The Last of Us (HBO, from Creator of Chernobyl) - No game spoilers please

div0 said:
I disagree about it not being needed/wanted.

For me, as someone with no other reference, it added well to Joel's background and dwindling support network. It showed that when Tess had previously asked him to get Ellie to Bill & Frank, it wasn't because that would be a final salvation, but just simply a safe place on which they could still rely. His best option was to go looking for two (now) old guys.
Click to expand...
But 1 and a half hours of it? It could have been put into 1 part (20 or 15mins) and then got to the important points of Joel's relationship with him, which it only showed like 5 or 10 mins of. We didn't need all the rest. In an apocalyptic world that place would have been ravaged on countless occasions by scavengers. The one instance they showed made no sense...

I never played the second game because I felt it was going to ruin the characters from the first.
 
The frigging infected look awesome. Why spend so much time.making them look so great and not sue them. If they are going to go off script from tue game do it by including more clicker chases or fights not by giving everybody different parts of the rainbow spectrum to fill in.

The lady leader chasing Henry and Sam, just didn't seem to fit that role and would have had her followers uprising or dead after a very short amount of time leading them.
 
Coming to the BBC later this year to fill the void by the recently cancelled Autumn Watch is the new show Hate Watch. Very similar in style to Spring Watch and Winter Watch, Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan gather round to discuss the TV programmes they have forced themselves to watch during the previous week. They will discuss at length the serious deficiencies in the scripts, the under-developed characters, the over-developed characters, the characters who are too gay, the characters who are not gay enough, the general skin complexion of anyone on screen if this has upset them in any way, etc, etc, before watching the shows again the next week to report if anything has changed which may have reduced their level of hate. Spoiler: Unlikely.
 
D1craig said:
The frigging infected look awesome. Why spend so much time.making them look so great and not sue them. If they are going to go off script from tue game do it by including more clicker chases or fights not by giving everybody different parts of the rainbow spectrum to fill in.
Click to expand...

I don't see the point in showing more infected fights for the sake of seeing them more. We get it - they're fast and scary and need to be avoided, basically like every other zombie/infected show or film that's come before TLoU. But killing random mob #59 for a "tense" scene where we know Joel/Ellie will ultimately triumph anyway every other episode is just wasting time and tiresome. Humans are clearly as much a threat as the infected are, and at least the conflicts won't be just "raaar *scream* aaaaah" every time.
 
My thought on the latest episode is it could have been a 20/25 minute flashback and had the same impact - however with that said, I wasn't bored at all and it was still entertaining enough. The problem for me is that

we already know the outcome, so it was hard to get invested in the new girl

probably the weakest episode yet but by no means bad.
 
Last edited:
I thought it was a fair episode - I really like Ellie in this so enjoyed it. Her friend was OK, but we had no investment in her so she was just sort of ‘there’.

Bubo said:
Coming to the BBC later this year to fill the void by the recently cancelled Autumn Watch is the new show Hate Watch. Very similar in style to Spring Watch and Winter Watch, Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan gather round to discuss the TV programmes they have forced themselves to watch during the previous week. They will discuss at length the serious deficiencies in the scripts, the under-developed characters, the over-developed characters, the characters who are too gay, the characters who are not gay enough, the general skin complexion of anyone on screen if this has upset them in any way, etc, etc, before watching the shows again the next week to report if anything has changed which may have reduced their level of hate. Spoiler: Unlikely.
Click to expand...

lol :D

No Jim Davidson though?
 
If I had to say whether it's trending upwards or downwards from EP1 then I'd have to say the general trend has been that has the show has gone on, it's trended down in quality for me.

That said, there's 2 EP's left and plenty of time to reverse that trend.
 
Ayahuasca said:
Joel hasn't been portrayed as being weak at all. He's 50+ and has had a few injuries and a pretty brutal life. He's also running on very little sleep when they're on the road, so it's not unfeasible to see he'd start having issues with his heart or anxiety when he's trying to look after a girl who potentially has the cure.
Click to expand...
The game never really had a chance to develop the breakdown of Joel.....he just kinda snaps and you're in that quicktime event where the only way forward is to murder the doctor and start his rampage. He's a bit too much of a rugged wholesome hero figure up to that point.

The series is doing a great job of filling in more of the character development for Joel, what it is that leads to his meltdown and ultimately sets in motion all the events of Part 2.
 
Damn, just watched Ep 7. They're just knocking it out of the park, getting better as it goes.

My memory of the first game is getting a bit hazy, not sure how they're gonna wrap up Part 1 in the next two episodes? Feels like by taking an episode for Left Behind it's got quite a lot to fit in.....

