This series is getting really good reviews right now. I didn't understand their choice for Ellie just based on physical likeness, but critics are saying she killed it.

Not surprising given her small amount of screen time in GoT.

1/10/2023 9:57:27 AM

I have heard that the only complaints are coming from people who aren't too familiar with the games, saying that it is TOO true to the source material. Which for those of us that loved the games, this sounds awesome. I've heard that they are also going to be focusing more on some of the backstory of the characters pre-outbreak, kind of like how Lost did it.

The limited shots I've seen of the clickers and other zombies look really good and Pedro Pascal is always excellent. I am excite.

1/10/2023 10:55:05 AM

2003-->20 years later

1/15/2023 9:41:02 PM

Didn’t realize Joel was supposed to be that old in the games. Opening scene with the initial outbreak was exactly like the games. Probably the best rendition of a zombie outbreak I’ve seen on film.

1/15/2023 11:50:15 PM

as a huge fan of the games I was glued to my seat. I'm all in as Pedro Pascal as Joel.

1/16/2023 8:55:25 AM

^^^Yea that was kind of a punch in the gut for me too.

1/16/2023 11:33:09 AM

Never played the game, very much enjoyed the first episode and looking forward to the season

1/16/2023 11:53:57 AM

Wraith said:

Quote :

"Didn’t realize Joel was supposed to be that old in the games."

I don't think the original game gave a specific age for Joel, but he was clearly mature and had a kid who was closer to her driver's license than she was to kindergarten.

The original game did feature a similar "20 years later" title card. I don't know how old you thought Joel was, but he definitely wasn't in his twenties in the introduction.

When Joel said he was 36 in the first episode of the show, Sonia said, "Bullshit!"

Quote :

"Opening scene with the initial outbreak was exactly like the games. Probably the best rendition of a zombie outbreak I’ve seen on film."

It was a lot longer than a scene! I actually thought the show dragged its feet on Outbreak Day. It's very immediate in the game, though maybe that just works better for the game. In terms of how it was presented in the show, it reminded me a lot of Shaun of the Dead.

It definitely reproduced some aspects of how the game presented Outbreak Day, but it wasn't exact. One big difference is that in the game, an infected neighbor breaks into Joel's home, and Joel shoots him in front of Sarah. I don't really get why they changed that, and I don't think Joel braining his elderly neighbor with a wrench works better. It took me out a little because it was almost funny.

I also don't get why they changed Outbreak Day to 2003. Seems like a pointless change just so the 20-year jump would line up with 2023 for absolutely no reason.

1/17/2023 8:27:20 AM

Quote :

"don't really get why they changed that, and I don't think Joel braining his elderly neighbor with a wrench works better"

There was a little “behind the episode” short that played at the end of the credits, they talked about the juxtaposing the daughter’s reaction to his physical violence and Ellie’s reaction to it when he beats the guard to death. I guess they wanted to use hand to hand for both to better relate the two acts, instead of shooting for one.

1/17/2023 10:37:30 AM

Oh word, I'll have to go back and watch that. But just going off your summary, that still seems like kind of a nonsense change. In the corresponding scene with Ellie in the game, Joel tackles one of the soldiers and shoots him with his own pistol. There's still a clear correspondence between the two scenes in the game. Honestly, I think explicitly flashing back to the earlier scene in the show was a little pat. But it's a minor thing, I enjoyed it regardless.

1/17/2023 10:56:43 AM

One thing I liked about that bit is the fungal growths out of the mouth as a way to spread by bite, I don't think the games had that. One thing I didn't (although tbd) is I didn't see much gas mask usage, wonder if they got rid of the spore cloud mechanism to keep the stars faces uncovered?

1/17/2023 7:31:20 PM

^They are avoiding spores altogether in the series. I’m not sure why, perhaps spores would just spread the virus too easily. In the show, it’s the tendrils that spread the fungus.

Which I don’t understand that either because we saw no tendrils creeping up to Joel’s elderly neighbor.

1/17/2023 9:32:00 PM

Weird, but i would put money that if that's true it's for my reason, to avoid hiding stars faces for long periods. Second would maybe be cost of spores special affects?

It's weird too bc they had a couple shots of dust in the light, I thought that would be spores then they just moved on. Oh well.

