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[ShadowNate]

I found this episode to be weaker than the previous ones. It's kind of transitional I guess so that's to be expected. I think I wanted more time on the road trip part and maybe some random encounters before they reach this new block.

I liked Ellie and Joel's bonding scenes but it seems like that's also moving too fast. Ellie already revealed she had a gun, shot someone with it, had the talk with Joel.

Anyway, it did make for some good scenes so not many complaints there.

The acting of the leader of the town folk seemed like an odd choice (was she the mother of the guy Ellie shot?). I didn't care for it, but as posted above maybe it was intentional. The problem with this, is that we'll have to withhold judgement about something we actually watched for another week where maybe more info will change our minds.

She does seem fixated on killing that father and son who are in hiding, shifting all blame about anything bad on them. So definitely something happened to her (also mentioned a bit in her conversation with the doctor) that made her unhinged, but it still does not justify the weak performance... yet.

 

[Warablo]

Joel and Ellie moments were cool, that's about it. Weak episode

 

[Slothbeing1209]

Did they spend all the budget on world building?
I still haven't seen any good action scene except the clicker encounter.
I know it's not the focus but they could make it better.

 

[Holdfing]

Pretty good episode. Humanized the "bandits" a bit compared to the game. Eager to see what's under that crumbly floor.
Was that beardy long hair guy Tommy's VA from the game? Sounded like him.

Edit: Yeah I should learn to read.

 

[Zimmy68]

Only watched 1/2 but the Walking Dead fatigue is starting to set in.
20 minutes of dialogue, 10 minutes of action, 20 minutes of dialogue.
And who thought it was a good idea to drive through a major city? 100% would be blocked by cars or have raiders waiting to ambush.
Both things happened? Who would have thunk it?
How about using that map to take another way around.

 

[Roni]

Elie struck me as being hopeful and optimistic when they were near that hospital(after the giraffe scene) so if she thought of possibly dying, she's putting up a good act hiding it and that kind of deception doesn't strike me as something Ellie would do to Joel. The simplest explanation IMO is that it's simply not on her mind when approaching to the hospital. Not even Marlene and the researchers thought she'd ever need to die until after Ellie arrived at the hospital so why would Ellie ever get the impression she might have to die, let alone be prepared to?

She's still a little girl but she's already experienced losing multiple people so to think she'd willingly cause that kind of pain without any forewarning first again, strikes me as uncharacteristic of Ellie.

She's willing to die, just not expecting it

 

[Ulysses 31]

She's willing to die, just not expecting it

I agree she's willing under certain conditions but those conditions aren't met in TLOU1.

 

[Roni]

I agree she's willing under certain conditions but those conditions aren't met in TLOU1.

Maybe not, but then again Joel not only didn't give her a choice, he murdered the only known person capable of developing it. And lied about it to top it off. It's the combo that pisses her off, not one thing or the other separately.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

My favorite episode with Bella as Ellie, but a weak episode overal, imo

I think she killed it in this episode, while I wasnt seeing her as Ellie before.

But still, there are some character traits that just looks off. Her being all giggity with her new weapon when Joel was giving it to her, after almost killing a man with it ...

Are they trying to show her as kind of a psychopath? Her acting is deviating too much from the source material in places. Weird.

Ellie should be shocked and etc. after almost killing a man. She was crying right after that encounter. And then she gets all happy by being given a gun? Doesnt make sense

Joel was too soft after she saves him. In the game he gets angry at her. Thats his deffense mechanism, he pushes away with anger. Thats also how he acts with Ellie at the ranch, when he wants Tommy to take Ellie to the fireflies.

And expanding the whole QZ thing, I dont know about that. In the game they are David's men, and it pays off when Ellie fight the infected with David. They are exchanging that for this current storyline, and I dont know if it will be worth it, from the looks of it.

Anyway, enjoyed the Ellie/Joel bits, they were needed to develop their relationship, but overal it was the weakest episode thus far.

Edit: the ambush setpiece was a huge downgrade. And not showing not even one person getting shot onscreen was lame.

Still think she is a psychopath?

Again, you missed the mark on this.

