The Last of Us (HBO Max)

[Flamestrike]

Yep, they kept it pretty much as is from the game.

I found the inference that 'being bitten at the moment of birth' leads to a potential immunity angle interesting.

Im calling it the Blade immunity.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There should be nominations all around for this show.

Good lord, especially after tonight.

The "it wasn't time that did it" scene alone should get Pascal an Emmy.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yep, they kept it pretty much as is from the game.

I found the inference that 'being bitten at the moment of birth' leads to a potential immunity angle interesting.

Im calling it the Blade immunity.

Newborns also still have their stem cells going full-blast, so it's also possible that she breathed in some spores but was able to adapt to them. It definitely looks like a Blade situation, but it could go either way.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So, non-game player here: How different was this ending? I know, I think, that Joel dies at the end of the game. Does Ellie do it? Does she do it because she knows what he's done?

The TV show is obviously going to be traveling into at least somewhat uncharted territory in season two. Without giving more than is necessary away about The Last of Us 2, what is the second game about? Ellie is older and living in that town in Wyoming, right?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, no one needs to worry about Joel not looking like a ruthless murderer

Speaking as a father who thinks of himself as being a Neutral Good community-minded person, I think if anyone claims they know what they'd do in Joel's situation, they're fooling themselves.

 

[BRayne]

So, non-game player here: How different was this ending? I know, I think, that Joel dies at the end of the game. Does Ellie do it? Does she do it because she knows what he's done?

The TV show is obviously going to be traveling into at least somewhat uncharted territory in season two. Without giving more than is necessary away about The Last of Us 2, what is the second game about? Ellie is older and living in that town in Wyoming, right?

To my understanding this was basically how the game ends

 

[Gradine]

Yeah the entire ending of the show was basically exactly the ending of the game. They did a really damn good job.

I'm worried about going into season 2, because I felt like they went in almost the right direction, but then chose the least interesting way to approach it.

Spoilers:

Spoiler: Spoilers

So Joel makes three important decisions in the ending, and the sequel was right to explore the ramifications of one them. Joel choosing Ellie over history? That'd be good. Joel choosing to lie to Ellie over it? Even better? Joel choosing to kill a bunch of people? Zzzzzzzzz.

And yet that's the one they go with!

 

[RangerWickett]

I personally loved the sequel. Hell, if I were going to adapt it to TV, I'd seriously consider . . .

Seriously, don't read the spoiler if you don't want TLOU2 spoiled. Even if you think you do, don't click unless you already know the plot.

Spoiler: TLOU2 Spoiler

I reiterate, don't spoil it for yourself. Last chance.

Okay, so.

I'd pretend that in season 2 you're telling a whole separate story with brand new characters. Start with Abby and her crew in Seattle, at the equivalent of Day 1 in the sequel, and tell Abby's story with Lev, the Scars, and the WLF, and throughout it she hears about someone picking off her friends, until finally at the end of the season she gets to the theater and sees Tommy and Ellie, and tells her that she gave them a second chance and they wasted it.

And then you cut and go "4 months earlier" or whatever, and cut to Ellie being woken up by Jesse, who says it's time to go on patrol, and you end the season with the big question "What the naughty word happened that led to Ellie ending up in Seattle?"

And only in season 3 do you tell the story from Ellie's perspective.

 

[Flamestrike]

So, non-game player here: How different was this ending? I know, I think, that Joel dies at the end of the game. Does Ellie do it? Does she do it because she knows what he's done?

Endings of both were the same.

It hits harder in the game because you're railroaded. They deliberately don't give you the choice to go on a mass shooting spree and murder a bunch of people. It hits harder because you've spent more time with Ellie (and played her for a bit) and the bond is very much real, but on the flip side you're dooming the entire human race to extinction and engaging in a mass shooting spree and cold-blooded murder.

Like; you (the player) know it's wrong as you're doing it, but can understand why he does it. Some will feel more justified than others (particularly parents) and others less.

The key for me was when Marlene tells Joel that if she was given the choice, Ellie would have volunteered (and that's made clear in the second game), and Joel seems to accept this as well when Marlene tells him in the carpark. Joel knows he's doing what he's doing for ultimately selfish reasons and ultimately is no better than them. In the same way the Fireflies deny Ellie the agency to decide her fate for herself, neither does Joel allow her that opportunity either, he removes that decision from her and then lies to her about it afterwards so she remains with him.

It's a little like 'Book first or Movie first'. Im biased because I played the game first, but I though the game did it better, and took advantage of the medium to put the player inside that moral grey area in a way that you simply cant recreate with a show or book.

The show also felt a little rushed (it really would have benefited from another 5 or so episodes) and I found the lack of infected (a deliberate choice) a little jarring.

 

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