Another excellent episode, one that I understand departs significantly from the video game's narrative. No matter, I say. Tonight, we dine on seared rabbit and strawberries!
Exploring all that back story, which is only hinted at in the game, was excellent.
While I don't mind the deviation from the game, I was looking forward to the interactions between Joel, Bill and Ellie.
I read that a big part of the reason for the change was that they've already established what could go wrong in the world and what to be scared of (Sarah and Tess dying, the infected) and this was an opportunity to show what to live for. And in the wake of Tess's death, they use Bill's protectiveness of Frank and writing to Joel to keep Tess safe, that is used as a catalyst to convince Joel to take Ellie with him.
and I definitely don’t care about strictly following the game or not.
Never played the game but enjoy the show. Interviews I’ve read they say game play has choice and self directed action. Without that, sticking 100% with the game would get tiresome in a hurry. So they have to adapt from the game as they did here, which was terrific. They really contravened each expectation, you never knew where it was going.
They said the big thing in the show will be relationships all across the board.
Just when I thought one was hurt/dying they flip it on you. How they bickered and enjoyed simple pleasures. I didn't play the game so I thought Frank would betray him until the 3 year later mark, lol. Sets up Joel for his future relationships. And I hope they took all the guns?
but added a lot to Bill's backstory, which was glossed over in the game. I do kind of miss seeing Joel, Ellie, and Bill interact and go on the adventure they go on in the game, but I think the pros of showing his backstory outweigh the cons.
It was also tied the show's story together well, since they changed the impetus of why Tess and Joel agree to take Ellie in the first place by making it about the car battery. It also provides a better explanation for why Bill won't/can't take Ellie within the context of the show.
Solid episode but I'm jonesing for some Ellie+Joel solo sessions, which definitely appears to be coming up next episode based on the ep 4 preview.
*******//potential semi spoiler//*****
I wonder if they will introduce the two characters you encounter in Pittsburgh in the game in the next episode, or if the gameplay chapter alluded to in the preview will be spread out across 2 episodes, with the characters being introduced in Ep 5. Based on how much they have to cover, I have a feeling they'll be intro'd in episode 4.
and I definitely don’t care about strictly following the game or not.
Never played the game but enjoy the show. Interviews I’ve read they say game play has choice and self directed action. Without that, sticking 100% with the game would get tiresome in a hurry. So they have to adapt from the game as they did here, which was terrific. They really contravened each expectation, you never knew where it was going.
They said the big thing in the show will be relationships all across the board.
The game might have choice in terms of how you approach objectives, but contrary to the vast majorities of games coming out these days, TLOU game is very linear and does not give the player comparatively much choice or agency. There's no open world, there's no character customization other than upgrading skills or maybe some clothes here and there, and you're very much playing a pre-defined story that is "on-rails".
It's all by design and works effectively which is why the narrative was so beloved, and also makes the game perfect for a television adaptation. Long story short, I think whatever interview you referenced that talked about player choice over stated it to a great degree.
Really struck the note of how little things can be so beautiful and appreciated. Music, food/drink, a shower, love etc. My wife mentioned "eh another survival apocalypse show" but this series just hits a very different note than lets say Walking Dead.
is it recognizes the source material, acknowledges it and is faithful to some degree, but it's not an exact match.
So if you've never played, you can enjoy it. But if you have played it, you can appreciate the nods to the game (and in some cases, lifted dialogue and references) but also appreciate that it's not exactly the same. They had to make some changes. If it was a 1-for-1 match, well, why watch? Why not just play the game again?
and I definitely don’t care about strictly following the game or not.
Never played the game but enjoy the show. Interviews I’ve read they say game play has choice and self directed action. Without that, sticking 100% with the game would get tiresome in a hurry. So they have to adapt from the game as they did here, which was terrific. They really contravened each expectation, you never knew where it was going.
They said the big thing in the show will be relationships all across the board.
