The Last of Us - HBO *Spoilers* See warning in post #1

Cordell

So maybe one in every 3? I would love to have one or two more exploring the events that lead to the current situation.

johnny_ultimate

I think Druckmann and Mazin have all but confirmed this is the most significant deviation from the game in the season. Perhaps there's another surprise in store, but that's the impression I've gotten from reading previews and features so far. There's an episode notably called 'Left Behind' later on - I reckon they'll directly adapt the DLC there, which would provide an opportunity for another side-story later in the season (and that's one which already has its place alongside the events of the main narrative).

Hopefully at least we'll see a return to the original 'cold open' format for the rest of the season.

Sirsok

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120185888#Comment_120185888

Yeah I think that is my issue with it. Ellie and Joel's dynamic is a bit lost for me so far. I am too closely attached to the lore of the first game and genuinely found it perfect.

The focus on Ellies and Joel relationship throughout the game was a joy to experience, and I am finding it hard to enjoy anything in the series without a that voice in the head comparing it.

I know it's a different animal, and should stand on its own, but it's hard not to make comparisons to the experience of the game, and I feel the show just doesn't do the source material justice.

Frank and Bill in the game was bleak, and showed the harsh relaties of the world as did Tess's death....not of them got a heroes send off, because there are no heroes in The Last of Us. Everyone is in their own story allneight but broader landscape nothing was noble and I enjoyed that grit more.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120187592#Comment_120187592

I think these first few episodes have been about setting up the characters and journey. I imagine the next episode or two will be more heavily focused on Joel and Ellie's relationship as they travel. Whereas in the game because the characters are constantly talking during gameplay/puzzle/exploration sections, their relationship probably felt like it had developed more by this point.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120187592#Comment_120187592

The story of the first game works incredibly well, precisely because it has a clear focus on the two leads. But too many extended flashback detours like Bill and Frank and the story of Joel and Ellie is going to be destroyed. But I don't think the producers of 'The Last of Us' are going to go down that route for S01. But if the second series of this is going to follow the second game, the destruction of that relationship already a given.

However, the longer the series goes on, the more of a chance that it will expand into something nebulous and unclear. The same thing happened with 'The Walking Dead', which was supposed to be about a father guiding his son through the zombie apocalypse and what happens to them and around them. But once the producers decided to introduce a million characters, then kill off Karl and Andrew Lincoln subsequently did his twinkle toes act and buggered off to pursue a movie career that never materialised, the show became an absolute mess and ended on one of the biggest and most disappointing whimpers I can recall in a long time.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120187760#Comment_120187760

I'm sorry but that's balls.

Everyone knows who the leads are FFS

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120187788#Comment_120187788

It's not "balls" at all.

If a 9 episode show keeps taking the focus off of the main characters, the story of the main characters is going to become more and more unfocused.

johnny_ultimate

Three episodes focused on Joel and Ellie's journey.

One episode focused on the events of Left Behind DLC (an Ellie side-story / flashback, but woven into the events of the main plot).

Two final episodes focused on Joel and Ellie's journey + the events at the end of the game.

I'll be surprised - perhaps pleasantly so! - if the rest of the season deviates too far from that.

De Bhál

I never played the game and knew nothing of the story bar the basics. I think this is an advantage.

Deregos.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120186610#Comment_120186610

"part of me was really hoping it would show your man absolutely pound him"

Which 'part' of you was that then?

PhiloCypher

I think people are getting their panties up in a bunch over nothing about this lil detour. If the writers can produce an episode THAT good, summing up Bill and Frank's 20 year relationship in one episode, I think we can trust them to do justice to the Joel & Ellie relationship over the next 6. The show runners are the guy who wrote the game and the guy behind a chernobyl , people need to have a little faith.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120188429#Comment_120188429

Not the devils trouser snake if that's where your dirty mind went 🤣

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120187760#Comment_120187760

Just in case it does follow the second game you should really spoiler stuff like that.

Sirsok

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120188646#Comment_120188646

I think the detour , along with the change in how Tess dies, is enough for certain diehards to lose a bit of faith in how they are handling the story or indeed changing the original story that was adored.

The showrunner himself has his own critics in how he handled the second installment of the game also. So their is definitely an element of mistrust in the handling of the characters. Albeit his own characters!

Evade

If Left Behind is one episode then there's only 5 left to cover the rest of the first game which isn't really enough unless they cut out a lot of the areas or story beats.

Just off the top of my head there's

Spoiler Warning

The Hotel

Pittsburgh(?) with the brothers and the sewers.

The Dam

The University

Ellie Alone and David

Joel rescuing Ellie

The Hospital

And some of those events could even be two episodes

Something that's missing from the series so far too is No Pun Intended: Volume Two she's not nearly as funny as she was in the game.

Sad Professor

I am sympathetic to the criticism that this was a detour. It is indeed odd to have it so early in the season. However I think they wanted to establish early on that this is the kind of show that will take sudden left turns in order to expand the world and explore other characters who have undertaken similar but different journeys. Let's face it, anyone who dislikes this episode for this reason will hate what's coming.

Greyjoy

I was really in two minds about this episode. Taken on its own as a standalone it's a fantastic short story. Brilliant performances from both Offerman & Bartlett. But placed within the context of a (short) season they devoted an entire episode to telling the backstory of two characters other than our main protagonists.

The catch is that Bill's letter doesn't carry the same weight unless we as the audience see his life together with Frank. But on the other hand as others in the thread have pointed out the letter simply re-iterates the same point Tess made to Joel at the end of ep 2. If the episode were any less enjoyable on its own I'd probably be frustrated with this detour. But on this occasion I'm willing to give the showrunners a pass.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120189276#Comment_120189276

Thing is we got more time with Bill than we got with Tess. She was not really a character but more of a plot device.

