The Last Of Us (TV series)

[Neil]

Well, being one of those four people on the planet who have never played the game, I'm coming to this fairly 'blank canvas'...

[shootemindehead]

Ellie doesn't look like Ellie. Looks reasonably close to the game. I'll be checking it out.

[MinionZombie]

So - thoughts on the first episode, anyone? For me, coming from someone who has never played the games (I'm an Xbox guy, so...), I enjoyed it overall. The first chunk of it was the best, as it somewhat slowed down to a bit of a crawl after the time jump - but then again, you've got to establish this new apocalyptic world, so you can't complain too much. I don't see why anyone has complained about Joel being played by Pedro Pascal, he seems to do a fine job to me. Ellie, on the other hand, I don't see this actress fitting the part from what I've heard. We first find her as somewhat of a snarling, overly-sweary beast (surely not the smartest way to act in the apocalypse???), and some of her reactions to situations are, indeed, eyebrow raising and inconsistent (at times she comes across as a potential psycho/sociopath in-the-making). Some interesting responses here. I disagree with 'AZ' here on the opening portion. If you just tossed the viewers into the action almost immediately you indeed wouldn't know wtf was going on - but for the wrong reasons (and poor storytelling). The audience, which includes folks like me who've not played the game, need to get to know Joel's daughter (especially those who aren't even aware of her fate from the game) and their pre-apoc life, so we have an anchor of the pre-apoc world so we have better context for what's to come. Rushing headlong with fuck all set up doesn't work (or only under very rare circumstances). Case in point, I gave the first episode of Stan Against Evil last night, and was stunned by just how rushed the first episode was - I couldn't get a grasp on who folks were, what the set-up was, and so on. It was just slam-slam-slam from one thing to another, no set-ups or pay-offs, no tension building, little context to sink your teeth into and so on - and I don't think I'll bother with episode two as a result of that. I'd also disagree with the irritating Melonie Mac (watched some of her videos a while back, but quickly got sick of the 'go boom' YouTuber sign-off and asinine statements such as "taxation is theft", a statement as mind-numbingly idiotic as "property is theft") ... ... rant aside by the wayside ... ... her complaint about Joel not being masculine enough just felt like she went in deliberately looking for something and finding it, much like a researcher paid to find a specific result and then magically finding it. We're only going off the first episode, for one, but to me Joel very much seemed to be someone who has turned himself into a machine, surviving in a shut-down manner with little to live for beyond some basic function tucked away in the back of his brain, which was the only thing left after his keenly-felt tragedy. A story has to unfold, a character has to travel from one state of being to another over the course of a story, so if he was on top of things from the get-go he wouldn't have much of an arc, and to me, it also suggests this will play into him getting to know Ellie and the whole 'surrogate daughter' angle. Plus, let's be honest, after twenty years of apocalyptic survival, you're probably going to be pretty darn beaten down. Besides, when shit kicks off at the end, it's Joel who steps between the women and the gun and then delivers the brutal - quite masculine - smack down. It was nice to see mixed opinions on the above video and not just an echo chamber, as can happen too often.

[shootemindehead]

I thought it was an excellent opener and one that didn't make the mistake of holding the hands of the non-gamer portion of the audience. My wife who had no idea what the program as even called, never mind played the game, had no problem at all keeping up which was easily done by simply, ya know, watching the bleeding show. She's now eagerly awaiting the rest of the episodes. As far as Joel's daughter is concerned, what is there we need to know? She's his kid and she dies during the initial stages of the outbreak...and the scene where she's shot is handled very well. But that's all we need from her and the reason why she exists in the first place becomes obvious as the story unfolds. All in all, as someone who played the game through twice, I have no complaints about the feature length opening episode. It stuck close to the game's opener and didn't go down the road of changing things just to change them. However, the flip side to that, is that I'm watching a story that I've already been told, so I'm kinda envious of people who never played the game. also...whomever the hell Melonie Mac is, her "critcism" of the show so far is just bloody stupid.

[MinionZombie]

I thought it was an excellent opener and one that didn't make the mistake of holding the hands of the non-gamer portion of the audience. My wife who had no idea what the program as even called, never mind played the game, had no problem at all keeping up which was easily done by simply, ya know, watching the bleeding show. She's now eagerly awaiting the rest of the episodes. As far as Joel's daughter is concerned, what is there we need to know? She's his kid and she dies during the initial stages of the outbreak...and the scene where she's shot is handled very well. But that's all we need from her and the reason why she exists in the first place becomes obvious as the story unfolds. also...whomever the hell Melonie Mac is, her "critcism" of the show so far is just bloody stupid. 1) Aye. Being that this is from Craig Mazin (who did Chernobyl), I knew the storytelling was going to be pretty darn good with intelligent structural choices made. The only things I know about TLOU is random snippets by osmosis, but other than that nothing much to fuck all. 2) If they'd slap-dashed Joel's daughter in the opening of this show, it would've been too quick for most audiences. It's just enough time to connect with her, connect with Joel (who we also get to know before the apocalypse changes him, importantly), see the world as it was before it changes as well etc. Rushing too much usually leads to disconnection and a lack of caring from the audience, who've not been given the chance to invest, so I thought the whole pre-apoc section was well-paced. So I completely disagree with that 'AZ' bloke about the opening, and I wonder if it's just him finding something to whinge about. Adaptations are called that for a reason. You can't pace a film like a book, or a show like a game etc, as they're structurally different storytelling methods. Out of interest, how much gameplay time do you have before Joel's daughter gets bumped off in the game? Naturally, with a game, a main goal is to get the player into the action and gameplay as quick as possible. There are exceptions (e.g. RDR2 to some extent, maybe QTE-heavy 'movie-like' games like The Quarry etc), but you want the player playing ASAP. 3) She really doesn't come across as the brightest tool in the media criticism kit, and the standard YouTuber checklist of presentational styles and setup has obviously been paid attention to, but to a degree that's quite generic. Then you can see the usual group-think opinions coming through. I packed-in watching Disparu videos once it became clear he only talks negatively about films/shows, deliberately covering stuff he hates ... what's the point in that? He rambles on too long making the same points over and over (even if some or a lot of them hold merit to those particular shows that are objectively crap), but that was all it was. The good thing about Drinker is he highlights things he likes as well, is willing to admit when first impressions were wrong, has a better understanding of writing and storytelling requirements, puts up a fair number of videos with generally well thought out ideas and theories ... ... Melonie Mac, on the other hand, I got the impression from this video that her opinions are somewhat 'group flexible' and, like I said before, based more on deliberately searching for something and unsurprisingly finding it, while using an excuse to justify that unobjective viewing habit. Ironically, she's rather close in methodology to the people she likely rails against constantly, spouting group-think from an echo-chamber. Have there been plenty of projects that have been ruined by hacks and identity politics and stupid decisions? Oh, sure. But you can't judge every show and film from the get-go based on that, and not every 'possibly woke' thing is actually "woke" (in the negative use of the term - aka hack garbage with shite writing like, for instance, Velma). Go into something looking to be offended and guess what, you'll come out offended - Melonic Mac, just like some blue-haired 'wokester' on a gender studies course at some trumped-up 'university' thinking they're so important to the world, in that regard. It's rather silly and ruins any good points she has come up with. Screech about everything and the things worth screeching about are lost in the tidal wave of over-reaction and blinkered thinking. /rant

[Moon Knight]

My favorite cold open in a long time! They explain everything perfectly too for non gamers. Love the game, and I loved this first episode. Fantastic start.

[shootemindehead]

If they'd slap-dashed Joel's daughter in the opening of this show, it would've been too quick for most audiences. It's just enough time to connect with her, connect with Joel (who we also get to know before the apocalypse changes him, importantly), see the world as it was before it changes as well etc. Rushing too much usually leads to disconnection and a lack of caring from the audience, who've not been given the chance to invest, so I thought the whole pre-apoc section was well-paced. So I completely disagree with that 'AZ' bloke about the opening, and I wonder if it's just him finding something to whinge about. Adaptations are called that for a reason. You can't pace a film like a book, or a show like a game etc, as they're structurally different storytelling methods. Out of interest, how much gameplay time do you have before Joel's daughter gets bumped off in the game? Naturally, with a game, a main goal is to get the player into the action and gameplay as quick as possible. There are exceptions (e.g. RDR2 to some extent, maybe QTE-heavy 'movie-like' games like The Quarry etc), but you want the player playing ASAP. I'd say, at best, there's about 20 minutes of an intro with Joel and his kid. Then, IIRC, there's a credits opening and the player is then dumped in Boston. Don't know how long it was in the show, but I'd reckon it's longer. The episode actually follows the game quite closely. She really doesn't come across as the brightest tool in the media criticism kit, and the standard YouTuber checklist of presentational styles and setup has obviously been paid attention to, but to a degree that's quite generic. Then you can see the usual group-think opinions coming through. I packed-in watching Disparu videos once it became clear he only talks negatively about films/shows, deliberately covering stuff he hates ... what's the point in that? He rambles on too long making the same points over and over (even if some or a lot of them hold merit to those particular shows that are objectively crap), but that was all it was. The good thing about Drinker is he highlights things he likes as well, is willing to admit when first impressions were wrong, has a better understanding of writing and storytelling requirements, puts up a fair number of videos with generally well thought out ideas and theories ... ... Melonie Mac, on the other hand, I got the impression from this video that her opinions are somewhat 'group flexible' and, like I said before, based more on deliberately searching for something and unsurprisingly finding it, while using an excuse to justify that unobjective viewing habit. Ironically, she's rather close in methodology to the people she likely rails against constantly, spouting group-think from an echo-chamber. Never heard of this Melonie Mac one, but if that snippet of "criticism" is anything to go by, then it'll stay that way. But the problem with all of these YouTube "critics" is that they're usually just whingers looking for clicks from a certain type who just want to hear their own opinions repeated back to them via the web, and that includes that Drinker lad who, more often than not, is just a whining maggot, and to be honest I'm not all that fond of his schtick. All that one note, preaching to the cheap seats, shite just becomes really tiresome after a while. The only YouTubers I bother watching are those lads in Red letter Media. But they tend to be very lackadaisical with their output. Have there been plenty of projects that have been ruined by hacks and identity politics and stupid decisions? Oh, sure. But you can't judge every show and film from the get-go based on that, and not every 'possibly woke' thing is actually "woke" (in the negative use of the term - aka hack garbage with shite writing like, for instance, Velma). Go into something looking to be offended and guess what, you'll come out offended - Melonic Mac, just like some blue-haired 'wokester' on a gender studies course at some trumped-up 'university' thinking they're so important to the world, in that regard. It's rather silly and ruins any good points she has come up with. Screech about everything and the things worth screeching about are lost in the tidal wave of over-reaction and blinkered thinking. /rant I'm so tired of that dumb term being used as shorthand for everything a certain cohort hates. It's the most redundant phrase. It's everywhere on the bleedin web now and I've still yet to hear it in real life. I read some bollocks the other day from some clown giving out because Joel's daughter in the show was brown, and just how wOkE the show was and how it was a "disaster". FFS But it's a general thing now, I find. Ask someone what they're in favour of and you'll be lucky to get a single, confused, sentence. Ask someone what or who they "hate" and you'll be there all feckin week as they bend the ear off ya. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Neil]

Well, two episodes in and enjoying it so far... Hopefully it will keep on an upward trajectory story/plot/character wise.

[MinionZombie]

Well, two episodes in and enjoying it so far... Hopefully it will keep on an upward trajectory story/plot/character wise.   Funny, too, that in the video I posted earlier, the likes of 'Melonie Mac' are whining about what 'could happen', out of pure assumption and blinkered thinking, that they'd keep the lady alive for longer and have her become the hero etc etc etc ... well what did they do? Adhere to the story of the game and kill her off as intended. And, if anything (from what I've heard), the show makes her death more impactful as you get to properly see it - and I must say, it was a great scene. Ironic, really, that so many 'rage tubers' are as reactionary and presumptive as the people they (unsurprisingly) rail against. Yes, there is plenty of dreck out there (*cough* Velma *cough*), but just going in expecting the worst is exactly the sort of thing the so-called 'woke types' also do: expect the worst of people and only see the world through that prism, and not only that, but expect everyone else to do the same.

[Neil]

The PC game is due out in a month or so, basically ten years after the original release... Supposedly presales have more than doubled since the TV series started

[Moon Knight]

Once again the Cold Open was great. I can watch a whole episode during that initial outbreak era. Dialogue and acting was stellar too. Fantastic portrayal of the Clickers too! Super creepy. The Stalker scene was um… unexpected lol! 2 solid episodes so far.

[MinionZombie]

Very much enjoying it (and having never played the games), looking forward to the next episode. Still not yet sold on the actress playing Ellie. Seeing some side-by-side comparisons of game/TV show, I think some of it is coming down to some aspects of her performance - the expression and intonation of certain lines of dialogue. Hopefully the characterisation will improve a bit more in the coming episodes. The Clickers were very good and creepy - the whole museum sequence worked wonderfully and I genuinely felt the tension. Good to see Joel and the lady (name escapes me right now) laying down the law over moving through the world (i.e. shut the fuck up), with Ellie being too naiive or not thoughtful enough to the realities of the world around her. 'Precocious kids' can be handled so badly in shows/films, so it's good to see a sensible adult just cutting that shit off ... not like, say, the second Jurassic World movie where they all stand aside and let an idiot child make the decision to unleash dinosaurs on the world (good lord, was than an infuriating end to a movie!!!) Anyway - roll on episode 3!

[shootemindehead]

Once again the Cold Open was great. I can watch a whole episode during that initial outbreak era. The autopsy scene really creeped me out. That bit where she makes her first incision and under the skin there's a layer of fungus. *shudder* I don't know why it's given me the willies though. I've seen much worse.

[MinionZombie]

The autopsy scene really creeped me out. That bit where she makes her first incision and under the skin there's a layer of fungus. *shudder* I don't know why it's given me the willies though. I've seen much worse. I know what you mean ... perhaps it was just the 'sensation' of that scene ... the way the skin split under the knife, the look of that fungus just beneath the skin. It's like that aversion some people have to patterns of holes, particular in organic matter, that gives them the willies. Perhaps it's like that scene in The Thing where the thumb gets sliced by the knife during the blood test sequence. There's much, much, much gorier stuff in the movie, and you don't even see the blade slicing the skin, but it's that subtle sound of the knife slice the skin that just makes my skin crawl every single time I see that movie. That opening sequence was also quite powerful because of the dread on the woman's face - she knows how catastrophic the discovery is, and then when her response to what they should do is simply "bomb" ... ... man, it's giving me shivers just thinking about it.

[shootemindehead]

It was well handled, but I though that the "put them all in a field and bomb the bastards" solution was arrived at a bit too speedily. But I spose there's just no time in the cold opener to flesh out what would more likely happen. C2oULjLXcAE0jEX.jpg