Horror 'The Last of Us' HBO Series

[BeserkerHilf]

Jesus ****ing Christ, I’m in tears. As good as the mocap is in any version of the game, this version really sells the moment between all four actors. Pedro and Bella really make Joel and Ellie come alive here.

 

[O'Haire]

What a ****ing episode.

Even though I knew it was coming since I played the game, the fact they can introduce characters and give them a full arc to the point where their eventual end makes you tear up in only just an hour shows just how fantastic the writers, directors, and especially the actors are.

 

[Slick]

God that ending is as just as emotional and devastating as in the game 10 years ago. It brought me to tears and I feel emotional drained. Yeah the action was picked up majorly but man did they do a good job making you care about Sam and Henry. Lamar Johnson and Kevionn Woodard both turned in stunning performances. This show continues to excite and devastate me and I can’t think of a series that made me feel this way in a long time. Also shoutout to Melanie Lynskey Because she also did great in her role and that scene in the bedroom really humanized her even though I was glad that Clicker got her in the end.

 

[flickchick85]

There was something almost poetic about a child clicker being the one to get Kathleen, imo.

 

[Slick]

Elle writing on the board that

Spoiler

She’s afraid of being alone was possibly a tease at TLoU: Part 2 ending.

 

[Man in the Suit]

"That's just the way he sounds. He has an ******* voice."

Ellie's cry/scream when Henry, at the end... yeah... Bella Ramsey is so good.

Yes, I watched the episode twice in the same night because I love pain.

 

[Slick]

"That's just the way he sounds. He has an ******* voice."

Ellie's cry/scream when Henry, at the end... yeah... Bella Ramsey is so good.

Yes, I watched the episode twice in the same night because I love pain.

I am probably gonna watch it a second time too on Sunday night to complete my TV ritual of TLoU and Mayfair Witches.

 

[Slick]

That proud smirk on Elle’s face when Joel told her to pull out her gun in front of Henry lol.

 

[Slick]

There was something almost poetic about a child clicker being the one to get Kathleen, imo.

Which is what they were shooting for according to the podcast.

 

[Broseph44]

Which is what they were shooting for according to the podcast.

Always love the Inside The Episode after the show. And I always listen to the podcast as well. So much more insight from both of those.

Again just another great and emotional episode. Even having played the game countless times, the show is still able to hit just as hard

 

[Arachnerd]

...they did it. They somehow did it. They made this more tragic and depressing than the original.

Spoiler

Having Sam reveal to Ellie that he was bitten this time and that fleeting moment of hope of her blood potentially healing him makes his death all the more gut-wrenching. That final scene was phenomenally acted by everyone all around.

Though, in regards to Ellie's blood not doing anything to prevent Sam's turning... might be overthinking this, but could this be foreshadowing to imply that the Fireflies' attempt at a cure was always futile and thus give Joel more simpathetic reasoning to save her later on? I found that particular detail interesting either way.

Also that scene with the Bloater, holy effing crap that was chaotic. I like that despite her best attempts at leadership, Kathleen prioritized vengeance and that's what ultimately got her and her people killed. Her and Henry's relationship also serves as an appetizer for Abby's introduction later on and her hatred for Joel.

 

[Drizzle]

I just watched it a second time. Such an incredible episode. Maybe the best one yet. The third episode is excellent but this one really captured the essence of the game in 60 minutes.

Spoiler

The writing and especially the actors did such a great job at making us get to know Henry and Sam as best they could in a limited amount of time. And it was so much more heartbreaking here than in the game. It's like Druckmann and Mazin were sitting around saying, "Hey? You know how we can make this sadder? Let's make Sam younger, deaf, and after he gets bit let's have Ellie try to save him with her blood." The immediate bond Ellie and Sam had made the end even more heartbreaking.

I was so wrapped up in everything that I completely forgot about the sniper part from the game until we got to it in the episode and I love that they not only recreated it here, but improved that whole scene by adding a horde of infected. The bloater was outstanding. The way he finished off Kathleen's right hand man was gnarly as all hell. I hope we see another one show up before the season is done, maybe in the finale. The little girl clicker was creepy too and I loved that that's how Kathleen went out minutes after her "kids die all the time" spiel.

I loved the little nods to the game like the comic and the drawing of Ish, the latter of which is something I had completely forgotten about until Druckmann brought it up on Inside the Episode.

"Endure and survive"

 

[Prison Mike]

Wow what a fantastic episode. That bloater clicker was really intimidating. I never really played the game so everything is new to me. That ending was so heartbreaking. Didn’t really expect it.

 

[Still Wynning]

Yeah, I can’t really add anything else to the discussion since everyone in here has pretty much said everything I was thinking, so I’ll just say that I really loved this episode,

Spoiler

and the ending/outcome was just as emotionally devastating as I was expecting.