 

[HTK]

Episode 1 - 8/10
Episode 2 - 9/10
Episode 3 - 4/10
Episode 4 - 6/10

These are my personal ratings.

 

[Ocean Dweller]

Episode 1 - 8/10
Episode 2 - 9/10
Episode 3 - 4/10
Episode 4 - 6/10

These are my personal ratings.

lol 4/10. ok dude

 

[Ulysses 31]

Maybe not, but then again Joel not only didn't give her a choice, he murdered the only known person capable of developing it. And lied about it to top it off. It's the combo that pisses her off, not one thing or the other separately.

Why are you skipping to Joel when it was the Fireflies that removed choice first when they forcefully separated Joel and Ellie and never woke her up? Or skipping over the doctor being fine with an operation that will kill the patient without informed consent first(aka murder)?

Yeah the lying pissed me off too since I thought he did nothing wrong considering all the information available in the game. In my head I hoped he lied initially to spare Ellie's feelings and that he would eventually tell the whole truth but part II ran with a different idea.

 

[Roni]

Why are you skipping to Joel when it was the Fireflies that removed choice first when they forcefully separated Joel and Ellie and never woke her up? Or skipping over the doctor being fine with an operation that will kill the patient without informed consent first(aka murder)?

Yeah the lying pissed me off too since I thought he did nothing wrong considering all the information available in the game. In my head I hoped he lied initially to spare Ellie's feelings and that he would eventually tell the whole truth but part II ran with a different idea.

Because that was a few posts ago. Ellie can't be mad at them, they're dead after the fact.

 

[TheMan]

Pretty good episode. Not going to win awards like last week lol but moved things forward. Really emphasized the necessity of brutality in their world

 

[RiccochetJ]

I enjoyed it, but it definitely felt like a bridge episode setting up for next week which looks intense!

 

[chinoXL]

Pretty good episode. Not going to win awards like last week lol but moved things forward. Really emphasized the necessity of brutality in their world

agreed, it was great for the setup of what's coming next. good to see Joel and E starting to get that bond building too

 

[Madflavor]

I'm really enjoying the show, but it's interesting. Pretty much everyone in my family was loving the show until Episode 3 happened. I have no doubt a big part of it is because The Gays and "muh woke", but I think it's a fair criticism that the show did take a detour and gave us 45 minutes of filler. Not that it bothered me, but I can get that complaint. But it's funny how turned off from the show they are now.

 

[Ulysses 31]

Because that was a few posts ago. Ellie can't be mad at them, they're dead after the fact.

Yeah but it leads to Joel getting more flak because she's never told what went down exactly at that place. Seemed like a way to force more drama in TLOU2.

 

[DForce]

Come on, bro.

You know that situation isn't comparable with the non informed consent one. In your case at least the doctor talked to you about the surgery and your chances while in Ellie's case no one did.

Ellie didn't know about any surgery(no one did) so to assume she'd be OK with one that will cost her life is not something a moral person would do. They could've confirmed with her if they were reasonable, but they didn't care to.

You said Ellie tried to lead Joel on, that literally means deceiving him. Not giving her the choice to consent doesn't mean she wasn't willing to do it.

The reason why my situation is comparable is that people make plans for the future because they're not expecting to die. And just because they're not expecting to die, that doesn't mean they're not willing if they're trying to save their own life or someone else's.

Yeah and I don't believe the part she'd be OK with dying without informed consent with a total disregard for Joel's feelings never seeing her alive again after being forcefully separated. I can believe she'd thought they'd do all kinds of tests and experimentations first, but resorting to killing her within hours of receiving her, nah.

Her thoughts and feeling were confirmed in Part II, so you can't deny it.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I'm really enjoying the show, but it's interesting. Pretty much everyone in my family was loving the show until Episode 3 happened. I have no doubt a big part of it is because The Gays and "muh woke", but I think it's a fair criticism that the show did take a detour and gave us 45 minutes of filler. Not that it bothered me, but I can get that complaint. But it's funny how turned off from the show they are now.

Not going to get political here, but I think that says more about your family then it does the show.

