Why 'The Last of Us' Works (Review)
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- Опубликовано: 13 мар 2023
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One of the biggest takeaways from episode 3 is we see Joel has been alongside Tess minimum 13 years, which makes his coldness to her death even more telling for his character. Joel is a broken man bottling up his emotions like a time bomb.
exactly!! and also as a viewer you look at tess’ death differently after episode 3. i watched the show while being completely unfamiliar with the game so, when tess died, i didn’t really feel much. but when i realized that her and joel were each other’s person just like bill and frank… god, her death started hurting a lot more.
Last Of Us part 1 FULL game MOVIE in 4K in only 5hrs on RUclips uploaded by Gamer's Little Playground. Way better than show. Better action, story and characters. *WATCH*
I liked how they fleshed out the doomed side characters, namely Sarah, Frank, Tess, Bill and Riley, by delving into their backstories, and getting us to know and love them in a way that doesn't make their inevitable deaths seem cheap.
I hope Jesse, Dina, and the rest of Abby’s friends get this much attention in season 2, especially Jesse. Make me feel something for these ppl bc Part 2 kinda sucked at that lmfao
bill and frank and riley literally got their own episode
You’re in every single comment section istg
@@jackstabber4209 Nah they just watch a lot of film RUclips
they didnt flesh out anyone except for Bill and Frank. This show was disaster.
Another thing worth mentioning is the production design. The sets, locations and just how everything looks was so good. It really made it feel like everything went to shit
That really impressed me with every episode. Sometimes made me feel like I was playing the game all over again :)
Last Of Us part 1 FULL game MOVIE in 4K in only 5hrs on RUclips uploaded by Gamer's Little Playground. Way better than show. Better action, story and characters. *WATCH*
The most heartbreaking aspect of this season is how Ellie unlike the game, shares Joel's guarded nature. Often refusing to emotionally confine with anyone, and the few that truly know her, die. Joel is her one true friend and companion, which makes his emotional betrayal so much worse.
Yeah it makes the end where she opens up about Riley feel more like she was begging Joel to actually tell the truth and him absolutely refusing to hit even harder imo. I do think the show would've benefited a bit more from just spending time with Ellie and Joel like in the beginning of Episode 6 but what we got was extremely good
@@Mitcheck315 Agreed.
Game Ellie has this quality, too. In both, game & the show, Ellie becomes much more closed-off after Sam's death. But she is still a bit willing to trust others, sometimes.
@@SidPhoenix2211 That's fair, though the show characterization is much more intense. For example, the scene where she confesses her worst fear to Sam, it is reluctant, while the game (as you said) gradually integrates it afterward. Plus the "I can't swim" is openly transparent in the game, while the show Ellie anxiously avoids talking about it.
Agree, my kudos for Tom Holland and his amazing performance as Ellie
One thing I would have liked a bit more were the flashback cold opens. They only did that three times, and they were all very solid scenes.
I mean, we got episode 3, and that’s basically if a flashback cold open lasted for a full episode.
@@mackielunkey2205 at the very least, I would have liked to have a flashback of Tommy and Joel falling out. I think that could have been interesting.
@@brianvaira486 season 2 will likely add a lot to the story so I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that.
@@brianvaira486 I have a feeling they’ll expand on those flashbacks and their backstory quite a bit in season 2. There is ample opportunity story wise to explore their relationship more in flashbacks
They were great mood setters too
I think as a fan of the game, my only wish was that the show was just a few episodes longer. The episodes felt very self contained when I wish certain chapters were at least two episodes. The David chapter for example would be so much better to me if we spent more time acting like David was a good person and gaining Ellie’s trust. Maybe end the first episode of that chapter with Ellie getting captured and Joel still being unconscious. Besides that, I actually really enjoyed the show and Pedro really stole my heart with his portrayal of Joel.
