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HBO Original | The Last of Us | Part 1 OT | Endure & Survive

Romulus

Member
Episode 5 is where the magic was lost for me. The plot works much better as a video game where the player is experiencing everything themselves. The novelty of the game is playing through what feels like a movie. It was the marriage of high production, realistic acting, and decent gameplay that made TLOU amazing. Remove any of the three and the game would not have been as impactful.

The show's production and storytelling are not enough to compensate for the lack of gameplay and uneven acting. The shot for shot remake of setpieces from the game isn't helping the show capture its own identity either. It's watchable but not as good as I would like it to be.


What are some alternatives in the genre that are clearly better?
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I'm gonna get murdered for this but...I'm not feeling the show at all, acting is OK at best , nothing earth shattering (especially for an HBO production), the set-pieces are...again, "OK" and dare I say somewhat cheap looking and the changes to the script unneded.

All in all , it somehow feels like the walking dead production wise - uneven acting, cinematography and production values included, there's none of that HBO magic® that characterizes (most) of its shows like good cinematography, brilliant acting etc etc, the whole thing for me feels cheap for a lack of a better word for such an expensive show/production - especially after Chernobyl , Boardwalk empire, the wire, Succession, True detective, Carneyvale , sharp objects, band of brothers and so on so forth.

Bella Ramsey is A-OK and fits the role well, Pedro on the other hand I just don't know and the whole Bill love story/background, while well acted (amazing chemistry between the 2 characters), was completely unneeded as a change - same with chubby resistance leader Melanie Lanskey which...yeah, didn't add anything of value to the whole thing.
Maybe it really is the best video game adaptation so far but I find the whole thing to be way, way overhyped - especially since this is from HBO and the guy that wrote Chernobyl.
You have my axe. I have no idea what is going on with this show but this does not feel like an HBO show half the time. Episode 2 directed by Neil was the most HBO like episode of them all. Consistently high production values and cinematography. Every episode since has felt cheap and amatuerish. CG and set design is extremely inconsistent. Some sets look stunning while others look like they were lifted out of a sci-fi movie show. Casting is off. HBO casting is always spot on. I dont know who half of these people are and they are being outdone by voice actors in video games enhanced by ND animators. Simply should never happen.

I just watched the Pacific for the first time since it came out. I had quit the show after the first three slow episodes while they were in Australia literally fucking around, but went back this year and was blown away by the production values in every episode. And not just the big war sequences. The slow scenes of people talking are simply better directed. No single scene feels cheap even if it takes place in a house with two people. I really dont know whats going on here.

Bella is doing her best, but Pedro is now the weakest link. They have mellowed him for some bizarre reason. I guess they want the finale to hit harder for shock value?

I love Chernobyl but Mazin has disappointed me here. Every episode is hinting at the ending. In this episode, twice a character turns to Joel and asks if he will do anything for his kid. Bill's letter also does the same. Tess' speech. Like we get it dude. Joel is gonna kill all those people to save Ellie. Can you please let us decide if we agree with it or not? That twist of Joel torturing and killing people in cold blood works in the game partly because we are shocked that this is the same dude we thought was the hero of the story and partly because we get it. It's Ellie. Of course we are going to kill for her. Why wont the tv audience get that and have everything spelled out for them.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
I love Chernobyl but Mazin has disappointed me here. Every episode is hinting at the ending. In this episode, twice a character turns to Joel and asks if he will do anything for his kid. Bill's letter also does the same. Tess' speech. Like we get it dude. Joel is gonna kill all those people to save Ellie. Can you please let us decide if we agree with it or not? That twist of Joel torturing and killing people in cold blood works in the game partly because we are shocked that this is the same dude we thought was the hero of the story and partly because we get it. It's Ellie. Of course we are going to kill for her. Why wont the tv audience get that and have everything spelled out for them.
The cynic in me thinks that subtlety is becoming a lost art or the producers want to leave things less open to interpretation and ambiguous than the game so it'll fit better with TLOU2. :messenger_winking_tongue:

Heard the show cheekingly being called The Last of Us Part 2, Part 1. :messenger_winking_tongue:
 
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I love Chernobyl but Mazin has disappointed me here. Every episode is hinting at the ending.
This is something I've noticed as well. It's probably going to be my biggest disappointment overall for the series. They've telegraphed the ending so freaking much - when Henry asked Joel that question, I was thinking WTF. This show lacks the subtlety of the game with its messaging.
 
From seeing how charged people have been in real life over minor things, I don't know if I can believe this anymore. I think a lot of people would gladly remove some masks if we ever had any type of zombie situation and you'd see the worst of us.

People are fighting each other over gadgets on Black Friday, so I imagine what would happen if civilization were to collapse, with the added threat of the infection/infected hanging over the survivors...Anybody who thinks that cooperation and understanding would prevail should get their head checked.
 