Episode 3 absolutely wasn't a filler. If anything Episode 4 was more of a filler, but I'd argue necessary since we hadn't gotten much interaction between Joel and Ellie alone to this point and we've already been introduced to Henry and Sam, so they aren't solo yet again. There will be a little bit of solo time and then they'll be in Jackson and won't be solo again, until they are

 

[Ulysses 31]

You said Ellie tried to lead Joel on, that literally means deceiving him. Not giving her the choice to consent doesn't mean she wasn't willing to do it.

The reason why my situation is comparable is that people make plans for the future because they're not expecting to die. And just because they're not expecting to die, that doesn't mean they're not willing if they're trying to save their own life or someone else's.

That was under the assumption she knew she might not leave the hospital alive but kept it quiet from Joel who said he's not leaving her side. I don't think that was the case in the game. It was a response to people saying Ellie was ready to die for the vaccine the whole time.

You wouldn't be planning stuff for the future if there's a reasonable expectation you might die soon. You can't plan for unexpected deaths but you can for likely ones. Death wasn't likely enough in Ellie's mind when she was close to the hospital.

Her thoughts and feeling were confirmed in Part II, so you can't deny it.

For a situation that didn't happen in TLOU1(where the Fireflies did nothing wrong) so it remains to be seen what her judgement would be on what actually happened.

 

[ADiTAR]

I enjoyed it, but it definitely felt like a bridge episode setting up for next week which looks intense!

Not next week, this week Friday.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I want this made.

 

[Roni]

Yeah but it leads to Joel getting more flak because she's never told what went down exactly at that place. Seemed like a way to force more drama in TLOU2.

She found out what happened when she returned though, she heard the recording.

 

[Business]

I thought it was by far the best episode and the one that felt most like the game. Joel was less of a cuck and Ellie started to be like Ellie.

 

[DForce]

That is under the assumption she knew she might not leave the hospital alive but kept it quiet from Joel who said he's not leaving her side. I don't think that was the case in the game.

You wouldn't be planning stuff for the future if there's a reasonable expectation you might die soon. You can't plan for unexpected deaths but you can for likely ones. Death wasn't likely enough in Ellie's mind when she was close to the hospital.

People go to the hospital sick and they make plans for the future and there's a chance what they have might be fatal. It's becoming clear that there's no retcon, it's just that interpretation is just wrong.

For a situation that didn't happen in TLOU1(where the Fireflies did nothing wrong) so it remains to be seen what her judgement would be on what actually happened.

People knew she didn't believe Joel at the end of Part I. Joel lied to her because he knew what Ellie would have wanted. Joel killed Marlene because he was afraid that she would come after Ellie, not him.

The story is clear on what Ellie's thoughts were and what she would have wanted to do.

This is how most people interpreted the ending. If these thoughts were confirmed in Part II, then that means what you believe about the story is wrong.

 

[Ulysses 31]

She found out what happened when she returned though, she heard the recording.

The one that left out that Joel:

Got knocked out when he was deeply concerned for Ellie and was giving her CPR.
Got robbed and kidnapped.
Got separated from Ellie.
Had to suck up that Ellie was going to get murdered.
Was denied seeing her.
Got threatened with death.
Got marched out without his gear.

Yeah, like I said before, TLOU2 leaves the Fireflies so much off the hook that it approaches propaganda levels.

 

[SlimySnake]

Episode 1 - 8/10
Episode 2 - 9/10
Episode 3 - 4/10
Episode 4 - 6/10

These are my personal ratings.

Pretty much my ratings. +/- 1 point for each episode. This was a good episode overall despite my issues with it which is a 7 in my book.

The show is at its best when they copy pasta from the game. Any time they diverge and add new stuff, it starts to feel cheap and very syndicate tv-ish. Episode 2 is the only one that was consistently good with high production values from start to finish. Neil is the best director of the lot so far and this was his first time directing anything. Just goes to show how talent the dude is. We should be happy that hes slumming it in the video game industry making games for us instead of choosing far more lucrative roles in hollywood.

 

[Ulysses 31]

People go to the hospital sick and they make plans for the future and there's a chance what they have might be fatal. It's becoming clear that there's no retcon, it's just that interpretation is just wrong.

