The Last Of Us HBO TV Show |OT| Discussion (Spoilers)
- Thread starter Swift_Star
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I will say the last few pages of the resetera thread have some of the best critisicsm of the show imaginable, without users calling each other slurs for disagreeing. As I've been saying for a while, you know the show sucks if The Walking Dead handled it's zombies and character development better
"The Last of Us is primarily a story about characters, and I don’t have a problem with the show emphasizing that, but the way it’s downplayed the infected is really starting to stand out. Even the last episode where the infected played a part in the plot, they were reduced from a swarm to one runner. Sometimes less is more, but sometimes less is just less. It feels like they blew their whole budget on that swarm in episode 5. For all its faults, at least the walkers were ever present in The Walking Dead."
"The Last of Us is primarily a story about characters, and I don’t have a problem with the show emphasizing that, but the way it’s downplayed the infected is really starting to stand out. Even the last episode where the infected played a part in the plot, they were reduced from a swarm to one runner. Sometimes less is more, but sometimes less is just less. It feels like they blew their whole budget on that swarm in episode 5. For all its faults, at least the walkers were ever present in The Walking Dead."
My problem with the show currently is that they're making joel TOO sympathetic of a character. He's been rewritten from "holy shit this guy is kind of a menace, I'm conflicted about him" to "dad guy that does some bad things (but only very rarely) cause he has to, because dad". That and between there being too many human survivors and the relative lack of zombies... it doesn't feel too much like humanity is on its last legs.
I hope so. We all know that stories go from good to legendary based on the ending so if they stick the last 2 episodes then all will be forgiven.
I hope the last two episodes aren't as rushed as the reviews are saying. The show has been strong so far, with Episode 3 and 6 being my favourites.
The only major creative decision I've disagreed with is the Kathleen plot. The hunters in the game felt like a grounded, faceless group of random people that lived on stealing from strangers (a threat you could believably encounter), while the show turned them into clichéd The Walking Dead villains. In comparison to the game, the hunters, Kathleen, and the revenge plot just seemed scripted. It also wasn't believable that they got rid of all the infected in the city and the "swarms of infected" ending was tropey as hell. That two-parter is the weak point so far.
I loved what they did with Jackson. That part of the show was an improvement over the game and the "I'm failing in my sleep" scene was a standout. Same thing with the Bill and Frank episode, which elevated what used to be a throwaway subplot.
The casting has been spot on.
One thing the show could use is more action. Generally, it takes the correct approach in fleshing out the story and the characters instead of worrying about gameplay segments. But I think they've also gone a little far in removing scenes that could be genuinely suspenseful in live action and set pieces that have cinematic potential. Hopefully they make better use of the Infected and the action/suspense scenes in Season 2. Obviously, the dramatic stuff is the meat of it, but still.
The only major creative decision I've disagreed with is the Kathleen plot. The hunters in the game felt like a grounded, faceless group of random people that lived on stealing from strangers (a threat you could believably encounter), while the show turned them into clichéd The Walking Dead villains. In comparison to the game, the hunters, Kathleen, and the revenge plot just seemed scripted. It also wasn't believable that they got rid of all the infected in the city and the "swarms of infected" ending was tropey as hell. That two-parter is the weak point so far.
I loved what they did with Jackson. That part of the show was an improvement over the game and the "I'm failing in my sleep" scene was a standout. Same thing with the Bill and Frank episode, which elevated what used to be a throwaway subplot.
The casting has been spot on.
One thing the show could use is more action. Generally, it takes the correct approach in fleshing out the story and the characters instead of worrying about gameplay segments. But I think they've also gone a little far in removing scenes that could be genuinely suspenseful in live action and set pieces that have cinematic potential. Hopefully they make better use of the Infected and the action/suspense scenes in Season 2. Obviously, the dramatic stuff is the meat of it, but still.
