Horror 'The Last of Us' HBO Series

[Iceman]

So, I just finished listening to the last episode of The Prestige TV podcast, and there’s a section at the very end where they interviewed both Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin. At the very end, Mazin clarified the “They don’t know anything, we know everything” quote as just referring to simply knowing “the secrets of the production”, not him being a know it all and saying journalists are dumb-dumbs.

Same with him and the infamous “pixels” quote. Many articles interpreted that as him saying deaths of the main characters in the TLOU game don’t have as much impact in live action because they’re not real. He was actually referring to the NPC’s getting reset each time you die diminishing your impact to connect with them as characters and making them just feel like obstacles you have to overcome. With the benefit of hindsight, he was most likely referring to how he was able to flesh out some more of those background characters and humanize them within the show. That’s it.

Once again, journalism twisting somebody’s words to create controversy for clicks.

Thanks for the clarifications on that, good to hear.

 

[Still Wynning]

I hope they take the same approach to the new seasons honestly. Abby's friends, the wolves and the seraphites could all do with a bit more development or more time spent on them at least.

And then you have the likes of Dina and Jesse, etc who I would happily spend more time with.

There are so many instances where we don’t see Jesse, like back in Jackson, traveling to find Ellie and Dina, encountering and fighting off WLF soldiers, staying with Dina at the theater while Ellie looks for Nora, etc., you could almost make an episode or two worth of material for the show.

As a matter of fact, if you include the stuff in the game we see plus the stuff that we don’t see and expand upon that, you would have so much material to adapt that I don’t see how they can do it in just two seasons without feeling rushed. If they’re going to do this right and pace things out properly, it’s probably going to end up being be three seasons. Unlike the first game, a lot of the dialogue and interactions we hear are pretty plot relevant and key to the story. You can’t gloss over that.

I mean, if they really wanted to expand on things, they could probably go for four seasons, but I don’t think they want to drag things out and us along that much.

Great points. If the show can make people love the video game Bill imagine what they can do for the characters from the second game. I wonder what they gonna do with Liv. That character has lots of potential and will cause controversy.

Just like the above response, if this season is anything to go by, they’re keeping him as is and expanding on his backstory with material that was mentioned in the game through conversation but didn’t see on the screen. He’s such an important and vital character to the story of Part II that I don’t see Mazin and Druckmann changing anything about him, regardless of whether it will create controversy or not.

If a certain group of people online have a problem with it, tough. They can cope and seethe as much as they want. Nothing is going to be changed.

Thanks for the clarifications on that, good to hear.

Yeah, I was hearing stuff from him in videos and podcasts about how much he loved and revered the game, which is why he was so respectful to the source material when making this season of television, and something just wasn’t adding up. Someone who said stuff like that wouldn’t go and trash video games as an inferior art form to television. I mean, if that was the case, he wouldn’t have even made the show in the first place.

 

[Prison Mike]

When Marlene said she didn’t want to owe anything to Joel, what did she mean by that? They probably have a history when Tommy joined the Fireflies but just wasn’t sure if they went deep into it and I just missed it?

 

[Iceman]

Well she was bleeding out at the time, so I feel like she wasn't confident she'd even be getting out of Boston alive, let alone feeling like she could keep precious cargo safe on the journey. She knew Joel & Tess were pros at the smuggling, so I don't blame her for thinking they were her best bet.

Yeah, and I liked the show’s version of Marlene a lot. Good showing by the actor.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, I was hearing stuff from him in videos and podcasts about how much he loved and revered the game, which is why he was so respectful to the source material when making this season of television, and something just wasn’t adding up. Someone who said stuff like that wouldn’t go and trash video games as an inferior art form to television. I mean, if that was the case, he wouldn’t have even made the show in the first place.

Good thinking

Glad you’ve been proven right and good to know his views are legit.

 

[DCDAVE]

I hope they take the same approach to the new seasons honestly. Abby's friends, the wolves and the seraphites could all do with a bit more development or more time spent on them at least.

And then you have the likes of Dina and Jesse, etc who I would happily spend more time with.

Great points. If the show can make people love the video game Bill imagine what they can do for the characters from the second game. I wonder what they gonna do with Liv. That character has lots of potential and will cause controversy.

