Support NeoGAF

[Strategize]

The pacing was perfectly fine. Them doing the hospitial right after the suicide talk was the correct move, the tunnel in the game was padding for gameplay reasons. Every beat was hit and then some, there's literally no reason this had to be a long episode. And I doubt anyone will feel that way on a full season rewatch or those binging the show.

 

[DForce]

wat. So far they’ve nailed the tone and every other part of the adaptation. It would make no sense to completely alter the tone and point of the second game by not fleshing out Abby and her motivations.

btw wasn’t the actress who played the preggo WLF in the last episode? One of the ladies in the group was a dead ringer for her

He wants them to focus on Ellie and Abby at the same time. This would completely ruin the surprise midway through the story when we find out the reason why Abby killed Joel. The audience not knowing the motivation behind her actions is what creates drama and suspense. It would almost be like revealing the killer in Scream in episode 2.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

He wants them to focus on Ellie and Abby at the same time. This would completely ruin the surprise midway through the story when we find out the reason why Abby killed Joel. The audience not knowing the motivation behind her actions is what creates drama and suspense. It would almost be like revealing the killer in Scream in episode 2.

Eh I think I missed the “at the same time” part, but I’m not sure it can’t still be done and have the reveal not still be a surprise at some point. After Chernobyl and Season 1 I have a lot of faith in these guys

 

[DragoonKain]

This finale hits way harder in the TV series than it did in the game for me. A part of it is the direction and musical score, but also the additional lines of “time doesn’t heal all wounds” that really set the context for the rest of the episode.

Masterful ending to a pitch perfect adaptation.

I think the TV series will adapt TLOU2 way better than the game ever did too, just because of the terrible structure the game had which lends itself way better to a TV series than a game.

TLOU2 is going to be a disaster to figure out how to translate IMO.

There are sections of the game where

Spoiler

Ellie kills like 20 enemies all by herself. How the hell are they going to translate that to the game. Unless they cut that out, but cutting that out would take away from the entire "Driven made by vengeance" aspect of the plot to begin with. Which I think is a bad plot in its own right. They turned a deep complex story into Kill Bill volume 3.

Honestly, just talking about it pisses me off. Thinking about how on so many levels TLOU2 crushed my soul with utter disappointment still stings. It was like GOT season 8 for me all over again.

 

[Chiggs]

Just finished the finale. Boy, did this show fizzle the fuck out.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

TLOU2 is going to be a disaster to figure out how to translate IMO.

There are sections of the game where

Spoiler

Ellie kills like 20 enemies all by herself. How the hell are they going to translate that to the game. Unless they cut that out, but cutting that out would take away from the entire "Driven made by vengeance" aspect of the plot to begin with. Which I think is a bad plot in its own right. They turned a deep complex story into Kill Bill volume 3.

Honestly, just talking about it pisses me off. Thinking about how on so many levels TLOU2 crushed my soul with utter disappointment still stings. It was like GOT season 8 for me all over again.

They will cut out a lot of that crap

That’s why the TV rendition could save the story

 

[TheGreatMusashi]

I thought they did a fantastic job through the entire show. I didn’t like the casting prior to watching but it all grew on me in a way I didn’t expect. I don’t think they could have found better actors to convey both roles than they did.

The single, only complaint I have with the show is the final hospital scene. Joel should have been way more brutal. I was surprised when he let the two nurses go, I was surprised at how he didn’t go full on apeshit.

What I thought they portrayed on the show was in, some ways, a contrast to the nature of the combat and gameplay.

I’m wondering if my style of play (super aggressive, beat the fuck out of everyone) was in conflict with the greater story. I’m not sure now.

When I first beat the game at launch, I thought the hospital scene fully realized that Joel isn’t the baddest motherfucker of all time, he’s a monster.

I didn’t get that from the show and I wish I had. I felt more conflicted and shocked by that ending than I was with the show due to the brutal nature of the combat system. I wish it had been translated better but I think the dialogue and ultimate lie still holds up.

I’m excited for the next season, I still think they nailed it despite this and some aspects were way better on the show, namely the Bill episode.

Walking away, I’m incredibly impressed it all came together as well as it did and everything new added was, I thought, greatly complemented the source material.

