The game is the greatest of all time in my opinion. The series is on its way if it keeps going the way it's going. Brilliant 

It is a very good show in that it's basically like a very long epic movie so far.

I dont think there is anything particular mind blowing so far where your jaw is dropping to the ground in amazement at what you witnessed and its quite similar to other shows and movies in terms of the overall premise to make it stand out on its own as something very special/unique. But that said its still early days and splitting hairs between whether its going to be an all time great or not. Its must watch TV and that is the main thing.

Very good show I have to say. That talk show in episode 1 really got the ball rolling early. 

Mod edit:

It's been phenomenal. The first 2 episodes in particular were very faithful to the first game. The first 30 minutes of the 1st episode is almost a carbon copy.  There's a great accompanying podcast to the series hosted by the actor who voices Joel in the game. Definitely worth a listen if you are enjoying the show 

Stuck it on for the drive to work this morning, so far so good

Personally not convinced on the casting for Ellie and Joel. Pedro Pascal is an okay Joel at best and Bella Ramsey is a poor Ellie. I'm not sure why Ellie is so confrontational and almost bitchy, I don't remember the character being like that in the game at all.

Most recent episode was superb, hopefully they continue at that level!

I think Bella is doing a great job. 

Early in the game, Ellie and Joel didn't trust each other. Ellie annoyed him. It took time for their bond to develop.

Pedro Pascal is playing a much more vulnerable Joel than the one I remember early from the game. But I'm still enjoying it. 

I'm really glad they changed the Bill and Frank story from the game. The Last of Us world is pretty relentless and bleak so while it was a sad episode, it was a weirdly happy story (in the context of TLOU).

Agree on ep3 great tv 

Thanks 

I mean it’s good. But what’s so outstanding? 

It's probably the most faithful ever video game adaptation, movie or TV show. The game was one of the greatest ever.

I think for me that's been the most enjoyable part. I know where the story is going. Usually that's a deterrent to watching a show! The casting and cinematography have been great 

Wtf.

I immediately picturednThe Super Mario brothers film and internally said no thanks

My worry is they do a Walking Dead on it and draw it out because it is so popular. 

Id never heard of the game before. So Im wondering is this likely to go a set length of seasons if they stick to the game. Or could they drag the crap out of it with 6 or 8 seasons because the ratings are good. 

I'd be almost certain this won't run for more than maybe 3/4 series. There have been 2 games so far and the creators have already stated that series 1 follows the plot of the first game 

But is the main enemy in this going to be FEDRA as opposed to the actual zombies? Different to the walking dead where it’s the zombies first and then other survivor groups as the seasons go on?

Episode 3 is good but very overrated. 

That was the point though, he wouldn't have had that relationship more than likely during normal times as he was closeted, took the ending of civilisation to allow it to happen. Wouldn't have had nearly as much meaning if it were a regular one. 

Unfortunately there are people who are way too online who decide to put everything into these categories for the purposes of their culture wars. 

It deserves the praise it's getting, but calling anything "the best TV episode of all time" is ludicrous. I don't even know of any legit critics calling it that. Did it just get pulled from someone tweeting it and a buzzfeed type article with the headline "The Last of Us fans are calling this the greatest episode of all time" or some crap? 

I agree with you on the aesthetics and feel of the world being bang on, but do you not feel Joel is a much different guy at this point in the game? I'm still enjoying it but it's definitely different imo 

TLOU definitely leans into the idea that people are more dangerous than the Infected overall. There are plenty of scenarios through the games where you fight Infected and it builds suspense and horror and "oh sh*t what the f**k what the f**k", but the overall thrust of the story is how people behave in this world and how they survive, what do they value and how does that impact their humanity and morals etc. 

It's not just FEDRA to watch out for, it's all people (like Joel keeps repeating).

So if they're plowing ahead and doing half the story in the first season it shouldn't be dragged out. I reckon 3 seasons tops unless they make a third game. 

Fairly traumatic episode but very good. 

Anybody else considering prepping?

But I played the 2nd one when it came out and it's a horrific piece of sh*t (storyline wise anyway). If they are faithful to the source material then I'm just setting myself up to be pissed off down the line.