There are so many instances where we don’t see Jesse, like back in Jackson, traveling to find Ellie and Dina, encountering and fighting off WLF soldiers, staying with Dina at the theater while Ellie looks for Nora, etc., you could almost make an episode or two worth of material for the show.

As a matter of fact, if you include the stuff in the game we see plus the stuff that we don’t see and expand upon that, you would have so much material to adapt that I don’t see how they can do it in just two seasons without feeling rushed. If they’re going to do this right and pace things out properly, it’s probably going to end up being be three seasons. Unlike the first game, a lot of the dialogue and interactions we hear are pretty plot relevant and key to the story. You can’t gloss over that.

I mean, if they really wanted to expand on things, they could probably go for four seasons, but I don’t think they want to drag things out and us along that much.


Just like the above response, if this season is anything to go by, they’re keeping him as is and expanding on his backstory with material that was mentioned in the game through conversation but didn’t see on the screen. He’s such an important and vital character to the story of Part II that I don’t see Mazin and Druckmann changing anything about him, regardless of whether it will create controversy or not.

If a certain group of people online have a problem with it, tough. They can cope and seethe as much as they want. Nothing is going to be changed.


Yeah, I was hearing stuff from him in videos and podcasts about how much he loved and revered the game, which is why he was so respectful to the source material when making this season of television, and something just wasn’t adding up. Someone who said stuff like that wouldn’t go and trash video games as an inferior art form to television. I mean, if that was the case, he wouldn’t have even made the show in the first place.

Excellent post I almost want them to do pregame last of us 2 with the second season. That is why I want the flashbacks in real-time. Jesse was so cool and it appears that Joel trained him. Don’t want to give to much away but the love triangle needs to be explored. Even the love triangle in Seattle had potential. Even though the game made those characters unlikeable.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

There are so many instances where we don’t see Jesse, like back in Jackson, traveling to find Ellie and Dina, encountering and fighting off WLF soldiers, staying with Dina at the theater while Ellie looks for Nora, etc., you could almost make an episode or two worth of material for the show.

As a matter of fact, if you include the stuff in the game we see plus the stuff that we don’t see and expand upon that, you would have so much material to adapt that I don’t see how they can do it in just two seasons without feeling rushed. If they’re going to do this right and pace things out properly, it’s probably going to end up being be three seasons. Unlike the first game, a lot of the dialogue and interactions we hear are pretty plot relevant and key to the story. You can’t gloss over that.

I mean, if they really wanted to expand on things, they could probably go for four seasons, but I don’t think they want to drag things out and us along that much.


Just like the above response, if this season is anything to go by, they’re keeping him as is and expanding on his backstory with material that was mentioned in the game through conversation but didn’t see on the screen. He’s such an important and vital character to the story of Part II that I don’t see Mazin and Druckmann changing anything about him, regardless of whether it will create controversy or not.

If a certain group of people online have a problem with it, tough. They can cope and seethe as much as they want. Nothing is going to be changed.


Yeah, I was hearing stuff from him in videos and podcasts about how much he loved and revered the game, which is why he was so respectful to the source material when making this season of television, and something just wasn’t adding up. Someone who said stuff like that wouldn’t go and trash video games as an inferior art form to television. I mean, if that was the case, he wouldn’t have even made the show in the first place.

Great points. If the show can make people love the video game Bill imagine what they can do for the characters from the second game. I wonder what they gonna do with Liv. That character has lots of potential and will cause controversy.

Excellent post I almost want them to do pregame last of us 2 with the second season. That is why I want the flashbacks in real-time. Jesse was so cool and it appears that Joel trained him. Don’t want to give to much away but the love triangle needs to be explored. Even the love triangle in Seattle had potential. Even though the game made those characters unlikeable.

I have said it from the start we could definitely get 3 seasons out of the 2nd game. The flashbacks alone could be a season, both Abby's and Ellie's

Spoiler

though I hope they keep the fact that Abby is the doctors daughter a secret until the big moment.

. Then end the 2nd season on said big moment. Then seasons 3 and 4 are Ellie and Abbys parts of the main game.

And that's without expanding on all the stuff we have mentioned. Even Lev and his sister could have more time spent on them. We don't see Lev

Spoiler

confront or kill his mother for example

.

 

[Iceman]

I have said it from the start we could definitely get 3 seasons out of the 2nd game. The flashbacks alone could be a season, both Abby's and Ellie's

Spoiler

though I hope they keep the fact that Abby is the doctors daughter a secret until the big moment.