Also, they don’t explicitly say it out loud, but in the scene with Kathleen in her and her brother Michael’s old bedroom, it’s implied through her conversation with Perry that everyone in their community loved and respected him, and that’s probably how she got into the position of leadership she’s in. She got in by association with Michael. That’s a nice touch that I thought served multiple purposes. It lets us know about her and her brother’s relationship with the Hunters, how she became their leader and why she’s on her revenge quest.

Spoiler

Having Sam reveal to Ellie that he was bitten this time and that fleeting moment of hope of her blood potentially healing him makes his death all the more gut-wrenching. That final scene was phenomenally acted by everyone all around.

Though, in regards to Ellie's blood not doing anything to prevent Sam's turning... might be overthinking this, but could this be foreshadowing to imply that the Fireflies' attempt at a cure was always futile and thus give Joel more simpathetic reasoning to save her later on? I found that particular detail interesting either way.

Also that scene with the Bloater, holy effing crap that was chaotic. I like that despite her best attempts at leadership, Kathleen prioritized vengeance and that's what ultimately got her and her people killed. Her and Henry's relationship also serves as an appetizer for Abby's introduction later on and her hatred for Joel.

Spoiler

I love how this season is retroactively laying the groundwork for Part II material. Ellie having this messiah complex of wanting to believe that she can be the cure to rid the world of the infection and save people, which will drive that wedge between her and Joel when he reveals what he did to save her, and the guilt over not being able to forgive him fueling her request for revenge against Abby for killing him. Also, her growing up in a world perpetuated by hopelessness and violence giving her this fascination with violence, which is planting the seeds for how ruthless and violent she’ll become in future seasons. Also, maybe possibly implying that, with all the people around her that she’s lost, maybe she has extreme survivor’s guilt and she herself wants to die? That would be really dark, if true.

You just know that they’re going to end the next season with Joel’s death and let us sit with it for an entire year, and it’s going to hurt.

 

[squeekness]

Damn what a tremendous episode and that ending was definitely a gut punch. Loved everything with the Sam and Henry characters who were given just enough character development at the beginning.

I'm also starting to really enjoy how this show doesn't rush to get to the action and actually takes it time with the worldbuilding and setup which makes those set pieces even more satisfying IMO.

This was what I loved best about Walking Dead before it went off the rails.

 

[squeekness]

Wow what a fantastic episode. That bloater clicker was really intimidating. I never really played the game so everything is new to me. That ending was so heartbreaking. Didn’t really expect it.

I wasn't sure if that was a clicker or some new big and bad. It looked like it was controlling the others.,

 

[Arachnerd]

The Bloaters are pretty much infected that have been around the longest. Say, if someone was bitten during the first outbreak and wasn't killed after 20 years. They would gradually evolve into that over time.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

You know as much as I love hearing thoughts from you guys who have played the game I honestly couldn't be happier about being a newbie right now and knowing so little about it.

I might have seen a little bit of playthrough footage some years ago, but I can't even remember specifically what I saw and I'm definitely glad I never got to the Sam/Henry arc of the game.

This is definitely one of those times where I'm glad I didn't spoil anything major for myself in advance which is incredibly hard to do nowadays with the internet and especially social media.

 

[Another_Fool]

Trying to catch up and saw episode 3 last night. Just wow. Loved the adaptation of Bill and Frank and I'm totally on board with the changes. What a fantastic episode.

I lowkey now would want a Last of Us spinoff game with Bill and Frank where it's half survival horror and the other half sim game redesigning your town, making gardens, growing strawberries etc.

 

[Mjolnir Reborn]

Great episode again and they really delivered on the Sam and Henry story.

The bloater didn't seem to have gotten the memo from episode 2 where the writers said that infected don't want to kill but just spread the infection though.

 

[Drizzle]

Trying to catch up and saw episode 3 last night. Just wow. Loved the adaptation of Bill and Frank and I'm totally on board with the changes. What a fantastic episode.

I lowkey now would want a Last of Us spinoff game with Bill and Frank where it's half survival horror and the other half sim game redesigning your town, making gardens, growing strawberries etc.

That would be a unique idea for a game in general. One chapter you're fighting off hordes of zombies and then in the next one is just basically Farm Simulator as a way to unwind.

 

[squeekness]

That would be a unique idea for a game in general. One chapter you're fighting off hordes of zombies and then in the next one is just basically Farm Simulator as a way to unwind.

Ha!

 

[Bobber]

Spoiler

You just know that they’re going to end the next season with Joel’s death and let us sit with it for an entire year, and it’s going to hurt.

Spoiler

If that dude doesn't die in the first two or three episodes, I'll be severely disappointed.

 

[Arachnerd]

Bella Ramsey's acting when

Spoiler

Henry shot himself still haunts me. That was legit some of the best acting I've ever seen.

 

[JP]

"What did I do? What did I do"

Yo this show won't let me breathe for a second.