1/17/2023 9:35:25 PM

Quote :

"^They are avoiding spores altogether in the series. I’m not sure why"

I missed that news, because I was waiting on that info to come to light. I guess taking Spores out of the equation simplifies the storyline and doesn't require every character to constantly have a backpack and or gasmask strapped to them.

1/18/2023 1:25:25 PM

Quote :

"Which I don’t understand that either because we saw no tendrils creeping up to Joel’s elderly neighbor."

I was thinking the same thing. When Sarah was looking at the DVD rack, it clearly showed the old woman having some kind of spasm in the background, clearly implying that she was succumbing to the fungus. How did she get infected if it is only spread through tendrils/bite? Only the first episode so I'm sure we'll see.


EDIT: Just saw this posted somewhere else that points out a ton of clues in the episode that I clearly missed because I'm not that observant. The episode showed multiple times that people were avoiding foods (sometimes unintentionally) -- Joel/Sarah/Tommy were gonna have pancakes but had eggs/bacon instead, Joel said he was on Atkins so he didn't have any biscuits (the old woman did), and Sarah didn't eat any cookies because they were raisin instead of chocolate chip. So perhaps something in the flour? Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6kmswYpZ9k

[Edited on January 18, 2023 at 2:06 PM. Reason : edit]

1/18/2023 1:52:25 PM

It was implied she had gotten infected in the city, I guess the day before or maybe that day

1/18/2023 2:06:04 PM

Gas mask worry confirmed
https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a42519967/the-last-of-us-show-game-different/

1/18/2023 5:56:11 PM

So just finished the second episode. One of the fastest hours of TV I’ve been through.

1/22/2023 9:59:57 PM

Even though I knew what would happen, that scene with the clickers was really suspenseful. Very well done. That was just two clickers and that’s how hard to kill they were.

1/22/2023 10:29:37 PM

Pascal has a resting face that resembles a smirk to me, a couple times I almost translated his "dark, conflicted" face as "ellie already hooked me" face

1/23/2023 2:38:02 PM

The CG scenery in the second episode was distracting, just poorly handled. It's all much sharper than the practical elements and live actors. I think they shoot so much handheld to try & sell the CG, but I'm not buying it.

The idea of the cordyceps network is interesting. I bet that winds up in a future game.

1/24/2023 10:04:56 AM

^the cg for me was noticeably sharp and clear, but I personally didn’t find it distracting. I feel like I’ve seen it handled so much worse in other large budget productions

1/24/2023 10:10:41 AM

What kind of display were you watching it on? I have a 4K HDR set and wonder whether it looks better at 1080p.

1/24/2023 10:27:22 AM

I watched on 4K HDR and thought it looked really good.

1/24/2023 11:08:39 AM

There are certainly worse green screen CGI examples out there. Destroyed Boston was very crisp and clear, but I did not find it terribly distracting.



**moving my game-talk comments to the game thread to keep this thread as Spoiler-Free as possible for all 6 of us that are in here**

1/24/2023 11:35:35 AM

is this worth watching if i know nothing about the source material ?

1/24/2023 12:41:10 PM

It's basically a zombie show, but elevated (or an attempt at elevation, we'll see). I don't think you need game knowledge to dive in, just won't appreciate Easter eggs.

1/24/2023 12:45:42 PM

Definitely worth watching. I certainly wouldn't let Gatekeepers try to ruin enjoying the show as a stand alone entity.

And if you enjoy the story you can pick up the games and really dive deeper into the world.

1/24/2023 1:17:47 PM

I never played the games or had prior knowledge of the backstory and I’m really enjoying the show so far

1/29/2023 11:46:28 AM

So what about that last episode…

I can’t really say anything for spoilers but geez, it was good TV.

And synapse, I find that the show is much more forthcoming in details than the game was/is. Especially in terms of the origin of the fungus, the spread, and the initial outbreak, so yea, you’ll be fine not having played the game. I kinda wish I was going into this show not knowing what’s coming up.

1/29/2023 11:29:47 PM

Damn that episode brought the feels just as much as the game does. Even near the beginning when there were all the skeletons and old torn up clothes and it cut to 2003 and the baby was wearing the flowery clothing. Incredible episode all around.

1/29/2023 11:40:38 PM

I did not care for Ellie secretly stashing a pistol. In the game, Joel has to leave Ellie with a rifle to cover him at one point as he deals with a group of hunters. She earns a little of his trust, and in return, he gives her a pistol after taking the rifle off her. I know it's minor, but it rubs me the wrong way.