 

[Slothbeing1209]

 

[Roni]

They stuck the landing, can't fault them for keeping the finale pretty much the same as in the game. But I felt like this was an opportunity to do another big setpiece with infected like in episode 5 and give people some more meat to the bone. Would've definitely quelled some of the complaints for more infected and action... The shootout montage was alright, but could've gone for a more strict action scene. Wasn't a fan of them cutting away from Joel murdering the soldier with the knife after everything we had already seen

Good series, finally something we can point to and recommend people who want to find out what games can be about.

 

[DForce]

Ellie kills like 20 enemies all by herself. How the hell are they going to translate that to the game. Unless they cut that out, but cutting that out would take away from the entire "Driven made by vengeance" aspect of the plot to begin with. Which I think is a bad plot in its own right. They turned a deep complex story into Kill Bill volume 3.

Spoiler

That's a big misconception. Ellie doesn't kill a lot of enemies because she's driven by vengeance. When Ellie and Dina arrive in Seattle, they're surprised the WLF soldiers are attacking them on sight. Even Jesse calls them trigger-happy.

If it stays true to the game.

Day 1: Ellie and Dina will get captured by Jordan and WLF soldiers and shoot their way free. TV station/Hillcrest to find Jesse
Day 2: Ellie will encounter runaway WLF soldiers, Scars for the first time, and Nora at the hospital. She can completely sneak by all the WLF soldiers until she finds Nora.
Day 3: Finding Tommy, killing Mel and Owen.

Her encounters and shootouts with the WLF will surely be limited and I don't see her killing that many WLF soldiers alone.

 

[SlimySnake]

TLOU2 is going to be a disaster to figure out how to translate IMO.

There are sections of the game where

Spoiler

Ellie kills like 20 enemies all by herself. How the hell are they going to translate that to the game. Unless they cut that out, but cutting that out would take away from the entire "Driven made by vengeance" aspect of the plot to begin with. Which I think is a bad plot in its own right. They turned a deep complex story into Kill Bill volume 3.

Honestly, just talking about it pisses me off. Thinking about how on so many levels TLOU2 crushed my soul with utter disappointment still stings. It was like GOT season 8 for me all over again.

Ellie in the show kills like one person lmao. In the game, she was throwing bricks at people, shooting at them, and had her own gameplay sections where she killed dozens of David's men. In the show, they just had her kill David and thats about it. Even her first real kill, was eventually finished off by Joel when in the game, she shoots the guy right in the face.

They are just going to have her kill Abby's friends. The rest of it will be walking and talking like this season with maybe a couple of episodes dedicated to side stories. It's Abby who got the best setpieces in the game anyway. I think Ellie got the Jeep chase with Jessie and that was it for setpeices. Abby got her own chase sequence, a horde chase, rat king, the epic island chase through the burning villages, and of course the forest chase.

But yes, TLOU2 is going to be a rough story to adapt. The entire basis of the story is to have the PLAYER choose to forgive Abby, and playing with our emotions. I dont know how they adapt that into the show where you're a passive participant. Abby better be played by a super charismatic actress because shes just so damn unlikable in the game. With Ellie also being super unlikable in the sequel losing her entire charming personality, the show is going to have a tough time making us care about both protagonists.

 

[Poppyseed]

Ellie in the show kills like one person lmao. In the game, she was throwing bricks at people, shooting at them, and had her own gameplay sections where she killed dozens of David's men. In the show, they just had her kill David and thats about it. Even her first real kill, was eventually finished off by Joel when in the game, she shoots the guy right in the face.

They are just going to have her kill Abby's friends. The rest of it will be walking and talking like this season with maybe a couple of episodes dedicated to side stories. It's Abby who got the best setpieces in the game anyway. I think Ellie got the Jeep chase with Jessie and that was it for setpeices. Abby got her own chase sequence, a horde chase, rat king, the epic island chase through the burning villages, and of course the forest chase.

But yes, TLOU2 is going to be a rough story to adapt. The entire basis of the story is to have the PLAYER choose to forgive Abby, and playing with our emotions. I dont know how they adapt that into the show where you're a passive participant. Abby better be played by a super charismatic actress because shes just so damn unlikable in the game. With Ellie also being super unlikable in the sequel losing her entire charming personality, the show is going to have a tough time making us care about both protagonists.

It’s so interesting the different takes on TLoU2. I thought it was a masterpiece. I ended up an emotional wreck, hating nobody and yelling at the TV, “JUST STOP!!!” when the crazy battles were playing out.