I've not played the game and just saw the show but had the exact same 'issues' (if you could call it that). There were so many interesting characters and potential plot lines that went unexplored. I understand that it was true to the game and they couldn't just add too much but introducing new characters just to kill them off in the same episode after a while felt less devastating and more customary. Still enjoyed the show as it was though.
@@comfortm1506 i have a feeling that they will explore more about these characters in Season 2, the podcast says they’ll likely cut part 2 to 2 seasons so maybe the end of season 2 will be the time Joel will be 🏌️♂️ and most of Season 2 will just be expansion of the characters & fighting
I agree with you, although I actually think the David episode was really well paced. It could've been longer, but I felt every inch of emotional connection through its entire runtime. The episode that I did feel was rushed though was definitely episode 9 because we go from this crazy climax in 8 to only 45 minutes of a final episode. I think that if the show had been 10 episodes long and 9 ended with them at the hospital and 10 began with what happens next, it would've been a near perfect season finale. Still loved the show and excited to see more
Last Of Us part 1 FULL game MOVIE in 4K in only 5hrs on RUclips uploaded by Gamer's Little Playground. Way better than show. Better action, story and characters. *WATCH*
I think the Bill & Frank episode is HUGELY consequential to set up what persuades Joel to go with Ellie. Bill’s revelation that beyond surviving, he found purpose in living and protecting someone else. And urges Joel to take up that role of the protector.
Unrelated to the amazing storytelling and characters, we need to give props for the CGI and the set designs. This has got to be one of the best environmental storytelling I've ever seen in television, and bad CGI could've easily broke this but it didn't. Great job on the VFX teams and the production design teams!
Dude don’t forget the practical effects teams!!! They did SO much work, there’s a half hour “making of” special on hbo now that I recommend checking out
The Podcast is unreal and gives more insight into the relationship between Neil protecting the story and Craig M shepherding, expanding and appreciating the source material.
I listened to it every week after watching the episode and their explanations were so good and made me love the episode even more (if that was even possible haha)
I do think a few specific sequences felt a bit rushed and that there maybe could've a few more scenes with infected so that they felt a bit more like a presence in the world, but overall I agree that this was an ideal adaptation in most aspects. Very faithful while making some smart changes in order to work better as a TV show. As someone who really likes Part II I am very interested to see how they tackle that game when the show returns.
I absolutely loved this show. I can say with confidence I cared about Bill and Frank more than I cared about anybody in the new Avatar movie or even in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and they were both three times as long! Just a testament to this show’s writing (especially considering that ep 3 was mostly not in the game), and I believe this is one of the best shows I’ve seen in recent memory.
Avatar was also great we don't have to put down one thing to boost up another
@@lukeshioshio That's 100% true. I meant to use it as a comparison between the stories but I believe I ended up putting down those other movies in the process. I thought Avatar 2 was a lot of fun and visually fantastic! I'll edit the comment to reflect that. Thanks!
I feel like THAT SCENE in pt 2 (the Joel one at the beginning) will be better translated through television. As the show isn’t seen strictly through Joel’s eyes, and it’s coming from the same station that had GOT.
Did Karsten just say he was only familiar with Pedro from the Nicolas cage movie💀
To be fair if you dont watch Mandalorian you probably wont be familiar with him
@@Brandon-rb4sm game of thrones, Triple Frontier, Narcos, Wonder Woman 2, sweet little lies, equalizer 2, Homeland. Man has plenty of star power if you ask me
@@Brandon-rb4sm he has a mask nearly the entire time tho right so i wouldnt say youd know him by face.
@@thijmen5295 exactly. I know that man as Oberyn.
he’s a decade late to the party
I feel like Pedro and especially Bella brought so much more to characters than the game, and I totally agree with your sentiment about feling more than the game. It's insane how good of an adaption this is, and the relationship Neil and Craig have as creators is something that should be appreciated more. We need more collaboration like this when it comes to adaptions.
