Laura Bailey, the voice actress for Abby, was one of the nurses in the finale episode And I was thinking "are they going to give her another role? It's weird that Ashley and Troy got major roles and she doesn't." And then I realized that she might've not wanted a bigger role, considering how much hate she got when she did the game. It sucks if that's true, but I hope she does get a bigger part in the next season
The best part of the season, at least to me was Joel’s conversation with Tommy. Joel suffering from panic attacks and feeling unable to protect Ellie is the Joel I always envisioned
Interesting, because this was my problem with this Joel. For me they made it too reliable, and they didn't explore the ambiguity of the character in terms of their actions that much, they only did it when they appealed to the game. And when THAT happens, it will be even more difficult to digest than it already was in the game. Idealizing the character is what takes away the perspective of the story in my opinion.
@@nolanmejia5510 those panic attacks specifically happened only during calm moments, but they never impaired him from being violent. the attacks just stemmed from his self-doubt due to thinking abt Sarah/Tommy. but in the moments where he needs to actively protect Ellie, we see how physically capable he really becomes. episode 8 didn't have it bc Joel was slipping in and out of consciousness, but once he was up we only saw the violence he was enacting on David's men to be able to find Ellie. then the massacre in the hospital, we see how numb he becomes to his own actions; the music is all we hear and the gunshots are faded bc Joel has a one-track mind and nothing else matters to him.
@@nolanmejia5510 Understandable to feel weird about that, but beyond what was already said, there's also the fact that he's already feeling better after deciding to escort Ellie again and then spends the next episode and a half on the verge of death due to being stabbed by a broken baseball bat. Once he gets back on his feet, Ellie either isn't danger or he's *so* focused on trying to rescue her (by killing people) that he doesn't have time *to* panic with all the adrenaline kicking around. For better or worse he's consistently shown himself to be incredibly focused when he uses violence. I also imagine that the last talk he had with his brother before leaving helped at least a bit since he got his worries off his chest to *someone* sympathetic instead of bottling it up like always. That doubtless helped him overall even if he still felt like shit in the immediate aftermath.
@@LuisSierra42 >Murders an entire group of people that he gave ellie to in order to save the world from an airborne zombie virus "JoEl diD NOthINg wRONg!!"
@@JamesEatWorld7758 that action filler bonding I'd say sells it though, Joel going through shit with Ellie and actually nearly losing each other is a big part of their relationship and Joel's motives at the end. I'd also say the university section and the present day parts of Left Behind are a shame not to be included since those show how much Ellie will do for Joel
You basically summarised my exact experience down to even watching the show with someone who hasn't played the game and enjoy watching their reaction to the story I already love!
Fully agree, the last episode went by so fast I wasn’t sure those two people really meant as much to each other as they were telling us they did. Really loved it overall and can’t wait for next season just hope they veer off and explore a little more to flesh Joel out and Ellie maybe actually give us their life together more than what they showed in the part ll game
I also hope they give us one season of life in Jackson between. They showed us that the original content is great and that way the director can have more freedoms and still make content that is canon. And Bella can grow up more so that the timeskip works.
I can already predict a similar future complaint of mine, which that I simply don't believe this Ellie can do what Part II's Ellie did. I also think they should recast Bella Ramsey for a similar reason, not because she did a bad or anything (she was amazing), but the physical growth helped establish her capabiities, I doubt a 19 year old will grow that much
Just one more after David, I would say. Just a full episode of the two of them surviving something, maybe with one bandit and/or zombie encounter where they fully trusted and cared for each other. Put the giraffe scene in that episode, also throw in whatever else from the game like that damned hotel scene. Let Joel throw a brick. Let Ellie rescue Joel with her knife. Then have the finale where you’re also packing in the flashback/hospital/wrap-up stuff.
My favorite part was when Joel and Ellie killed a bunch of guys then Ellie said: "Were those the last of them?", But then Joel goes: "No, we're the last of us" Literal chills
I can see why you feel that way about the finale but still, I liked it. I loved Joel's line "It wasn't time that did it" refering to Ellie giving him a reason to live. Also, not that it's new to the show, but I love the metephore of Joel killing everyone in the hospital to save Ellie, since saving her means killing everyone in the world essentially.
That always pisses me off. There’s no guarantee that they were even capable of actually making a vaccine out of her. They very well could’ve killed her for no reason
How does saving Ellie means killing/dooming anyone else? People in Jackson seem to be doing just fine. Fireflies are comically incompetent, they would have cured no one.
@@1Seanmb didn't really answer my question there, did you? Not saying Joel was a good person, just don't agree with the mentality that he doomed humanity.
Frankly my only issue is really the lack of infected. In most episodes I was okay with it, but cutting out the standoff that David and Ellie have against them or the entire section before meeting up with the Fireflies near the end of the game… it just kinda hurt the stakes of the show and the importance of finding a cure when we rarely see the harm caused by the infection and just focus on the humans.
It also lessens the impact of Joel and Ellie's relationship imo, since alot of Joel's attachment to Ellie stems from how much he's sacrificed, how much effort he put in, and how much shit he's been through to keep her safe. Telling the viewers that Joel is tasked with keeping her safe is different from him actually throwing himself in harm's way to keep her safe
I think that its bc in the game there needs to be action and thats why the infected were so prevalent. In the show gameplay doesn’t matter so they don’t really need it that much.
I feel like they probably write themselves into a corner making the Infected too OP in the show. Joel and Tess barely survived against two clickers, not even an army of well armed revolutionaries who managed to stand up to Fedra could take down a Bloater and a horde of clickers, not to mention they are a hive mind able to detect when one of their own gets taken down and alert the horde.
@@destinyhntr there was plenty of tension. Coming from someone who never played the game, I was constantly expecting infected to jump out at any given moment.
5:21 I think their chemistry and closeness probably peaked in the aftermath of episode 8 when they embrace after Ellies final encounter with David, and by that I mean it’s peaked for like the rest of the series. I could be wrong or misinterpreting things, but I think in this version of the story they are leaning further into the notion of Ellie being permanently altered due to the trauma she experienced throughout their journey. As a result of that trauma being more severe than it was in the game - and the fact that she appears to much further acknowledge it - her disappointment in the fact that she didn’t reach her end goal is much greater. Her reason for continuing to push on after reaching her breaking point with David , was that she truly believed all of the pain she endured would be worth it if they succeeded and she could help save humanity. She tells Joel explicitly that “it cant all be for nothing.” When (in her eyes) she failed, and comes to the belief that the mental scarring she underwent actually did end up being for nothing, she is left incredibly disappointed and confused, perhaps more so than she was in the game. In this version of the story, the impact of her trauma is elevated, her disappointment in the fact that she couldn’t provide a cure is elevated, and therefore her skepticism of Joel is elevated. Just like in the game, deep down she knows Joel is full of shit and that something else had to have happened, but due to the fact that this version of Ellie carries much more baggage from the events of part 1, that resentment towards Joel that is suppressing is much greater. Therefore, the ends with their relationship feeling slightly more damaged than it was at the ending of the first game. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
@@dankerbell long quickies are great. Marcus almost never repeats himself, and if the videos are longer, its because he has more things to say. which i usually find pertinent.
Dude, THANK YOU. The vignettes in the beginning of the first two episodes were some of my favorite parts. I needed new things with this, and after episode 3, things are so safe and slow and has no stakes and the pace dies, new things were DESPERATELY needed.
@@bajscast that came out of an emergence hole from gears, and were not really a threat to our main characters. The vast majority ran the opposite direction even lol
I don't have any real interest in the rest of TLOU (I bounced HARD off the game, and nihilistic post-apoc stuff does little for me), but I watched episode 3 on its own and it works very well as a standalone experience
I’m really glad you touched on the hand holding throughout the show bc that was the worst part of the show in my opinion. Spelling out the moral lesson for Joel repeatedly was just annoying. I feel like it also adds to the arguments of Joel’s decision in the end being “good actually!” Which doesn’t help
I wouldn’t say they’re spelling out the theme though, because the theme of the story isn’t “save who you love” it’s more about love driving people to do terrible things for others
@@misaelbarrientos4922 I think they’re trying to spell out more of a clear reason for Joel to do what he did, because the entire journey the lesson he keeps learning is that protecting loved ones is the only way for him to find peace, then that idea is sort of flipped on its head in the final episode when protecting his loved one requires dooming humanity to extinction
It's hard to celebrate this being a faithful and successful live action adaptation of a video game because out of all the video games you can choose to adapt, The Last of Us is BY FAR the safest possible option you could have chosen. The original game was already basically a prestige tv show just translated and structured around a video game.