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Toons

Member
This is something I've noticed as well. It's probably going to be my biggest disappointment overall for the series. They've telegraphed the ending so freaking much - when Henry asked Joel that question, I was thinking WTF. This show lacks the subtlety of the game with its messaging.

Foreshadowing an ending isn't a bad thing. They arent going to treat this show as if everyone watching it knows how it ends already. They are going to make it make sense for those that haven't played the game and have the show stand on its own.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
You have my axe. I have no idea what is going on with this show but this does not feel like an HBO show half the time. Episode 2 directed by Neil was the most HBO like episode of them all. Consistently high production values and cinematography. Every episode since has felt cheap and amatuerish. CG and set design is extremely inconsistent. Some sets look stunning while others look like they were lifted out of a sci-fi movie show. Casting is off. HBO casting is always spot on. I dont know who half of these people are and they are being outdone by voice actors in video games enhanced by ND animators. Simply should never happen.

I just watched the Pacific for the first time since it came out. I had quit the show after the first three slow episodes while they were in Australia literally fucking around, but went back this year and was blown away by the production values in every episode. And not just the big war sequences. The slow scenes of people talking are simply better directed. No single scene feels cheap even if it takes place in a house with two people. I really dont know whats going on here.

Bella is doing her best, but Pedro is now the weakest link. They have mellowed him for some bizarre reason. I guess they want the finale to hit harder for shock value?

I love Chernobyl but Mazin has disappointed me here. Every episode is hinting at the ending. In this episode, twice a character turns to Joel and asks if he will do anything for his kid. Bill's letter also does the same. Tess' speech. Like we get it dude. Joel is gonna kill all those people to save Ellie. Can you please let us decide if we agree with it or not? That twist of Joel torturing and killing people in cold blood works in the game partly because we are shocked that this is the same dude we thought was the hero of the story and partly because we get it. It's Ellie. Of course we are going to kill for her. Why wont the tv audience get that and have everything spelled out for them.

Chernobyl... a show the literally starts off with the ending? And again, YOU already known the ending. People experiencing this for the first time are not thinking "Oh Joel's going to kill a bunch of people at the end" And no, we already know by the end of the game that Joel would kill everybody for Ellie, he literally already did it to David's group

That you quit the Pacific because it was too slow, but went back and are blown away, should tell you a lot as well..

As for knowing who all the actors are in HBO shows... that's kind of laughable since most of the shows tend to have no-names that go on to become bigger stars. Who was Jon Bernthal before The Pacific or Damien Lewis... before Band of Brothers?

True Detective was one of the only times where they brought in really well known people and even then Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey weren't really A-List.

Outside of Sean Bean who was even a well known actor for Game of Thrones. Lena Headey was probably the best known and that wasn't saying much.
 
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I think the show is great.

That said if I had never played the games I'd probably like it even more.

Though I think they are doing a brilliant job of making it work for new viewers and old.

Literally my only concern left is how much there is left to tell and there is only 4 episodes to go. Gonna be a hectic final run in.
 
Foreshadowing an ending isn't a bad thing. They arent going to treat this show as if everyone watching it knows how it ends already. They are going to make it make sense for those that haven't played the game and have the show stand on its own.
I'm only criticizing it because it seems so heavy handed to me. Henry straight up asks Joel a question that directly alludes to the ending. That's not exactly foreshadowing in my book........but all things considered, I'm just nitpicking a good show.
 

Toons

Member
I'm only criticizing it because it seems so heavy handed to me. Henry straight up asks Joel a question that directly alludes to the ending. That's not exactly foreshadowing in my book........but all things considered, I'm just nitpicking a good show.

I mean if you were to ask people how they saw this playing out who haven't played the game and don't know the ending, im petting 90% won't be able to see it playing out the way it does. Its going to be shocking to watch what Joel does in the end, and those people are going to remember scenes like that and it will all come together. Thats what they are going for.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
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Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
If you become a monster, is it still you inside?

Great question from Sam, as it relates not only to his situation, but to Kathleen's as well. Henry turned Kathleen into a monster, and it probably wasn't still her inside.

That monster helped take over the KC QZ, but a QZ that was up and running for 20 years fell within 11 days under her leadership.

Really thought-through episode.
 
If you become a monster, is it still you inside?

Great question from Sam, as it relates not only to his situation, but to Kathleen's as well. Henry turned Kathleen into a monster, and it probably wasn't still her inside.
This makes no sense to me and a case of you looking too deep into it. Kathleen is still a conscious people with free will so no point in trying to draw parallels.
 
I'm only criticizing it because it seems so heavy handed to me. Henry straight up asks Joel a question that directly alludes to the ending. That's not exactly foreshadowing in my book........but all things considered, I'm just nitpicking a good show.
Things always seem heavy handed when you know what's going to happen. A lot of mysteries are obvious in hindsight. The same is true of foreshadowing.
 