I didn't play the game but I did understand through their performance that Joel is an absolute mad man even though he has a kind heart. I really got the importance of the games through the TV show if that makes sense
The reason everyone loves Joel in the game and in the show is that he’s thoroughly human. Love that morally ambiguous ending because anyone would have done what Joel did given what he had gone through and lost.
It's watered down in every aspect. It should be self-evident as someone who's played several times. The biggest parts the show missed were...
-Joel and Tess handleing Robert and his men(Robert is tortured and killed)
-The action event leading up to meeting Bill(Joel trapped hanging upside down killing infected)
-And the action packed highway abush scene(2 iconic kills preformed by joel)
I only saw the fist episode (because I don't have Sky and they released it on RUclips) and while I wasn't 100% sold on it, certain things like the greater emphasis on the day building up to the outbreak did a really solid job of maintaining the same tension of the game whilst altering it to work better with the art form it was presented in. Oh, and I shared an online Film Studies class with Bella Ramsey a few years ago at the same time I played the game for the first time, so that was weird XD
The finale could've used another 30 mins to even an hour, otherwise I thought it was incredible
A treasure of this setup is how each strange opening (from episodes 1, 2, 5, 8, 9) characterize a new figure. My favorite example being When We Are In Need. Considering Sam and Henry are the previous examples of the flashback structure, we are conditioned to form a parasocial bond. As a result, new audiences are conditioned to trust David before his eventual betrayal.
I really hope they do season 2 justice and fix some of the minor pacing problems from the game here and there. As someone who hated tlou2 then grew to absolutely love it(sometimes more than the original), I really can’t wait. I gotta see my boy Lev
For some reason I didn't think you were going to watch this show, but I'm glad you did and I'm glad you enjoyed it. This is one of my favorite stories ever along with RDR2. It is heartbreakingly beautiful. And I agree 100% with what you said about the violence in the show, deaths are satisfying because they're scarce, that is why the scene at the hospital is so shocking, they've been telling us the whole show that Joel is capable of horrid things and you finally get to see it at the end.
The last episode is so damn depressing, especially knowing what it will lead to.
I just want Karsten to do a Pedro Pascal deep dive because the man elevates every scene he's in. Truly recommend to watch highlight from the shows he's in like Game of Thrones (also Bella's too)!
And as a treat, Karsten should also watch his hot ones interview & the footage of him & the infected stunt actors twerking it out
Wait when and where did this man “twerk”?
Last of Us was good but I just feel like it should have been 12 episodes rather than 9
I actually would've like 8, the 9 episode felt a little just like an extension of the 8 episode.
@@atuvera9021 Honestly a few of the episodes could have done with being shorted or combined to add more story and character building with just Ellie and Joel.
I agree should’ve been 10 episodes and episode 4 and 9 felt way to short
By adding more episodes, I think it would’ve made their journey feel like a journey rather than a small hike. They adapt the game beat for beat but they cut out a lot in between that would’ve made not only this show a bit longer, but it’s emotional moments more powerful.
@@kush6846 100%. They didn't even give the viewer an idea of how much time had passed between sections.
Like you go from winter and snow in ep 8 to spring and summer in ep 9 and it feels like a sudden switch. Even just making use of titles for sections could have helped here, like 'Spring, February 3rd, Area'
The game is definitely better paced. The series has moments from the game packed into it with comparatively little organic development with the characters or buildup
I really liked the show, and I've played The Last of Us Part 1 about 5+ times. I see in the comments that the lack of infected was a knock, and I agree with that. I mean, the Kansas City battle was cool, but I was expecting to see some infected at the finale. At least a Bloater and a few infected, and then I thought the Fireflies would've intervened to save Joel and Ellie, and then knocking them out. Overall, great season and it showed material that was absent from the video game like Ellie's mom and her birth, Bill and Frank's relationship in depth, and I think showing how the quarantine zones function (when FEDRA's in control).