Tess gives Joel motivation but it's episode 3 that gives the viewer most of the context of the motivation.

Heckler

Never played the game but know the general premise and also the huge following it has. Devotees are going to be wary. Happened me with tv and film adaptations of some books I love.

I have no idea how the story pans out but after those first 3 episodes I have faith that its going to be great. Ep3 was a nice albeit heartbreaking respite from the grimness before it. Like someone pointed out earlier while its very tempting to want a season drop all at once it could be tainted in a binge watch. I've being thinking over the previous episodes during the week and really looking forward to Sundays (*cough Mondays..) to see the next one.

Probably the most engaging want to see more show I've seen in the last year easily. Pedro is instantly charismatic and so watchable and Ellie is engaging too. Anna Torv is great, hope to see more of her in flashback maybe. And Offerman and Bartlett were sublime in their roles.

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120189425#Comment_120189425

I'm not sure that's true.

Ep 3 was 70 minutes.

The first 16 minutes were Joel and Ellie.

The last 15 minutes were also Joel and Ellie.

I actually think this ep needed to have slightly more Bill and Frank. Maybe one or two more transition scenes or confirmation Frank was living in pain (though honestly that might just be my emotions seeking more justification for his decision to leave Bill on his own).

Tess got a whole of ep 2 and more than half of an extended ep 1.

I agree they didn't hit the Bill and Frank highs for her though.

walkonby

It was flagged before the series aired that the only big surprise for fans of the game would be in episode 3 and would involve Bill. It’s going to be pretty faithful going forward, for Part 1 at least.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120190194#Comment_120190194

Tess doesn't really get a whole episode. She gets to tag along for a whole episode. Pretty much everything about her is in relation to the main 2 and we never get her "story"

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120190629#Comment_120190629

We never really needed much of her story. We know (through the flashback in Episode 3) that she's been with Joel for about 15 years. We know that she felt more for Joel than he felt for her (or at least more than he allowed himself to feel for her given how he's shut himself off emotionally in general). We don't really need more of her backstory to know the effect her death has had on Joel. And knowing why Tess' death affects Joel makes Bill's letter and their deaths affect Joel even more, but we needed to see a lot of Bill & Frank's backstory to inform us of why their deaths and Bill's letter & advice to Joel would an effect on him. Joel has obviously met up with them a lot over the years, and I only copped last night that in the first episode Joel traded pills with the guard in the QZ, so odds are he & Tess were also the ones getting pills to Bill & Frank to help manage Frank's condition.

I think that's really as much as we need from the three of them, especially as Joel has now left the area to go and find Tommy, who is really the only person he has left (given that he's only known Ellie for 2-3 days at this point). Even though he's warming to her, she's still basically just cargo at this point, and bringing her to Tommy also fulfills his promise to Tess and their deal with Marlene.

I imagine they were also the people who found out WHAT pills Frank needed...

Sleepy

And the Emmy goes too....

That was a brilliant episode and with a gay relationship being so beautifully portrayed by top tier talent, I think the show will be sweeping the board at next year's Emmys.

I've seen most of my thoughts on this posted already but I did have one point to make. I've not played the game so not sure how this goes down in that version of the story but I've seen that Bill wasn't dead at this point in that. Here, he needed to be imo. As portrayed here, Bill isn't the type of character who'd simply gift (or even trade away) his truck that Joel and Ellie so clearly need at this point in their arc if his own was going to continue.

Narratively, it was a really neat way to provide them with the equivalent of a loot crate in the game (weapons, ammo, a truck, food etc.)

Homelander

I thought episode 3 was absolutely terrific and I didn't see it as any sort of deviation at all. Joel and Ellie still had a decent amount of screen time, and the rest dedicated to Frank and Bill's story was also relevant to establishing more depth and backstory to Joel.

I sincerely hope more studios take note of this adaptation and realise that a good story from the medium of a video game can translate directly without having to bastardize the concept and narrative so much that it bears no resemblance to what inspired it.

I would say that specifically with the Halo TV show in mind, most recently. Takes the game, which has a very good plot, and throws about 90% of it out the window to make way for a painfully generic and cheesy sci-fi narrative that bolts on all sort of utter crap that didn't exist in the game. Family drama, romance, hilariously one-dimensional villains, etc.

The worst offender is that most recent Resident Evil adaptation on Netflix. It's breath-takingly bad. It makes the 2003 Resident Evil movie look like Schlinders List.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120192488#Comment_120192488

Sometimes and I suspect this could be the case with Resident Evil (from what I've heard) someone makes an original story sci-fi and the execs say "that won't sell but if we call it Star Trek: original sci-fi we have a deal"

Some of the new Trek is starting to feel like that too.

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120192488#Comment_120192488

I will not hear a bad word said about the Resident Evil movie. It has the very lovely Milla.

Tony EH

^

Have to admit. The first Resident Evil is kinda a guilty pleasure of mine.

Penn

The most recent Resident Evil TV show was a damn abomination. Not even Lance Reddick could save it. But it was very much a case of taking some recognisable names and ideas from the source material just for branding purposes, and making something completely different out of it. Changing just a couple of nouns used in the show would make it completely unrecognisable as being in any way connected to the Resident Evil games and just make it a generic zombie show.

The Last Of Us has definitely changed a few things (most notably Bill & Frank's story), but it's incredibly faithful to the source material.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120192635#Comment_120192635

That's how a lot of people have reacted to Rings of Power too.