Watched this show with my parents. During the hospital scene all three of us were silent until the hallway to the surgery. I’m so glad that this show encapsulated how effective the story of the video game was
My largest complaint is the lack of infected. The infected should always feel like a constant lurking background threat and they really don't. On top of that, they took away the part of them that is most terrifying: you're still alive when you turn. All the people who are infected are still alive and are aware of what they are doing to other people. But they can't control and become a passenger in a body that wants to kill and eat their loved ones. I wish we got more stuff that showcased that in the series
They didn’t really take it away imo. The question is posed by Sam when he gets bit. It would’ve been cool but delving in deep abt the infected being conscious would’ve took too much away from Joel and Ellie. Maybe in season 2 they’ll expand upon it
I heard that Part II will be adapted through multiple seasons. I wonder how they’ll handle that considering how sprawling the narrative of Part II can get
They could do the flashbacks, Ellie’s time in Jackson, and Abby’s life before encountering Ellie giving more time to expand on things with the fun time golf scene with Joel being the finale and the next season could be the hunt for each other
@@GodaBoham I was thinking this exact thing. You start with the time jump and end the first episode maybe with the golfing lesson then the rest of the season is how the characters got to that point.
Part 2 has a lot of long flashbacks and the story is told from different perspectives, so it will definitely be challenging figuring out how to tell the story for TV
Neil Druckmann once stated, what they initially considered to introduce Abby and the rest of the cast in Jackson as infiltrated part of the community, but they sorted it out because it didn't work as intro, it was just too long. I think in a TV series they could really develop this in the first episodes, this could work in this medium. It would also drastically improve the emotional buildup and aftermath of the golf scene. Also, the decisions made by Abby and crew after the scene would make way more sense than in the video game. Maybe they are considering it. And I think they can really expand on the Flashbacks, like making hole episodes like in season 1. About the half time split I'm not sure if making a possible third season only about the second half of the game would work. We will see that the authors have in mind. I really liked the thirst season of the series and liked both games, so i'm hoping for good stuff.
I hate internet arguments about fictional characters but I have to disagree about the "this is a bad thing that is happening" part. What Joel did for Ellie is one of the most argued points about this series and the reason I don't think he did anything wrong is simple: consent. They didn't ASK Ellie if she was okay with literally dying in order to make this possible cure. Marlene so was blinded by the mission and her own authority that she has her men kidnap both of them and says "it's my way or you die" to Joel. I can't get behind that. There's no open discussion with Ellie and the man she's been traveling with for weeks about what happens to her. So for that reason I really don't think Joel did anything wrong. He obviously did it more for himself and not Ellie but the end justified the means IMO. Even Ellie is pissed when she finds out and she can say all day that she would have wanted to die but until the end of your life is right in front of you, you don't know. Maybe she would have backed out at the last moment out of fear. We simply don't know. Because they didn't ask her. They didn't even mention it. They presumably lied and put her under while telling her it was for something OTHER than literally fucking killing her.
I know I’m about two weeks late to comment, but I have to agree with you. I also question the merits of ‘doctors’ willing to rush in and kill the only know immune person based on a hypothesis that the doctor had. They don’t bother running tests or even consider performing a biopsy. Instead, they decide to kill her based upon the guess of a veterinarian turned doctor. The way the show ultimately chose to present the scenario left a lot of holes in the ethical dilemma the characters/audience were supposed to find themselves in. Ellie telling Joel earlier on that she wanted to see things all the way through doesn’t do a good job of indicating the decision would have made had she been given the choice.
was really looking forward to this review, I was very surprised by the quality of the show and how it perfectly adapted the VG. The acting was near perfect, and the way the show adapted (and often streamlined) the story never missed a step. Truly excited for how they'll adapt the second game from here on, I hope they continue to focus on the really emotional stories between just 2 or 3 characters.
also I totally agree that the show was at its best with introducing new storylines but, idk, for the sake of making a good show I think they nailed it even if it did retread existing storylines.
I'm hoping the second season to end with the death of Joel, y'know? I genuinely feel like it'd be nice just to see how Joel's and Ellie's relationship grows (like with her birthday's gift) and falls apart (when they talk outside the hospital). And then when we are finally given hope (Joel and Ellie talking at her place about Dina and the mythical «If God somehow gave me a second chance, I would do it all over again»), Joel dies. That would be so sick. And we could have a third season full of revenge.
Personally it did miss quite a few steps for me. The university was rushed and felt like just a transition into Left Behind. Left Behind itself cut out the parts of Ellie fetching medicine for Joel which is a shame since it shows how much she'll do for Joel + some necessary growing up. The David at the restaurant section felt a tad rushed which didn't sell the danger behind him and the tension leading up to Joel's embrace of Ellie. Most of the show is great it's just small subtleties in the story seem to be missing due to its short format
@@camiloospinarodriguez190 i agree that i want more joel and ellie from the “in between” time but i disagree with the second season just following the story linearly and not getting to seattle. the flashbacks are where i think they should expand on that stuff, but then tell the story roughly in the same sequence as the second game itself. especially since the third season will likely focus on abby’s half with the cali finale lol. but i def want more with ellie and joel in season 2, i just think there are l opportunities to expand and create flashbacks like the game did rather than make the story completely linear. also they can position the flashbacks at key areas (like lou 2) to help you understand the characters better, rather than just serving as plot events on a linear story. like how they did left behind or even sort of bill and frank in season 1. the events between joel and ellie in between the ending of lou 1 and the death of joel in lou2 are related to the story that’s happening as ellie and dina go thru seattle so not having them serve to break up the 3 days there would feel like a missed opportunity and also drag the story out longer than necessary imo.
I think watching it with my friend who knew nothing about the story made it a much better experience. Seeing how hard hitting *certain* things were for her reminded me how I felt the same a decade ago and I got to feel those feelings again with her
I am personally very interested in how they're gonna adapt Part 2 On one hand, they have the option to go with some serious rewrites to fix the pacing problems a lot of people had. On the other hand, if you don't sit in only Ellie's shoes for the entire time until the theater, it won't hit as hard to spend the next few hours as Abby slowly coming around to the point where Ellie is the antagonist of the story - the punch of the story is kinda dependent on spending a long stretch of time alone with Abby. Regardless, if they really are adapting it in 2+ seasons, I am very excited to see how it shakes out
I have a feeling they’ll tell the story in a linear fashion. Start off with Abby and her dad, build up to the reveal that her dad was the doctor. Then we get time with Ellie and Joel, like the whole museum thing, a few other things, probably a lot of new stuff. Their time on patrol in Jackson, stuff like that, right? That could mean that the ending of season 2 is the beginning of the game, and season 3 is the rest of the game minus the flashbacks that made it play nonlinearly, and that structure would give us a lot of time with Abby in order to build sympathy.
@@codylakin288 the thing is, doing it that way, the first part of the show would be reeeeeally boring. The game is great in that it hits you with Joel's death as an amazing hook while we're still interested in catching up with these characters. We first care about Abby in that we intensely hate her and want to see Ellie get revenge, and then at the height of that put us in her shoes. If we just follow this one rando along for 1-3 episodes before checking in with Ellie and Joel, people would not care and lose interest, even if we knew it was the daughter of the doctor. Also, there is no chance stuff like Ellie's final conversation with Joel hits as hard if you know it right from the start - one of my favorite things the game did is have you learn about their estrangement as Ellie sinks further and further into depravity. It adds a ton of new meaning to why Ellie's grief - like Dunkey said, she feels guilt for wasting the time she had with Joel
@@dasmeowhaus that's exactly right. The flashbacks taking place when they do is really important to the story. Like, the final one could be *nowhere* else but the ending. Even Abby's flashbacks are important for when they happen, and when they STOP happening. It's really good storytelling, it'd be a waste if it wasn't adapted, but I guess maybe it just can't work in a TV show format
@@dasmeowhaus how you described it PERFECTLY shows how effective it was. I know it’s gonna sound silly but I hope they really don’t change up the structure and the flashbacks too much. Where they put the final convo between Joel and Ellie was perfection
I watched it with my mom and dad who never played or heard about the games before and yeah it hit them different. But i also had a great time going through pretty much the same story on a different media. Even with all the video game adaptations i feel like I've never seen one being done that way before
Yup, watched this show with my girlfriend who had no idea what the game was. Her reactions and emotions throughout the show made me appreciate the show and the game from when I first experienced it all. I know it won’t be perfect but I feel like this show is doing it’s absolute best.
it was really fun to manipulate my friends and family experiencing the story for the first time into a vulnerable state of mind so the big points of the plot hit them hard so 10/10, thanks Beldro Ramscal, Neil, and Craig
Never played the game but I had the general idea of what it was about so I kinda got to experience all of this content as a brand new story and I absolutely loved it, I’ll have to see which version I prefer when the game comes out on pc later this month.
Your right, I haven’t played the game either and this show took me by surprise. I was super impressed and needed to know what happened so I ended up watching a play through of the second one immediately.