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Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
This makes no sense to me and a case of you looking too deep into it. Kathleen is still a conscious people with free will so no point in trying to draw parallels.

No you're only looking surface level.

She gaves up her humanity to satisfy her grief. She became a monster. Pretty clear as day. So did the entire resistance.

The gave up their humanity and become monsters in order to defeat fedra and it was their undoing.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
I am probably one of the biggest fans of the games on this board and I think the show is great.

It's similar to how they adapt a movie from a book and take some liberties.

I think people have to realize that the game doesn't translate 1:1 to a movie any more than a book does.

There is a reason why you don't just say, here is the book now it's a script.

The structure of a tv show means that you aren't going to simulate most of the gameplay moments and many of the gameplay moments are designed to drive the story, so when that needs to be changed as well to make the story flow in a different medium, it leads to more and more changes.

They've stayed pretty true to the overall story and any changes that they've made so far haven't had significant altering effects with the exception I think of Tommy and we'll see how that goes. In the game Joel was not looking for Tommy and he was gone a lot longer, which plays into certain developments. I think the changes they made to Bill and Frank which they wanted payoff for Sam and Henry and the letter to Joel probably lead to the change in Joel's initial motivations.

You want to contrast the life and death of Bill and Frank to Sam and Henry, which means giving Bill and Frank more back story and a different ending, which meant changing the reason for going to Bill and Frank from getting a battery to wanting Bill and Frank to take Ellie. In the game Tess tells Joel to take Ellie to Tommy because he can find the fireflies.

This is ultimately a change that I don't think was necessary, but also muddies things. We'll see it how it plays out.
 

Raonak

Banned
Episode 5 was so damn good.

Delaying the bloater til now was a good decision. Hopefully we see another one later on the show.


Interesting how they're actually showing the jackson town. nailed the look, it's exactly as it was in tlou2.
Though looks like they've dropped the whole seasonal thing in the show. Makes sense, cause it feels like it's only been a week since they left boston lol.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
It is overrated. I think if it wasn’t called The Last of Us it wouldn’t be as highly rated. And people saying that this episode broke them - fucking hell. Do people really get attached to characters that quickly?

If the show is receiving success everywhere then it's not overrated. lol

Success reaps benefits.

Watch people's reaction videos and see how many people cry.
 

Lasha

Member
Sure I would agree but that's simply not an option for majority of viewers. From that perspective I would say the show is a faithful and well made adaption

I agree that the adaptation is incredibly faithful. Much of the dialog and many of the scenes are lifted straight from the original work. TLOU's faithfulness to the source was never a question to me. My feelings derive from the source's translation from game to television show. The show adds other stories and scenes to break up the monotony of Joel and Ellie walking. The game fills that dead space between set pieces with game play giving the player has something to do as the plot progresses through exploration and conversation between Joel and Ellie. I think the lack of that game play is making the show feel hollow. The development of Joel and Ellie's relationship is less pronounced when we aren't spending 9-12 hours with them. The changes almost feel too safe instead of pushing boundaries like most HBO shows.

If the show is receiving success everywhere then it's not overrated. lol

Success reaps benefits.

Watch people's reaction videos and see how many people cry.

Reaction videos are performance. Nobody would watch reaction videos of a person who reacts without extreme emotion. I agree with you otherwise.
 

Roni

Gold Member
This makes no sense to me and a case of you looking too deep into it. Kathleen is still a conscious people with free will so no point in trying to draw parallels.
You got those blinkers on so tight, you actually started attacking people not wearing one...
 
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DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
Reaction videos are performance. Nobody would watch reaction videos of a person who reacts without extreme emotion. I agree with you otherwise.
Fake reactions are very easy to spot.

When someone reacts and you see tears rolling down their eyes, then you know that their reactions are legit. People on this forum have played the game and I'm sure they reacted a certain way while watching Episode 5. If it can make them react, then it can happen to newcomers, too.
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
I am probably one of the biggest fans of the games on this board and I think the show is great.

It's similar to how they adapt a movie from a book and take some liberties.
Same. TLOU is my #2 GOAT. There's some things I didn't agree with like making Sam deaf but it grew on me and by the end, that scene was still effective and it worked
 
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Lasha

Member
Fake reactions are very easy to spot.

When someone reacts and you see tears rolling down their eyes, then you know that their reactions are legit. People on this forum have played the game and I'm sure they reacted a certain way while watching Episode 5. If it can make them react, then it can happen to newcomers, too.

I can make myself cry on command. Anything from tears welling up to full on emotional wreck. Learning to emote is the essence of performance. I'm sure some people have a genuine emotional reaction. I think the average reaction video isn't.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
I can make myself cry on command. Anything from tears welling up to full on emotional wreck. Learning to emote is the essence of performance. I'm sure some people have a genuine emotional reaction. I think the average reaction video isn't.

