The Last of Us (Spoiler Thread)

[Shagger]

4 hours ago, Crazycrab said:

I just found out something interesting.  Type "The Last of Us" into Google.

 

A quick note, one has to include the quote marks to get this to work, but yeah, it is worth trying. Thanks for sharing.

[Shagger]

Second episode, and it's still strong. First thing, I love the sets, the Boston ruins look incredible in this. Nice to have such a big budget, I know, but that doesn't take away from how good this show looks. The dialogue sequences in this felt fall more like they were lifted straight out the game on this one, but they worked in the game so why not I suppose.

 

What was different was the scene near the start with Ellie waking up to see Joel and Tess watching her to make sure she doesn't turn and it was nice tough because I felt they kind of rushed passed that in the previous episode a bit, so it was  nice to settle down and establish that and let the characters react to it in slow and clear manner. The thing whare Tess tosses Ellie to magazine after Ellie says she needs to go to the bathroom was cute, it's nice to see a little comedy in there.

 

The action scene with the clickers in the museum was cool, if maybe a little short, but the ambience and atmosphere with it was spot on. The clickers looked and more importantly sounded exactly like the game and that was important to keep. And just like the game, they're revolting and don't want to get near them, but they say fuck that and put you right up them, right next to them is all thier horrid detail.

 

Speaking of revolting, lets talk about the "kiss" Tess has with one of the infected. I don't that they changed it so Tess sacrificed herself to buy time for Ellie and Joel from infected rather than FEDRA because they used that to show some of these new ideas and mechanics they have introduced with the infected, so that was fine, but a new and horrifying element to introduce about the infected! I must admit whilst it did have the desired affect on me, a part of me also found it kind of funny because I could help but think of the scene in Red Dwarf whare Lister gets "tongue-hockeyed to death" 😂.

 

It was also an interesting thing idea to open this episode with with scientist in Indonesia that is asked to examine what I suppose is "Patient 0" giving us an insight into whare this pandemic actually stated, or at least whare it was first recognised, something the game never did, and I like that the show is expanding into areas the game didn't go, that is very important to the shows success. In the first episode we had that TV interview whare that doctor (Played by John Hannah, extra points for that) describes how and why fungus is the greatest biological threat to humanity, now we have this "Patient 0" reference, I wonder if this will keep going with a new insight into the world outside the main characters at significant points in the history of the outbreak because that would be cool.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Shagger

[Reality vs Adventure]

I really liked that beginning part in Jakarta. Bomb it all!!! That really set the tone. What happened to Tess was just Sick! Think about it though. Tess was infected and now we have this new feature of the fungus where they are interconnected. At least I don't remember there being anything like that in the game. Or maybe it just wasn't emphasized enough, I don't now. But when Tess stayed behind to sacrifice herself, she kind of paused for a bit while the infected were walking up the stairs in the direction of Joel and Ellie. It was as if she felt something else, affection for the infected! She had to compose herself and keep trying the lighter. Then she let that one stuff its hyphae in her mouth. Anyone else would have ran, but she was falling into their control at that point. I would be terrified if I saw those things in person. And to have them get that close to you and all you can do is be quiet. Fuck that. 

[Shagger]

12 minutes ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

I really liked that beginning part in Jakarta. Bomb it all!!! That really set the tone. What happened to Tess was just Sick! Think about it though. Tess was infected and now we have this new feature of the fungus where they are interconnected. At least I don't remember there being anything like that in the game. Or maybe it just wasn't emphasized enough, I don't now. But when Tess stayed behind to sacrifice herself, she kind of paused for a bit while the infected were walking up the stairs in the direction of Joel and Ellie. It was as if she felt something else, affection for the infected! She had to compose herself and keep trying the lighter. Then she let that one stuff its hyphae in her mouth. Anyone else would have ran, but she was falling into their control at that point. I would be terrified if I saw those things in person. And to have them get that close to you and all you can do is be quiet. Fuck that. 

 

I don't think it was affection, It came across more like frozen terror to me. She saw that as soon as she finally got that frustrating lighter of hers to light up, her life was going to end. Of course, she knew was going to die as soon as she was bit, but in that moment she realised is was not going to be in the quick, painless way she had put together in her head. With the lighter not working right away and facing this infected face to face in that revolting embrace, that's horrible and low on anybody's list of favourite ways to go out.

Edited January 26, 2023 by Shagger

[Reality vs Adventure]

3 minutes ago, Shagger said:

 

I don't think it was affection, It came across more like frozen terror to me. She saw that as soon as she finally got that frustrating lighter of hers to light up, her life was going to end. Of course, she knew was going to die as soon as she was bit, but in that moment she realised is was not going to be in the quick, painless way she had put together in her head. With the lighter not working right away and facing this infected face to face in that revolting embrace, that's horrible and low on anybody's list  of favourite ways to go out.

