HBO's The Last of Us

[Nick]

I'm honestly disappointed we aren't getting a new story in between this and Part 2 but...its easier for them. Just really wanted a new story for none gamers to get to sit back and enjoy and we all know how many written stories get left on the floor and would have been perfect to set up part 2 more....but yeah its not ment to be

They can add things and change things just like they have done so far with part one. Craig Mazin has also said that Part 2 is such a big story that it will likely need multiple seasons as we had speculated.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Man.

Gonna be mad disappointed if this episode isn't the front-runner in the nomination circuit. Hit hard in a way that has made me genuinely think.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Well Episode 3 was nearly a perfect episode, like it was a mini movie and loved it

Definitely can't wait for the next episode

 

[Nick]

Yeah. This was absolutely great. And unlike last episode which was almost scene for scene parts directly from the game, this one had me guessing just as much as the person I was watching with (who hasn't played the game) and wondering where things were going to go, which I appreciated.

I liked that it did quite a few things at once. It did a lot of world building since the episode takes place during many different years, shows that even in a world as screwed up as this, even the most nihilistic of people could still find love, and all of that was obviously a long and beautiful way of taking a little break from Joel and Ellie and setting them up for the next episode.

Spoiler

Next episode NEEDS to have the quick joke between Ellie to Joel regarding the adult magazine in the truck though...

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Yeah. This was absolutely great. And unlike last episode which was almost scene for scene parts directly from the game, this one had me guessing just as much as the person I was watching with (who hasn't played the game) and wondering where things were going to go, which I appreciated.

I liked that it did quite a few things at once. It did a lot of world building since the episode takes place during many different years, shows that even in a world as screwed up as this, even the most nihilistic of people could still find love, and all of that was obviously a long and beautiful way of taking a little break from Joel and Ellie and setting them up for the next episode.

Spoiler

Next episode NEEDS to have the quick joke between Ellie to Joel regarding the adult magazine in the truck though...

I mentioned this on the HHN /r/ Discord but Love is the word I genuinely describe this episode.

The love that Bill and Frank give and share together, their hardships and strengths; alongside Joel at various points in life where he had love. Compared to the game's more cynical element for Bill's Town, it feels absolutely resonant with everything we got in Episode 2. And it makes me genuinely interested to see how this differs as we get to Sam and Henry.

 

[Nick]

I mentioned this on the HHN /r/ Discord but Love is the word I genuinely describe this episode.

The love that Bill and Frank give and share together, their hardships and strengths; alongside Joel at various points in life where he had love. Compared to the game's more cynical element for Bill's Town, it feels absolutely resonant with everything we got in Episode 2. And it makes me genuinely interested to see how this differs as we get to Sam and Henry.

Idk if that story will change a ton since I can see it playing out in live action easily. They join in at a pretty organic point that should be quite tense in live action.

The story here was quite simply "Joel needs a car". And he gets one. The show just sends us through an emotional ringer for us to see him get it instead of doing what the game does which is show up after Frank has died, but Bill is still alive, etc, etc. There's a lot of gameplay that happens in the Bill's Town portion of the game and while some would've translated well to the screen (the cutscene between Bill/Joel/Ellie when you first meet Bill), that wasn't enough meat.

The emotional weight was all in the Bill and Frank relationship that we never actually see while playing the game. That suicide note hit a million times harder in this show than it did in the game. In the game, we only ever see Bill as an angry old man. In the show, we get to see him actually be happy. I wasn't exactly thinking about it at the time, but the scene where Joel and Tess are eating with Bill and Frank was 2007 I think, which means that it canonizes that Tess & Joel were together for 16 years and Joel had long been living in the Boston QZ as that's only 4 years after the outbreak.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

WOW. That’s all I have to say. I never thought this would turn into one of my favorite shows ever, but it is. Out-Freaking-Standing!

 

[SeventyOne]

Idk if that story will change a ton since I can see it playing out in live action easily. They join in at a pretty organic point that should be quite tense in live action.