I disagree that people don’t understand that what’s happening at the hospital is bad. If anything they hammer it home more in the show, than in the game killing some NPC’s. Some people are just one sided in what they believe is bad, including you I think. They are murdering their only hope for a cure on one hail mary chance that the method of extraction and development will create a cure. They didn’t ask ellie if she would be okay with this, and they didn’t think, "hmm maybe we should run some tests and hold her for a while because if we fail, this is the only immune person we have and probably will have" On the flip side Joel killing everyone was not because of that reason, it was selfish and lying to her about it is terrible as well. They should have focused more on Ellie not having agency at all in this situation, especially considering the previous mission/episode, that being said, this show was amazing.
I honestly wished they had done a whole spinoff show. You can't do any better than the video game already did, but there's so much to experience in the world of TLoU and so many other stories that can be told
As to your comments around 5:30, about the show being more impactful having not played the game, I have to agree with you via a personal anecdote. I recommended this show to my mom and to my utter shock she absolutely LOVES it. Her reaction to it, calling me after every episode, reminded me of my reaction to first playing the game with my roommate back in 2016.
"I apologize if I don't sound the same" It's funny how often I hear that but LITERALLY cannot tell the difference, even after it gets pointed out. I don't know if that says something about their 'normal' quality or whatever but it just makes me crack a smile. I had no idea. You brought it up and I never would have none otherwise. Lmao
I think Joel and Ellie not feeling as close helps make it feel like Joel is really projecting his own traumas and insecurities onto Ellie. I do agree that they were sprinting that last episode. I felt like the whole confrontation with Marlene should’ve been like two minutes longer. There was no time to breathe there 😭
Honestly I watched this with my mom and considering she apparently didn't know that video games even had plots nowadays she reacted super well. Like she loved it. as someone who knew the game, albeit not front to back, it made me super happy to see everything done here. Like it hit equally as hard for me and thats super impressive
I watched this with my mom. I played this game once in high school, so I forgot a lot of the minor story beats. It was so fun for me to re-experience and to watch her for the first time
6:24 I think the gameplay adds a lot to the characters’ dynamic in the video game. How Ellie turns from cutscene NPC to fetch quest to companion to player character. The players grow to love and identify with Ellie the same time as Joel does so in the end you feel the desperation but also hate every second of the finale as you’re kinda forced to do it with Joel, passively assisting as he becomes the monster. I think it makes perfect sense that the relationship in the show feels less developed by the end
It is really hard for me to engage with the show because I am very familiar with the game. I could recite cutscenes from the game with the exact same inflection and delivery I just know it that well. Because of that I feel incredibly disconnected when those scenes that are straight from the game happen. The brand new stuff was definitely my favorite stuff. Also because it was a short series, it felt like it went at a blazing speed. It felt like there was no pause in dialogue when it couldve benefit from some.
I agree. There is an emptiness that I feel when the show reenacts scenes from the game word for word. Especially when the actors in the show are doing a worse job than the actors in the game.
@@smcdonough1427 See i feel the opposite way, when they do reenact scenes word for word, it just goes to show how well those scenes were written. Also, Pedro and Bella did as good as Troy and Ashley, certain scenes in the show were even better, the Sam and Henry stuff for example.
My dad watched this alongside me while I studied away, and we were able to connect by talking about it “water cooler” style. We loved comparing the game to the show, and I have to say I like the show more so far.
I never played the video game when I watched the show and I see it as one of my favorite shows of all time. I now played the PS4 remastered game and am chasing the platinum. Loved it and can't wait to watch the rest of the show and playing Part 2.
This take is exactly why I'm very intrigued to see where they go with the next season. Druckman and the production team aren't oblivious, they KNOW that there were quite a few things in Part 2 that were not well-received. I'm thinking that there will be considerable changes and tweaks made to choices, character moments, and decisions in Part 2 to hopefully change it for the better. Considering they said it will be more than a season, there also hopefully won't be the problem of it feeling rushed as well. I'm cautiously optimistic that the show can blow Part 2 the game out of the water.
Doubtful, since some word from him has said that he is going to keep to that, and that for better or for worse, inspiring passionate discourse from that was better than just being unremarkable or unmemorable.
Druckman's statement on this makes it seem like he isn't going to change anything. And since a lot of complaints about the game were homophobic, I think they're also going to ignore the legitimate criticisms of their story.
@@WeeklyComedian either homophobic, or people accepting Joel as their hole gaming daddy and expecting him to just kill Abby's whole crew and go home, because they don't want complicated writing in their zombie shooters
@@WeeklyComedian He already said that the changes will be made to individual story beats even if the premise stays mostly the same, so this point is moot.
I can see where you're coming from when you say "you wish they did more original stuff so I wouldn't know where the plot was going". But I feel like 99% of games adapted to shows DO that (Halo, RE etc). That's why this show actually sticking to the source material is why I really love and respect this show XD
I hate that Joel came across Ellie after she walked out of the burning building after killing David. There is just so much more emotion in the game when he pulls her off David while stabbing him over and over.
RIGHT! the show runners said they only made necessary changes that would improve the narrative. I literally do not understand how anyone could think that was better in any way
It's sort of the folly of making this into a show, I was beyond surprised to realize it was ONLY 9 episodes since the story's full effect I'd say needs double digit episodes and maybe 5-7 more minutes per episode
@@noname-hf9ty for sure, the limited episodes had an effect, but some scenes could have been done better without extra time... I'm too lazy to type them here though lol.
@@okaypeekay I'd say the university and Left Behind were big misses in their allocated time, felt like filler in alot of places where bonding and important themes were present
Game's a 10/10. The show was a 8/10. It definitely hit the mark on most things. But like Marcus said, most characters are only there to explicitly remind Joel that he needs to care for Ellie, or to give out the "lesson of the week". I appreciated how the original had a bit more subtlety and nuance in it's approach to character building. My main example is David. In the game there's a more natural and gradual build up to him revealing his true intentions, which makes the "boss fight", and what follows after, a bit more tense. But in the show we reach the cage scene and David just blatantly confirms he's a pedo and says that he wants Ellie as her partner. Like, I did not need him to just go out and say it, his actions and demeanor are already enough for me (and I'm assuming most other viewers) to make the connection.
@@LuisSierra42 really? That was the low point for me. For them to never even meet in the current time line I thought they could have cut those guys backstory into a 3rd and it woulda been just as impactful without wasting as much time.
@@rikerFFXI Well, what OP is saying is that the episode could have been its own movie since it was mostly standalone and also i've never played the game so i had no expectations
Everything this dude said in this video I completely had the same feelings and thought process like yeah Joel and Ellie were close in the show but not as close as they were in the game like you can feel the father-daughter Vibe coming off of them at the end of the game a mile away and you're just loved every minute of it but in the final episode of the season, it felt like they were very close friends rather than a father-daughter dynamic I feel like if I was an HBO executive I would have ordered one more episode just entirely focused on them no zombies no action just a cute fun father-daughter type of episode up until the fireflies get them similar to the Dinosaur/ History Museum flashback in Last of Us Part 2 and I think that would have really solidified them being a father-daughter dynamic for a lot more people
I think another key point atleast for me is that Ellie and Joel feel close because of the shit they've been through together, like yeah they go through alot of it in the show too but the university is completely devoid of danger until the end and Joel is never of any risk of LOSING Ellie until the end of the story which to me weakens how much he cares for her since he hasn't thrown himself in harm's way for her like that, which imo is the biggest point of rage with the fireflies wanting to kill her because it gives off a "I went through all that for her and you're gonna take her away like that?" Feeling that isn't present in the show
This is what I've been seeing. People who haven't played the game loved it, while those who did play the game found the characters were more fleshed out and had a deeper bond. (And HBO has no excuse because I heard they had two filler episodes which could have been used to bond Ellie and Joel). Based on what I'm hearing (and the lack of one of the more interesting zombie concepts), I'm not planning to watch it.
Yea that’s exactly how I felt, EP 9 was the weakest episode and because everything is rushed so painfully hard, you don’t get the satisfaction of Ellie and Joel finally connecting. Joel is finally opening up to her and she’s acting oddly distant and spaced out, the one moment they do finally click it’s interrupted by a flash grenade and then that whole charade takes place. It was crazily short for being the last episode.
the reason people think Joel wasnt in the wrong at the end of the game is because there is no reason to believe the Fireflies are good or competent at all. Even if the cure is guaranteed they have no production or distribution so its like like kill Elie save the world its kill Elie and maybe some people will have limited access to a cure. Also Elie didnt know she was going to die, and they won't let Joel see her first. So its not like she chooses to sacrifice herself. The truth is neither side is right or good.
Literally this, dont get how everyone thinks Joel is in the wrong, he knew what they were saying to him was bs. Also its clear that medicine has not improved since 2004 in the show, and the people performing the surgery and defo not the best qualified and the whole operating theatre is in an awful state. There is no way that they would have been able to get it right on the first try with Ellie, she absolutely would have died and the Fireflies would have killed their only chance. Joel Did Nothing Wrong.
I have no idea how people think that there's a justification to killing a kid. Even if there was a button that was like "cure all diseases" but it will kill a kid that's right in front of you it's still wrong to push the button.
