The Last of Us (HBO) TV Show • Page 141

fair but it makes the show feel cheap (vibes wise obviously the budget is high)

i haven't played the game either and i know it's looked at as a "games as art" type thing but if i wanted to see what look like video game cut scenes i'd play it or watch it on youtube

shot for shot adaptation is kinda meh to me

 

How they recreated the sets from game to show is absolutely immaculate and you have picked up on a lot of the shots that were exact replicas. Their current home base at the end of the episode is also a great translation from the game especially with the aerial shot. Set design is stunning. Costume design is meh... same outfits, but like all TV shows of this kind, they never age or dirty the outfits enough. Bella is wearing the same as Ellie, but with less rips, visible marks etc.

I'm just having a hard time with the consistency of the threat from the infected this season. They are ignored far too much, and where they are, how they group, how fast they swarm, and the intensity that they swarm is just sort of clumsy and on an as needed basis. I don't want them to be fighting infected every 5 minutes, but the balance is just off.

 

Yeah it kind of takes me out of it seeing how clean everybody's clothes are and how Dina always has perfect hair as if she just finished curling it lol

 

I was thinking the same thing at the start of the episode, like "Man really feels like the infected only show up when it's needed"...not saying they need to go the Walking Dead route and have random infected show up all the time to take an ax to the head or anything like that, but something in between "never there" and "huge ass swarm" would probably balance it out.

That being said, because they're so loud and run and are part of a hive mind of sorts, I guess it makes it harder to just have a couple pop up here and there and not leave you as the viewer wondering "how the hell did all that noise not attract any others" lol

 

Last week people were complaining that Ellie was just given all of her supplies and didn’t have to search a billion drawers for them, and this week literally opened with her and Dina searching through drawers for supplies. Thought that was funny.

 

Remember when the thread went nuts last season because everyone was like “oh nature doesn’t look like that 20 miles out of Boston” lmao

 

Dina's appearance is the most tv show-y thing about the show. not complaining tho

 

I thought this was a good episode, but not an amazing one.

The scene with Ellie playing guitar was WAY too long and boring, but the opening and the part where Isaac was monologuing about the saucepans was absolutely brilliant. I like when they touch on these characters rather mundane pasts.

Tbh, I am sort of missing Joel as a character, even if I’ve played the second game and knew it was coming. That will obviously fade though, and Dina is brilliant.

Excited for what is to come, too, as I don’t remember the second game as well as I did the first.

 

Brb swearing a bload oath against SamLevi11.

Kidding.
Or am I?

 

Haha I knew that would get me some stick, but it just isn’t for me. I didn’t hate it at all, but it dragged a little.

Could also just be my aversion to breathy, acoustic covers tbf.

 

I hate acoustic covers too, but it’s used so perfectly in the game and they translated it perfectly to TV. In fact, I’d argue that Dina’s reaction in the show somehow made it better.

 

somehow a post from the subreddit for the second game ended up on my front page and man, those people are insufferable. They hate the show, hate the game, hate Bella, and hate Neil Druckmann. Bunch of miserable losers

 

Yeah the episode unsurprisingly getting review-bombed in some places.

I can't imagine wasting you life just tweeting and posting about hating something that much, and for some of them they're doing it because of the gamer gate losers that are telling them they should hate it.

 

If a piece of entertainment media comes out and your first point of call is to review bomb it, complain about it on Twitter/Instagram and make it clear to anyone that will listen how much you despise/hate it...

You have bigger problems than any issue with the media itself.

 

Right? Just... Stop watching it. It's especially weird when people are complaining about a show based on a game that they already knew they hated!

Some of these people somehow simultaneously hate the game but bitch that the show isn't 100% faithful to what they hate

 

If you have the energy to hate on a piece of entertainment for longer than idk a few days before moving on to something else, then your life might be a little too easy and you are looking for things to be mad about

 

Bella is on Louis Theroux’s podcast. She comes across so well, I can’t imagine how weird you have to be to passionately hate her for some reason.

 

No that was still hilarious lol. When that "10 miles outside of Boston" text showed up I laughed

 

I think the scene that was most jarring to me was the one where Ellie and Dina share their secrets. It felt really unnatural.

The level of assumptions from the characters was odd, and it feels like they’d have more to say to each other about each point. The jump from “I’m immune” to “I’m pregnant”, to “we’re going to raise it together despite us being just friends until 30 seconds ago” was wild.

I get they probably just didn’t want to spend unnecessary time on it, but it made the whole scene feel off to me.

 

That seems a bit reductive. It's clear that something was building throughout the previous episodes that was built on more in that episode. Ellie has like Dina for a long time and Dina's emotional mind state after finding out she's pregnant to thinking she'd have to kill Ellie will have had a massive impact too.

Personally, I think the way they've built their relationship has been really good. Obviously different to the game, but just as earned IMO.

 

^^ I agree with @PauLo

The love between them has always been there. They’ve been best friends for the majority of five years Ellie had been in Jackson. The only difference was Ellie knew and it kept to herself because she didn’t think anything more than friendship was possible, and Dina either didn’t realize it or repressed those feelings until only recently.

I know it’s a trope/stereotype to go from zero to 60 in relationship between queer women. But A) it’s not untrue lol and B) and they’re in an post-apocalyptic word so it’s not like they’re guaranteed to have time to sit on those feelings and I don’t think it’s far-fetched to have them act on them quickly in that setting.

I will also note that Halley Gross, a queer woman, took over developing their relationship for the game and has been involved in writing the show. And Kate Herron who directed this episode is also a queer woman. I think they’ve done a great job with it.

 

I especially appreciate the part where Dina shares that when she was younger, she told her mom she likes boys and girls and was told, “No, you like boys.” That’s something I know unfortunately a lot of LGBTQ+ people can relate to but not something I’ve encountered much in media

 

Yeah, I'm happy they're together but I think it was handled pretty poorly. Just felt kind of off

 

Finally got to see ep 4. I thought it was good, but my least favorite of all 4 so far. Josh Peck at the beginning lol. I liked his cameo but it took me out of the first few minutes of the episode. The stealth video game like mission was also tense but enjoyable. Also liked when Ellie was trying to tell Dina about her being immune and Dina not sleeping out of paranoia. I’d do the same tbh. Show me the carfax on you being immune or I’m not dropping my gun.

 

Take On Me scene was perfect. Merced was especially good this ep, I thought. Dina really goes through a roller coaster of emotions ha.

Also really liked the interrogation scene with Isaac and the seraphite. Always love when an actor playing a bit part gives it their all.