. Then end the 2nd season on said big moment. Then seasons 3 and 4 are Ellie and Abbys parts of the main game.

And that's without expanding on all the stuff we have mentioned. Even Lev and his sister could have more time spent on them. We don't see Lev

Spoiler

confront or kill his mother for example

.

They’ve made some amazing episodes out of the supporting characters. I’m happy to see this show padded out with more of that.

 

[DCDAVE]

I have said it from the start we could definitely get 3 seasons out of the 2nd game. The flashbacks alone could be a season, both Abby's and Ellie's

Spoiler

though I hope they keep the fact that Abby is the doctors daughter a secret until the big moment.

. Then end the 2nd season on said big moment. Then seasons 3 and 4 are Ellie and Abbys parts of the main game.

And that's without expanding on all the stuff we have mentioned. Even Lev and his sister could have more time spent on them. We don't see Lev

Spoiler

confront or kill his mother for example

.

They could easily get 24 episodes from the 2nd video game. I think they can keep the secret about Abby, nobody that I knew who didn’t play the video games knew what was going to happen when Joel and Elle reached the fireflies. I am seeing some YouTubers believe that they will change the second season so it won’t reflect the game. That would be a huge mistake in my opinion.

 

[Still Wynning]

They could easily get 24 episodes from the 2nd video game. I think they can keep the secret about Abby, nobody that I knew who didn’t play the video games knew what was going to happen when Joel and Elle reached the fireflies. I am seeing some YouTubers believe that they will change the second season so it won’t reflect the game. That would be a huge mistake in my opinion.

I think the amount of set up and the seeds they planted in this season, along with more context given for events/character motivations in the second season and shifting things around slightly, will be enough to help people accept that moment as a story decision once it happens. It will still be shocking, but it won’t feel like it comes out of nowhere. Not that I had an issue with it in the game, but you need to be able to get the general audience on board with something like that, so I’m fine with it.

When they made the first game, they made it without the knowledge of what they were going to do, especially with with Joel, in the second game, so it came as quite a bit of a shock when it happened and why people pushed real hard against it. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, they can retroactively weave more of what happens in the second game into the first so it feels even more organic.

I mean, they wrote his character so much this season with that material in mind by constantly reminding us of the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head, it made me go, “Wow, they’re setting that up this early?!?” When you go back and rewatch the entire season with that in mind, it’s so blatant. They are practically teasing us with it.

Like I said. Sharpening. The. Knife.

 

[Iceman]

They could easily get 24 episodes from the 2nd video game. I think they can keep the secret about Abby, nobody that I knew who didn’t play the video games knew what was going to happen when Joel and Elle reached the fireflies. I am seeing some YouTubers believe that they will change the second season so it won’t reflect the game. That would be a huge mistake in my opinion.

That would be kind of pathetic and a huge cop-out.

 

[DCDAVE]

I think the amount of set up and the seeds they planted in this season, along with more context given for events/character motivations in the second season and shifting things around slightly, will be enough to help people accept that moment as a story decision once it happens. It will still be shocking, but it won’t feel like it comes out of nowhere. Not that I had an issue with it in the game, but you need to be able to get the general audience on board with something like that, so I’m fine with that.

When they made the first game, they made it without the knowledge of what they were going to do, especially with with Joel, in the second game, so it came as quite a bit of a shock when it happened and why people pushed real hard against it. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, they can retroactively weave more of what happens in the second game into the first so it feels even more organic.

I think I have played the second game about 7 times now and the more I play it the more I think the hated one got the raw deal while the fan favorite messed their life up after having it all. All was forgiven in the end and it still was not enough.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

They’ve made some amazing episodes out of the supporting characters. I’m happy to see this show padded out with more of that.

Yep same. Would be happy to see more of plenty of characters from the 2nd game. Even the likes of Isaac.

They could easily get 24 episodes from the 2nd video game. I think they can keep the secret about Abby, nobody that I knew who didn’t play the video games knew what was going to happen when Joel and Elle reached the fireflies. I am seeing some YouTubers believe that they will change the second season so it won’t reflect the game. That would be a huge mistake in my opinion.

If they change the 2nd game too much it would a terrible mistake. The 2nd game is fantastic.