Even if they were competent, I can't say that I would go willingly if my kid was sacrificed, especially if she didn't know what was happening. It's easy to say that you'd do what's best for humanity when watching the scene but if actually put in Joel position, I think the majority of people would've done what he did.
@Ryukashin94 He did do something wrong, the whole point is thwy both did dumb things but ultimately Joel should not have murdered an entire hospital of people attenpting to save the world for one person.
Having never played the games nor watched their content before this show, I can confirm that this was a significantly better experience than what Marcus described. Everything is new for me and nothing is expected so I'm very eager to see the next season
I am so excited for season 2, knowing Craig Mazin, he will definitely improve the story to its best, and will most likely add new storylines and characters.
On the topic of the game being more subtle; I think a big part of it is because the show bounced between perspectives so much. In the game, where you almost never leave Joel's perspective, little things like him getting worried about Ellie moving ahead in Pittsburgh, him beginning to collect comic books for her after she shows him she's interested in them, and him answering more and more of her questions as they travel to more places all let you realize just how much Joel is starting to care about her because the way you are playing the game becomes more and more focused on protecting Ellie and, in the case of secondary mechanics like the conversations and collectibles, making her happy. In the show, with episodes jumping around in time, and often just leaving Joel and Ellie's perspective, we have less time to see subtle changes in their dynamic, because we see less of thier dynamic in general, so the writers felt compelled to just have the dialogue lean more and more into just talking about protecting loved ones because the series didn't get to show Joel really taking care of her as much as the game did. Case in point, episode 3 was very powerful for what it did with Bill and Frank's story, but it also meant that Joel and Ellie's development is delayed by an entire story arc, since everything they did in the corresponding chapter from the game just doesn't happen.
Totally agree. All of my FAVORITE parts of the show were original content I’d never seen. The scenes that were 1 for 1 beats of the game fell a little flatter to me, just bc I’m sooo in love with the Ashley and Troy performances it’s hard not to compare.
i totally agree with everything you said, especially concerning the additional storylines and me probably enjoying the show more if I didn’t already play the game, so i’m really glad you did this review.
To individual story beats instead of the premise. Kind of like what happened in the first season, which I think is for the best. I really like Part II's storytelling and I also like when creator's have integrity.
@@CDexie It's most likely going to be the pacing, which is good because doing flashbacks to Abby and flash forwards to Ellie every other episode for two seasons would be pretty obnoxious.
@@1Seanmb I mean, the stories could be happening simultaneously. Lots of stories, especially tv ones, have parallel protagonists/plot lines going on. I just hope they don't go that route because it defeats Part II's storytelling purposes
Lmao shows like Halo and The Witcher give us "new content" and we absolutely hate it but then The Last Of Us comes out with an amazing adaptation of the story and we want more new content rather than a focus on the actual story, and we're fine with stuff being changed? Lol I'm genuinely curious why we're okay with this show having some big-ish stuff changed but not something like Halo or The Witcher.
As someone who has never played the game, this show really hit. It did a good job of explaining the main video game storyline and fleshing out the relationships. I had no idea what to expect so each tragedy REALLY hit
Left Behind could've been done better imo, flipping back and forth between Ellie and Riley goofing in a mall and Ellie finding medicine for Joel in a mall really helps with the importance of Left Behind for me
I genuinely didn’t know the ending was divisive until the second game came out. I just thought everyone saw Joel as the hero like I did. Humanity tries to kill you constantly and you have to save the one person you care about seemed obvious to me. Yeah I hated the story of part 2.
i think that part of what makes ellie and joels relationship feel deeper in the game is that you also get hours of gameplay with them. you get to have in ellie doing her thing, with little details that develop her character more. Or you see her fighting wave after wave from enemies with you, though the show did a good job shwoing us some of these things
I watched the entire series with my dad, he was a total newcomer to the series, he was looking week by week every episode, he absolutely loved it, when we finish each episode, he talk with me and my brother about it, it was pretty cool But when we hit that last episode, he was speechless, like he didn't say a word for a minute, i think deep inside him he wanted to cry ngl, it really remind me why the game was so popular and why i love it so much back in the day
One of my favorite things on youtube is when creators apologize for them possibly sounding different or sick and there's literally no difference.
That, or when they apologize for noises happening outside their house and there's no difference in the audio whatsoever
Yeah me too
Yeah that's a classic :,)
Hey guys, sorry if this comment reads weird, I'm typing on a different keyboard than usual
@@shmunkyman33 😂😂
"Hey guys, sorry if I sound a little weird" Marcus' new intro
I was really waiting for him to say he was sick again
I was seriously thinking when this started "doesn't he apologize for the way his voice sounds in like every video now" lol
Plot twist: we’ve yet to hear his true voice.
Next video he comes in 3 octaves higher.
One of these days a video is gonna start with "Hey guys sorry if I sound weird" and it'll be the AI-generated voice of Joe Biden
Was going to say the same thing! This whole thread is spot on lmao
I feel worried for whoever plays Abby in s2 cause she wont be able to get on social media for a good 6 months.
They will just send her locations she can go golfing
Laura Bailey, the voice actress for Abby, was one of the nurses in the finale episode
And I was thinking "are they going to give her another role? It's weird that Ashley and Troy got major roles and she doesn't." And then I realized that she might've not wanted a bigger role, considering how much hate she got when she did the game. It sucks if that's true, but I hope she does get a bigger part in the next season
@@sammiehopkins9408 if that's the case she wouldn't have signed on the show at all
Youd hope after what happened with joffrey's actor we all learned a collectively lesson about decency, but it's good to have realistic expectations
@@ransacked shut up
I can't believe that a Live-Action Mario Kart show would be this great. Pedro Pascal as Mario was an amazing casting choice.
Lol
He strikes me as more of a Luigi.
Pedro would make an amazing Diddy Kong
What are we, some kinda Last of Us?
*credits*
Cue licensed song
Now I'm glad I looked through the comments for once 😆
ahahah
I guess we all were HBO's The Last of Us(season 1)
Watching this with my dad was so much fun, being able to get this story to non-gamer audiences. Absolutely loved it to bits
I did the same thing with my mom, and she loved it as well.
Same
Same
I played both games with my dad during COVID. 10x better than the show
Dang, you homies got cool parents.
Marcus clowning on people watching the show only to turn around and release a positive quickie is quintessential character development
He still said it wasn’t something he asked for.
he said he has no interest in a show thats simply giving him an experience hes already had, but the show had unique bits so he watched it and liked it
@@Slasherquin who cares what marcus wants lmao, this show is awesome
The best part of the season, at least to me was Joel’s conversation with Tommy. Joel suffering from panic attacks and feeling unable to protect Ellie is the Joel I always envisioned
It humanized him a bit more than the game tended to do and I love Joel's original character
It is a little weird that those panic attacks just sort of disappeared after that episode though
Interesting, because this was my problem with this Joel. For me they made it too reliable, and they didn't explore the ambiguity of the character in terms of their actions that much, they only did it when they appealed to the game. And when THAT happens, it will be even more difficult to digest than it already was in the game. Idealizing the character is what takes away the perspective of the story in my opinion.
@@nolanmejia5510 those panic attacks specifically happened only during calm moments, but they never impaired him from being violent. the attacks just stemmed from his self-doubt due to thinking abt Sarah/Tommy. but in the moments where he needs to actively protect Ellie, we see how physically capable he really becomes. episode 8 didn't have it bc Joel was slipping in and out of consciousness, but once he was up we only saw the violence he was enacting on David's men to be able to find Ellie. then the massacre in the hospital, we see how numb he becomes to his own actions; the music is all we hear and the gunshots are faded bc Joel has a one-track mind and nothing else matters to him.
@@nolanmejia5510 Understandable to feel weird about that, but beyond what was already said, there's also the fact that he's already feeling better after deciding to escort Ellie again and then spends the next episode and a half on the verge of death due to being stabbed by a broken baseball bat. Once he gets back on his feet, Ellie either isn't danger or he's *so* focused on trying to rescue her (by killing people) that he doesn't have time *to* panic with all the adrenaline kicking around. For better or worse he's consistently shown himself to be incredibly focused when he uses violence.
I also imagine that the last talk he had with his brother before leaving helped at least a bit since he got his worries off his chest to *someone* sympathetic instead of bottling it up like always. That doubtless helped him overall even if he still felt like shit in the immediate aftermath.
God, I cannot freaking wait for the golf club discourse to return
Joel didn't get his head in the game.
I hear there's gonna be a killer hole in one!
JOEL DID NOTHING WRONG!!
@@LuisSierra42
>Murders an entire group of people that he gave ellie to in order to save the world from an airborne zombie virus
"JoEl diD NOthINg wRONg!!"
@@ibrahimalee23 I think he was joking
Show was good, wish they had more episodes to expand the relationship between Ellie and Joel
Shows biggest miss.
They got all the core moments for the most part, a lot of the bonding is done over action filler.