The game might have choice in terms of how you approach objectives, but contrary to the vast majorities of games coming out these days, TLOU game is very linear and does not give the player comparatively much choice or agency. There's no open world, there's no character customization other than upgrading skills or maybe some clothes here and there, and you're very much playing a pre-defined story that is "on-rails".
It's all by design and works effectively which is why the narrative was so beloved, and also makes the game perfect for a television adaptation. Long story short, I think whatever interview you referenced that talked about player choice over stated it to a great degree.
Exactly.
Just an FYI in regards to the game for those who haven't played it, but do play videogames. As mentioned, there was no player choice. It was a linear narrative driven game. There were no quests or missions or anything like that. There was the story and you either controlled Joel (for the most part) or Ellie and essentially played the story. While that sounds boring in a world of RPG's and open world games where player choice is all the rage, in actuality it was far from boring. What made the game revolutionary 10 years ago was a few things. The brutality of the game was off the charts. The combat was intense and viscerally violent. It was up close and personal in a way a typical shooter wasn't. Most importantly, it was emotionally gut wrenching. Other games have since tried to replicate what The Last Of Us did, but few have resonated the way this one has. Games were games. This was Adult, with themes of love, loss, human brutality, pain, survival and hope all set against a backdrop of a world gone to hell.
In a weird way I am envious of people who didn't play the game, like my wife. She's experiencing the story through a fresh pair of eyes. I'll just say, you ain't seen nothing yet.
One of the best TV episodes I've seen in a long time
It really was an excellent, memorable, and unexpected episode of television.
Nice to watch after having to stomach the Eagles going to another super bowl and the empire state building lit up in green white.
But I felt like Bill becoming trusting of someone in the span of a couple of hours after he was introduced as paranoid survivalist who avoided people to survive that long was a little unbelievable. Now in the span of a shower and meal he’s like you’re cool take my virginity, kind of made it feel like a rushed love story.
I guess we can attribute it to being isolated for years he was longing for human contact, still a good unexpected episode though.
Really sets home why Joel decides to take Ellie on the trip to see his brother in Wyoming. Bill’s suicide note were he does everything to protect Frank until he can’t any longer (Frank seems to be developing ALS). Joel realizes that he failed to protect Sarah and Tess, but can’t fail to protect Ellie.
I must be one of the few people that didn’t like the episode. I don’t remember thinking much of Bill’s relationship with Frank during my play through, and sure as hell wasn’t expecting a full episode dedicated to their romance. The game is dark and the people you come across are just as dangerous, if not more so than the zombies. I was half expecting Frank to turn on Bill to illustrate this to the audience, but instead we got a love story and arguing over paint. Eh, maybe I’ll give another watch with my now adjusted expectations.
I must be one of the few people that didn’t like the episode. I don’t remember thinking much of Bill’s relationship with Frank during my play through, and sure as hell wasn’t expecting a full episode dedicated to their romance. The game is dark and the people you come across are just as dangerous, if not more so than the zombies. I was half expecting Frank to turn on Bill to illustrate this to the audience, but instead we got a love story and arguing over paint. Eh, maybe I’ll give another watch with my now adjusted expectations.
All of those things are true but at its core the game is about relationships and love. Druckman has said specifically that its about the consequences of love, the experiences it leaves us vulnerable to or the awful things we are capable of in its name. And bc all of those things are true it makes Bill and Frank's story all the more powerful. Just my 2 cents. I thought it was exceptional and while it's been a long time the more fully fleshed out version feels like an improvement.
I must be one of the few people that didn’t like the episode. I don’t remember thinking much of Bill’s relationship with Frank during my play through, and sure as hell wasn’t expecting a full episode dedicated to their romance. The game is dark and the people you come across are just as dangerous, if not more so than the zombies. I was half expecting Frank to turn on Bill to illustrate this to the audience, but instead we got a love story and arguing over paint. Eh, maybe I’ll give another watch with my now adjusted expectations.