Yeah, you are right. Could have easily been frozen terror, no doubt. And she is a tough person, mentally and physically. I could easily see it being as you said too. It's not gonna be easy. She would ruin the whole thing if she ran, so part of the sacrifice was to let those hyphae go in her mouth (GROSS!) But I think there may have been some kind of other sense that maybe stilled her nerves while being infected. Just how fast that connection works, we just don't know yet. From my perspective, I saw something more than frozen terror. You also have to think about how that infected didn't immediately attack her or eat her. It sensed the infection inside of her. That is why it didn't wrip her to pieces. Instead, it wanted to spread its hyphae into her hyphae that may have been growing somewhere deep inside her. Remember in Jakarta when the scientist put the tweezers down the dead person's throat, the hyphae came out of its mouth. No doubt the infected sensed its own inside Tess. Now, did Tess sense something too? Don't know. 

[Reality vs Adventure]

1 hour ago, Shagger said:

I don't think it was affection, It came across more like frozen terror to me. She saw that as soon as she finally got that frustrating lighter of hers to light up, her life was going to end. Of course, she knew was going to die as soon as she was bit, but in that moment she realised is was not going to be in the quick, painless way she had put together in her head. With the lighter not working right away and facing this infected face to face in that revolting embrace, that's horrible and low on anybody's list of favourite ways to go out.

Actually, you may be right about the kiss. 

Druckmann adds, "Because we're cruel to the characters we love so much, it felt like she knows she's done for, and then the lighter doesn't work, and we take her all the way to the edge of horror before we finally give her an out."

https://collider.com/the-last-of-us-tess-infected-kiss-explained/

So it does look like the intention was to get a taste of pure horror. What if the lighter never worked??? AGAGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! 

[Shagger]

3 minutes ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

Actually, you may be right about the kiss. 

Druckmann adds, "Because we're cruel to the characters we love so much, it felt like she knows she's done for, and then the lighter doesn't work, and we take her all the way to the edge of horror before we finally give her an out."

https://collider.com/the-last-of-us-tess-infected-kiss-explained/

So it does look like the intention was to get a taste of pure horror. What if the lighter never worked??? AGAGGGHHHHHHH!!!!! 

 

To be clear, I've never read that nor any other article on this kind of thing, nor will I because I like to keep my own thoughts, feelings and reactions to these things sourced only from myself. So whilst I appreciate the article, I won't read it.

 

It is a strange, but very clever reaction to provoke. Willing the character to kill themselves to end thier horror, there's such conflict the emotions and thoughts that the viewer needs to process in that moment. That's what really makes it memorable, by forcing the mind to process this incredibly difficult situation. That's the key to great filmmaking, creating a feeling in the viewer to remember rather than a situation.

[Shagger]

Episode three and, well, that was different.

 

Bill's character in the game I felt was a mirror for what Joel would become if he lost what was left of his compassion and became even more bitter. This version of Bill (and, indeed, Frank) was such a change up it's I almost feel comparing them is waste of time. I can't even say if one is better than the other as the role the characters had completely different functions and roles in the respective plots. They both did that very well and this episode really tugged at my heartstrings.

 

Onto the characters in the show specifically, this story about Bill and Frank very much became a side story in this show that really shows how there is love and a capacity for people to feel it even in these most dire circumstances. Bill was very much set to be the bitter, hardened loner that he was in the game, but met Frank quickly and thier relationship immediately began to steer the character to this more social, caring and optimistic place.  This is not me saying that this is better in the show, like I said the role and function of the Bill character is very different between the two versions, but it was fantastic and refreshing to see these characters further developed and shown in a new light. It makes a change to see something more romantic and heart-warming after all the drama the show has been so far.

 

This episode did spend so much time focusing on Bill and Frank that there actually was little room to advance the main story, but I don't mind that. TV shows need "filler" episodes to let the characters breath and help build the world they interact with. Still, even though the parts with Joel and Ellie in Bill's town felt a little rushed, it got us whare we needed to be for the next episode that will likely be all about the main plot.

 

The one thing I didn't like is that moment whare Joel explained FEDRA killed people who weren't infected to save space in the quarantine zones because in the game they left the morals about the right and wrong in this situation far more blurry than that. This worked well in the game because it ultimately left the morals of the Fireflies more questionable as well as FEDRA. The show seems to be painting this a little more black and white and  don't think that works better. There's obvious reasons to take issue with authoritarian regimes as it is, so that just feel needed. 

 

Still, a superb episode, maybe even may favourite so far even though it end up being something of a filler episode.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Shagger

[Reality vs Adventure]

There are a few details I didn't catch until after watching Ep 3. When they were walking and talked about how the infection was spread through the food products. I mean, we saw the part where it was a good substrate and those workers got infected at the factory in Jakarta. But I guess they never bombed it huh? Now think about how Joel's neighbors in the first episode wanted Sarah and Joel to eat biscuits, made from the infected substrate? And Sarah made Joel a special birthday breakfast, but they didn't have pancake mix. And then...the cake Joel forgot to get. More infected food. 