This is no hyperbole when I write this…it’s the best video game adaptation I have ever seen.
Now I know it’s not a super high bar to set but as a standalone series..it does everything right about the game and touches on themes I resonate so much with.
Emmy’s better be ready, this is gonna be a sweep.
Arcane and Cyberpunk Edgerunners were both waaaay better than this,altough I agree this show is up there as far as videogame adaptations
@@bernardocarneiro4081 To be fair those are anime and animated. This is the best live action video game adaption.
Fair enough,I can agree to that
@@bernardocarneiro4081 U gotta point for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. I really loved it. I’d say these 2 are tied.
I haven’t seen Arcane yet😅but I hear good things. I plan to watch.
Arcane is AMAZING,you definitely need to see it. However I do like Edgerunners a little bit more. Both are 10/10 for me tho
LOved the show (haven't played the game). I am incredibly impressed by Bella's character and performance. I agree, K, that she is a tragic mix of a young person who didn't have a chance to grow up, but has had to be as brutal as any adult, and clings desperately to the relationships she finds.
Great account of a great season.
I'm curious what you thought about the ending as a show only watcher!
@@KayPeeOpee it worked well as a season finale. Wouldn't have worked as well as a show closer.
@@AndrewWatsonChangingWay worst finale , nothing good 😑 no thrill no good action no jawdropping scenes nothing in finale. i dont know how you liked it
@@chinmoy_bora6915The popularity and imdb ratings disagree with you.
@@loper42 IMDB rating can be manipulated , those who are in favour of this movie will give 10/10 without even watching it, whats the big deal or buy some people to give 10/10 whats the big deal. Nowadays imdb ratings are totaly fake. Gone those days when Imdb was genuine !!!
bella ramsey really is phenomenal
The only problems I had with the show was the lack of infected (probably due to budget), a few moments from the game that I feel should've stayed, and how rushed the finale felt.
We really needed more big moments with the infected
On the infected front, I think the creators were specific that they intentionally left it out at times because they wanted to examine the concept from a more character driven perspective. But it could have done with one last infected fight in the finale for sure.
@@kitchristopher7 every zombie movie and show does this though. It's always the humans are the true evil and the zombie/infected don't actually matter.
Tbf It’s also 20 years into the apocalypse and the amount of infected was for gameplay reasons
@@KonaSuba Yeah that’s true, it’s just what I remembered the creators saying. I think while I didn’t mind this I know a lot of people would, so there definitely should have been some more combat.
Episode 3 was nice but I’m still a little disappointed we didn’t get the Bill scenes from the game which are some of the best parts
Also why Kansas City
Honestly excited for season 2 considering that it will probably be MUCH better off as a TV show and not a weird movie/game hybrid where both aspects just get in the way of each other
I truly did love this show… but the way they handled infected, left behind and the finale does make the game the superior version of the story for me.
Great review as always, Karsten!
And I love that you kept in this bit: 8:41
Can't wait for his thoughts on Part II (season 2 or the game), I personally loved the sequel
I thought the pacing was weird at times especially at the end of the season. It didn’t feel like we were quite there yet, I don’t know how else to explain it. I will say the first episode was my favorite and I knew it was most likely going to go down from there.
I think a problem with cutting down on the infected is just like, the basic premise of the show is a cure to the zombie fungus, but without those zombies being at least a bit more present than they were the impact of the cure and **SPOILERS** Joel's decision to stop one from being created feel less dramatic than in the game imo
i havent played the game but i think it still felt dramatic; even though you dont see the actual infected that much you very much see how it's impacted different civilisations. its less 'if there was a cure there would be no infected' and more 'if there was a cure humanity would be less fractured and hostile to each other'
As someone that played the game and found the AI and combat lackluster, the show, while could have benefited more from showing more infected, we have enough with the monsters and the story they told. The morality of different groups falling apart is an example of that.