All of those things are true but at its core the game is about relationships and love. Druckman has said specifically that its about the consequences of love, the experiences it leaves us vulnerable to or the awful things we are capable of in its name. And bc all of those things are true it makes Bill and Frank's story all the more powerful. Just my 2 cents. I thought it was exceptional and while it's been a long time the more fully fleshed out version feels like an improvement.
I guess what drove that home for me in the game is that Joel’s love for Ellie (made possible by the death of Sarah) is the one bright spot. I’ll give it another chance. It was the first big deviation from the game and it threw me off. Especially considering there are only 9 episodes.
the name of the game/show pretty perfectly. It also reminded me of some of the best episodes of the Leftovers.
IMO it did a masterful job at answering the question - “If there isn’t anything worth saving, what’s the point?”
It’s been a while since I played the game but the ending kind of answer that doesn’t it? ( I don’t want to spoil anything by going much further so hopefully you are picking up what I’m putting down). The decision imo shows how he feels about it in comparison to what he chose.
I haven’t played it other than snippets with a friend back in the day
but even still, in TV format the theme needs to be set and followed through on throughout, IMO. I wouldn’t worry about the episode count, it could have easily been just 8 if they weren’t going to get into a lot of the backstory or add/deviate from the games story.
What a great, standalone episode.
When I saw Offerman in the preview I thought he would play a standard anti government prepper maniac.
What a surprise.
They said the big thing in the show will be relationships all across the board.
While I don't mind the deviation from the game, I was looking forward to the interactions between Joel, Bill and Ellie.
I read that a big part of the reason for the change was that they've already established what could go wrong in the world and what to be scared of (Sarah and Tess dying, the infected) and this was an opportunity to show what to live for. And in the wake of Tess's death, they use Bill's protectiveness of Frank and writing to Joel to keep Tess safe, that is used as a catalyst to convince Joel to take Ellie with him.
Well done.
Quote:
and I definitely don’t care about strictly following the game or not.
Never played the game but enjoy the show. Interviews I’ve read they say game play has choice and self directed action. Without that, sticking 100% with the game would get tiresome in a hurry. So they have to adapt from the game as they did here, which was terrific. They really contravened each expectation, you never knew where it was going.
They said the big thing in the show will be relationships all across the board.
It was also tied the show's story together well, since they changed the impetus of why Tess and Joel agree to take Ellie in the first place by making it about the car battery. It also provides a better explanation for why Bill won't/can't take Ellie within the context of the show.
Solid episode but I'm jonesing for some Ellie+Joel solo sessions, which definitely appears to be coming up next episode based on the ep 4 preview.
*******//potential semi spoiler//*****
I wonder if they will introduce the two characters you encounter in Pittsburgh in the game in the next episode, or if the gameplay chapter alluded to in the preview will be spread out across 2 episodes, with the characters being introduced in Ep 5. Based on how much they have to cover, I have a feeling they'll be intro'd in episode 4.
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In comment 16019454 UConn4523 said:
Quote:
and I definitely don’t care about strictly following the game or not.
Never played the game but enjoy the show. Interviews I’ve read they say game play has choice and self directed action. Without that, sticking 100% with the game would get tiresome in a hurry. So they have to adapt from the game as they did here, which was terrific. They really contravened each expectation, you never knew where it was going.
They said the big thing in the show will be relationships all across the board.
It's all by design and works effectively which is why the narrative was so beloved, and also makes the game perfect for a television adaptation. Long story short, I think whatever interview you referenced that talked about player choice over stated it to a great degree.
So if you've never played, you can enjoy it. But if you have played it, you can appreciate the nods to the game (and in some cases, lifted dialogue and references) but also appreciate that it's not exactly the same. They had to make some changes. If it was a 1-for-1 match, well, why watch? Why not just play the game again?
Quote:
In comment 16019496 eli4life said:
Quote:
In comment 16019454 UConn4523 said:
Quote:
and I definitely don’t care about strictly following the game or not.
