Craig H]

On 1/23/2023 at 7:20 AM, Andrew POE! said:

Frank was Bill's partner, which they briefly mentioned in the game as Joel & Ellie are leaving with a truck that eventually takes them to Pittsburgh. It sounds like the next episode will expand upon that.

That's exactly what's next per the preview for next week.

[Craig H]

I stupidly went back for episode 2 like a moth to a flame and I was treated to what was one of the most disgusting things I've seen in TV or a movie. The only way that would have weirded me out more was if the mushrooms came out of the zombies eyes and went into Tess' eyes, complete with closeups. And now that I've introduced this idea into the world, it's probably going to happen to someone.

Good episode otherwise. Part of me started to wonder if the show would stray from the game and keep Tess alive until a dramatic finale death.

Looking forward to an episode where 30 minutes of it is Joel and Ellie move big wooden planks around to try to cross terrain.

[worldcupfever]

24 minutes ago, Craig H said:

Looking forward to an episode where 30 minutes of it is Joel and Ellie move big wooden planks around to try to cross terrain.

I hope they put in my favorite background glitch from TLOU2, a dog going up a wooden ladder.

[J.T.]

Holy shit, that hot opening though.  The Indonesian professor did the mental mathematics in her head and automatically knew that civilization was fucked.  The end of that segment was so sad and perfect.  I love this show.

How long before someone from Bioware hears about the fungi communication method and says to himself, "Fuck.  They put the goddamed Thorian in this television series."

Edited January 24, 2023 by J.T.

[Andrew POE!]

3 hours ago, worldcupfever said:

I hope they put in my favorite background glitch from TLOU2, a dog going up a wooden ladder.

That's for season two. Along with Ellie singing "Take On Me" and Abby and Ellie glitching through doors out of the world altogether.

[Casey]

I’m gonna need a recreation of the Through the Valley TLOU2 teaser eventually.

[EVA]

Little doubt after these ratings, but the show has been Officially renewed for a second season!. The press release did not use the “and final” qualifier, so it seems like stretching Part 2 into two seasons is still on the table.

[Coletti]

Fuck. My wife and I watch this cuddled up and she's never played any of it but was sobbing. I did a bit better than her. 

 

[Craig H]

May as well just give both of them the Emmy.

[Andrew POE!]

Episode 3 strays a lot from the source material but....who cares.

Seriously one of the best hour-long episodes I've ever seen. Up there with Star Trek DS9's best episodes (which is a high bar to reach and to exceed). They kept Bill as a doomsday prepper, but I liked the direction they went for the story.

Spoiler

Sorta wished they kept Bill alive and have Frank died right as Joel & Ellie arrived. Make it a two-parter essentially in Bill's Town so we could see Bill yell at Ellie and act like an unredeemable asshole to Ellie and Joel but the show doesn't have to adapt EVERYTHING from the game.

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by Andrew POE!

[EVA]

I feel like Craig Mazin deserves an honorary Emmy just for whatever he said to convince Druckman to let him change everything about Bill & Frank.

Just a lovely episode. Definitely more STATION ELEVEN/LEFTOVERS than WALKING DEAD.

I was 100% expecting Bill to stumble out of the bedroom at the end, but I’m glad he didn’t.

[Craig H]

3 hours ago, EVA said:

I feel like Craig Mazin deserves an honorary Emmy just for whatever he said to convince Druckman to let him change everything about Bill & Frank.

Just a lovely episode. Definitely more STATION ELEVEN/LEFTOVERS than WALKING DEAD.

I was 100% expecting Bill to stumble out of the bedroom at the end, but I’m glad he didn’t.

Duuuuude. Same thing. When that final shot of the window was on screen I kept expecting the camera to eventually show Bill in the bedroom looking disheveled. Earlier, before the letter gave them the code to get into the basement bunker, I was thinking Joel and Ellie would leave and then you'd see Bill watching them leave from his monitors in the basement.

Craig Mazin is the king of TV at the point. Every episode of Chernobyl was horrifying and excellent. This episode of the Last of Us was one of the most perfect hours of TV that I've seen. Having basically beaten the game, there's a ton that I was not looking forward to in the show, one of them being the absolute slog of getting to Bill's town to then searching around for a car battery and working vehicle to the whole pushing the truck bit and stopping to kill zombies. I think the only part of that that really got to me in the game was finding Frank and seeing Frank's letter and seeing Bill's reaction to it. I love that episode essentially dumped hours worth of utter monotonous bullshit and contrivances to instead focus on the relationship between Bill and Frank and showing that even in a world with a zombie plague, ALS is still the king of the motherfuckers.

In the post-show explanation, they did have Druckman saying that their philosophy for the TV series was that if something worked in the game and was good in the game and they couldn't think of something better then the stuff from the game was staying in. And if they thought of something better than the game, then that was the direction they were going in instead. And in this case, it was taking us back to weeks after the outbreak started and showing us the entire relationship between Bill and Frank.

That alone gives me hope that the TV show isn't going to be nearly as nihilistic or selfish as the game. But then again, I can't see them going with any other ending to this season, soooo....

[Throat]

2 minutes ago, Craig H said:

Duuuuude. Same thing. When that final shot of the window was on screen I kept expecting the camera to eventually show Bill in the bedroom looking disheveled. Earlier, before the letter gave them the code to get into the basement bunker, I was thinking Joel and Ellie would leave and then you'd see Bill watching them leave from his monitors in the basement.

I didn't expect to see him alive but as the camera slowly panned back from the open window I kept repeating in my head "Please don't show the bodies." I was so relieved when they didn't. I feel like Walking Dead would have.

[J.T.]

The Bill and Frank episode was the best.  I wept buckets.  What a tremendous deviation from game canon.  This show keeps finding new ways to crush my soul and it is totally great.

Edited January 31, 2023 by J.T.

[Curt McGirt]

Okay, tomorrow I'm finally gonna pull the pin on the grenade and try and get through all three episodes. All I've seen so far is a small bit from the beginning of the second but they're all on my DVR. Guess I should have tissues handy.

[Casey]

The relationship between Ellie & Joel is already hitting hard, for me, in a live action setting. Moreso than the video game ever got to me. If they keep to the core story of Part 2... oh my god, it's going to be a rough watch.

Next week's episode is going to be another tearjerker probably. Fucking hell.

[Lawful Metal]

I think this show has spoiled us. That was definitely the worst episode yet! Table setting episode are you kidding me? I demand fully realized interconnected whole movies every week!

[Craig H]

I’m guessing that was a bloater they were worried about in that one room where the floor was cracked and pulsating, except…bloaters are just infected people who have had the infection the longest and haven’t died.