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HBO's Last of Us Show Show Likely To End With Season 3 per HBO Boss

adamsapple said:
Master Cheeks > I'm Gonna Be A Dad

:messenger_smirking:
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You Are Wait What GIF by Wahala Room
 
CartesianMan said:
Another universe with great potential, wasted and unlikely to leave a lasting impression on people's minds.
It may take 30–50 years before a new generation of creative minds revisits it and draws inspiration from some of its elements—just as contemporary creators now draw inspiration from older films.
Until then, goodbye. You added no real value to my life.
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yep. had they simply moved on from joel/ellie, & just continued with a 'last of us' approach, of people under duress finding common ground & supporting/trusting each other, the series could've gone to some interesting places...
 
I found Season 1 incredibly mixed and really unfocused. I hate the trend of devoting entire episodes to side stories or flashbacks and TLOU Season 1 did it twice in what really wasn't a long season. Beyond that the flashback episode of Ellie and her GF trapsing through abandoned buildings giggling like school girls was just so idiotic.

Season 2 was just bad from start to finish for me.
 
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Casting was all wrong

Season 1 was actually pretty solid. Season 2 was totally retarded. HBO is doing the right thing and killing this
 
Personally, I am also relieved that they are not dragging Part II out beyond two seasons. Honestly, splitting Part II into two halves was already a questionable move, especially when you make the audience wait two or more years for the conclusion. It is completely understandable that they will run out of material after that. They have said from the start that they will not outpace the games. Without The Last of Us Part III, there simply will not be any more seasons of the show.

As a fan of both Part I and Part II, I have to say that they did themselves no favors with Season 2. I could harp on Bella Ramsey's performance for hours, but I will just leave it at this: her portrayal in Season 2 was simply not believable anymore. Beyond that, I think the writers made several wrong decisions regarding the narrative. Interestingly, the writers in Season 2 watered down various plot threads and events in exactly the way some "fans" claimed they wanted for the game back then ("the game would have been so much better if...").

A few examples:
  • Abby's Motive: People frequently complained that not showing Abby's motivation at the start of Part II was a mistake and that it kept the player in the dark for too long. So, what did the writers do? They revealed her motive in the very first scene of Season 2. The result is that it completely stripped Joel's death of its shock value. It also removed the sense of "rage" and "emptiness" that we, as players, felt throughout the rest of the story.
  • The Porch Scene: The fact that the porch scene with Joel and Ellie only appeared at the very end of the game was also widely criticized ("it would be better if the player went through the game with the knowledge from that scene"). So, the writers moved it up to the end of Season 2—a point where we probably will not even have anything to do with Ellie for a long while. They likely felt they had to include a "shocker" because they had already robbed themselves of the mystery surrounding Abby's motives. Honestly, I do not know how they expect to recreate the emotional atmosphere at the end of Season 3 without that scene.
  • Ellie's Characterization: Ellie's coldness in the game was a frequent point of criticism ("it does not suit her"). This was seemingly a lucky find for the writers, as Bella Ramsey appears unable to portray a character filled with raw hate anyways (unfortunately, she did not even manage to portray the "lite" version). What we got instead was an Ellie who was written to be "soft," where every brutal act felt more like an accident. The character in Season 2 is the exact opposite of her Part II counterpart. The "hate" was simply missing. The scene with Owen and Mel was the final straw for me. The people who criticized exactly that about the game should be cheering now, but even they can see that it did not work and that the game's execution was far superior.
Ultimately, they failed to translate the atmosphere of the game to the screen. The game uses its atmosphere to create a sense of "discomfort" in the player. The show creates a kind of "discomfort" as well—but it is the type of discomfort that you definitely do not want to achieve. I do not even know who is most to blame for all these wrong decisions in the second season. I would not even pin it on Neil Druckmann. Looking at the surrounding factors, this feels much more like Craig Mazin's fingerprints all over it. Regarding Season 3, I am actually more optimistic, as the focus will hopefully be more on Abby. In my view, the performance of Kaitlyn Dever and the way her character was written in Season 2 was very good.
 