1:36 my Mando right here. This is the way. He’s been taking care of this girl and little Groku.
I definitely get that emptiness feel the episodes leave you with, they can often be super dire. But weirdly i also found the endings to be really hopeful, because it's these two surviving together. Idk how to describe it, but they pulled it off masterfully here.
Those two are the constant going through a chaotic post-apocalyptic wasteland, it feels like no matter what crazy thing happens they’ll still be there. Only other example I have is the gunslinger and crew from The Dark Tower books: no matter what crazy sci-fi horror nonsense comes their way, they keep moving forward.
Thanks for saying hi to us at Weyes Blood last night Karsten:)
feels like most peoples only complaint is that they wanted more of everything
This season was leaps and bounds better than I'd dared hope for. They actually nailed it, the madmen.
I'd have liked to see eposode 9 split up into 2, to really sell the intensity of the situation. However, all the scenes still worked out beautifully, I think. The pacing and audio mixing of *SPOILER*
... Joel's cold frenzy as he goes on a calculated rampage at the hospital was so phenomenally adapted from the game. The second half of that finale felt to me like a perfect 1:1 adaptation as we could get, and it was perhaps the part I was most concerned about them messing up.
I couldn’t agree more with everything stated 🙌🏼
I thought this series was great, I do think that there were points where the writing was a bit on the nose (I'm thinking Joel's monologue to Tommy, or Joel's speech to Ellie right before the hospital). I think the script could have benefited from trusting that the audience is following along with the emotional journey of these characters without making it explicit.
Pedro’s nonverbal acting is exceptional, he’s one of the best facial/physical actors working today. His line delivery as Joel on occasion sounds off to me, so I would’ve been fine if they cut most of his dialogue. He looks like Joel, he acts like Joel, but he doesn’t always talk like Joel to me.
I hope Karsten finds the time to finally watch the Station Eleven miniseries before the next season comes around 🤞
For the adaption of the TLOU2 I would be interested how they would show the parallel journeys of Ellie and Abby.
I think having more scenes that have tension in the earlier sections of the show would have been better. Like a little more action or a little more drama. Shows great, but it would be nice to see them use sound to redirect the infected or have a scene or two more of them dealing with them
I really enjoyed this series, I have literally no experience with the games but what I got to watch was (for the most part) really good, I feel like they could maybe have cut episode 7 as it doesn’t really add much and extend the finale a bit.
Overall though, a good way to kick off the first quarter of 2023, definitely better than the halo show last year.
I would rate this show 8.5/10
It’s weird to me that they spent SO much time on episode 7 and then rushed the season finale. Everything in the hospital should have been an hour long stand-alone episode, and they kinda botched it imo.
They left out they great bill scenes, even at the end of that section when they were pushing the car with Ellie trying to jump start it, whilst being chased by infected.
They left out Ellie asking what an ice cream van is 😁
They left out the story of Ish, which could have been a whole flashback episode on its own just before they went into the tunnels with the children's school.
They left out David and Ellie fighting off the infected together before James came back with the medicine.
They left out the fight with infected and two bloaters in the subway and Ellie drowning after slipping off the busted train into the water. With Joel attempting to give her cpr and screaming "she's not breathing" as the fireflies find them.
Even if they had them sneak past the infected undetected, using bricks and bottles like in the game, it could have been very suspenseful.
I enjoyed the series but I was disappointed about what it could have been if only it was about 5 episodes longer.
"I cant't wait for season 2. I doubt anything controversial is gonna happen there."
Hoo boy!
“Never seen Pedro Pascal before…”
My god, he admitted he hasn’t seen Game of Thrones.
To the point about the show being sparse on action and infected. I think it’s because the show’s a little unbalanced in when we see them, it’s very front heavy with the infected and then we barely see any towards the end. I think one great infected scene in the last episode, just before they get captured, would have balanced it out perfectly and we would be seeing a lot less of that critique.