For this season, Episode 3 was the standout. I couldn’t even see because of all the damn onions.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

They did a great job adapting the character of Joel in the show. As much as I love VG Joel, the brutality of the character didn't exactly align with how he carried himself throughout most of the game. For a game that is fine, because killing people in a video game isn't nearly as personalized like it is in a live tv series. By making Joel such an unhinged broken character, you totally buy the idea of him going on a rampage. If he was portrayed similar to the VG, I am not so sure audiences would be convinced he was capable of such an act

Overall, really great show. Solid 9/10. It was a faithful adaptation that enhanced the source material. Exactly what you want. My only real criticism was the pacing felt rushed leading up to the Finale. I hate the idea that HBO gave the writers only 10 episodes to fit the entirety of the game, when it really needed 12-13. The show definitely needed more slow burn moments as the fast pacing was exhausting. I'm assuming the writers have carte blanche going forward with part 2, which is exciting

 

[SlimySnake]

Overall, really great show. Solid 9/10. It was a faithful adaptation that enhanced the source material. Exactly what you want. My only real criticism was the pacing felt rushed leading up to the Finale. I hate the idea that HBO gave the writers only 10 episodes to fit the entirety of the game, when it really needed 12-13. The show definitely needed more slow burn moments as the fast pacing was exhausting. I'm assuming the writers have carte blanche going forward with part 2, which is exciting

If the writers didnt waste two full episodes on side stories that were not in the base game, you wouldnt have needed 12 episodes.

 

[Strategize]

I agree that Part II adaptation will be a tough one. I think Part II's narrative was more designed around it being a game than Part 1 was. For example there's absoutley zero chance that Ellie boss fight in the theatre has the same weight in the show because half of it is the mindfuckery of you fighting against yourself, that part is objectively better as a game regardless of how they execute it.

 

[DragoonKain]

Ellie in the show kills like one person lmao. In the game, she was throwing bricks at people, shooting at them, and had her own gameplay sections where she killed dozens of David's men. In the show, they just had her kill David and thats about it. Even her first real kill, was eventually finished off by Joel when in the game, she shoots the guy right in the face.

They are just going to have her kill Abby's friends. The rest of it will be walking and talking like this season with maybe a couple of episodes dedicated to side stories. It's Abby who got the best setpieces in the game anyway. I think Ellie got the Jeep chase with Jessie and that was it for setpeices. Abby got her own chase sequence, a horde chase, rat king, the epic island chase through the burning villages, and of course the forest chase.

But yes, TLOU2 is going to be a rough story to adapt. The entire basis of the story is to have the PLAYER choose to forgive Abby, and playing with our emotions. I dont know how they adapt that into the show where you're a passive participant. Abby better be played by a super charismatic actress because shes just so damn unlikable in the game. With Ellie also being super unlikable in the sequel losing her entire charming personality, the show is going to have a tough time making us care about both protagonists.

They will probably do that, but I also think that will be a problem because

Spoiler

What makes the walking and talking good in this season is Ellie and Joel's character development and their relationship development. Every scene with them is them growing together and going through ups and downs and learning about one another. Season 2 isn't going to have that because TLOU2 is just a fucking revenge story. And IMO it doesn't have character development, it has character destruction. It took an emotionally complex character and made her into an emo revenge robot. What is there even going to do in a season 2? Some chats with Dina? I don't even see how they could fill 10 episodes. Unless they pump it loaded with Joel and Ellie off-screen stuff like the space museum. Or change the story altogether, which I honestly hope they do.

And that's not even getting into the fact that since there isn't a TLOU 3 yet, once they make 2, we'll have to wait like 5+ years for a season 3 because it won't come out til after the game. And if they decide to end it after a season 2, if they end it the same way they ended the game... sheesh. That's going to be rough. I thought the ending was flat out horrible.

 

[BoxFresh123]

That fucking giraffe

 

[Bragr]

It’s so interesting the different takes on TLoU2. I thought it was a masterpiece.

There is a disconnect from player to player around the believability in The Last of Us: Part II.