Pokedot said:
Last of Us show had so much potential but the casting is one of the biggest fuck-ups in TV history. To think we could've had Cailee Spaeny as Ellie.


Un38lYf.jpeg
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Cailee would've been a similar case to Pedro - she's becoming a movie star so being a regular on the same show for 3-5 years wouldn't work. Hiring her could actually lead to even less Joel - Ellie scenes.
 
Venuspower said:
Personally, I am also relieved that they are not dragging Part II out beyond two seasons. Honestly, splitting Part II into two halves was already a questionable move, especially when you make the audience wait two or more years for the conclusion. It is completely understandable that they will run out of material after that. They have said from the start that they will not outpace the games. Without The Last of Us Part III, there simply will not be any more seasons of the show.

As a fan of both Part I and Part II, I have to say that they did themselves no favors with Season 2. I could harp on Bella Ramsey's performance for hours, but I will just leave it at this: her portrayal in Season 2 was simply not believable anymore. Beyond that, I think the writers made several wrong decisions regarding the narrative. Interestingly, the writers in Season 2 watered down various plot threads and events in exactly the way some "fans" claimed they wanted for the game back then ("the game would have been so much better if...").

A few examples:
  • Abby's Motive: People frequently complained that not showing Abby's motivation at the start of Part II was a mistake and that it kept the player in the dark for too long. So, what did the writers do? They revealed her motive in the very first scene of Season 2. The result is that it completely stripped Joel's death of its shock value. It also removed the sense of "rage" and "emptiness" that we, as players, felt throughout the rest of the story.
  • The Porch Scene: The fact that the porch scene with Joel and Ellie only appeared at the very end of the game was also widely criticized ("it would be better if the player went through the game with the knowledge from that scene"). So, the writers moved it up to the end of Season 2—a point where we probably will not even have anything to do with Ellie for a long while. They likely felt they had to include a "shocker" because they had already robbed themselves of the mystery surrounding Abby's motives. Honestly, I do not know how they expect to recreate the emotional atmosphere at the end of Season 3 without that scene.
  • Ellie's Characterization: Ellie's coldness in the game was a frequent point of criticism ("it does not suit her"). This was seemingly a lucky find for the writers, as Bella Ramsey appears unable to portray a character filled with raw hate anyways (unfortunately, she did not even manage to portray the "lite" version). What we got instead was an Ellie who was written to be "soft," where every brutal act felt more like an accident. The character in Season 2 is the exact opposite of her Part II counterpart. The "hate" was simply missing. The scene with Owen and Mel was the final straw for me. The people who criticized exactly that about the game should be cheering now, but even they can see that it did not work and that the game's execution was far superior.
Ultimately, they failed to translate the atmosphere of the game to the screen. The game uses its atmosphere to create a sense of "discomfort" in the player. The show creates a kind of "discomfort" as well—but it is the type of discomfort that you definitely do not want to achieve. I do not even know who is most to blame for all these wrong decisions in the second season. I would not even pin it on Neil Druckmann. Looking at the surrounding factors, this feels much more like Craig Mazin's fingerprints all over it. Regarding Season 3, I am actually more optimistic, as the focus will hopefully be more on Abby. In my view, the performance of Kaitlyn Dever and the way her character was written in Season 2 was very good.
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Banger post. I feel like some people have an inability to understand media that isn't near Marvel levels of simplicity,
 
Pop said:
Casting was all wrong

Season 1 was actually pretty solid. Season 2 was totally retarded. HBO is doing the right thing and killing this
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Just like the games, first part is staple of a game and timeless clasing, sequel tho, even tho topnotch graphically/animationwise has nothing else to offer, ofc tv series with soursce matierial tlou2 would be terrible.
HBO still was very conservative coz tvseries abby actually looked feminine and not imposing(actress simply wasnt willing/got told not to take whole drugstore of roids ), game abby... we all know how it went...
abby-tlou.jpg



Look how small/cute/unimposing tv abby is, she is basically normal avg woman with upper body strenght of 12yo boy:
 
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The Last of Us 2 is dragged on by the awesome gameplay, but is a too long game where the story is good in the first half and boring for the rest.