I would just tell you now that you'll probably be annoyed. I think they are laying a lot of groundwork for Part II (which I thought was great but suppose those arguments for and against the game have been made ad nauseum). It still feels like the first game although as I mentioned in a previous post I think Joel is a different character than the game at this point, especially after the last episode. But I've seen people who despised Part II say they enjoyed that change so who knows actually, I can never really tell what you folks will like or not 

I really enjoyed episode 6 apart from one bit which I thought was corny and OTT cheesy, but it didn't really effect anything about the story it just took me out of the episode for a min. Think Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are doing an amazing job. 

Episode 5 has been the best episode so far imo, I'm excited/dreading seeing what they've come up with for the final three episodes

Standout moments for me still the very first scene in the 70s TV studio and the scene with the scientist in Jakarta. 

Am enjoying the lack of binging too and actually having to wait a week for a new episode!

Yeah still watching & still very much enjoying it. Season finale due Monday I think. 

Latest was excellent 

Agreed re Ellie's back story, filler., In general I think the whole thing could have been a couple of episodes shorter, twas a bit slow at times. Its hard to see how they wrap it all up now in one episode? I assume they will leave it open for another series.

Pretty sure they’ve already said there’ll be another series

I wouldn't call it filler. It's background. And it's lifted entirely from a massive part of the game. I think it was an extra downloadable segment if memory serves! I liked it anyways  

Fair enough, I'm not familiar with the game its based on. I just thought the back story could have been woven in to the story rather than making it an entire stand alone episode 7 in a 9 episode series. Twas just odd and took away from the ongoing suspense imo.

Great series though and I'd probably give it a 9/10. Looking forward to season 2.

Highly recommend Chernobyl for anyone looking for something else directed by the same guy. Only 5 episodes.

hahaha I was coming here to see if anyone had watched the finale yet! welcome to the choice that has had the fans of the game debating for 10 years  fwiw totally disagree with you 

personally, coming into the show as a fan of the game I was a little disappointed with the finale. Overall felt it was a really great adaptation but they missed the mark on a couple of big things for me that I find hard to let go, so it drops it down from a potential 10/10 season to a 7 or 8 imo. 

The show is over hyped but enjoyable 

A solid 7/10 show. Don’t understand the hype at all, is it gamers ? 

Anyway, good series at times but like my example other things were a bit boring and I question what was the point but then again I didn't play the game so not sure if it was just being true to the game.

The episode with the gay guys while also a bit random and woke, was actually a very good standalone story well played.

What was by far the best episode 

I'd say a lot of the game fans have had very mixed feelings about the show to be honest and from what I've seen are a lot more critical than those who are new to the story

the biggest change to the game has been Joel imo but I think it's worked for the most part as an adaptation move for television

and did that make you take a second and wonder why you just automatically thought a story like that is woke and that was it's only purpose? like do you always see gay people on screen and just think "woke"? not everything is a f**king culture war man sometimes stories are just stories and sometimes they're bad and sometimes they're good 

Like if that episode 7 focused purely on the character and her relationship with another character and maybe you could say it was cute but the whole episode focused on it was just too much, I'd have much preferred to see more of her back story and interactions in school and have her sexuality just a small piece of it. 

I think those who feel like it tailed off are those who had no knowledge of the game beforehand. I expected more action/more infected but judging by what was said about the game then it was an unrealistic expectation.

Episode 3 was a backstory from the game that was changed and expanded upon, to very good effect in my opinion. Neither of them are woke or attempts to appeal to any particular audience, in my opinion.

Really enjoyed the series and looking forward to the second one

Felt a bit random in the context of the whole show as they had to go into standalone flashback mode to tell the story that didn't really tie into the overall episode. It was basically, let's plug in the story here and it could have really been added in any episode. Other flashbacks were in context of the specific episode.

Not going to die on the hill for the cause but you can't tell me this was not front and centre of the TV execs minds when they laid out the story they wanted to tell / sell 

I'll tell you what is ridiculous though. You've been out in the wilderness for months in the cold and you finally meet your brother and he lives in an idyllic encampment with food, showers, beds and you stay for one night. f**k RIGHT OFF WITH THAT BULLsh*t

Ha thought the same, I'd be chilling out and hitting the bar for a couple of months

Dunno I'm not a nerd and play computer games so I couldn't tell yah 

yes. it also happens at the same moment of the story as a flashback, the DLC was called Left Behind. It was like an add-on to the game (pretty common with Playstation games around that time, not a full sequel but new content for fans to get excited about). It explored what Ellie got up to while Joel was sick from that wound and it incorporated flashbacks to how she got infected and her relationship with Riley. 