@@JamesEatWorld7758 that action filler bonding I'd say sells it though, Joel going through shit with Ellie and actually nearly losing each other is a big part of their relationship and Joel's motives at the end. I'd also say the university section and the present day parts of Left Behind are a shame not to be included since those show how much Ellie will do for Joel
Ikr when joel gets killed in part 2 it's not gonna hit the same that build up was weak.
Non gamers never had this issue
You basically summarised my exact experience down to even watching the show with someone who hasn't played the game and enjoy watching their reaction to the story I already love!
that's what a friend did with me. Had never played it, but he enjoyed hearing my reactions or theories mid episode etc
Fully agree, the last episode went by so fast I wasn’t sure those two people really meant as much to each other as they were telling us they did. Really loved it overall and can’t wait for next season just hope they veer off and explore a little more to flesh Joel out and Ellie maybe actually give us their life together more than what they showed in the part ll game
Agreed. It goes from “youre cargo” to “baby girl” way too fast.
I also hope they give us one season of life in Jackson between. They showed us that the original content is great and that way the director can have more freedoms and still make content that is canon.
And Bella can grow up more so that the timeskip works.
I can already predict a similar future complaint of mine, which that I simply don't believe this Ellie can do what Part II's Ellie did. I also think they should recast Bella Ramsey for a similar reason, not because she did a bad or anything (she was amazing), but the physical growth helped establish her capabiities, I doubt a 19 year old will grow that much
Tbh that's only a problem for gamers
@@Hardrive2677 cargo was beginning of episode 4 lol
I swear anytime a youtuber says "sorry if I sound a little weird" there is literally no fucking discernable difference.
and even if they did sound different literally no one would care
Same. It’s kinda cringey at this point
i wish we had more episodes of just joel and ellie traveling to show them bonding and getting closer with each other
Yeah it could of easily been more episodes, the David/Cannibals arc could of been 2 episodes, things feel like they happen a little too fast
Just one more after David, I would say. Just a full episode of the two of them surviving something, maybe with one bandit and/or zombie encounter where they fully trusted and cared for each other. Put the giraffe scene in that episode, also throw in whatever else from the game like that damned hotel scene. Let Joel throw a brick. Let Ellie rescue Joel with her knife.
Then have the finale where you’re also packing in the flashback/hospital/wrap-up stuff.
Yeah that’s why I hated the “Ellie flashback” episode. Felt like a waste when I wanted to see more Joel and Ellie
@@donovan4222 each episode is damn near a full movie and y'all still claim things happen too fast. wild.
@@CamJames Lol they’re hour long episodes…how is that wild?
My favorite part was when Joel and Ellie killed a bunch of guys then Ellie said: "Were those the last of them?", But then Joel goes: "No, we're the last of us"
Literal chills
I can see why you feel that way about the finale but still, I liked it. I loved Joel's line "It wasn't time that did it" refering to Ellie giving him a reason to live. Also, not that it's new to the show, but I love the metephore of Joel killing everyone in the hospital to save Ellie, since saving her means killing everyone in the world essentially.
That always pisses me off. There’s no guarantee that they were even capable of actually making a vaccine out of her. They very well could’ve killed her for no reason
How does saving Ellie means killing/dooming anyone else? People in Jackson seem to be doing just fine. Fireflies are comically incompetent, they would have cured no one.
@@ThePianoL The level of cope in Joel stans reaching levels previously thought impossible.
@@1Seanmb didn't really answer my question there, did you? Not saying Joel was a good person, just don't agree with the mentality that he doomed humanity.
The cure would be no more effective than some body armor tho
Frankly my only issue is really the lack of infected. In most episodes I was okay with it, but cutting out the standoff that David and Ellie have against them or the entire section before meeting up with the Fireflies near the end of the game… it just kinda hurt the stakes of the show and the importance of finding a cure when we rarely see the harm caused by the infection and just focus on the humans.
It also lessens the impact of Joel and Ellie's relationship imo, since alot of Joel's attachment to Ellie stems from how much he's sacrificed, how much effort he put in, and how much shit he's been through to keep her safe. Telling the viewers that Joel is tasked with keeping her safe is different from him actually throwing himself in harm's way to keep her safe
I think that its bc in the game there needs to be action and thats why the infected were so prevalent. In the show gameplay doesn’t matter so they don’t really need it that much.
@@jib8733 You still need tension in a show, regardless of what it's based on
I feel like they probably write themselves into a corner making the Infected too OP in the show. Joel and Tess barely survived against two clickers, not even an army of well armed revolutionaries who managed to stand up to Fedra could take down a Bloater and a horde of clickers, not to mention they are a hive mind able to detect when one of their own gets taken down and alert the horde.
@@destinyhntr there was plenty of tension. Coming from someone who never played the game, I was constantly expecting infected to jump out at any given moment.
5:21 I think their chemistry and closeness probably peaked in the aftermath of episode 8 when they embrace after Ellies final encounter with David, and by that I mean it’s peaked for like the rest of the series. I could be wrong or misinterpreting things, but I think in this version of the story they are leaning further into the notion of Ellie being permanently altered due to the trauma she experienced throughout their journey. As a result of that trauma being more severe than it was in the game - and the fact that she appears to much further acknowledge it - her disappointment in the fact that she didn’t reach her end goal is much greater. Her reason for continuing to push on after reaching her breaking point with David , was that she truly believed all of the pain she endured would be worth it if they succeeded and she could help save humanity. She tells Joel explicitly that “it cant all be for nothing.” When (in her eyes) she failed, and comes to the belief that the mental scarring she underwent actually did end up being for nothing, she is left incredibly disappointed and confused, perhaps more so than she was in the game.
In this version of the story, the impact of her trauma is elevated, her disappointment in the fact that she couldn’t provide a cure is elevated, and therefore her skepticism of Joel is elevated. Just like in the game, deep down she knows Joel is full of shit and that something else had to have happened, but due to the fact that this version of Ellie carries much more baggage from the events of part 1, that resentment towards Joel that is suppressing is much greater. Therefore, the ends with their relationship feeling slightly more damaged than it was at the ending of the first game.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
This was beautifully articulated.
I definitely think the show needed an extra episode at the end to better flesh out their relationship before the finale.
finally an actual quick quickie
i don't mind long quickies though
😏
@@dankerbell but than it isn't a quickie anymore, it's just uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
@@dankerbell long quickies are great. Marcus almost never repeats himself, and if the videos are longer, its because he has more things to say. which i usually find pertinent.
I absolutely LOVED the opening sequences in the first few episodes.
Easily the 2 best scenes in the show imo lol
Dude, THANK YOU. The vignettes in the beginning of the first two episodes were some of my favorite parts. I needed new things with this, and after episode 3, things are so safe and slow and has no stakes and the pace dies, new things were DESPERATELY needed.
I disagreed with you
yeah, it's not like the show was bad after 3, but it just wasn't exciting. Kansas didn't really do much interesting
Did we both watch the same episode five with a zombie swarm on par with World War z?
@@Blue-Apple-fc9eo care to say why?
@@bajscast that came out of an emergence hole from gears, and were not really a threat to our main characters. The vast majority ran the opposite direction even lol
"god help them when they get to season 2" you've got that right.
Putting Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson in the show as supporting characters was a stroke of genius.
It is insane that I thought Bella Ramsey looks nothing like Ellie but literally looks like she could be Ashley's child
They're prob gonna do the same thing with Laura Bailey in s2 (yes ik she was a nurse in the finale)
I feel like if you never played the game and don’t know where the plot goes this show is almost flawless
As someone who is in that boat I can agree
I actually had the opposite reaction. Know nothing about the game but the show kinda has a hard time keeping me interested
The show was meh to me. i dont get all the hype.
Nah, if you hadn’t played the game it’s like “why all the cutting away to characters who are just there to die in the same episode?”
@@KaneK1234 the world building after the apocalypse was almost more interesting to me than Joel/Ellie, it's just very different than what I'm used too
Episode 3 might be my favorite! Never been moved so much by a TV episode in a long, long time
Ha ha, I see what you did there! But I loved it too! In lesser hands they would’ve played it straight and made it a Walking Dead episode.
@@mackielunkey2205 Episode 3 was probably more expensive than all of the latter half of twd seasons combined.
I don't have any real interest in the rest of TLOU (I bounced HARD off the game, and nihilistic post-apoc stuff does little for me), but I watched episode 3 on its own and it works very well as a standalone experience
Episode 3 of tlou is one of the worst episodes in television history!!! I mean that was literally a 0/10
@@raymondsims7042 because?
Babe wake up cosmonaut just dropped a new quickie
*wakes up yawns and blinks one eye and then the next eye while stretching*
This video is absolutely perfect! You voiced exactly my thoughts as someone who has played the game! Thank you!
I’m really glad you touched on the hand holding throughout the show bc that was the worst part of the show in my opinion. Spelling out the moral lesson for Joel repeatedly was just annoying. I feel like it also adds to the arguments of Joel’s decision in the end being “good actually!” Which doesn’t help
I think they intentionally did this considering how poorly people reacted to not understanding the LOU2’s themes.