Ellie being taken to life by the worst miscasting ever is not good too.
 
Kikorin said:
The Last of Us 2 is dragged on by the awesome gameplay, but is a too long game where the story is good in the first half and boring for the rest.

Ellie being taken to life by the worst miscasting ever is not good too.
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Like Uncharted 4....when I finished both. I said tks GOD
 
adamsapple said:
They should end the game with the Abby arc and not try to drag the whole Santa Monica stuff into it.
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That last part shouldn't take a new season. Just have it on the final episode or two in season 3.

I think they should to wait for Part 3 before doing more.

Roni said:
Initially, I thought Neil had stepped away from the series because of the backlash; but after the news that came out of ND I think it was more about the state of development for their current projects and the series was just collateral damage.
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He and Halley Gross both left at the same time so I feel like they did so to start working on Part 3.

TheLikou said:
They probably even were thinking of doing more, expecting an third game, but now it looks like this franchise is dead forever even in gaming.
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How did you come to that conlusion? The franchise is now more popular than ever because of the show. It made it even more mainstream. There are more potential buyers than ever so I'm sure Sony wants more.

TheLikou said:
From what people understood, he was called back to Interstellar because it was taking forever. I mean, the main producer is trying to be an hollywood star and failing at it, let him fail at what he is "good" at.

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3fe08de4f530a20fc01ef6ec7da754b9.jpg
 
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I enjoyed season one. I ditched season two just after a few episodes. I thought I'd rewatch the first season, but I couldn't stand the way Ramsey talks like a little kid due to her speech impediment.

If only Kaitlyn Dever or Cailee Spaeny would have landed that role instead.

AP0Aep31GMcBK6tv.jpg
 
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Venuspower said:
The result is that it completely stripped Joel's death of its shock value.
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Shock value is the equivalent of jump scares in a horror movie. It's the tool of bad writers. The good ones choose creating dramatic tension, so the viewer fears what is to come. In this case, it was as easy as making Abby a likeable character so the audience is divided on whether supporting her or not when she makes the choice of killing Joel. That's much more powerful and painful than the "surprise motherfucker!" of the game.

Revealing Abby's motivations from the beginning was also a mistake. The good way to do it would have been: First, introducing the character and make it likeable; second, revealing her motivations. That's the shocker and the tension that comes next would have been so much better.

They got it wrong BOTH in the game and in the TV show. Neil Druckmann can't write.
 
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Angry_Megalodon said:
It's the tool of bad writers.
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I would agree with you if the 'shock' were just for the sake of it, but in the case of Part II, it was clearly a narrative tool. That specific shock was necessary to put the player on the exact same emotional level as Ellie. And it worked perfectly—perhaps too well for some, considering the amount of people who rage-quit right then and there. The goal was for us to feel the same blind rage, the same bewilderment, and the same lack of understanding as she did. If they had revealed Abby's motives beforehand or introduced her as a likable character, the subsequent journey would have been a purely intellectual exercise for us as the player. But the game wanted us to get our hands 'emotionally dirty' before forcing us to look in the mirror. By changing this, the show turns a raw, visceral experience into a sterile, predictable tragedy.
 
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Horrific casting likely and a drop off in quality writing I think buried this show. The woman they cast for Abby would've been a better fit for Ellie but everyone knows that. To think of what could have been.

Didn't bother with season 2.
 
I mean for me Ellie and Joel carried the game. And for fuck sake rewriting the Fireflies into the good guys?

They were a bunch of delusional incompetent revolutionary terrorists. The whole point was that the old world was gone- both the military and those that wanted to replace them.
 
I'm glad the TV audience also got to experience the massive decline in story and characters from TLOU1 to TLOU2. Schools have left it as a miniseries ending at the first game.
 
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