 

[Still Wynning]

On the topic of the second game, I’ve been watching someone’s play through of it, and a thought just occurred to me.

Spoiler

How the hell are they going to handle all of the dog deaths? I know there’s some instances in the story where they’re just not gonna be able to avoid that, because they are something that the WLF soldiers use to assist in tracking people. So, I’m wondering if they’re just going to reduce the amount characters encounter within the show.

 

[Kane52630]

On the topic of the second game, I’ve been watching someone’s play through of it, and a thought just occurred to me.

Spoiler

How the hell are they going to handle all of the dog deaths? I know there’s some instances in the story where they’re just not gonna be able to avoid that, because they are something that the WLF soldiers use to assist in tracking people. So, I’m wondering if they’re just going to reduce the amount characters encounter within the show.

Spoiler

At the very least they gotta keep the scene where Ellie kills Abby's dog.

 

[Teelie]

Personal opinion but they can completely remove every dog death in the series and it will not bother me in the slightest.

 

[Still Wynning]

Spoiler

At the very least they gotta keep the scene where Ellie kills Abby's dog.

Spoiler

Agreed. At that point in the story, it’s supposed to demonstrate how single minded and callous she’s become to everything and everyone because of her rage and vengeance. When killing the dog, calling it stupid and throwing it aside like it’s nothing, we’re all supposed to be like, “Woah, Ellie, maybe pump the brakes on this!”. It’s no accident that the next major kill she makes is with Mel and her unborn child. Even if she doesn’t see it that way, the story and the camera focus treats both of those deaths as equivalent in terms of viciousness, intimacy and importance.

Maybe, at the very least, in the town before running into Jesse, have her kill one or two as a bit of preparation/foreshadowing.

 

[Iceman]

Spoiler

Agreed. At that point in the story, it’s supposed to demonstrate how single minded and callous she’s become to everything and everyone because of her rage and vengeance. When killing the dog, calling it stupid and throwing it aside like it’s nothing, we’re all supposed to be like, “Woah, Ellie, maybe pump the brakes on this!”. It’s no accident that the next major kill she makes is with Mel and her unborn child. Even if she doesn’t see it that way, the story and the camera focus treats both of those deaths as equivalent in terms of viciousness, intimacy and importance.

Maybe, at the very least, in the town before running into Jesse, have her kill one or two as a bit of preparation/foreshadowing.

Good examples of why this material is challenging to translate. Will be interesting to see how far or not they choose to go with this.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Spoiler

At the very least they gotta keep the scene where Ellie kills Abby's dog.

I think this will be the only one they keep in the story.

 

[DCDAVE]

I know for Last of Us to continue after the events of game 2 a certain character will have to work. What do you all think of Millie Bobby Brown as that character. She could start off as the young innocent version then have her hit the Natalie Portman diet as she gets older. Brown has a following so that would help with fandom.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I know for Last of Us to continue after the events of game 2 a certain character will have to work. What do you all think of Millie Bobby Brown as that character. She could start off as the young innocent version then have her hit the Natalie Portman diet as she gets older. Brown has a following so that would help with fandom.

Love Millie but don't see her as Abby personally. She seems more like the Ellie type.

 

[DCDAVE]

Love Millie but don't see her as Abby personally. She seems more like the Ellie type.

I see fans are backing Shannon Berry on social media. She certainly looks like the video game version but I think you need someone who can play the young girl innocent part. Remember no one saw Bella or Pedro for Elle and Joel so I think the actress they pick will shock the world. I just believe the actress will have a fandom so they can soften the blow of what came out of game 2.

 

[squeekness]

Personal opinion but they can completely remove every dog death in the series and it will not bother me in the slightest.

Same. It's always worse when animals die. I didn't like it when the horse got shot.

 

[Iceman]

I see fans are backing Shannon Berry on social media. She certainly looks like the video game version but I think you need someone who can play the young girl innocent part. Remember no one saw Bella or Pedro for Elle and Joel so I think the actress they pick will shock the world. I just believe the actress will have a fandom so they can soften the blow of what came out of game 2.

I don't know much about her but she's got a good potential look for Abby.

 

[DCDAVE]

I don't know much about her but she's got a good potential look for Abby.

She is on some Amazon show called the Wilds. There is lots of traction supposedly that she has been cast as Abby already on Social Media. I don’t think that is true though.