Let's be honest, you played as a small girl that was murdering people, it was absolutely cornball. For some reason, Naughty Dog didn't give a shit about it, it was almost like they wanted to prove a point that "kids can do it too!" or something. The game was really good, but to be able to take the context of being a magical kid with superpowers you need to be able to ignore that you played as a person who couldn't benchpress a piece of paper, pushing around and killing people in melee combat. TLOU2 was a realistic brutal game with the least realistic protagonist in video game history. It's like if Urkel would be Master Chief.

For some players, they never really noticed how dumb that game is, for some, it's obvious right from the start.

There is absolutely no way it's possible to make Bella Ramsey, a tiny little person, have any believability in the second season. It's gonna look even dumber than the game. The story doesn't function beyond the fantastical borders of a video game.

 

[solidus12]

Am I the only one who thought that the giraffe was bad CGI?

 

[SlimySnake]

They will probably do that, but I also think that will be a problem because

Spoiler

What makes the walking and talking good in this season is Ellie and Joel's character development and their relationship development. Every scene with them is them growing together and going through ups and downs and learning about one another. Season 2 isn't going to have that because TLOU2 is just a fucking revenge story. And IMO it doesn't have character development, it has character destruction. It took an emotionally complex character and made her into an emo revenge robot. What is there even going to do in a season 2? Some chats with Dina? I don't even see how they could fill 10 episodes. Unless they pump it loaded with Joel and Ellie off-screen stuff like the space museum. Or change the story altogether, which I honestly hope they do.

And that's not even getting into the fact that since there isn't a TLOU 3 yet, once they make 2, we'll have to wait like 5+ years for a season 3 because it won't come out til after the game. And if they decide to end it after a season 2, if they end it the same way they ended the game... sheesh. That's going to be rough. I thought the ending was flat out horrible.

Yeah. I’m hoping they just change the game and have abby kill dina or Tommy instead. I admire Neil for having the balls to try something that ambitious but his narrative decisions left Ellie as a one dimensional unlikable character which ended up hurting the entertainment value. It was a very hard game to play through because of the fact that neither Ellie/Dina or Abby/Lev duos were as interesting or fun to be around as Ellie and Joel.

I agree that Part II adaptation will be a tough one. I think Part II's narrative was more designed around it being a game than Part 1 was. For example there's absoutley zero chance that Ellie boss fight in the theatre has the same weight in the show because half of it is the mindfuckery of you fighting against yourself, that part is objectively better as a game regardless of how they execute it.

Yep. The entire game is meta and they just can’t adapt something like that in a movie or TV show. It will need to be completely rewritten.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Just finished the finale. Boy, did this show fizzle the fuck out.

Yes, "fizzling the fuck out." lmao

 

[kyliethicc]

lol

 

[rhodesianshepard]

If the writers didnt waste two full episodes on side stories that were not in the base game, you wouldnt have needed 12 episodes.

It's a hard thing to balance. I thought the show was at its best when it divulged from the VG. There should be more of that, not less. But then the writers are hamstrung to weave in all the essential parts of the game in a limited time frame

 

[BearNecessity]

When I played the game I always thought 'hmm, should I have shot the doctor?'

I'm glad its now canon.

(wait did I shoot the nurses too?)

 

[DForce]

There is a disconnect from player to player around the believability in The Last of Us: Part II.

Let's be honest, you played as a small girl that was murdering people, it was absolutely cornball. For some reason, Naughty Dog didn't give a shit about it, it was almost like they wanted to prove a point that "kids can do it too!" or something. The game was really good, but to be able to take the context of being a magical kid with superpowers you need to be able to ignore that you played as a person who couldn't benchpress a piece of paper, pushing around and killing people in melee combat. TLOU2 was a realistic brutal game with the least realistic protagonist in video game history. It's like if Urkel would be Master Chief.

For some players, they never really noticed how dumb that game is, for some, it's obvious right from the start.

There is absolutely no way it's possible to make Bella Ramsey, a tiny little person, have any believability in the second season. It's gonna look even dumber than the game. The story doesn't function beyond the fantastical borders of a video game.

You could literally say this about a lot of action games. It was even less believable in the first game when a 14-year-old girl took out a group of David's men.

What happens in the actual gameplay isn't what happens in the actual story. The audience is supposed to separate that. If Bella Ramsey is too Tiny, then all they have to do is cast Abby that looks like the girl from the gym scene in episode 7. There are ways to get around this.