I wouldn’t say they’re spelling out the theme though, because the theme of the story isn’t “save who you love” it’s more about love driving people to do terrible things for others
@@donovan4222 I’ve kinda been on a back and forth with that myself. And I wonder if it feels really spelled out only bc I’ve played the game
@@ApolloTheCosmic I could tooooooottally see that
@@misaelbarrientos4922 I think they’re trying to spell out more of a clear reason for Joel to do what he did, because the entire journey the lesson he keeps learning is that protecting loved ones is the only way for him to find peace, then that idea is sort of flipped on its head in the final episode when protecting his loved one requires dooming humanity to extinction
It's hard to celebrate this being a faithful and successful live action adaptation of a video game because out of all the video games you can choose to adapt, The Last of Us is BY FAR the safest possible option you could have chosen. The original game was already basically a prestige tv show just translated and structured around a video game.
Well there are other good adaptations
What a great show! Had a bunch of fun with what they did and what they added to the story
Watched this show with my parents. During the hospital scene all three of us were silent until the hallway to the surgery. I’m so glad that this show encapsulated how effective the story of the video game was
My largest complaint is the lack of infected. The infected should always feel like a constant lurking background threat and they really don't. On top of that, they took away the part of them that is most terrifying: you're still alive when you turn. All the people who are infected are still alive and are aware of what they are doing to other people. But they can't control and become a passenger in a body that wants to kill and eat their loved ones. I wish we got more stuff that showcased that in the series
They didn’t really take it away imo. The question is posed by Sam when he gets bit. It would’ve been cool but delving in deep abt the infected being conscious would’ve took too much away from Joel and Ellie. Maybe in season 2 they’ll expand upon it
I heard that Part II will be adapted through multiple seasons. I wonder how they’ll handle that considering how sprawling the narrative of Part II can get
They could do the flashbacks, Ellie’s time in Jackson, and Abby’s life before encountering Ellie giving more time to expand on things with the fun time golf scene with Joel being the finale and the next season could be the hunt for each other
No matter what you do with season 2 there’s always a constant thing Golf ⛳️
@@GodaBoham I was thinking this exact thing. You start with the time jump and end the first episode maybe with the golfing lesson then the rest of the season is how the characters got to that point.
Part 2 has a lot of long flashbacks and the story is told from different perspectives, so it will definitely be challenging figuring out how to tell the story for TV
Neil Druckmann once stated, what they initially considered to introduce Abby and the rest of the cast in Jackson as infiltrated part of the community, but they sorted it out because it didn't work as intro, it was just too long. I think in a TV series they could really develop this in the first episodes, this could work in this medium. It would also drastically improve the emotional buildup and aftermath of the golf scene. Also, the decisions made by Abby and crew after the scene would make way more sense than in the video game. Maybe they are considering it. And I think they can really expand on the Flashbacks, like making hole episodes like in season 1. About the half time split I'm not sure if making a possible third season only about the second half of the game would work. We will see that the authors have in mind. I really liked the thirst season of the series and liked both games, so i'm hoping for good stuff.
I hate internet arguments about fictional characters but I have to disagree about the "this is a bad thing that is happening" part. What Joel did for Ellie is one of the most argued points about this series and the reason I don't think he did anything wrong is simple: consent. They didn't ASK Ellie if she was okay with literally dying in order to make this possible cure. Marlene so was blinded by the mission and her own authority that she has her men kidnap both of them and says "it's my way or you die" to Joel. I can't get behind that. There's no open discussion with Ellie and the man she's been traveling with for weeks about what happens to her. So for that reason I really don't think Joel did anything wrong. He obviously did it more for himself and not Ellie but the end justified the means IMO. Even Ellie is pissed when she finds out and she can say all day that she would have wanted to die but until the end of your life is right in front of you, you don't know. Maybe she would have backed out at the last moment out of fear. We simply don't know. Because they didn't ask her. They didn't even mention it. They presumably lied and put her under while telling her it was for something OTHER than literally fucking killing her.
They delve very specifically into this topic in the last episode and also in TLOU2 so I think you're off there.
I know I’m about two weeks late to comment, but I have to agree with you. I also question the merits of ‘doctors’ willing to rush in and kill the only know immune person based on a hypothesis that the doctor had. They don’t bother running tests or even consider performing a biopsy. Instead, they decide to kill her based upon the guess of a veterinarian turned doctor.
The way the show ultimately chose to present the scenario left a lot of holes in the ethical dilemma the characters/audience were supposed to find themselves in.
Ellie telling Joel earlier on that she wanted to see things all the way through doesn’t do a good job of indicating the decision would have made had she been given the choice.
was really looking forward to this review, I was very surprised by the quality of the show and how it perfectly adapted the VG. The acting was near perfect, and the way the show adapted (and often streamlined) the story never missed a step. Truly excited for how they'll adapt the second game from here on, I hope they continue to focus on the really emotional stories between just 2 or 3 characters.
also I totally agree that the show was at its best with introducing new storylines but, idk, for the sake of making a good show I think they nailed it even if it did retread existing storylines.
I'm hoping the second season to end with the death of Joel, y'know? I genuinely feel like it'd be nice just to see how Joel's and Ellie's relationship grows (like with her birthday's gift) and falls apart (when they talk outside the hospital). And then when we are finally given hope (Joel and Ellie talking at her place about Dina and the mythical «If God somehow gave me a second chance, I would do it all over again»), Joel dies. That would be so sick. And we could have a third season full of revenge.
Personally it did miss quite a few steps for me. The university was rushed and felt like just a transition into Left Behind. Left Behind itself cut out the parts of Ellie fetching medicine for Joel which is a shame since it shows how much she'll do for Joel + some necessary growing up. The David at the restaurant section felt a tad rushed which didn't sell the danger behind him and the tension leading up to Joel's embrace of Ellie. Most of the show is great it's just small subtleties in the story seem to be missing due to its short format
@@camiloospinarodriguez190 i agree that i want more joel and ellie from the “in between” time but i disagree with the second season just following the story linearly and not getting to seattle. the flashbacks are where i think they should expand on that stuff, but then tell the story roughly in the same sequence as the second game itself. especially since the third season will likely focus on abby’s half with the cali finale lol. but i def want more with ellie and joel in season 2, i just think there are l opportunities to expand and create flashbacks like the game did rather than make the story completely linear. also they can position the flashbacks at key areas (like lou 2) to help you understand the characters better, rather than just serving as plot events on a linear story. like how they did left behind or even sort of bill and frank in season 1. the events between joel and ellie in between the ending of lou 1 and the death of joel in lou2 are related to the story that’s happening as ellie and dina go thru seattle so not having them serve to break up the 3 days there would feel like a missed opportunity and also drag the story out longer than necessary imo.
I think watching it with my friend who knew nothing about the story made it a much better experience. Seeing how hard hitting *certain* things were for her reminded me how I felt the same a decade ago and I got to feel those feelings again with her
I am personally very interested in how they're gonna adapt Part 2
On one hand, they have the option to go with some serious rewrites to fix the pacing problems a lot of people had. On the other hand, if you don't sit in only Ellie's shoes for the entire time until the theater, it won't hit as hard to spend the next few hours as Abby slowly coming around to the point where Ellie is the antagonist of the story - the punch of the story is kinda dependent on spending a long stretch of time alone with Abby.
Regardless, if they really are adapting it in 2+ seasons, I am very excited to see how it shakes out
I have a feeling they’ll tell the story in a linear fashion. Start off with Abby and her dad, build up to the reveal that her dad was the doctor. Then we get time with Ellie and Joel, like the whole museum thing, a few other things, probably a lot of new stuff. Their time on patrol in Jackson, stuff like that, right?
That could mean that the ending of season 2 is the beginning of the game, and season 3 is the rest of the game minus the flashbacks that made it play nonlinearly, and that structure would give us a lot of time with Abby in order to build sympathy.
@@codylakin288 the thing is, doing it that way, the first part of the show would be reeeeeally boring. The game is great in that it hits you with Joel's death as an amazing hook while we're still interested in catching up with these characters. We first care about Abby in that we intensely hate her and want to see Ellie get revenge, and then at the height of that put us in her shoes. If we just follow this one rando along for 1-3 episodes before checking in with Ellie and Joel, people would not care and lose interest, even if we knew it was the daughter of the doctor.
Also, there is no chance stuff like Ellie's final conversation with Joel hits as hard if you know it right from the start - one of my favorite things the game did is have you learn about their estrangement as Ellie sinks further and further into depravity. It adds a ton of new meaning to why Ellie's grief - like Dunkey said, she feels guilt for wasting the time she had with Joel
@@dasmeowhaus that's exactly right. The flashbacks taking place when they do is really important to the story. Like, the final one could be *nowhere* else but the ending. Even Abby's flashbacks are important for when they happen, and when they STOP happening. It's really good storytelling, it'd be a waste if it wasn't adapted, but I guess maybe it just can't work in a TV show format
@@dasmeowhaus how you described it PERFECTLY shows how effective it was. I know it’s gonna sound silly but I hope they really don’t change up the structure and the flashbacks too much. Where they put the final convo between Joel and Ellie was perfection
I live in Calgary so it’s pretty cool to know they shot this series here, I even walked past one of there sets.