[Crazycrab]

I think episode 3 is probably my favourite so far.  This version of Bill and Frank's story had so much more heart to it which was pleasant and unexpected change from the more bitter and intense way it plays out in the game.  Don't get me wrong the way it's done in the game does play out better for that media because there's more action involved but it's nice to see that the writers aren't afraid to take things in a different direction far a passive media adaptation.

[Crazycrab]

2 hours ago, Reality vs Adventure said:

we saw the part where it was a good substrate and those workers got infected at the factory in Jakarta. But I guess they never bombed it huh?

 

It seems by the time they realised what was happening it was already far to late, whether they actually did bomb Jakarta or not.  The woman that was being examined at the start of the second episode was dead for 30 hours on September 24th and she was infected via a bite, hence not the first and it was already spreading.  The outbreak in Texas where Sarah, Joel and Tommy were happened on September 26th, but given the time difference that's actually only one day later not two.  So if we assume that Indonesia is where it started, it's at least a two day window between the contaminated produce to have left that warehouse in Jakarta (and possibly others) and the first known cases of the infection.

 

I've looked it up and another thing about Cordyceps is that can take up to 6 weeks for fruiting.  This means whatever the contaminated crop was, lets just say it was wheat, could have been harvested, processed, freighted out but not actually become infections until it was your morning Bacon roll a month or two later.  So for me, the idea they are going with does hold up.

[Shagger]

Saturday Night Live have done a Last of Us/Mario Kart parody starring Pedro Pascal and it's even more brilliant than it sounds.

 

 

 

[Shagger]

So, episode 4. Very different from the last one. Episode 3 was a big deviation from the game, but this one goes full on fan-service with many nods to the game mixed. But honestly, there didn't seem to be much else to it, this was really little other than a big build up to next episode.

 

It's interesting that that they're exploring the motivations of these raiders through this new character, whoever she is...

 

 

...but did they really have to cast such a common, non-threatening person to put in this role? I understand that you don't have to look like Scot Steiner to be dangerous and ruthless, but still. I do like how they are building up this history between this woman and Henry, that has potential and I am looking forward to seeing whare that goes.

 

The one other thing I feel that's worth talking about is the scene between Joel and Ellie after Ellie shoots that raider as there was a very similar scene in the game, but it was done quite differently, and honestly, more effectively. In the show, Joel is sympathetic towards Ellie and self-critical, but in the game he was angry at her, slow to admit he appreciated the help and didn't really care about how traumatic it was for her. That I think worked better because it showed Joel's emotional fragility having to break through in a way that better suits the cold, hardened character he still is a this point rather than him immediately being more selfless and thoughtful. I feel like this episode was about Joel's feelings starting to come through, but by doing this halfway the episode it had less impact and still felt a little sudden. For example, if in that conversation Joel was angry like he was in the game and then had that heart-to-heart with Ellie right before they went to sleep, I think it would have had more impact.

 

So whilst I did enjoy the fan service in this as well as the humour, this was a bit of a slow one and probably my least favourite episode so far, but it is building up to some more action in the next episode, so I'm looking forward to the next one.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Shagger

[Reality vs Adventure]

29 minutes ago, Shagger said:

It's interesting that that they're exploring the motivations of these raiders through this new character, whoever she is...

 

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...but did they really have to cast such a common, non-threatening person to put in this role? I understand that you don't have to look like Scot Steiner to be dangerous and ruthless, but still. I do like how they are building up this history between this woman and Henry, that has potential and I am looking forward to seeing whare that goes.

I love how you bring her up. I had no idea she was an actress here and we usually would see her as funny. At first my mind when I saw her and the circumstances I immediately let go of anything funny. She is not anything funny in the show. She still holds that quirkiness, but added to what was necessary, when a good person done wrong kind of way. Who ami I to judge to execute someone. That’s obviously a fucking war mind she commands. This is no longer politics so what you believe today doesn’t exist in an apocalypse. We are seeing the first signs of humanity fall. Her decision to execute someone, not make it public, not have a ceremony, nothing more than open the fucking door and pull the trigger because you are not needed. And maybe she was done wrong. But to set boobie traps for travelers? She must have condoned it. Maybe it wasn’t her that set the traps! They are hunting someone they thought done wrong, while two travelers are caught up in it and survived a bobbietrap. And you know that bridge had boobytrap written all over it. I loved this episode 

[Reality vs Adventure]

If you are streaming episode 5 on HBO Max, then this weekend it is early because of the super bowl. It will stream Friday, tonight, 2/10 at 9:00 EST. And on Sunday nothing has changed for regular HBO, same time.