 

[DragoonKain]

Yeah. I’m hoping they just change the game and have abby kill dina or Tommy instead. I admire Neil for having the balls to try something that ambitious but his narrative decisions left Ellie as a one dimensional unlikable character which ended up hurting the entertainment value. It was a very hard game to play through because of the fact that neither Ellie/Dina or Abby/Lev duos were as interesting or fun to be around as Ellie and Joel.


Yep. The entire game is meta and they just can’t adapt something like that in a movie or TV show. It will need to be completely rewritten.

Agree 100%. Ellie in tonight's episode was so withdrawn, so distant. It made sense in context to everything that has happened and what she said at the end to Joel. But this was one episode.

Imagine that version of Bella Ramsey for 10 full length episodes? My god. That would not be fun to watch. Some of the best and most wholesome moments of this season were Ellie's sense of humor, her naivety, her quick wittedness. Missing that for one episode is tolerable. Missing that for an entire season would be an absolute snoozefest. And you don't have gameplay to take yourself away from that in a show. And honestly, I can't imagine Bella Ramsey would be thrilled playing that kind of a role either. Actors like to be challenged. If every line is emo and withdrawn and there's no longer any layers to her character, her acting might suffer. You often see actors subconsciously mail in roles that don't provide any nuance.

An entire season of Bella Ramsey and Dina is going to make for horrendous television. Druckmann needs to figure out what he's going to do here.

 

[3liteDragon]

Great finale episode but the hospital part could've been paced a little slower, was done better in the game, the whole episode went by quick for a finale. The iconic giraffe sequence & the ending were perfectly done like they were in the game as well. Fantastic season overall & definitely the best game adaptation out there right now, TLOU2 was my GOTG & I'm kinda excited & nervous to see how the TV audience is gonna react to it vs the gamer audience (probably a lot more mature reaction lol). It's gonna be 10x harder to adapt vs Part I but I think the showrunners will end up doing a fine job with it in the end & pull through. The common complaint I had with this season was the lack of infected which I hope we see a bit more in the next season, I know Mazin already addressed it today after the finale aired. Not surprising to see the non-gamer audience love this more than the gamer audience either, it's exceptional TV imo whether you played the game or not.

Giving this season a 9.2/10, can't wait for season 2.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Agree 100%. Ellie in tonight's episode was so withdrawn, so distant. It made sense in context to everything that has happened and what she said at the end to Joel. But this was one episode.

Imagine that version of Bella Ramsey for 10 full length episodes? My god. That would not be fun to watch. Some of the best and most wholesome moments of this season were Ellie's sense of humor, her naivety, her quick wittedness. Missing that for one episode is tolerable. Missing that for an entire season would be an absolute snoozefest. And you don't have gameplay to take yourself away from that in a show. And honestly, I can't imagine Bella Ramsey would be thrilled playing that kind of a role either. Actors like to be challenged. If every line is emo and withdrawn and there's no longer any layers to her character, her acting might suffer. You often see actors subconsciously mail in roles that don't provide any nuance.

An entire season of Bella Ramsey and Dina is going to make for horrendous television. Druckmann needs to figure out what he's going to do here.

More importantly, the contrast is what matters.

Pre-David, pre-journey Ellie = Fun, witty, and innocent.
Post-David, post-journey Ellie = Traumatized and lost her child-like innocence.

If they didn't show the funny Ellie, there'd be no contrast or reference point when they showed the traumatized and quiet Ellie.

This was actually an important part of Part 1 and Ellie's character arc. There is a whole song dedicated in the game towards this transition and Elli's loss of "innocence."

 

[kyliethicc]

fun fact

laura bailey actually played one of the nurses in the hospital in the original game and therefore actually reprised her own role in the show lol

 

[March Climber]

There is a disconnect from player to player around the believability in The Last of Us: Part II.

Let's be honest, you played as a small girl that was murdering people, it was absolutely cornball. For some reason, Naughty Dog didn't give a shit about it, it was almost like they wanted to prove a point that "kids can do it too!" or something. The game was really good, but to be able to take the context of being a magical kid with superpowers you need to be able to ignore that you played as a person who couldn't benchpress a piece of paper, pushing around and killing people in melee combat. TLOU2 was a realistic brutal game with the least realistic protagonist in video game history. It's like if Urkel would be Master Chief.

For some players, they never really noticed how dumb that game is, for some, it's obvious right from the start.