I watched it with my mom and dad who never played or heard about the games before and yeah it hit them different. But i also had a great time going through pretty much the same story on a different media. Even with all the video game adaptations i feel like I've never seen one being done that way before
Your pfp is kind of hot
Yup, watched this show with my girlfriend who had no idea what the game was. Her reactions and emotions throughout the show made me appreciate the show and the game from when I first experienced it all. I know it won’t be perfect but I feel like this show is doing it’s absolute best.
Watched this show with my mom and sister and they loved it. Week by week they were excited.
As someone who never played the games, this is one of the best shows I’ve watched since the boys
I've been waiting for this one
it was really fun to manipulate my friends and family experiencing the story for the first time into a vulnerable state of mind so the big points of the plot hit them hard so 10/10, thanks Beldro Ramscal, Neil, and Craig
I wish there was one more episode between 8 and 9 to really solidify the bond between Ellie and Joel.
Never played the game but I had the general idea of what it was about so I kinda got to experience all of this content as a brand new story and I absolutely loved it, I’ll have to see which version I prefer when the game comes out on pc later this month.
Right now the PC port for the game sucks, so looks like the show wins for now
watched this with my girlfriend and seeing her reactions to the scenes i already knew was coming up was top tier lol.
Really agreed with everything in this review- great job putting some thoughts into words!
Your right, I haven’t played the game either and this show took me by surprise. I was super impressed and needed to know what happened so I ended up watching a play through of the second one immediately.
I disagree that people don’t understand that what’s happening at the hospital is bad. If anything they hammer it home more in the show, than in the game killing some NPC’s.
Some people are just one sided in what they believe is bad, including you I think. They are murdering their only hope for a cure on one hail mary chance that the method of extraction and development will create a cure. They didn’t ask ellie if she would be okay with this, and they didn’t think, "hmm maybe we should run some tests and hold her for a while because if we fail, this is the only immune person we have and probably will have"
On the flip side Joel killing everyone was not because of that reason, it was selfish and lying to her about it is terrible as well. They should have focused more on Ellie not having agency at all in this situation, especially considering the previous mission/episode, that being said, this show was amazing.
I honestly wished they had done a whole spinoff show. You can't do any better than the video game already did, but there's so much to experience in the world of TLoU and so many other stories that can be told
As to your comments around 5:30, about the show being more impactful having not played the game, I have to agree with you via a personal anecdote. I recommended this show to my mom and to my utter shock she absolutely LOVES it. Her reaction to it, calling me after every episode, reminded me of my reaction to first playing the game with my roommate back in 2016.
"I apologize if I don't sound the same"
It's funny how often I hear that but LITERALLY cannot tell the difference, even after it gets pointed out.
I don't know if that says something about their 'normal' quality or whatever but it just makes me crack a smile. I had no idea. You brought it up and I never would have none otherwise. Lmao
I think Joel and Ellie not feeling as close helps make it feel like Joel is really projecting his own traumas and insecurities onto Ellie. I do agree that they were sprinting that last episode. I felt like the whole confrontation with Marlene should’ve been like two minutes longer. There was no time to breathe there 😭
Honestly I watched this with my mom and considering she apparently didn't know that video games even had plots nowadays she reacted super well. Like she loved it.
as someone who knew the game, albeit not front to back, it made me super happy to see everything done here. Like it hit equally as hard for me and thats super impressive
I’ve never played the game past the first hour, so I was invested the whole way through, not knowing what was and wasn’t new content. Loved it
I watched this with my mom. I played this game once in high school, so I forgot a lot of the minor story beats. It was so fun for me to re-experience and to watch her for the first time
6:24 I think the gameplay adds a lot to the characters’ dynamic in the video game. How Ellie turns from cutscene NPC to fetch quest to companion to player character. The players grow to love and identify with Ellie the same time as Joel does so in the end you feel the desperation but also hate every second of the finale as you’re kinda forced to do it with Joel, passively assisting as he becomes the monster. I think it makes perfect sense that the relationship in the show feels less developed by the end
I haven't played the games so this show was my first experience with this story and I thought it was great
Same
“Great” stop it 😂😂😂this was bad
As someone who's never played the game, I loved this show all the way towards the end. Will for sure be playing the game now.
The flashbacks were by far the best parts. I wanna know more. I love it when the show gets creative with all that stuff.
I never watched playthroughs or played the game before and I ADORED this show. I can't wait to rewatch it soon !!
It’s on playstation 4/5 if you or your friends have either one of those. You should try playing it!
It is really hard for me to engage with the show because I am very familiar with the game. I could recite cutscenes from the game with the exact same inflection and delivery I just know it that well. Because of that I feel incredibly disconnected when those scenes that are straight from the game happen. The brand new stuff was definitely my favorite stuff. Also because it was a short series, it felt like it went at a blazing speed. It felt like there was no pause in dialogue when it couldve benefit from some.
I agree. There is an emptiness that I feel when the show reenacts scenes from the game word for word. Especially when the actors in the show are doing a worse job than the actors in the game.
It's just a redo. Like they feel hollow compared to the game versions. The characters just are not the same.
@@smcdonough1427 See i feel the opposite way, when they do reenact scenes word for word, it just goes to show how well those scenes were written. Also, Pedro and Bella did as good as Troy and Ashley, certain scenes in the show were even better, the Sam and Henry stuff for example.
My dad watched this alongside me while I studied away, and we were able to connect by talking about it “water cooler” style. We loved comparing the game to the show, and I have to say I like the show more so far.
I never played the video game when I watched the show and I see it as one of my favorite shows of all time. I now played the PS4 remastered game and am chasing the platinum. Loved it and can't wait to watch the rest of the show and playing Part 2.
I really liked this show, thought most of the changes it made added to the story, I'm more interested what there gonna do for season 2.
This take is exactly why I'm very intrigued to see where they go with the next season. Druckman and the production team aren't oblivious, they KNOW that there were quite a few things in Part 2 that were not well-received. I'm thinking that there will be considerable changes and tweaks made to choices, character moments, and decisions in Part 2 to hopefully change it for the better. Considering they said it will be more than a season, there also hopefully won't be the problem of it feeling rushed as well. I'm cautiously optimistic that the show can blow Part 2 the game out of the water.
Doubtful, since some word from him has said that he is going to keep to that, and that for better or for worse, inspiring passionate discourse from that was better than just being unremarkable or unmemorable.
Druckman's statement on this makes it seem like he isn't going to change anything. And since a lot of complaints about the game were homophobic, I think they're also going to ignore the legitimate criticisms of their story.
@@WeeklyComedian either homophobic, or people accepting Joel as their hole gaming daddy and expecting him to just kill Abby's whole crew and go home, because they don't want complicated writing in their zombie shooters
@@WeeklyComedian He already said that the changes will be made to individual story beats even if the premise stays mostly the same, so this point is moot.
part 2 is already good, people are just going to be mad no matter what when Joel dies
I can see where you're coming from when you say "you wish they did more original stuff so I wouldn't know where the plot was going". But I feel like 99% of games adapted to shows DO that (Halo, RE etc). That's why this show actually sticking to the source material is why I really love and respect this show XD
Very excited to watch this cosmo
I hate that Joel came across Ellie after she walked out of the burning building after killing David. There is just so much more emotion in the game when he pulls her off David while stabbing him over and over.
RIGHT! the show runners said they only made necessary changes that would improve the narrative. I literally do not understand how anyone could think that was better in any way
@@schneebly8485 because in the real world people dont just hug inside a building on fire, they do it when they're no longer in danger
@@isadora6092 in the real world there aren't human controlling fungi that act like zombies but we suspend our disbelief for media
@@isadora6092 True, but that kinda just makes it seem like the writers should’ve left the fire out then.
@@Ke-hs6vw How would that have improved literally anything?
Was disappointed with how key scenes were done, it seems like they dropped build ups that earned those scenes.
It's sort of the folly of making this into a show, I was beyond surprised to realize it was ONLY 9 episodes since the story's full effect I'd say needs double digit episodes and maybe 5-7 more minutes per episode
@@noname-hf9ty for sure, the limited episodes had an effect, but some scenes could have been done better without extra time... I'm too lazy to type them here though lol.