But they make it under the assumption it they won't die soon otherwise they would be creating false hopes or promises and that's generally not a nice thing to do, is it?

People knew she didn't believe Joel at the end of Part I. Joel lied to her because he knew what Ellie would have wanted. Joel killed Marlene because he was afraid that she would come after Ellie, not him.

The story is clear on what Ellie's thoughts were and what she would have wanted to do.

This is how most people interpreted the ending. If these thoughts were confirmed in Part II, then that means what you believe about the story is wrong.

Sure, if she was asked and Joel's last time to see her alive wasn't the moment she was unconscious and almost drowned.

It's not clear what Ellie would think if she knew how the Fireflies treated Joel.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

The one that left out that Joel:

Got knocked out when he was deeply concerned for Ellie and was giving her CPR.
Got robbed and kidnapped.
Got separated from Ellie.
Had to suck up that Ellie was going to get murdered.
Was denied seeing her.
Got threatened with death.
Got marched out without his gear.

Yeah, like I said before, TLOU2 leaves the Fireflies so much off the hook that it approaches propaganda levels.

Don't think it left them off the hook.

That's kind of the theme of vengeance. Everyone has their own story.

 

[DForce]

But they make it under the assumption it they won't die soon otherwise they would be creating false hopes or promises and that's generally not a nice thing to do, is it?

And like I said, people don't always go to the hospital sick and expect to die. This isn't working. lol

Sure, if she was asked and Joel's last time to see her alive wasn't the moment she was unconscious and almost drowned.

It's not clear what Ellie would think if she knew how the Fireflies treated Joel.

They treated Joel that way because he was trying to stop the surgery. That's a reasonable action based on what was going on. They're not going to give him his bags with guns because he's a risk with weapons on his hands.

Ellie was smart enough in Part II to figure out that Joel delivered her to the fireflies and killed them when he found out that it would kill her. Saying, "They were going to leave him without his guns" is not a sound argument. lol Joel had options in the parking lot to wait until she woke up, but that wasn't an option for him because he didn't want her to make the choice.

 

[Madflavor]

Not going to get political here, but I think that says more about your family then it does the show.

Episode 3 absolutely wasn't a filler. If anything Episode 4 was more of a filler, but I'd argue necessary since we hadn't gotten much interaction between Joel and Ellie alone to this point and we've already been introduced to Henry and Sam, so they aren't solo yet again. There will be a little bit of solo time and then they'll be in Jackson and won't be solo again, until they are

I can see the argument on your side, and the other. If someone thinks Episode 3 is filler, I know why they feel that way. I don't necessarily agree with it though.

I'm a bit disappointed with my family, but it's what it is.

 

[Rawker]

Watched 2.5 episodes of this, never played the games so I went in blind. It started with a logical premise that worked for me, cool intro even though I think I've seen it somewhere else, and budget acting/characters.

I had to stop, the two dudes in episode 3 made me shut it off. There is something off with the production, directing, acting, I don't know exactly what the problem is but the shows execution has a vast range that leaves me confused and not buying it. One min the main character is standing on a rock Infront of a cg post apocalyptic city and the next in some back alley that's clean as f... and so are the actors having a gay 'ol time. I looked past it for the first two episodes but then fungus head zombies make an appearance and I'm just not into it anymore. Cap it off with the love fest in episode 3 and I'm out.

I've watched most post apocalyptic shows and movies, zombies, aliens, nukes, whatever. I think they need a more gritty art direction, better art cohesion, and maybe spend some of the cg and marketing budget on something else, anything else because their ads and cg look great.

Animal kingdom and OZ are 2 of my top 5 shows all time so don't come at me with BS, episode 3 is trash.

 

[AJUMP23]

The credit song!!
The new character Kathleen feel mehh.
Nothing about her character make me understand why she's the leader.

But she had a gun and shot a DOCTOR!

 

[Ulysses 31]

And like I said, people don't always go to the hospital sick and expect to die. This isn't working. lol

So you agree Ellie didn't expect to die and so there's something seriously wrong with the people that push a lethal surgery on someone who wasn't expecting to die and hadn't given consent. And that Joel is justified in trying to stop it.