There is absolutely no way it's possible to make Bella Ramsey, a tiny little person, have any believability in the second season. It's gonna look even dumber than the game. The story doesn't function beyond the fantastical borders of a video game.

On the list of issues the 2nd game has(and boy does it have narrative issues), you're focusing too much on something that would be near the bottom of the list.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

There is a disconnect from player to player around the believability in The Last of Us: Part II.

Let's be honest, you played as a small girl that was murdering people, it was absolutely cornball. For some reason, Naughty Dog didn't give a shit about it, it was almost like they wanted to prove a point that "kids can do it too!" or something. The game was really good, but to be able to take the context of being a magical kid with superpowers you need to be able to ignore that you played as a person who couldn't benchpress a piece of paper, pushing around and killing people in melee combat. TLOU2 was a realistic brutal game with the least realistic protagonist in video game history. It's like if Urkel would be Master Chief.

For some players, they never really noticed how dumb that game is, for some, it's obvious right from the start.

There is absolutely no way it's possible to make Bella Ramsey, a tiny little person, have any believability in the second season. It's gonna look even dumber than the game. The story doesn't function beyond the fantastical borders of a video game.

It's just as unrealistic as Nathan Drake murdering hundreds of people in search of treasure with impunity. Somehow it's never mentioned in the story that he is a mass murderer. It's called video game mechanics. Most video games make no logical sense when it comes to gameplay. TV show Ellie won't be sneaking up behind enemies and killing them. It is not needed to the tell the story of TLOU2. Just how Joel only killed a handful of people in the show before the finale. Gameplay does not dictate story

 

[Slothbeing1209]

Just start watching the episode.
It's weird that Ellie's mom voice sounds exactly like Ellie lmao. Great performance by Ashley Johnson!!!

 

[ByWatterson]

Every time the show leaves Joel and Ellie, which is all the damn time, it loses what made the game special. I don't need Anna. I don't need Kathleen. Or Bill and Frank, or backstory for cannibals, man.

What a waste of potential.

 

[DForce]

Every time the show leaves Joel and Ellie, which is all the damn time, it loses what made the game special. I don't need Anna. I don't need Kathleen. Or Bill and Frank, or backstory for cannibals, man.

What a waste of potential.

Stories like Anna's are what made the game special.

This is what made Marlene's decision difficult because she raised Ellie and this was pretty evident in the notes.

 

[ByWatterson]

Stories like Anna's are what made the game special.

This is what made Marlene's decision difficult because she raised Ellie and this was pretty evident in the notes.

Anna is literally not in the game at all. It's one line of dialogue.

And they made it the Blade explanation, LOL. As soon as I saw her running from infected, I knew it was the Blade method.

ELLIE: Daywalker

Jesus.

 

[March Climber]

Abby. Thought it was pretty obvious.

After watching the latest Ant-Man movie, I think there's a chance that Abby could be the person who played Jentorra in Quantumania. She has the height, the build, and can act well enough.

 

[Heisenberg007]

After watching the latest Ant-Man movie, I think there's a chance that Abby could be the person who played Jentorra in Quantumania. She has the height, the build, and can act well enough.

Yep, would fit like glove!

But they'll have to recast Ellie. Bella Ramsey would look like a kid next to her, and their 2 fight scenes would just not translate.

 

[Melfice7]

It's weird that Ellie's mom voice sounds exactly like Ellie lmao.

 

[March Climber]

Yep, would fit like glove!

But they'll have to recast Ellie. Bella Ramsey would look like a kid next to her, and their 2 fight scenes would just not translate.

I'm ok with this. Give another actress a chance to shine rather than trying to age-up Bella Ramsey. Joel will still be the same actor so everything works when being set up.

 

[SlimySnake]

After watching the latest Ant-Man movie, I think there's a chance that Abby could be the person who played Jentorra in Quantumania. She has the height, the build, and can act well enough.

Yep she would be the perfect person everyone would rally around to hate.

 

[DForce]

Anna is literally not in the game at all. It's one line of dialogue.

And they made it the Blade explanation, LOL. As soon as I saw her running from infected, I knew it was the Blade method.

ELLIE: Daywalker

Jesus.

Where did I say Anna appeared in the game? I said her STORY is what made it special. She's mentioned several times in the game, and she wrote a letter to Ellie before dying.