I adore the games and the show... Also recommend the podcast!
Yk Pedro plays the Mandolorian right? Just asking cuz you said you only have seen him in the Nick Cage movie
The show compliments the game SO WELL, it's insane! I loved this season but I am way more excited to see how they adapt the second game; I loved the second game by the end of my first playthrough! I'm just stoked!
7:59
I think he knew what he was doing
I think my biggest complaint overall was that the finale felt kind of rushed. I feel like they could've spent a lot more time on the buildup towards the end, like how in the game there's a lot more combat leading up to when Joel is actually able to get into Ellie's hospital room that makes it feel much more intense. It would've been really cool if at some point in the show, they had thrown in a combat scene with a bunch of infected during a scene where Joel and Ellie were just walking around just to further show the prevalence of infected in this world, but that could just be my love of the game and of action scenes speaking, haha. Very exciting and solid season, and this review just makes me want to rewatch it.
I think The Last of Us is a lesson in how to adapt a video game. The story stays faithful to the original but also adds new stuff. I am so glad that my favourite game got such a good adaptation. The performances are amazing. Bella Ramseys performance in particular was amazing. All the emotional moments hit very hard like Riley’s death, the David fight and Henry and Sam’s death. Episode 3 was a very great story as well.
I'm sad it's done. I really wanted more and can't wait for season 2
Good review
It's officially been 1 year since it premiered!
Definitely the best video game adaptation thus far and they took a lot of inspiration from the first two games
Although I felt they rushed through a few things
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are dynamite and I absolutely love what they did with Storm Reid even the surprise cameo from Ashley Johnson herself (the original voice actress!) 😄
So far they are on the right track with this, I’m very eager for season 2 of how much they can adapt from that
Excited but it doesn't come out until 2025
They already casted Isabela Merced and Kaitlyn Dever as characters from the second game
I liked it, big fan of the game - overall 8.5/10. Stuff I liked (episode 3) stuff I didn’t (Kathleen) I felt the show overall could’ve done with 10 episodes of one hour each, with a feature length opener and finale… I thought by the end it really felt like the infected were no longer a threat, there were just too few of them. I was also a little disappointed that they removed the majority of the exciting set pieces..
Either way, for the most part I was very happy most of the time and enjoyed most of the changes.
Really wanna know what you think on Severance, Our Flag Means Death and The Bear, they need videos!
TLOU teaches an important lesson: No matter how sick you are, no matter how many loves you've lost, no matter how alone you are; just know that somewhere out there lives an old native guy bringing dead bunny home to his old lady, making soup and laughing at tourists, minding they'own business and not taking themselves too seriously.
That's what I fight for.
6:08 You just explained every Walking Dead season after the first one lol
Amen!
1:27 watch The Mandalorian, Karsten
A part of me thinks Ellie (despite me loving her as a character) isn't acted the best by Bella. Don't get me wrong it's still a solid performance, but I feel her emotional moments could be a bit stronger. Like I remember seeing some of her scenes and she'd have sort of a blank look and I don't think it was working with the scene. It's something that Marlene falls into too, and she's played by the same actor from the game.
A small part of me wishes that Dafne Keen and Rosario Dawson were cast instead, but it's a minor complaint in all honesty.
Sadie Sink would have been a great Ellie too.
@@DaSpartanProductinos Completely agree.
Rosario Dawson is a weird choice for a 14 year old lol
For Marlene
Bro we need your John Wick 4 Review!!
Bella is such an amazing Ellie
YES!
There's some scenes I wish they had done, I can only assume they didn't do them for pacing.. But in terms of an adaption its pretty damn amazing.. Is it better than the game? No, but that was never going to happen. While Bella and Pedro are amazing, they're just no Troy and Ashley. This issue is that you're going back in terms of the medium of story telling, video games can emerse you so much more in a story once you're involved. But I'm very excited to see Season 2, they're going to have to hire someone to match Laura Bailey for Abby!