They treated Joel that way because he was trying to stop the surgery. That's a reasonable action based on what was going on. They're not going to give him his bags with guns because he's a risk with weapons on his hands.

Ellie was smart enough in Part II to figure out that Joel delivered her to the fireflies and killed them when he found out that it would kill her. Saying, "They were going to leave him without his guns" is not a sound argument. lol Joel had options in the parking lot to wait until she woke up, but that wasn't an option for him because he didn't want her to make the choice.

Makes sense if you're OK with the way the surgery's going to take place but you know full well it's immoral. So of course Joel will try to stop a surgery that's going to kill Ellie when he hasn't seen her since she almost drowned and got forcefully separated from her. It makes sense Joel wants to see if she's OK and if she agrees with what's going to happen.

Ellie might've figured out Joel killed people in his way to stop the surgery but she's still missing a lot of context to make a sound judgement of the situation. Getting stranded in an infested Salt Lake City without any gear is probably a death sentence, how is this not a reason to take action to prevent that? Joel and Ellie were getting shot at so why would he wait around at that point? I doubt the remaining Fireflies would let it slide all group members he killed, especially since they talked to Marlene about killing him before. There was no going back at that point anymore.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

That "leader" of the bandits, her acting is so bad..she sounds like a scared cat, very much doubt in real life they would follow and take orders from someone like that.

 

[HTK]

That "leader" of the bandits, her acting is so bad..she sounds like a scared cat, very much doubt in real life they would follow and take orders from someone like that.

Ding Ding Ding Ding. One of many problems from the last episode, simply not believable. You have killers around her and you know she's the fearless leader, simply didn't buy into it. She looked weak and her acting was not good to instill any believability that she was "THE LEADER".

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

"Don't worry ellie, they won't hit you!"

Yeah no shit.

 

[Majmun]

I feel like I was watching an episode of the walking dead

bring back the gays!

 

[hollams]

Not going to get political here, but I think that says more about your family then it does the show.

Episode 3 absolutely wasn't a filler. If anything Episode 4 was more of a filler, but I'd argue necessary since we hadn't gotten much interaction between Joel and Ellie alone to this point and we've already been introduced to Henry and Sam, so they aren't solo yet again. There will be a little bit of solo time and then they'll be in Jackson and won't be solo again, until they are

You say it's not filler, but when I watched the preview from last week the only instances they showed of Episode 3 were of Joel and Ellie. The only call back to the other story was just the open window so to me that kind of shows it was filler.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

You say it's not filler, but when I watched the preview from last week the only instances they showed of Episode 3 were of Joel and Ellie. The only call back to the other story was just the open window so to me that kind of shows it was filler.

It wasn't filler. Because it doesn't play a big part in the following episode doesn't make it filler. Again, when you're writing a story, you know for adults... some things don't pay off until later.

The biggest probably with the reactionary crowd is that they have difficulty thinking down the line. They need instant gratification with their entertainment.

This episode will pay off significantly when people look at Joel's motivations toward the end of the season. And they don't need to bring the episode up again to get that payoff.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Ding Ding Ding Ding. One of many problems from the last episode, simply not believable. You have killers around her and you know she's the fearless leader, simply didn't buy into it. She looked weak and her acting was not good to instill any believability that she was "THE LEADER".

This is really above a lot of people's thinking.

She's a soccer mom who in a normal world would be a soccer mom. She's probably the leader because she was elected to be via the group after taking down FEDRA. Why was she elected? Was it because she was fearless? Or did she help organize their cities' resistance? They put Perry next to her to contrast the two types of leaders here. And you also see that she can be cold and that she can stir people up, which is something that soccer mom's can be known to do.

 

[Roni]

The one that left out that Joel:

Got knocked out when he was deeply concerned for Ellie and was giving her CPR.
Got robbed and kidnapped.
Got separated from Ellie.
Had to suck up that Ellie was going to get murdered.
Was denied seeing her.
Got threatened with death.
Got marched out without his gear.

Yeah, like I said before, TLOU2 leaves the Fireflies so much off the hook that it approaches propaganda levels.