These things have meaning and they're not pointless. Do you think people read the notes in the video game and didn't think it was a difficult decision for Marlene to make? The game goes for the TV show.

 

[March Climber]

Yep she would be the perfect person everyone would rally around to hate.

Well, it's going to happen regardless , so they might as well choose someone who fits the bill instead of some random scrawny scarlett.

 

[DragoonKain]

More importantly, the contrast is what matters.

Pre-David, pre-journey Ellie = Fun, witty, and innocent.
Post-David, post-journey Ellie = Traumatized and lost her child-like innocence.

If they didn't show the funny Ellie, there'd be no contrast or reference point when they showed the traumatized and quiet Ellie.

This was actually an important part of Part 1 and Ellie's character arc. There is a whole song dedicated in the game towards this transition and Elli's loss of "innocence."

Well that’s one of the reasons why I have issue with it. It was ultra traumatic and that’s going to take time to recover. But remember TLOU2 is years in the future. And she’s still not the same. Ellie had to murder Riley, her best friend and a person she was in love with. She had to live with being an orphan. She witnessed the deaths of Tess, Sam, and Henry. She thought she lost Joel multiple times.

And she still found her way back to being her usual self in time.

And the David part is the one part that permanently broke her? And all the other stuff didn’t? It doesn’t feel in line with her character at all. Her very nature is overcoming adversity. They take time to establish that despite not one but several 10/10 traumatic experiences she still stayed true to her personality. It’s in her DNA.

I would maybe understand it if she turned that way after Joel died because then she’d be focused on revenge but before that? It didn’t fit for me.

 

[Chiggs]

Yes, "fizzling the fuck out." lmao

Well, it did for me, and you’ll see that same sentiment throughout this thread, too.

Also, you’ll note that score you posted represents a small number of ratings when compared to other episodes in the season. Will the score hold?, or will Endure and Survive remain the champ?

 

[FUBARx89]

Well, I liked the hospital scene. The Marlene scene felt incredibly flat though.

Overall decent season, could of done without the filler (Am not counting the Left Behind episode, cause it's bundled with the game these days), but decent enough.

Wish they'd cast someone else instead of Bella Ramsey though, was hoping she'd grow on me, but nah.

 

[Bragr]

You could literally say this about a lot of action games.

Like what?

The 14-year-old part in the first game is stupid too.

 

[Bragr]

It's just as unrealistic as Nathan Drake murdering hundreds of people in search of treasure with impunity. Somehow it's never mentioned in the story that he is a mass murderer. It's called video game mechanics. Most video games make no logical sense when it comes to gameplay. TV show Ellie won't be sneaking up behind enemies and killing them. It is not needed to the tell the story of TLOU2. Just how Joel only killed a handful of people in the show before the finale. Gameplay does not dictate story

No, it's not like Drake.

TLOU2 is trying to be grounded, Uncharted is not. TLOU2 tries to follow realism with its brutality but ignores it with its protagonist.

Abby works a lot better, she is a soldier, and strong. Ellie is nonsensical.

 

[Bragr]

On the list of issues the 2nd game has(and boy does it have narrative issues), you're focusing too much on something that would be near the bottom of the list.

Even with its narrative issues, it's still doing more with its story than most games. The part where you, as a kid, hold down grown men and slit their throats and gut them, then pretend she is fine at the end, is the biggest failure of the game.

 

[DForce]

Like what?

The 14-year-old part in the first game is stupid too.

There are many games where the protagonist takes out waves of enemies and it's not even remotely believable. lol

Lara Croft and Nathan Draft aren't going to do it.

There are tons of action movies where one man takes out groups of enemies. Do you know the movie IP Man? Do you think 10+ black belt fighters aren't smart enough to jump in all at once to take out the one man? Or what about Beatrix Kiddo? There's no way a person can take out that many people at once at her size. lol

Games are fictional stories and taking out groups of enemies is for our entertainment. They're going to scale this back in the show (most likely) because it's more grounded compared to the game.

 

[March Climber]

Even with its narrative issues, it's still doing more with its story than most games. The part where you, as a kid, hold down grown men and slit their throats and gut them, then pretend she is fine at the end, is the biggest failure of the game.

If only I could view things through your lense where that minor detail was your biggest gripe. I might have actually enjoyed the story more. I’m a bit envious.