This
What? From a storytelling standpoint, here's what happens during the cannibal section
- Ellie finds David and they defend themselves
- She is captured
- Joel wakes up and leaves to find her
- She defeats david and Joel gets her
- She and Joel get "rescued"
- Joel wakes up and get's told she will have to die
- He saves her
- She wakes up in the car, they leave the car, walk towards Jackson and he lies to her
No it couldn't. The DLC episode clearly provides backstory to Ellie's character (which they are focusing a lot more than in the game) and to her decision to save Joel. The DLC itself has a lot more story and backstory than both sections I spoke about above.
I can agree with the first, but the second I can't. The university has pretty much zero in terms of story telling. It's a big combat arena where Joel gets wounded.
You haven't seen the episode yet. Realistically, I think they'll dedicate about 20 to 25 minutes to the whole part and then the rest as an epilogue, like in the game. It's more than enough time. Hell, the hospital section can be beaten in 5 or 6 min if you know what you're doing.
Where's that data so that we can take a look at it?
"The show sucks" yet the overwhelming majority of reviews that don't say "too many gays" love the show. As for the nonsense of "downplaying the infected", I'm not sure if people noticed that the infected are way harder to kill and a much bigger threat than in the game. In the game you kill throves of them easily, even bloaters. In the show, the bloater is an indestructible force, a clicker was enough to overwhelm two adults. Hell, the show canonized hordes, something the game doesn't even have!
He killed a guy with his own fists, then strangled and broke someone else's neck. And both of them he didn't do "because dad".
There shouldn't be many Zombies. The game itself establishes that most people don't make it past the runner stage (just look at the amount of infected per type).
That won't take any substantial amount from the episode. It will probably be a small-ish flashback.
I can agree with this to some extent yeah.
Edit - I would have loved myself 1 more episode to flesh a couple of things out more, but the show doesn't seem rushed. Is it slow paced like GoT or even Chernobyl? No. Is it rushed? Also no.
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And yeah, it's not teh gays. Nor even duplicated reviews by different accounts.
It's also funny to see the average scores and what episodes have been review bombed with 1* reviews - both of them are teh gay episodes.
It's also funny to see the average scores and what episodes have been review bombed with 1* reviews - both of them are teh gay episodes.
There really isn’t much in the way of genuinely valid criticism that I’ve seen anywhere, especially not some of the hate-brained takes in this thread.
The usual suspects in this thread should listen to the official podcast and learn a thing or two about the adaptation process.
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The part about ignoring the fans of the game is priceless… this is all in the game, sweetie. People that are annoyed by gay people should really, really seek help.
Lol now we've moved to the stage where any criticism of the show is labeled homophobic because of online commentators. I expected better of some members. I'm just going to ignore that since that is yet another cop out to shut down any criticism what so ever unless you want to be labeled as something horrible. Speaking as someone who has played through and enjoyed most of Part 2, I can see the wheels turning on the show fanbase on how they're going to shut down any criticism of the second season using the same shaming tactic.
I'd say the only well done gameplay sequence that made it into the game was the museum clicker scene in Episode 2, I think it was something the show could've used more of.
Also, I disagree with this and think this is one of the fundamental flaws of the show. The gameplay segments is where a lot of important storytelling and character development was told, everyone knows how much TLOU was filled with environmental storytelling (notes & interactions). Not to mention it's where most of the tense scenes/action happen. I truly think the decision to omit most of the gameplay moments from the game, (cutting Bills Town entirely, the car crash fight sequence, University) is due to the co director Bruce Straley being largely in charge of most of that department. What little gameplay moments that did make it into the game were severely cut down or watered down into clunky choreography with one enemy that created 0 tension at all.
I'd say the only well done gameplay sequence that made it into the game was the museum clicker scene in Episode 2, I think it was something the show could've used more of.
You do realise that I posted literal screenshots of homophobic rants, right?
Are you going to ignore my very sizeable comment where I try to argue with your view points and don't insult you in any way?
Did you see Chernobyl? There's not much action there as well. They hired someone that basically tells dramatic stories with little action and plenty of character development.
