The Last of Us (new HBO series)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fungi-spread-last-of-us-valley-fever-climate-11675260773

Not every episode is going to blow you away. No pun intended , but episode four had some good character moments and I’m still liking the show so far. The joke at the end I’ve heard a million times, but it still made me laugh.

Still shortening some stages, expanding others and leaving some out entirely in favor of new material. And then I get a faithful, verbatim scene and I feel better again. Still on the fence, here. With the liberties they're taking , they had damned well better stick the landing at the end of the season.

Dude.. I’m getting old. I got a gun a few years ago and I really felt uncomfortable watching Ellie play with hers during her “You talking to me, motherfucker?” moment in front of the mirror. That really did something to me.

This was setting up the middle phase of the show, so it makes sense that this wasn’t another Emmy winner episode… but I’m looking forward to how you guys react to what’s going to happen soon.

I knew Ellie would find that Corny joke book but I’d never heard the diarrhea joke before. My reaction to it was pretty much Joel’s in the show. I actually chuckled to a few of Ellie’s jokes in the game.

So Pedro Pascal hosted SNL recently and I thought this was pretty funny.

Looks like HBO got ep 5 out of the way of The Super Bowl. Holy Shit!! They’ve changed just enough to keep me second guessing as to what is going to happen next. I was just starting to think that the TV show was going to be light in the number of infected we see… and they gave us our first Bloater!

These kids were perfectly casted. I knew what was going to happen and I was even more emotionally affected than I was when this moment happened in the game. Another great episode, IMHO.

My fucking jaw hit the floor with that second to last scene. I can't believe what I just watched. I had hope ripped away from me in an instant after the setup of having Ellie and Joel finding a friend. Great episode, but absolutely heartbreaking.

I never played the game, but the show has sucked me in. It's the best thing on HBO right now IMO.

Reminds me of the Joker/Oscar the Grouch parody with David Harbour.

More unnecessary backstory for side characters, and needlessly changing their details.

Are you serious?

In the game, Henry & Sam are characters we meet along the way and decide to team up with when we run into a murderous death cult who just want to rob and kill unlucky travelers as they pass through. They are both a little older in the game. Henry was in his early 20's I'd say and remembered BBQ's before infection day. Sam was close to Ellie's age and I think he had a little crush on Ellie, but I can't recall why. I think the added backstory of a bunch of QZ people who overthrew a FEDRA outpost and became even more murderous and the impossible choice Henry was faced with to save his brother... I think that's WAY more interesting. It's shocking when Henry kills himself in the game. When he did it in the show, I actually got a little misty. You could tell he was burdened by how he betrayed Michael, but relieved that he saved his brother.... everything he gave up to only be forced to kill his brother after he was infected. It's almost Shakespearian! I really like this change.


Man... the way that Bloater ripped Perry's head off at the end. I call it "The Full Joel" treatment. That's exactly what happens to Joel if the Bloater gets his hands on you in the game. He sticks a finger in each nostril, and grabs you chin with the other hand and just rips your head off at the jaw. The first time it happened to me, I remember just sitting there with the controller in my hand just processing what in the hell happened to me. It was sort of surreal to see it on the show.

I will assume you are describing the game for the benefit of other people. I stand by what I said. That whole sequence worked just fine as it was.

In the behind the scenes thing on HBO Max the writer says that the reason they made Sam deaf was because it means Sam relies on Henry even more so than in the game which makes for a stronger gut punch when Henry kills Sam. They also say that the whole point of making the QZ people go on a witch hunt show how consequences work in this world. Henry rats out the opposition leader to save Sam only to lose him anyway and the opposition leader's sister seeking revenge ends up costing her life because she's distracted. So if the game just had them as just murderous thugs, then I think this change is for the better.

I personally sympathized with her, even though she was a tyrant because of the story she told to Perry. I think that's pretty effective writing.

She lost me when she tried to rationalize killing Sam & Ellie. Fuck her.

She lost me from the beginning when she promised those people a trial, even if were a show trial, then just executed them anyway. Then I became okay with her killing Henry, but Sam and Ellie were completely innocent.

Pretty good article on the episode.

https://www.theringer.com/2023/2/10/23595121/the-last-of-us-episode-5-recap-sam-henry-kathleen-hbo

Of course. I know you've played the game. I just can't believe you don't see this as objectively better. You are a cold, cold man, @Uncle Albert


It's true that Henry & Sam are just mere side characters in the game, but this marks a point that something in Ellie changed. Witnessing Tess, Henry & Sam die has made her resolved to do everything she can. Before this, I kind of saw her as just “along for the ride.” She didn’t buy in to the idea of a cure before now.