@@okaypeekay I'd say the university and Left Behind were big misses in their allocated time, felt like filler in alot of places where bonding and important themes were present
yeah it made scenes like the one where joel says ellie isn’t his daughter have much less of an impact for me
Been waiting for this one
I think at this point, having the video start with "sorry if I sound weird" is a staple of cosmonaut variety hour
Game's a 10/10. The show was a 8/10. It definitely hit the mark on most things. But like Marcus said, most characters are only there to explicitly remind Joel that he needs to care for Ellie, or to give out the "lesson of the week". I appreciated how the original had a bit more subtlety and nuance in it's approach to character building. My main example is David. In the game there's a more natural and gradual build up to him revealing his true intentions, which makes the "boss fight", and what follows after, a bit more tense. But in the show we reach the cage scene and David just blatantly confirms he's a pedo and says that he wants Ellie as her partner. Like, I did not need him to just go out and say it, his actions and demeanor are already enough for me (and I'm assuming most other viewers) to make the connection.
The show was more like a 4/10 tbh
Episode 3 could have been its own movie and it still would have been amazing
That's exactly what i thought when it ended
@@LuisSierra42 really? That was the low point for me. For them to never even meet in the current time line I thought they could have cut those guys backstory into a 3rd and it woulda been just as impactful without wasting as much time.
@@rikerFFXI Well, what OP is saying is that the episode could have been its own movie since it was mostly standalone and also i've never played the game so i had no expectations
Basically was a movie it was almost feature length
It should've been - I'd much rather see it there than in this show. I don't feel like adds anything to the overall story.
Everything this dude said in this video I completely had the same feelings and thought process like yeah Joel and Ellie were close in the show but not as close as they were in the game like you can feel the father-daughter Vibe coming off of them at the end of the game a mile away and you're just loved every minute of it
but in the final episode of the season, it felt like they were very close friends rather than a father-daughter dynamic
I feel like if I was an HBO executive I would have ordered one more episode just entirely focused on them no zombies no action just a cute fun father-daughter type of episode up until the fireflies get them similar to the Dinosaur/ History Museum flashback in Last of Us Part 2 and I think that would have really solidified them being a father-daughter dynamic for a lot more people
I think another key point atleast for me is that Ellie and Joel feel close because of the shit they've been through together, like yeah they go through alot of it in the show too but the university is completely devoid of danger until the end and Joel is never of any risk of LOSING Ellie until the end of the story which to me weakens how much he cares for her since he hasn't thrown himself in harm's way for her like that, which imo is the biggest point of rage with the fireflies wanting to kill her because it gives off a "I went through all that for her and you're gonna take her away like that?" Feeling that isn't present in the show
This is what I've been seeing. People who haven't played the game loved it, while those who did play the game found the characters were more fleshed out and had a deeper bond. (And HBO has no excuse because I heard they had two filler episodes which could have been used to bond Ellie and Joel). Based on what I'm hearing (and the lack of one of the more interesting zombie concepts), I'm not planning to watch it.
Damn you really encapsulated all my thoughts on the show in 7 minutes
Can't wait to see how Joel's golf tournament goes during season 2
Yea that’s exactly how I felt, EP 9 was the weakest episode and because everything is rushed so painfully hard, you don’t get the satisfaction of Ellie and Joel finally connecting. Joel is finally opening up to her and she’s acting oddly distant and spaced out, the one moment they do finally click it’s interrupted by a flash grenade and then that whole charade takes place. It was crazily short for being the last episode.
the reason people think Joel wasnt in the wrong at the end of the game is because there is no reason to believe the Fireflies are good or competent at all. Even if the cure is guaranteed they have no production or distribution so its like like kill Elie save the world its kill Elie and maybe some people will have limited access to a cure.
Also Elie didnt know she was going to die, and they won't let Joel see her first. So its not like she chooses to sacrifice herself.
The truth is neither side is right or good.
Literally this, dont get how everyone thinks Joel is in the wrong, he knew what they were saying to him was bs. Also its clear that medicine has not improved since 2004 in the show, and the people performing the surgery and defo not the best qualified and the whole operating theatre is in an awful state. There is no way that they would have been able to get it right on the first try with Ellie, she absolutely would have died and the Fireflies would have killed their only chance. Joel Did Nothing Wrong.
I have no idea how people think that there's a justification to killing a kid. Even if there was a button that was like "cure all diseases" but it will kill a kid that's right in front of you it's still wrong to push the button.
Even if they were competent, I can't say that I would go willingly if my kid was sacrificed, especially if she didn't know what was happening. It's easy to say that you'd do what's best for humanity when watching the scene but if actually put in Joel position, I think the majority of people would've done what he did.
@Ryukashin94 He did do something wrong, the whole point is thwy both did dumb things but ultimately Joel should not have murdered an entire hospital of people attenpting to save the world for one person.
@@payt00n if someone is trying to murder a child you are in the clear to defend the child imho
Having never played the games nor watched their content before this show, I can confirm that this was a significantly better experience than what Marcus described. Everything is new for me and nothing is expected so I'm very eager to see the next season
Fantastic review. Articulated most of my feelings on the show perfectly.
It is over Tess ! It's time to be the last of us. Shivers every time
I am so excited for season 2, knowing Craig Mazin, he will definitely improve the story to its best, and will most likely add new storylines and characters.
Not really because Abby is in it...
@@ransacked it’s been three years, time to stop coping
On the topic of the game being more subtle; I think a big part of it is because the show bounced between perspectives so much.
In the game, where you almost never leave Joel's perspective, little things like him getting worried about Ellie moving ahead in Pittsburgh, him beginning to collect comic books for her after she shows him she's interested in them, and him answering more and more of her questions as they travel to more places all let you realize just how much Joel is starting to care about her because the way you are playing the game becomes more and more focused on protecting Ellie and, in the case of secondary mechanics like the conversations and collectibles, making her happy.
In the show, with episodes jumping around in time, and often just leaving Joel and Ellie's perspective, we have less time to see subtle changes in their dynamic, because we see less of thier dynamic in general, so the writers felt compelled to just have the dialogue lean more and more into just talking about protecting loved ones because the series didn't get to show Joel really taking care of her as much as the game did. Case in point, episode 3 was very powerful for what it did with Bill and Frank's story, but it also meant that Joel and Ellie's development is delayed by an entire story arc, since everything they did in the corresponding chapter from the game just doesn't happen.
This show is my favorite thing that I’ve watched this year so far and I am going to play the games now
Pirates of the Caribbean movies review? Only review 1-3 ☠️💀☠️
Totally agree. All of my FAVORITE parts of the show were original content I’d never seen. The scenes that were 1 for 1 beats of the game fell a little flatter to me, just bc I’m sooo in love with the Ashley and Troy performances it’s hard not to compare.
i totally agree with everything you said, especially concerning the additional storylines and me probably enjoying the show more if I didn’t already play the game, so i’m really glad you did this review.
Having never played the game, this has gotta be one of my favorite shows ever. Just so amazing in every way
Craig Mazin has already announced that they will definitely be making some changes in Season 2 compared to the game, so that makes me really excited!
To individual story beats instead of the premise. Kind of like what happened in the first season, which I think is for the best. I really like Part II's storytelling and I also like when creator's have integrity.
@@CDexie It's most likely going to be the pacing, which is good because doing flashbacks to Abby and flash forwards to Ellie every other episode for two seasons would be pretty obnoxious.
@@1Seanmb I mean, the stories could be happening simultaneously. Lots of stories, especially tv ones, have parallel protagonists/plot lines going on. I just hope they don't go that route because it defeats Part II's storytelling purposes
Lmao shows like Halo and The Witcher give us "new content" and we absolutely hate it but then The Last Of Us comes out with an amazing adaptation of the story and we want more new content rather than a focus on the actual story, and we're fine with stuff being changed?
Lol I'm genuinely curious why we're okay with this show having some big-ish stuff changed but not something like Halo or The Witcher.
Don’t know but all three were terrible 🤷♂️
Best part is living in Alberta and seeing all the places I've seen irl.
As someone who has never played the game, this show really hit. It did a good job of explaining the main video game storyline and fleshing out the relationships. I had no idea what to expect so each tragedy REALLY hit
I think the reason the last few episodes are so similar is cause there isn’t much to improve on or change
Left Behind could've been done better imo, flipping back and forth between Ellie and Riley goofing in a mall and Ellie finding medicine for Joel in a mall really helps with the importance of Left Behind for me
I genuinely didn’t know the ending was divisive until the second game came out. I just thought everyone saw Joel as the hero like I did. Humanity tries to kill you constantly and you have to save the one person you care about seemed obvious to me. Yeah I hated the story of part 2.
i think that part of what makes ellie and joels relationship feel deeper in the game is that you also get hours of gameplay with them. you get to have in ellie doing her thing, with little details that develop her character more. Or you see her fighting wave after wave from enemies with you, though the show did a good job shwoing us some of these things
I just love how they adapt the game and I think that’s what makes it so good
I watched the entire series with my dad, he was a total newcomer to the series, he was looking week by week every episode, he absolutely loved it, when we finish each episode, he talk with me and my brother about it, it was pretty cool
But when we hit that last episode, he was speechless, like he didn't say a word for a minute, i think deep inside him he wanted to cry ngl, it really remind me why the game was so popular and why i love it so much back in the day