The Last Of Us - SPOILERS

[DANGERMAN]

rather than put it all in the tv thread, where people might accidentally see something they don't want to and have it spoilt, I thought we'd have a dedicated thread for it

 

The first episode is out if you have Nowtv/Sky Go/can use the internet. What are people's thoughts

 

also, what are people's thoughts on spoilers for this thread? I know people could come in after the fact, but if most of us are watching week to week I'm happy putting a spoiler warning in the title and letting people talk more openly?

 

 

As far as the episode goes, it's starts really well, but there was a point 40 minutes in where I started to wonder if your average viewer would be turning off. The middle section just isn't exciting and doesn't really set the scene that well, although that can be sorted over the run of the series. It ends well though, or I thought so at least

[one-armed dwarf]

I thought it was good, and makes some smart decisions about how to re-imagine certain game events divested of cover shooter gameplay into more 'talk-ey' kind of drama. Some events get re-arranged and characters arrive at the same destination via different narrative devices. I think it also helps that I didn't really like The Last of Us when I played it on PS4, thought the gameplay was really crap in it and got in the way. But I also thought the story was good in it, so I'm fairly open to this version of its story taking some changes to deliver it in a way I think I'll be more patient for. Also you've got the added benefit that a tv show doesn't feel the need to almost exclusively follow the main characters with unbroken camera shots (which really seems to be a big thing with Sony these days), so you can add in additional development for characters that only get a glance in the game (Marlene)

 

That said there's certain things which fit more naturally into the style of interactive narrative, world building elements. Having to pan the camera at walls and show public executions and stuff is something a player can glance at while moving around in the world but translates into a strange pacing rhythm in this episode where sometimes it feels like it's moving fast and other times glacially slow. I thought the episode was decent but I don't know there was anything in it that made a massive pitch to get excited about this story, while The Walking Dead had its exceptional pilot. But then that was followed by hours of shite, so goes to show you can't judge a show by its pilot. While TLOU can already claim that its strongest story beats happen towards the early-middle bit, and then towards the end, arguably the start is the weakest part. So on that basis it's actually a really strong start to this adaptation

 

I will watch all of this first season and see how it goes if they adapt TLOU2, which was just kind of a very bitter and cynical sort of story that reminded me also of TWD, so just not as interested in seeing it.

 

wrt spoilers my vote is open season on the TV show, spoiler blocks for events in the two video games which haven't happened on HBO yet, but idc.

[shinymcshine]

Wasn't all that great IMHO, if it wasn't for the IP then I might not have bothered with a second episode, but the teaser trail at the end means I'll stick with it for a bit longer 

[DANGERMAN]

episode 2 was much better imo. I do wonder if the people who liked the first episode so much will like the 2nd one as much as I did but for me it was genuinely tense at point. As a recreation of game locations, and even the combat in the game, it's really well done

 

I'm a little surprised they didn't keep Tess around longer.

I don't think they need to rush this, especially the early sections where they're introducing the world. I think she needed at least one more episode

 

Either way, this was genuinely good

[shinymcshine]

It lacks tension for me - since, having played the game, you know that Joel and Ellie aren't actually in any peril (unless they're going to deviate from the plot).

 

I'm also not really warming to the Ellie & Joel casting - there's just no chemistry between them, in most part Ellie isn't sassy and cheeky and just comes over way too cocky and downright rude.

 

I agree, there were a number of scenes this week that looked like they were straight out of the game - but it gave me more of a desire to replay the game (or even watch a playthough) that it did endear me to the show.

 

Roll on next week, and I hope it picks up.

[one-armed dwarf]

Yeah, it feels redundant. Reminds me of playing FFVII Remake, in the sense that when you have played the original then in Remake you're sort of impatiently waiting for the stakes to get to that point you know they're going to get to. 

 

What I think it comes down to is that the game is already a pretty exceptional bit of film-making, but constructed in the form of a game. So it's hard to get too excited by it, instead there's a couple of things where the show puts its own mark on things (the opening in Jakarta, which I thought was interesting) and the minor differences between scenes. Funnily enough I think the very different version of Ellie is probably the best thing it has going for it from that point of view.

 

It weirdly feels like something which badly needed a binge model, because the events in the game would not be spread out week by week like this.