People who fake their emotions cannot act outside of shedding a tear. You can easily spot fake reactions because they tend to exaggerate their emotions or undersell them.

People who are legitimately reacting often have specific hand movements that move subconsciously. Unless they're good actors, then a lot of this stuff is hard to fake unless they're experienced actors.
 
If the show is receiving success everywhere then it's not overrated. lol

Success reaps benefits.

Watch people's reaction videos and see how many people cry.
I can think of quite a few things that receive success “everywhere” which we can both agree are not very good. I think we’ve been inundated with so much crap that average or good TV looks amazing now to some people.

And there’s video reactions of people crying to everything online. These people overreact for views.
 
You got those blinkers on so tight, you actually started attacking people not wearing one...
This is the kind of bad writing that led to the mess that was TLoU2. Instead of focusing on realistic actions and reactions everything had to be a juxtaposition or parallel or foreshadowing. Kathleen is just a badly written character. First, she could easily have exacted revenge instead of dilly dallying about and looking around for 5 minutes while the truck sinks down. She could also have saved herself if she wanted instead of running after Ellie (I think that’s who she was going after) when the main threat were clearly the zombies. And Joel headshoting a dozen zombies while they are running at speed about - it works in the game, not in a TV show trying to be grounded.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Sure I would agree but that's simply not an option for majority of viewers. From that perspective I would say the show is a faithful and well made adaption

I would contend they are both great, and that if you feel the show is only "ok" that you pay closer attention to the fantastic acting, framing, and technical care that is taken with each and every scene. Regardless of the game is is one very well put together product.
Not every part is super exciting.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
I can think of quite a few things that receive success “everywhere” which we can both agree are not very good. I think we’ve been inundated with so much crap that average or good TV looks amazing now to some people.

And there’s video reactions of people crying to everything online. These people overreact for views.
A show being good or bad is subjective. Your opinion is not a fact.

People who say a show is overrated, they're basically telling everyone that the show doesn't deserve the praise that it's getting. Well, guess what? It's successful because many people think the show is good.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Episode 5 was so damn good.

Delaying the bloater til now was a good decision. Hopefully we see another one later on the show.


Interesting how they're actually showing the jackson town. nailed the look, it's exactly as it was in tlou2.
Though looks like they've dropped the whole seasonal thing in the show. Makes sense, cause it feels like it's only been a week since they left boston lol.

You're misremembering.

All the episodes so far have taken place in the summer. They don't get to Wyoming until Fall, which is how the next episode is going to open up. Winter doesn't start until after the university. And Spring doesn't start until after the encounter with David's group.

We've got 4 episodes left.

Wyoming/Colorado - Fall
Left Behind - Winter
David - Winter
Utah - Spring
 

Raonak

Banned
You're misremembering.

All the episodes so far have taken place in the summer. They don't get to Wyoming until Fall, which is how the next episode is going to open up. Winter doesn't start until after the university. And Spring doesn't start until after the encounter with David's group.

We've got 4 episodes left.

Wyoming/Colorado - Fall
Left Behind - Winter
David - Winter
Utah - Spring
The trailer for the next episode was showing jackson in the snow (as in the TLOU2 opening), which made me think they're switching up the seasons.
 

Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
The trailer for the next episode was showing jackson in the snow (as in the TLOU2 opening), which made me think they're switching up the seasons.


I mean they also had 10 miles west of Boston be forest... so who knows...

but i think we're looking at october/november time frame. It was late September in Boston.
 

Raonak

Banned
One of the things im finding very impressive with the show is how quickly you become attached to the characters. Sarah, Bill/Frank, and Henry/Sam were all introduced and killed off in one episode, but all three times the deaths felt really powerful. Maybe it's because i've already played the game, but I think they've done a wonderful job with the characters in this show.

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I mean they also had 10 miles west of Boston be forest... so who knows...

but i think we're looking at october/november time frame. It was late September in Boston.
I'm not too familiar with american weather, so pardon my ignorance about it. Just found it interesting that the set looked exactly like the TLOU2 opening. Where we never actually got to see jackson up close in TLOU1.
 
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BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
If you become a monster, is it still you inside?

Great question from Sam, as it relates not only to his situation, but to Kathleen's as well. Henry turned Kathleen into a monster, and it probably wasn't still her inside.

That monster helped take over the KC QZ, but a QZ that was up and running for 20 years fell within 11 days under her leadership.

Really thought-through episode.

They showed how her all-consuming need for revenge, even despite her own better judgement, made her an awful leader. Nothing like her brother. And it was probably meant to foreshadow the inevitable dance between Ellie and Abby.
 
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