HBO has the rights to Sesame Street, they could do this.

My initial reaction to Kathleen was pretty negative. A post apocalyptic wasteland isn't going to make a woman like that a leader without a very good reason.

But you know what? They delivered on that reason later in the episode, and the pacing made that reveal better IMO. Both her connection to the previous leader and her absolute ruthlessness made the story believable.

Some behind the scenes shots of that set in this thread:https://twitter.com/ebenbolter/status/1624715966633373698?s=20&t=zteKiKLceTTmLq94kRx7-A

They built the entire street from scratch as a set to do everything as practically as possible. The shots of Joel in the building looking down the street were even done practically in camera rather than green screened.

Another good episode up until Joel got injured. Hopefully he's not dead.

So when Marie gave Ellie the menstruation cup, I thought it was a birth control device. I’m wondering what in the hell does Marie think is going on here and I was completely grossed out. I had to Google what it was. Ick.

Once I got over that, I rather enjoyed the episode. This was more or less faithful to the game on broad points but differed in small details. One of my favorite things missing was Marie chewing Joel out when Tommy tells her he’s leaving with Ellie. When Joel changes his mind, he says “You know… your wife scares me.” Loved that line and the way the voice actor delivered it.

I didn't miss that stupid horse chase, but we were cheated out of an epic shootout in that college.

And that horse's name better be Callus.

So mad that Callus didn’t get a shout out! But we did see Shimmer… & maybe Dina?

I'm thinking of starting a Last Of Us Part II thread in Press Start. Would anyone be willing to discuss this game there? It's bound to spoil somethings for the rest of this season as well as the next... I have some thoughts and concerns that I have to get off my chest.

So the warm reception between Tommy & Joel was nice to see but I have to say that if I'm Joel, I'm a little pissed at Tommy. Here I am, crossing an infected country mostly on foot because I haven't heard from Tommy in months. I'm on my way to rescue him.... and when I get there, here Tommy is hanging Christmas trees, watching movies and eating bacon. Tommy couldn't bother to go to University of Eastern Colorado to get a radio message out to Joel to say I'm OK. Going silent for a few. Don't worry. Yeah, I'd be pissed.


Another thought I had. The conversation Joel had about him dreaming of failure. Waking up with a sense of loss. I can't help but think that's a low key nod to video game players who died as Joel millions of times. Probably not, but I'm going to take it that way. My playthrough as Joel has had an affect on Joel in the show and he's seen my failures in his dreams.

The day he had to shoot waves of infected while hanging upside down by one foot is worth a lifetime of nightmares.

I normally hate when writers bring up shit like this in post apocalpse movies because ... well, mostly male writers have no idea so more often than not, it's wrong; but also because I'm trying to be immersed in fantasy here, not be reminded of real life. So, maybe because I haven't had to deal with it in 2 decades or just the ... "this is reality" in which it was dealt with, I didn't mind.

I've never played the game. Just watch UA play on occasion. But, I like all the characters and I'm really liking Pedro Pascal in both this and Mandalorian. I think I mentioned at the time that I thought he should have/could have had a bigger role in Game of Thrones, he didn't dazzle me the way he does in these two shows.

And, I knew Tess would be dead before the end of the second episode (or third) because I knew she wasn't in the game. And, as storylines go, it's either an orphan boy or, if the orphan is a girl, then the orphan and a protector - before you start yelling at me, I don't mind it so much. I like the orphan girl and her protector storyline. the orphan boy saves the world storyline has been done to death.

This show delivers every week. This was some good backstory and character development for Ellie. Watching these two play Mortal Combat and Ellie learning how I learned, "just press the buttons" warmed my heart and put a huge smile on my face. Of course you know it's not going to end well. I'm assuming the Fire flies come looking for the girl and find Ellie has been bitten, but is healing and that's when they take her.

So… Reilly & Ellie decide to “be all poetic & shit & lose their minds together.” The only thing is, Ellie never did. In a previous episode, Ellie states that she’s killed someone before. I presume it was Reilly. Her first love. The game never goes into detail about how Ellie got away from infected Reilly.

This episode here was based on a downloadable expansion to the game that came out 8 months after the game’s release. So I was happy to get it and thought it was great. Subsequent releases of the game has this story as a part of the game. I think seeing it here in the show makes it clear why this was omitted from the original game. I enjoyed it, but I was really hoping to learn more about Joel’s fate & how Ellie is going to survive without him.