The Last Of Us - SPOILERS

[one-armed dwarf]

Mazin says a lot of shite tbh, imo. I still think the strength of a great adaptation is to make the right kind of changes however, and in that sense I don't think the very different version of these characters really constitutes a mutation of the original so what he says still makes sense. If the game version of Bill could be seen as a warning to not drive your loved ones away then they do the same in the opposite direction with Offerman's take. 

 

I think people should think of the HBO show as a second 'remake' of TLOU, making some changes along the way, and treat the PS5 game as a faithful 'remaster'. IMO

[shinymcshine]

I like that last para, it's a good way to summise it - I'll just roll with the show as it goes.

[one-armed dwarf]

A bit of a slow one this week, that said I spent almost the whole week thinking about that last episode. So that's fine, I think.

 

I generally like the show's take on the characters. I'm not fully decided if I prefer Baker Joel to Pascal Joel, but I prefer HBO Ellie to the one in the game who always seems a bit too precocious imo even taking into account how fast you need to grow and adapt in a world like that.

[shinymcshine]

I think this (Ep4) was my favourite episode so far, in terms of the action, and Ellie's behaviour, being more like they are in the game.

[DANGERMAN]

just a heads up, this week's episode is releasing early because of something going on in America (genuinely no idea, might be the Superbowl). Sky are also releasing it early over here to try to avoid spoilers/stop people just pirating it

 

It should be out now, but I can't see it on the PS5 Skygo app

[shinymcshine]

Ep 5 - it was alright, but for me it all seemed a bit too rushed, in terms of building up empathy for Sam & Henry's situation.

 

The whole loop with Kathleen actually has more parallels with the plot of TLoU Part 2, and the subsequent behaviours of Abbie & Ellie - not sure it was ever really suppose to be framed as such though (and therefore it's difficult to view anyone as a straightforward goodie/baddie with that in mind).

[one-armed dwarf]

I think in general the show is at pains to spell out what felt more like subtext in the original game. WRT how things go in the first installment and the next one.

 

That is getting into spoiler territory, but I think you'd know what I mean thinking about how the show handles these character's journey versus the game, which leans on a more subtle ambient style of storytelling

 

(interesting to think that a video game is being more subtle with its themes than a prestige TV show... 🤔 Maybe says a lot about where gaming has come from. Talking mainly about part 1, I never completed part 2)

[DANGERMAN]

Careful with the Part 2 spoilers @shinymcshine

 

I didn't post last week but I thought Kathleen was far to meek to be leading a rebel group. This week she was more convincing. I've seen it argued thats because we've seen more of her but I disagree, her motivations were obvious last week, she's just played differently here. She's not umming over decisions, she acts and is ruthless 

 

I thought the bloater looked a bit dumb but that scene as a whole was great. 

 

I agree about it feeling a bit rushed. I've felt that pretty much all through the series bar Bill's episode, they could have taken slightly longer with all this, made it feel less like each episode is tieing itself up

[DANGERMAN]

I've said it before, but I prefer when this isn't a one and done structure. I know the game was a bit like that, and it's the nature of travelling across the country, but the pace they're moving at exasperated it I think 

 

This week's episode is going against that, it feels like we aren't done with the 'area' yet. They did race through a couple of bits so fast I'm wondering why they bothered making the set but it was still a really good episode 

[one-armed dwarf]

I thought it was an excellent episode. That said, I did go and watch the video game's version of this episodes' ending and damn the game does it so much better, highly exciting blend of movie scenes and gameplay

 

Spoiler

 

 

As good as the show is, the reluctance to allow much action to happen is kind of disappointing. I don't think it desperately needs it as such but there's some story telling elements which actually can be sacrificed by pursuing such a leaner version of events. You would occasionally forget that there are infected in the world, for instance, when they don't make an appearance at all.

[shinymcshine]

I just wasn't that engaged with this week's episode - whether it was the lack of action scenes or that Joel & Ellie looked like they'd just stepped out of Gap rather than been hard travelling for months, I don't know.

[shinymcshine]

An enjoyable episode, albeit I felt it was a miss step in terms of story pacing, and have no idea quite where they are going to wrap up with 2 episodes left.