[shinymcshine]

I wonder if some of the problem (with all videogame adaptions) is that when they adapt a book to screen it adds a visualisation to the written narrative, whereas we've already got that in a video game - we know how the game creator sees their characters and their world, so the awe and wonder of seeing words translated to screen just isn't there - and instead it simply removes the interactive elements that we play the games for.

[one-armed dwarf]

🏌️‍♀️Season 2 renewal 🍄🧟‍♂️

 

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/the-last-of-us-renewed-season-2-hbo-1235504485/

[shinymcshine]

Given how wild the internet went when Daenerys went off the rails in GoT, I've no idea how anyone unfamiliar with TLoU 2 will cope if the second series sticks to that plot...

[Jimboxy]

On 27/01/2023 at 19:40, shinymcshine said:

Given how wild the internet went when Daenerys went off the rails in GoT

That was a slightly different situation though where they threw out 6 seasons of character development in the last two episodes in order to get the show over the line, so the showrunners to go and direct the Star Wars film they ended up getting fired from.

 

I don't fully know the plot of the games, but know the broad strokes, but I trust in the production team behind this enough to think they can make it work. I've really enjoyed the first two episodes

[DANGERMAN]

this might not be the thread for it, but apart from being rushed I thought she ended up exactly where she was always supposed to

[Jimboxy]

31 minutes ago, DANGERMAN said:

this might not be the thread for it, but apart from being rushed I thought she ended up exactly where she was always supposed to

Yeah for sure, but it should have been over a season, not 2 episodes

[DANGERMAN]

yup

[one-armed dwarf]

The writers clearly just lost interest, I think the ending they did is probably close to the one GRRM wants, but there's a reason that motherfucker has been agonising over writing that book for a decade. 

 

What TLOU season 2 can do that the game cannot is play around with perspectives a bit more freely, which I hope it does cause the game is just a bit much of a misery fest.

[DANGERMAN]

😞 that's a really good episode of tv

 

They've changed it a lot from the game, which means you lose some elements that were fun, but it's probably a better story as a one off episode

[one-armed dwarf]

yeah no complaints here, more or less addresses the issues I've sort of had with the first two episodes. The series needs to strike out on its own and move perspectives around, embrace the TV show format rather than trace the lines of the original, which that episode did. Great stuff

 

Also I'm guessing that episode is where the Station Eleven comparisons came from.

[shinymcshine]

Great episode (in terms of fictional storytelling) - but one that makes me again question - why bother basing something on a videogame if you're then going to swerve so far from actual game plot / events ?

 

It was a such huge variation from the character interactions, and how Bill's Town played / felt in the game.

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

[DANGERMAN]

but why bother making it at all if you're not altering something?

 

also, no spoilers for the game(s) please. There's every chance people will read this watching the show having not played the game 🙂

[one-armed dwarf]

Video games can do a lot of ambient story telling, which is what they did with those characters in the original. A suggested backstory, you pick up on the subtext of it just by reading a note and listening in on optional and missable conversation, and looking at your surroundings. Not that film and TV can't do subtle stuff, obviously they can, but being a linear form of story-telling presents different challenges. As well as that, if you try to do the straight-forward adaptation of what was mentioned in the original you might just also find it doesn't translate into interesting TV. 

 

That is sorta where the challenge is with TLOU, trying to thread that needle such that you extract interesting drama out of a video game without making it feel like video game cutscenes. So you've got to make changes, imo

[shinymcshine]

Mazin said the (any) changes were "designed to fill things out and expand, not to undo, but enhance".

 

So here's some of the issue, as this particular episode did completely change the Bill & Frank narrative, telling a different story to that of the game - that's undo not enhance - enhance would be to run the Bill & Frank's story as it was (and there's still an episode of backstory there to be told to enhance hinted events from the game) just not the same one as it was shown.

 

I think where I'm coming from is still not understanding who the TV show is aimed at - the videogame audience may get cheesed off with narrative changes, whilst TV viewers who then play the game may equally feel the same about the differences - so why make a show of a game if such changes are deemed 'necessary'. It'd be like making an Uncharted movie where Nate barely fires a gun in 2 hours .... oh wait....