1/30/2023 11:15:14 AM

Wasn't that after she shot the guy that was drowning Joel in the hotel though? With a pistol that she picked up somewhere?

1/30/2023 11:31:31 AM

Nah, it wasn't a secret pistol she picked up, it was Joel's own pistol that got knocked loose and fell into the puddle they were wrestling in.

1/30/2023 12:37:22 PM

I'm sure that's where we'll see the pistol she picked up at Bill and Frank's surface again.

Knowing what happens in this next episode is making me anxious.

1/30/2023 12:42:55 PM

I didn't love the exposition that it was all in food. How do they keep it out of food now? Just seems like a clunky way to avoid the standard outbreak spread

1/30/2023 12:53:58 PM

Joel speculated that it was in an extremely common ingredient like flour or sugar and probably a brand that was distributed around the world. I don't think anyone said anything about all food being contaminated.

1/30/2023 12:59:50 PM

^I think it was originally just in one "batch" of food/flour that came out of that factory in Jakarta. That is what started the outbreak. All it took was people around the world to turn into zombies initially and they started spreading it from there through biting/attacking people.

After they discovered it was in the food, they probably developed some kind of extreme sanitation process for food in the future.

Agreed with you on the exposition being unnecessary. I find it far more interesting when things like that are heavily implied and you kind of have to read between the lines to figure it out. Only really a minor gripe though.

1/30/2023 1:02:45 PM

^^I worded my sentence a little poorly "all in food" was just a way to say it was in food in general, wasn't trying to claim it was in ALL FOOD.

1/30/2023 1:08:43 PM

Quote :

"After they discovered it was in the food, they probably developed some kind of extreme sanitation process for food in the future."

They didn't have time for this before civilization fell. I would assume survivors just know to stay away from Bisquick at this point in their lives. and realistically any contaminated food source is probably long gone

1/30/2023 1:29:36 PM

Quote :

" I didn't love the exposition that it was all in food. How do they keep it out of food now? Just seems like a clunky way to avoid the standard outbreak spread"

I don’t think Joel’s explanation is gospel. It’s like asking someone where covid19 come from… bars, monkeys, wet market, lab escape, cia op, Chinese op, everyone has different beliefs.

1/30/2023 6:36:09 PM

Quote :

" I kinda wish I was going into this show not knowing what’s coming up. "

My partner keeps saying it’s just the walking dead. I see a lot of ppl online saying this too. I can honestly see where they’re coming from… if you’ve played the game you know approximately what’s going to happen, so you don’t feel like it’s just another zombie show, but if you’ve never played the game, it really is just another zombie show.

1/30/2023 6:38:38 PM

TWD was a decent show for a couple seasons the problem is its never ending, always needing a new villain. LOU could go that way but the first game is a selfie contained story, really about people, the zombies are just the backdrop.

1/30/2023 7:33:44 PM

Please stop hinting at "what comes next" and "in the next episode". While vague, those are basically spoilers.

Also lol at "10 miles west of Boston". Rocky mountains looking good!

1/31/2023 8:43:34 AM

I'm assuming the wilderness we saw "10 miles west of Boston" was the Blue Hills Reservation?

1/31/2023 9:13:49 AM

NBC News: Valley fever, historically found only in the Southwest, is spreading. It can have devastating consequences..
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/valley-fever-historically-found-only-southwest-spreading-can-devastati-rcna64313

2/1/2023 12:18:10 PM

Quote :

"And synapse, I find that the show is much more forthcoming in details than the game was/is. Especially in terms of the origin of the fungus, the spread, and the initial outbreak, so yea, you’ll be fine not having played the game. I kinda wish I was going into this show not knowing what’s coming up."

thx! i'm definitely enjoying it (without knowing much about the world/subject material)

2/1/2023 12:30:31 PM

good show

[Edited on February 2, 2023 at 12:08 PM. Reason : /]

[Edited on February 2, 2023 at 12:08 PM. Reason : .]

2/2/2023 12:05:03 PM

This weeks episode has zero zombies. Pretty interesting. Also very short at 45 minutes

2/5/2023 10:07:29 PM

Someone who knows about this stuff: how realistic is it that ANY gasoline would be useable after 20 years? I have to drain my lawnmower every winter because the carb get gummed up after just 6 months. Even if it were good, how would it have not been looted by then?

2/5/2023 10:19:59 PM