Never played the game but enjoy the show. Interviews I’ve read they say game play has choice and self directed action. Without that, sticking 100% with the game would get tiresome in a hurry. So they have to adapt from the game as they did here, which was terrific. They really contravened each expectation, you never knew where it was going.
They said the big thing in the show will be relationships all across the board.
The game might have choice in terms of how you approach objectives, but contrary to the vast majorities of games coming out these days, TLOU game is very linear and does not give the player comparatively much choice or agency. There's no open world, there's no character customization other than upgrading skills or maybe some clothes here and there, and you're very much playing a pre-defined story that is "on-rails".
It's all by design and works effectively which is why the narrative was so beloved, and also makes the game perfect for a television adaptation. Long story short, I think whatever interview you referenced that talked about player choice over stated it to a great degree.
Exactly.
Just an FYI in regards to the game for those who haven't played it, but do play videogames. As mentioned, there was no player choice. It was a linear narrative driven game. There were no quests or missions or anything like that. There was the story and you either controlled Joel (for the most part) or Ellie and essentially played the story. While that sounds boring in a world of RPG's and open world games where player choice is all the rage, in actuality it was far from boring. What made the game revolutionary 10 years ago was a few things. The brutality of the game was off the charts. The combat was intense and viscerally violent. It was up close and personal in a way a typical shooter wasn't. Most importantly, it was emotionally gut wrenching. Other games have since tried to replicate what The Last Of Us did, but few have resonated the way this one has. Games were games. This was Adult, with themes of love, loss, human brutality, pain, survival and hope all set against a backdrop of a world gone to hell.
In a weird way I am envious of people who didn't play the game, like my wife. She's experiencing the story through a fresh pair of eyes. I'll just say, you ain't seen nothing yet.
I didn't realize that was the person from The White Lotus until I saw him talk after the episode.
I'm sure "Long Long Time" will have a resurgence in the same way that "Never Let Me Down" or "Running Up That Hill" did.
Nice to watch after having to stomach the Eagles going to another super bowl and the empire state building lit up in green white.
I guess we can attribute it to being isolated for years he was longing for human contact, still a good unexpected episode though.
HBO continues to make hit after hit. Impressive.
All of those things are true but at its core the game is about relationships and love. Druckman has said specifically that its about the consequences of love, the experiences it leaves us vulnerable to or the awful things we are capable of in its name. And bc all of those things are true it makes Bill and Frank's story all the more powerful. Just my 2 cents. I thought it was exceptional and while it's been a long time the more fully fleshed out version feels like an improvement.
IMO it did a masterful job at answering the question - “If there isn’t anything worth saving, what’s the point?”
Quote:
I must be one of the few people that didn’t like the episode. I don’t remember thinking much of Bill’s relationship with Frank during my play through, and sure as hell wasn’t expecting a full episode dedicated to their romance. The game is dark and the people you come across are just as dangerous, if not more so than the zombies. I was half expecting Frank to turn on Bill to illustrate this to the audience, but instead we got a love story and arguing over paint. Eh, maybe I’ll give another watch with my now adjusted expectations.
All of those things are true but at its core the game is about relationships and love. Druckman has said specifically that its about the consequences of love, the experiences it leaves us vulnerable to or the awful things we are capable of in its name. And bc all of those things are true it makes Bill and Frank's story all the more powerful. Just my 2 cents. I thought it was exceptional and while it's been a long time the more fully fleshed out version feels like an improvement.
I guess what drove that home for me in the game is that Joel’s love for Ellie (made possible by the death of Sarah) is the one bright spot. I’ll give it another chance. It was the first big deviation from the game and it threw me off. Especially considering there are only 9 episodes.
IMO it did a masterful job at answering the question - “If there isn’t anything worth saving, what’s the point?”
It’s been a while since I played the game but the ending kind of answer that doesn’t it? ( I don’t want to spoil anything by going much further so hopefully you are picking up what I’m putting down). The decision imo shows how he feels about it in comparison to what he chose.