Pedro Paschal, Bella Ramsey and Nick Offerman motivated me to watch the show, and they were really the best part. The story was alright, is a good season of television, but I feel like people are overrating it a little bit, cause they love the game so much.
I think it was a very good show that was held back by some overall pacing issues. Within the episodes it was fine, but as an overarching season things just needed more time for me. It felt like Joel and Ellie’s relationship should have been a more gradual development and I think adding 2-3 more episodes could have significantly helped with that. With only 9 eps and two of them being almost entirely flashbacks/plot diversions… just didn’t feel like enough time. I enjoyed both episode 3 and 7 and understand the significance, but yeah balancing it with a couple more episodes of the main plot feels necessary. Also realize this could solely be an HBO restriction to some extent but regardless we got what we got. And it was good! Just feel like it could have easily been truly fantastic.
anything more then 9 episodes is too much
@@Zippka_ normally i could see myself agreeing, but there just needed to be some more bonding time with the characters to completely sell me on Joels transition into calling Ellie "babygirl" and being willing to murder all those fireflies to save her. Granted in the game you naturally get more time with the characters through gameplay that you can't get in the show, but literally one or two episodes (or even longer episodes) could have really helped me buy into it all by allowing that time for some more meaningful conversations and bonding. Here, almost everything felt like it needed more time to breathe. It was very *good* overall, but I think it could have been better.
Yes
*Are* the action scenes rare? There's a shootout/chase/fight scene in every episode. It isn't dragged on for the whole third act until it needs to but you can't even say this show is slow paced
As someone who loves tlou2 i wouldve loved to see more from the pov of marlene and the firelflies in the last episode. Also i thought jerrys performance was a little stale.. he only says like 4 lines in the game before hes killed and every line he says adds so much weight to what joel is about to do. That being said those are my only problems with the series as a whole which says a lot to how good it is
I thought it was good but not great. Probably my biggest complaint would be that it felt rushed, I felt like they could have definitely used another 15 minutes in that final episode to build the tension/emotion better.
Karsten, have you not seen Game of Thrones?
Videogame story telling is way better than the show’s. They can’t compare
Meh, I think you might be wrong.
Firstly there needs to be more Joel and Ellie content to develop both these characters; in many episodes, the content was shared between other specific characters' views. Their relationship or how close they got felt rushed; they drastically changed how they acted after Tommy's town episode. By the last episode, no content to show Ellie getting over the trauma of the cannibal's attack also felt rushed.
Most of these expansions on the story you compliment didn't do anything, the differences in how the zombie acts or the lack of them in general. The Bill story doesn't add anything to the active plot of Joel and Ellie, just as Henry ex group background didn't do anything either; the whole Ellie mom scene is utterly useless considering one original line just told you the same thing the precise location of her mom dying did that doesn't give you anything other than extra violence. Most of this content is there only, so Druckmann added something when it doesn't strengthen any story beats.
It could be the classic tale of how a game's story and pacing can't be translated into a movie or tv series correctly to this day (with very few exceptions at best). The show writing could've gone from mediocre to ok in my eyes if they had some more episodes not to feel as rushed, had more content of both protagonists with each other, and had the infected matter more in the overall story. The rewrites/new content could've related more to what the characters actively go through. But as it is, the neat directing and some good acting I can't say that this is enough to carry the show by itself.
Seeing how Ellie came into the world and why she might be immune is utterly worthless? damn dude. Bill also gives them a car and all his supplies but I guess that's useless too
@@pooty195 bill car is literally just a plot object it bears no actual depth in the plot, ellie mom maybe being bitten while pregnant tries to justify in a way that both makes it too simple way to make immune babies and is also again pointless to the story. Try to actually find meaning in any of these new stories and you will find they have no real value because they clearly weren't there before and weren't compently written neither.