Anyway...Bella Ramsay has been amazing, I was a little unsure at first, but she's totally nailed it. Same with the series in general, the first couple episodes that were like cheap live action copies of the game and were pretty disappointing...from 3 onwards it's been awesome, everything I'd wanted from the TV adaptation.
 
mid_gen said:
The game never really had a chance to develop the breakdown of Joel.....he just kinda snaps and you're in that quicktime event where the only way forward is to murder the doctor and start his rampage. He's a bit too much of a rugged wholesome hero figure up to that point.

The series is doing a great job of filling in more of the character development for Joel, what it is that leads to his meltdown and ultimately sets in motion all the events of Part 2.
Click to expand...
I don't think he 'snaps' or has a 'meltdown' at all, he makes a conscious decision to save Ellie due to the relationship that built up between them over the course of the game. He chooses to save his daughter (so to speak) over her death when there is no guarantee the cure will work. You could argue that he doesn't think humanity is worth saving at that point which influences his decision. Regardless the show has done a **** poor job at building the relationship between the 2 so in a sense the choice he will make just doesn't work as per the game.

I'd also argue the sniveling, whiny bitch Joel is indicative of the 2nd game, a decision ND took for reasons they alone know - although my own opinion is that Druckman made the choice willingly as an acolyte of the grifter known as Anita Sarkeesian.

Each to their own though right.
 
Loved the first episode, 2 and 3 were very good (though I prefer the darker tale the story tells for the latter, and felt had they followed the game's presentation of the events then you've have seen more of the evolution of Joel and Elle's relationship), the next two meandered a bit (wasted too much time on ultimately inconsequential characters instead of developing the lead characters' relationship), 6 was good for the most part, this last one was dull. Probably a combination of knowing the outcome and the excessive length for what should have been a shorter segment.

I'm struggling to like Elle in the series too. Bella Ramsey is ok in the role, my issue is the writing. She's mostly cocky and upbeat without much of the vulnerability and fear that makes the game's depiction a more realistic and likeable character.
 
Last edited:
C Kent said:
I don't think he 'snaps' or has a 'meltdown' at all, he makes a conscious decision to save Ellie due to the relationship that built up between them over the course of the game. He chooses to save his daughter (so to speak) over her death when there is no guarantee the cure will work. You could argue that he doesn't think humanity is worth saving at that point which influences his decision. Regardless the show has done a **** poor job at building the relationship between the 2 so in a sense the choice he will make just doesn't work as per the game.
Click to expand...
He doesn't just 'save Ellie', he snaps and murders a bunch of innocent people, it's the pivotal moment in the series that drives the narrative for Part 2.

There's more to the TLOU narrative than 'Grumpy old man protects surrogate daughter'. It's not a coincidence that people who don't quite get the fundamental breakdown by Joel also don't appreciate Part 2.

C Kent said:
I'd also argue the sniveling, whiny bitch Joel is indicative of the 2nd game, a decision ND took for reasons they alone know - although my own opinion is that Druckman made the choice willingly as an acolyte of the grifter known as Anita Sarkeesian.
Click to expand...
She's still making you wet the bed huh?
 
mid_gen said:
He doesn't just 'save Ellie', he snaps and murders a bunch of innocent people, it's the pivotal moment in the series that drives the narrative for Part 2.

There's more to the TLOU narrative than 'Grumpy old man protects surrogate daughter'. It's not a coincidence that people who don't quite get the fundamental breakdown by Joel also don't appreciate Part 2.
Click to expand...
Sounds to me like you choose the option to kill everyone you came across during the escape as the game gives the option of only having to kill one person - the doctor, who if you don't shoot will try to kill you with a scalpel incidentally. Joel as a character doesn't snap or go on a murder spree killing innocents ;) :cry: Regardless, I don't think anyone can be classed as innocent if they are trying to kill you.

Edit - I forgot about the guard you kill right at the start of that sequence of events, from memory it's shown he won't be letting you go and will be killing you anyway as there's some note or a recording you pick up that confirms they've got orders to not let you go free.

As to "appreciating" the 2nd game, I find generic 'revenge is circular m'kay' story telling to be **** weak.

mid_gen said:
She's still making you wet the bed huh?
Click to expand...
Why am I not surprised a soy drenched, male feminist thinks the biggest grifter in video games is the 2nd coming of Christ. Last time she tried her grift she got laughed out of the building :cry:
 
Last edited:
The left behind content would have been better handled as short flashback, maybe 10 -15 minutes, not a whole episode. They finished on cliff-hanger, then dedicated a whole episode to the relationship between these two, and finished on the basically the same cliff-hanger, no real progress again.

But I guess they couldn't resist themselves, around 30% of the series up to this point is dedicated to gay or lesbian relationships... :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom