Off Topic The Last Of Us (the game, the show, whatever)

[gymgal]

can't believe we are already at the finale. I have really enjoyed this show. Are we close to the end of the game plot? Or are they continuing it to the second season?

ETA: I found last week's episode (in the mall) to be weird and tangential and enjoyed this week's much better in plot and filming

 

[GymDadWA]

I won't be able to eat Venison for a bit

 

[moogacat]

ETA: I found last week's episode (in the mall) to be weird and tangential and enjoyed this week's much better in plot and filming

Do you listen to the podcast with the showrunners by any chance? As a non-gamer it was interesting to hear how and why they put this episode at this point of the plot. Ellie's backstory was a standalone piece of downloadable content something like a comic book released later, but they explained how they meant for Ellie and Riley's story (and Riley's statement at the end about fighting to the bitter end) to parallel Ellie's actions to save Joel. It made the flashback episode much richer for me.

 

[gymgal]

Do you listen to the podcast with the showrunners by any chance? As a non-gamer it was interesting to hear how and why they put this episode at this point of the plot. Ellie's backstory was a standalone piece of downloadable content something like a comic book released later, but they explained how they meant for Ellie and Riley's story (and Riley's statement at the end about fighting to the bitter end) to parallel Ellie's actions to save Joel. It made the flashback episode much richer for me.

Thanks. I will have to look for it.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

can't believe we are already at the finale. I have really enjoyed this show. Are we close to the end of the game plot? Or are they continuing it to the second season?

ETA: I found last week's episode (in the mall) to be weird and tangential and enjoyed this week's much better in plot and filming

We are very close to the end of the game's plot.

I've heard they're already planning season 2, based on the plot of the second game.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

After finishing the series, I think they hit all the important emotional moments from the game beautifully, brought the characters to life, and did pretty much everything right. And they absolutely could not have picked a better actor for Ellie; Bella Ramsey absolutely nailed it from start to finish. As did Pedro Pascal as Joel. I loved all the cameos by voice actors from the game.

I will say, though, that the ending hit harder for me in the game than it did in the series, despite being almost identical. Might just be because I knew what was coming.

I can't wait for season 2 (though if they follow the plot of the second game, it's gonna be incredibly depressing)

 

[gymgal]

I agree. I loved the season start to finish. I did watch a walk through on youtube and am very glad they cut out a lot of the infected fighting scenes as it made the storyline flow much better for TV. Made it more drama oriented vs full action.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I agree. I loved the season start to finish. I did watch a walk through on youtube and am very glad they cut out a lot of the infected fighting scenes as it made the storyline flow much better for TV. Made it more drama oriented vs full action.

Agreed.

A couple hours of battling infected in the game can be loads of fun; a couple hours of watching it happen in a show would be pretty boring. Also, I think it has to do with how Joel's character is built; in the game, the way you get to know Joel -- especially his brutality -- is through the combat itself. In the show, he's less of an unstoppable murder machine (well, for the most part anyway), and more of a worn-down 56-year-old man.

And I think it worked better the way they did it in the show. The story was never supposed to be about the infected; it's about the humans. The heroes, the villains, the obstacles they meet along the way, are the other humans. That's sort of the point: Neil Druckman wanted to create a world where, even when everything is overrun with fungal zombies, the humans are still the scariest monsters out there (at one point in the game, Frank even says this exactly).

 

[moogacat]

The last episode setting up two of the most upsetting decisions a parent can face-- one of a more cosmic/global nature that most of us thankfully never face, and one that we face as parents regularly, did me in. So good, and thoughtful, and considered, and hit me hard as a parent. I can't wait for season 2.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

The last episode setting up two of the most upsetting decisions a parent can face-- one of a more cosmic/global nature that most of us thankfully never face, and one that we face as parents regularly, did me in. So good, and thoughtful, and considered, and hit me hard as a parent. I can't wait for season 2.

I think I know what you're referring to with the big global choice, but what was the second one?

 

[moogacat]

I think I know what you're referring to with the big global choice, but what was the second one?

The choice of whether to tell an unvarnished truth to your child, even if you fear it will damage your relationship,