@@SkelterHelter Well you said "doesn't add anything to the active plot" meanwhile thanks to Bill they are fed, clothed, and go from Boston to Kansas City.
I just am confused what your standards are for "meaning". Anna's backstory adds characterization to Ellie and Marlene while also being a fitting bookend for what happens in the end of the episode with Joel. Also given last episode where we saw Ellie's loss of innocence I thought it very fitting to open the episode with her origin.
There's plenty of meaning in the new scenes and how they reflected Joel and Ellie's relationships in the other relationships was well done imo. But if you're of the mind that everything not directly related to Joel and Ellie's road trip is pointless to focus on then I guess our tastes are just different.
@@pooty195bill having a love interest doesn't matter, what it mattered was if he has alive or dead, he was dead, but luckily no one ever looted the town meanwhile
Oh there is no doubt😂😂😂
Watched a playthrough of the game when it came out, watched this show, now I'm gonna get the game.
Gonna brick some fools
You haven’t seen much of Pedro Pascal outside of the nicholas cage movie?😟 my friend you must have been living under a rock the past 5-10 years or so lol
🫠🌀one of the best series this year ❗
I loves this show! It’s not perfect and the game works better. But it’s still a banger!!
You're make a great point about this show and being short on happiness. Say what you will about the game, but to me personally, frying bad guys with flamethrowers and claymore mines delivers those moments of happiness for the player during times when it doesn't make sense for your story to be happy or change its tone. It's not a complaint, it's just an odd perk of videogames where anything in the player's control has the chance to be satisfying or just plain funny.
I liked it a lot, but I felt they could have added a whole 2 more episodes or make that finale an hour and a half. A lot of the large moments felt rushed for the sake of runtime.
Karsten, you are right, and you should say it.
I think acting and pacing is much better in the game
DAVID LEAN RANKED
I'd give it a 9.5/10. The game is one of my favorites of all time and I just wanted a bit more action to give the series a 10/10.
How on Earth were you not aware of Pedro Pascal? The man is in so many things
It was pretty good :)
Great review, especially agree with the point that I would’ve loved to see some more intense infected/action scenes. I didn’t play the game at all, so after the amazing end to episode 5 with the bloater I was excited to see more “bosses” get progressively crazier as the series went on. I guess that wasn’t really in the game though so can’t be too mad
They just need fan feedback, sounds like a really great first try though.
You did not watch GoT???
The only fault I really had with the show was probably the final decision and how it was portrayed. Didn't feel nearly as desperate and brutal as it does in the game. Feels important to really drive home the weight of what he did. Especially with what happens in part 2
That choice is the key to the entire story, and I think they’ll need to spend a lot of time in season 2 addressing all the details of that choice and not just the negative consequences. What happens in part 2 can work, it just needs to be properly set up first.
7:58 yea…Last of Us Part II…not controversial at all…not gonna have fans mad when season 2 comes out
I thought it was good, not great. Like you, I wasn't entirely convinced by Bella's initial portrayal of Ellie, but I definitely came around by the end of the season. Pascal's performance was pretty much flawless throughout, but I thought his writing was a bit hit or miss. The show's version of Joel felt far too sentimental to me, he wasn't as withholding as game Joel. The show in general felt far less subtle than the game, with characters literally telling us their motivations and feelings or sometimes even the themes of actual narrative.
I loved pretty much every addition they made, however, like with Bill and Frank and the Chernobyl-esque prologues that introduced the first three episodes. That said, I definitely left the season feeling like the payoff was slightly unearned and their relationship not as developed as it could have been. I definitely don't think episodes 3 and 7 were "filler," but when their inclusion jeopardizes the success of the main narrative, I resent them a bit.
I wish I loved it like everyone else, but I just noticed too many cracks. I'm glad others like it though.
they pulled it off, but i still prefer the game overall. still a great series, id rate it 8/10
...you've only seen Pedro Pascal in the Nick Cage movie? bruh.