I skipped over the rest of your responses once you pulled the homophobic card. I'll go back and re read your points. Yes, we all know their are massive homophobes that flock to certain media, I just think that is a weak argument to be made when places like resetera and TLOU subreddit both block those types of people, yet still has people pointing out its flaws respectfully. It would be one thing if the critisicms of the show only pertained to the episodes with gay representation, but they don't as the flaws are something that are season wide.
For all his faults, I think Druckman handles drama fine enough on his own, the alternate showrunner should've been someone who specialized in tv action or maybe even horror to flesh out some of the more brutal aspects of the apocalypse. Right now, we're getting a show that's all drama that seems to ignore that it exists inside a post apocalyptic world, with hunters and infected.
Are you fighting with yourself? look at the post above.
I have seen some schizophrenia in my lifetime but damn you are taking the cake on this one my dude/dudette/who ever is living in there.
That was an entirely separate response. But yeah, there's absolutely no homophobia driving scores for this show:
- Episode 1: 9.2 average, 95.5k reviews, 1
reviews are 1.8% of the total - Episode 2: 9.1 average, 88.1k reviews, 1 reviews are 1.9% of the total
- Episode 3: 8.0 average, 201k reviews, 1 reviews are 26.3% of the total
- Episode 4: 8.4 average, 55.4k reviews, 1 reviews are 3.3% of the total
- Episode 5: 9.5 average, 58.9k reviews, 1 reviews are 1.3% of the total
- Episode 6: 9.0 average, 36.8k reviews, 1 reviews are 1.7% of the total
- Episode 7: 7.5 average, 30.4k reviews, 1 reviews are 13.8% of the total
reviews are those that feature gay romance. It must be a massive coincidence and not at all related to people being homophobic.Episode 3 has 8 times more 1
reviews when compared to episode 5 (the one that deviates the most from all of them except for Ep 3 and 7), Episode 7 has 4.2 times more 1 reviews.So please, don't try and whitewash what is obvious. And I'm not trying to shit on your or others criticism, but to say certain episodes are not being review bombed by homophobic dumbfucks is just ignoring reality.
Edit - as for Chernobyl being overrated, I think your problem is that you simply don't like dramas, and that's ok. Chernobyl is objectively one of the best tv series of all time.
Okay, okay.... try and get back to being as non-political as possible.
I consider the point of contention above resolved......
On topic;
Have enough infected been killed? Is there enough action? ..... I have not watched the series at all yet but I'd like to know if you expected more action.
Cause I have heard that many people wanted more of that.
I consider the point of contention above resolved......
On topic;
Have enough infected been killed? Is there enough action? ..... I have not watched the series at all yet but I'd like to know if you expected more action.
Cause I have heard that many people wanted more of that.
Not many infected, no. It's substantially "downgraded" from the game.
The show so far focuses on character development and backstory than high action, infected horde killing.
Weak dig but try again. I was quoting myself because i was responding to something Dodkrake said about Chernbyl. Try to follow along or not at all.Are you fighting with yourself? look at the post above.
I have seen some schizophrenia in my lifetime but damn you are taking the cake on this one my dude/dudette/who ever is living in there.
anyways Dodkrake, I'm not going to shy away from the fact that homophobes were review bombing the gay episodes, like duh we know this. But my opinions do not come from chud reviewers on these weird sites, but from reading fairly liberal places that also have a problem with the pacing and lack of action in the show.
I would say I love dramas, name any HBO drama that has came out in recent years besides that one and I'd see some merit to all of them. Station eleven I liked as well. I just don't think TLOU or Chernobyl was that well done. The hyperbole of that last line is one that's spilled over to this show, about it being the best thing ever made. Again I don't listen to "review sites" or "professional critics" to determine the quality of something, which seems to be why I differ from the consensus that Chernobyl is the best thing ever.
Which is sad because the game also focused on character development while also showing the tension and threat of the post apocalypse in humans and infected, and wasn't all high action or infected horde killing. Their can be a balance and this show has just tilted into one direction, high drama, without actually being that great at it.