She's not gonna operate with perfect knowledge. That's extremely unrealistic for any attempt of representing reality.

 

[Ulysses 31]

Don't think it left them off the hook.

That's kind of the theme of vengeance. Everyone has their own story.

Not completely I agree with that, it gave face to the doctor who wanted to kill his patient without informed consent and showed he didn't want to inform Joel.

But you can't deny the prologue paints a biased picture in its retelling of TLOU1 events.

She's not gonna operate with perfect knowledge. That's extremely unrealistic for any attempt of representing reality.

True but we as the player we know that Ellie's not been fully informed so to say she learned the "truth" is a bit of a stretch IMO.

 

[DForce]

So you agree Ellie didn't expect to die and so there's something seriously wrong with the people that push a lethal surgery on someone who wasn't expecting to die and hadn't given consent. And that Joel is justified in trying to stop it.

Not expecting to die doesn't mean she wasn't willing to die. She questioned Joel because she didn't believe his story and wanted him to tell the truth and she didn't believe him. Joel saved Ellie because he loved her, he lied to her because he knew what she wanted to do. This was confirmed in Part II. No matter how you try to spin it, everything we're saying was confirmed in part II.

Makes sense if you're OK with the way the surgery's going to take place but you know full well it's immoral. So of course Joel will try to stop a surgery that's going to kill Ellie when he hasn't seen her since she almost drowned and got forcefully separated from her. It makes sense Joel wants to see if she's OK and if she agrees with what's going to happen.

Ellie might've figured out Joel killed people in his way to stop the surgery but she's still missing a lot of context to make a sound judgement of the situation. Getting stranded in an infested Salt Lake City without any gear is probably a death sentence, how is this not a reason to take action to prevent that? Joel and Ellie were getting shot at so why would he wait around at that point? I doubt the remaining Fireflies would let it slide all group members he killed, especially since they talked to Marlene about killing him before. There was no going back at that point anymore.

There's no context missed. What people suspected after Part I was confirmed in Part II. Joel had a choice to make the right decision and Marlene gave him the opportunity. Joel killed Marlene because he didn't want her coming after Ellie, aka, finding out the truth and making her decision.

You want to believe all choices outside of Joel's decisions is wrong when. Everyone acted based on what they believe was right and it was a selfish choice.

No matter what you say, Ellie sacrificed her life and she didn't believe what Joel said at the end of TLOU. Niel confirmed it so there's no point in denying it at this point.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Not completely I agree with that, it gave face to the doctor who wanted to kill his patient without informed consent and showed he didn't want to inform Joel.

But you can't deny the prologue paints a biased picture in its retelling of TLOU1 events.

True but we as the player we know that Ellie's not been fully informed so to say she learned the "truth" is a bit of a stretch IMO.

I mean I don't even know if he knew who Joel was... let alone not wanting to inform him. Regardless, you kill someone's dad and they're probably going to come after you... that's kind of the point here.

 

[Roni]

Not completely I agree with that, it gave face to the doctor who wanted to kill his patient without informed consent and showed he didn't want to inform Joel.

But you can't deny the prologue paints a biased picture in its retelling of TLOU1 events.

True but we as the player we know that Ellie's not been fully informed so to say she learned the "truth" is a bit of a stretch IMO.

Goes to show the limits of what we humans perceive and mean by truth. And yet we can't just wait for the whole picture, we gotta move on with what we've got.

 

[kyliethicc]

 

[DenchDeckard]

Oooof, that was a really sub par episode...even my Mrs said she thought it was poor.

Nothing really happened at all. First cracks showing of following the game, I hope they can redeem it. I mean, obviously they will play on the heart strings with Henry and Sam but..yeah that was a shame after the incredible episode 3.

Probs like a 4, or 5 out of ten episode. Complete waste of time and it was short too.

 

[ComputerBlue]

Last nights episode was pretty good, I know Neil told Bella not to play the game so she can go and blind, but there’s no way she did not at least watch gameplay, because some of her delivery is almost identical to Ashley’s.

I’m a little disappointed with the lack of infected to be honest, there just hasn’t been enough encounters so far.