if it didn't work for you that's fine, I didn't particularly like it in the game or in the show either. but if it was the exact same story, and Ellie wasn't gay and kissed a lad instead of another girl, you wouldn't call it woke, but the story probably still wouldn't work for you, you'd just say it's a random boring bit. So all I was saying is maybe not every LGBT character or story on screen is out to push some agenda, maybe they're just stories 

You will despise the 2nd season from what you are describing. I think the storyline is a genuine abomination, filled with detestable characters, terrible writing and an insanely stupid "message".

*Succession 

Succession is good but has become repetitive.

F**k off.

Felt it ended up being extremely rushed, a lot of Ellue and Joel's relationship ended up being developed off screen - it seemed like for example between episode 8 and 9 a gigantic leap had been taken forward on their dynamic, off screen.

Which made the decision to jump away from the main story for two standalone gay romance episodes which had nothing to do with the main plot even more baffling. The Bill and Frank episode was a good episode so could be justified by the Riley stuff was really pointless to show.

The final episode, I have a lot of issues with. Couldnt believe how quickly it was dealt with. Should have been drawn out and filled with suspense and they instead went for this quick sequence. Obviously they painted the Fireflies as being more knowledgable in the series than in the game when it came to the surgery, felt like in the series it was implied that it was going to work whereas in the game this surgery is more than likely not going to work when you actually examine everything.

But obviously all of that has to be removed for what is to come.

Joel is far, far less hardened in this too which I actually felt took away from the story as Ellie breaking down those barriers means so much more.

Overall maybe a 6/10 adaptation given the source material only gets hilariously, incomprehensibly bad from here, probably a good time to bow out.

I thought that was a good episode, in the context of your typical filler episode. Seeing how Ellie learned about her immunity was a story worth telling, imo.

E2016 wrote: Joel is far, far less hardened in this too which I actually felt took away from the story as Ellie breaking down those barriers means so much more.

I know we're just not gonna agree on anything about the 2nd game but I've seen loads of talk about how incompetent the Fireflies are from show-only people (my gf included - when Joel started working his way through the hospital she was shouting at him to hurry up ), so I'd say the same feelings are in the audience about the Fireflies. I actually would have much preferred more backstory in the show for Marlene because I think she's actually less sympathetic in the show - why would you be so willing to sacrifice your best friends daughter, so quickly, without consulting her? The show didn't really give Marlene much justification imo and she was every bit the hypocrite in the car park conversation (which was like the game tbf). 

I've always felt the ending was more that it didn't matter to Joel whether it would work or not, he is not calculating in his mind how likely it is that the surgery is successful, never mind all the things fans say about how would you even distribute the vaccine/cure and all of that stuff - he's just thinking "no, she's not going to die and I don't care what it costs". That has always been the more interesting thing to me with the game, not whether the Fireflies were legit or not. 

But I do agree I was pretty disappointed with the finale. I think they really could have used another episode with just Joel and Ellie making their way to the hospital, another Infected encounter or something. They put in the tendrils thing as an idea in episode 2 and then it just never came up again which was disappointing to me. 

yeah I agree with this, I wasn't really sure about it early in the season but after the conversation with Tommy about how scared he was of not being able to protect her, I think it was a good choice for television overall, my gf was 100000% Team Joel from there on

Oh I know, for Joel it doesn't really matter - although the argument could be made that their sheer incompetence certainly helped his decision.

From a player/viewer perspective - while I would have agreed with Joel's choice even with a 100 percent chance of cure, I feel like with all the other stuff making it likely there is little chance of a cure makes it even easier to agree with him.

Unfortunately, the legitimacy of the whole thing remains relevant for what is to come for multiple characters. If the cure never had a real chance of being produced (which it really didn't), and if everybody involved was a clueless idiot with no idea of what they were doing, jumping immediately to killing their only immune person - then it certainly renders the actions of certain people later far more disgusting, actions that are almost certainly going to be shown through a prism of sympathy and justification.

Treading around spoilers here but I don't think the likelihood of a cure/vaccine really has anything to do with whether future actions are justifiable or not, that's regardless of how something might be framed in the show.. But I am a fan of Part II so I think we'll probably just not agree there and that's alreet