[DANGERMAN]

Yeah, apparently the final episode is shorter too. I suppose they could leave some parts of the final episode for series 2

 

I enjoyed last night's episode. I've not played Left Behind so it was kind of new to me, albeit with the tension of knowing how it was going to go

[one-armed dwarf]

Maybe my view will change with the next 2 eps, but I think TLOU has become slightly underwhelming for me. 

 

It is better than TWD, but the early reviews and episode 3 kinda elevated my expectations a bit. There's something about the story telling which feels a bit basic at times, compared with something like Station 11.

 

Tbf, I also remember thinking that the first 2 episodes of Chernobyl were leagues above the rest of it. It's one thing to start off strong but to hold that level of quality is another thing.

 

Not trying to be negative for the sake of it, just registering this sense of disillusionment the story is giving me now

[AndyKurosaki]

I’ve been enjoying this, but they’re blazing through the story at a rapid pace. Characters get introduced, and their tale is resolved almost that same episode. 
If Season 2 does the same thing, they’ll have exhausted the plot of Part 2 by the end. And as there’s no more game to go from after that point, that’s pretty much the end of the line.

[DANGERMAN]

Enjoyed that again. It is a bit of a theme that stuff feels rushed, maybe that's just from having the context of the game where everything took longer. 

 

The end for example, the reveals and the fight, all seemed to wade in to the murk more, it was more horrible 

[shinymcshine]

Cracking episode - really grim and brutal, and gave so much depth to Ellie's character.

 

I still don't get the same chemistry/affinity between the two leads as it felt developed between Joel & Ellie in the game though - there doesn't feel to be that hook which causes Joel such a dilemma in the decision he has yet to make.

 

Still not sure if they're going to wrap everything up next week - the pacing of the show has been weird, some episodes seemed to be way too slow, then others cramming the action in. The infected sometimes feeling a bit neglected at times too (compared to their appearances in the game).

[one-armed dwarf]

I think andy sort of hits the nail on the head a bit with how characters are introduced and 'untroduced' each episode. To me it harms the feeling of continuity a bit, disrupts the flow of narrative between episodes. It has a kinda chopped up feel, pun not intended. 

 

I don't know how much of that is owing to the fact it's adapting stages in a video game though, because I think the same issue is present in Chernobyl. That was a very short series tho so it made more sense, and it was trying to cram in a complex and multi-pronged emergency response into just 5 episodes. What I feel tho is the show doesn't quite allow viewers to marinate in the consequences of each episode as much as the game forced the player to, but I don't know a good way of doing that in TV other than massively slowing down the pace of it all and dragging it out. That might have helped

 

As it stands, it's mostly good TV but not as impactful as I'd have liked and certainly not close to the game in that particular respect.

[AndyKurosaki]

I’ve seen some reviews praising “David’s” performance in this weeks episode. It was good, yeah. But yet again, rushed through at 90 miles an hour. I was looking forward to how they would approach the part in game where Ellie and David team up when they first meet, in a Resi 4 style battle. 

But nope, let’s just skip that part entirely. All to get towards the final episode, which is going to cram the last part of the game into an hour. 
 

There’s been some good moments in the series. But it’s definitely been massively over-rated. In comparison to the Triple A US dramas that I’ve loved for years, this is nowhere near that level. 

[DisturbedSwan]

As a massive TLOU fan I've really enjoyed the series but I was struggling a bit at times during the last two episodes. Left Behind was great but didn't show any of the present day threats Ellie faces to get Joel back up and on his feet, instead it's kind of addressed in the next episode which as others have said completely misses the time Ellie spends with David and gets to trust him slightly, which makes his betrayal and subsequent 'heel turn' more poignant later on.

 

I also agree that it has been rushed at times in general, none of it feels anywhere near as earnt as the game, but then you've spent much more time with the characters, you feel like you've slogged across the country more whereas this feels almost like fast travelling between set scenes and stages in the game picking out moments and then trying to make you care maybe a little too much at times.

 

I get why it's been rated so highly, because lots of the TV critics haven't seen the 'dumb game meant for teenagers' as Graham Norton alluded to on his show a few Friday's ago, but yeah it hasn't been a complete home run. In terms of game adaptions though it is probably the best there has been, but still not perfect, I don't get why they couldn't of done a 10th episode really, I think there's enough material in there.