Just finished watching Episode 2 and my goodness HBO has hit out of the ballpark in recreating the video game. They have deviated a little from the game but the story and dialogue remains the same. Episode 2 featured our first glimpse of the clickers and they did a really good job bringing them to life. I’m really excited to see this show progress.
They really hit a home run here. The sets are gorgeous in their decimated and overrun city style and they’re really making the cordyceps fungus as creepy as anything. I was a little hesitant about Bella Ramsey as Ellie but she’s excellent and really channeling the character. Pedro is doing a great job as Joel as well.
They’re really following the game. At the State House, when Tess has her scene you knew Joel was going to say, “Show me.” I had goosebumps and smiled at the same time. And it still packed an emotional wallop.
Can’t wait for the next episode.
Terry Notary is a movement coach and has done a TON of work in major film and tv franchises. He worked on the Planet of the Apes films, The Square, the pre-MCU Hulk films, the Hobbit films, and a ton more. He's had a really amazing career so far. Cool to see him attached to this show.
Keep reading that the next episode is supposed to be amazing.
Keep reading that the next episode is supposed to be amazing.
Looks like we get the Bill and Frank story next week. Big Nick Offerman fan, looking forward to it. Any fans of Devs here? Super underrated IMO, a recent(ish) favorite.
I wasn’t a fan of the Ellie casting, but Ramsey has won me over. She was really solid in this episode.
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But I really don't care for the Ellie and Tess casting. Don't have to deal with Tess anymore but...
I wasn’t a fan of the Ellie casting, but Ramsey has won me over. She was really solid in this episode.
Same. I was apprehensive at the start and still unsure after the first episode, but she was great in E2. Really captured that attitude that Ellie has with Joel when they're still figuring each other out.
As a book reader they wasn’t biggest issue w GOT. Thought some of the deviations there were just to be provocative vs needed.
But very much looking forward to this as they flesh out those story for me
It’s not too bad, walking dead has way more gore for the sake of gore. But LoU is situationally a lot scarier, if that makes sense.
Possibly in the future (i.e., Season 2).
Druckman said that from a realism standpoint, if they kept the disease airborne (spores) then realistically everyone would be wearing a gas mask the whole time and that it would spread through much faster. It wouldn't be confined to just the indoor spaces. So they made that change.
But he didn't rule it out in some form in the future.
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isnt happening in the show?
Possibly in the future (i.e., Season 2).
Druckman said that from a realism standpoint, if they kept the disease airborne (spores) then realistically everyone would be wearing a gas mask the whole time and that it would spread through much faster. It wouldn't be confined to just the indoor spaces. So they made that change.
But he didn't rule it out in some form in the future.
Gotcha, that was a fun part of the indoor scene in the game when they popped on the masks.
I wish they spent more time on world development of the "before" so the effect of the infection and 20 years later would have been much more impactful. Maybe this can come later as flashback episodes.
Also, I get there is source material (I haven't played the game) but 20 years later, I think things would be in a much different state than what was portrayed. It seems like only 10 years later at the most.
But aside from that, it was really good. I felt like some of the events were probably "missions" from the game. Honestly I was looking for quest markers. But that wasn't a problem, just something I noticed. I absolutely could see "get a battery" as a quest, for instance. And I could totally imagine the conversation tree when meeting a guard in a hostile situation, where you had previously conspired with that guard.
Basically though it seemed like the longest cutscene ever as it didn't even get to the tutorial part yet after over an hour.
HBO puts out the best quality shows by a mile....though Apple has had some great ones too.
This, Station 11, and a few other recent ones have been spectacular.
My wife hates gore and scary movies and absolutely loves it. I loved the video game, she’s not a fan of video games, still a crowd pleaser.
Seems like they went to great lengths to make the disease as realistic as possible which adds to it, my wife even found a Washington Post article about “What The Last of Us got right,” scientifically. That said, it was such a great story to begin with. I have PTSD from GoT after they got passed the books, so we’ll see what happens after season 2, but they’re absolutely nailing it.
Now when the fuck are we going to get a Red Dead Redemption 2 & 1 show?
I wish they spent more time on world development of the "before" so the effect of the infection and 20 years later would have been much more impactful. Maybe this can come later as flashback episodes.
Also, I get there is source material (I haven't played the game) but 20 years later, I think things would be in a much different state than what was portrayed. It seems like only 10 years later at the most.
But aside from that, it was really good. I felt like some of the events were probably "missions" from the game. Honestly I was looking for quest markers. But that wasn't a problem, just something I noticed. I absolutely could see "get a battery" as a quest, for instance. And I could totally imagine the conversation tree when meeting a guard in a hostile situation, where you had previously conspired with that guard.
Basically though it seemed like the longest cutscene ever as it didn't even get to the tutorial part yet after over an hour.
I was listening to the companion podcast and Craig Mazin + Neil Druckmann (creator/writer of the video game and director of Ep 2) stated that since they have an episodic format in TV, they can use the first few minutes of episodes to show non-seqitor glimpses of the pre-pandemic world, which is something you couldn't do in the game because there aren't those types of unified breaks when someone can continuously keep playing. This makes me feel like they might give a snippet of the outbreak at the start of each episode.
Bella Ramsey is really winning me over as Ellie, though I did prefer the delivery of some of my favorite lines from the video game. Two that stick out for me was Ellie telling Joel "fuck you man, I didn't ask for this" -- a part that I think really resonated with me throughout the game as shit kept hitting the fan more and more. Another one that stuck out to me was Ellie calling out that Tess was infected. All in all though, Bella is nailing Ellie, which is a VERY difficult character to play given the lofty standards from the game.
On a side note, this whole thing is surreal - I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY THEY TURNED MY FAVORITE GAME INTO A HUGE HBO SHOW!
HBO puts out the best quality shows by a mile....though Apple has had some great ones too.
This, Station 11, and a few other recent ones have been spectacular.
Station 11 and The Leftovers are 2 of my favorite shows ever. I feel like a lot of people missed out on those 2
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I was listening to the companion podcast and Craig Mazin + Neil Druckmann (creator/writer of the video game and director of Ep 2) stated that since they have an episodic format in TV, they can use the first few minutes of episodes to show non-seqitor glimpses of the pre-pandemic world, which is something you couldn't do in the game because there aren't those types of unified breaks when someone can continuously keep playing. This makes me feel like they might give a snippet of the outbreak at the start of each episode.
I highly recommend the companion podcast. They explain some of the reasons when they deviate from the game, what goes into the production, and comment on what the actors are doing (like when Joel flinches when Tess steps towards him to show him her bite mark)
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Loving it. I knew nothing about the video game. The clickers are really originally, as is the whole fungi premise. Really dig these type of thriller/horror/sci-fi shows/movies with deep back-story on the science.
HBO puts out the best quality shows by a mile....though Apple has had some great ones too.
This, Station 11, and a few other recent ones have been spectacular.
Station 11 and The Leftovers are 2 of my favorite shows ever. I feel like a lot of people missed out on those 2
I finished watching "The Leftovers" last week and I thought it was fantastic. Season 1 was good, but 2 and 3 were fantastic. I kept thinking while watching how it was that I missed out on this one. I only watched it based on a strong recommendation from a friend. Very happy I got that recommendaiton.