The story here was quite simply "Joel needs a car". And he gets one. The show just sends us through an emotional ringer for us to see him get it instead of doing what the game does which is show up after Frank has died, but Bill is still alive, etc, etc. There's a lot of gameplay that happens in the Bill's Town portion of the game and while some would've translated well to the screen (the cutscene between Bill/Joel/Ellie when you first meet Bill), that wasn't enough meat.

The emotional weight was all in the Bill and Frank relationship that we never actually see while playing the game. That suicide note hit a million times harder in this show than it did in the game. In the game, we only ever see Bill as an angry old man. In the show, we get to see him actually be happy. I wasn't exactly thinking about it at the time, but the scene where Joel and Tess are eating with Bill and Frank was 2007 I think, which means that it canonizes that Tess & Joel were together for 16 years and Joel had long been living in the Boston QZ as that's only 4 years after the outbreak.

Thanks for the context. While it was obviously an outstanding episode from an acting/story-telling/world-building perspective, as a new-to-the-story non-gamer it felt better suited to an episode 7 or 8, after we've really gotten to know the main characters, but I could see including it here if there was more interaction in canon. And, in retrospect, I did wonder how this could have possibly played out in any way as a video game.

Ultimately it felt like one of the "prologues," which have been the best part of an excellent show, stretched out to a full episode. And that worked quite well.

 

[Nick]

Thanks for the context. While it was obviously an outstanding episode from an acting/story-telling/world-building perspective, as a new-to-the-story non-gamer it felt better suited to an episode 7 or 8, after we've really gotten to know the main characters, but I could see including it here if there was more interaction in canon. And, in retrospect, I did wonder how this could have possibly played out in any way as a video game.

Ultimately it felt like one of the "prologues," which have been the best part of an excellent show, stretched out to a full episode. And that worked quite well.

The first two episodes were mostly what was in the game aside from the flashbacks, this was the first major deviation, although it leads to the outcome as the game with Joel and Ellie getting the car. The preview for next episode looks to head back to the game plot.

Anyway, here's a compilation of Bill from the game if you're interested. They had a bit of a different dynamic in the game but it was still heavily implied that they were romantically involved even if ultimately they had things that drove them crazy about the other.


This sequence right here is the only one I wish we had gotten to see play out in the show:

 

[Nick]

The episode definitely has people talking. I've never seen it where a show airs on a Sunday and on Tuesday morning, the show ("#TheLastOfUs") is still trending #2 in the US and "Frank" is trending at #4. The 7-day ratings for this show are gonna be insane due to rewatches. I've already watched it twice and still have an itch to watch the episode again before Ep 4.

The show is already to the point in the cultural zeitgeist where on facebook I saw multiple people who saying things like "Last night's episode hit different" without even referencing the show and everyone in the comments knew what they were talking about.

As someone who has wished I could share this story with friends for years, I couldn't be happier. I'm also saddened that this is like The Last Jedi all over again with a great piece of work that happens to subvert expectations has become divisive for all the wrong reasons because of people who, in their minds are living in the 1950's can't get over certain things or don't understand that things are not always going to happen exactly as you expect it to go. What fun is that anyway?

 

[Jerroddragon]

Episode three proves to me that we are wayyy to kinds and tolerant to many in the world

love is love and the ignorant need to be challenged more. It’s 2023, men move other men sometimes if you dint like it don’t watch the show, it’s way too smartly written for you anyway and hope friends challenge these people and let them see ignorant and bias they really are
Episode 3 was nearly a perfect episode of tv, the romance was literally like a mini movie

 

[Nick]

Episode three proves to me that we are wayyy to kinds and tolerant to many in the world

love is love and the ignorant need to be challenged more. It’s 2023, men move other men sometimes if you dint like it don’t watch the show, it’s way too smartly written for you anyway and hope friends challenge these people and let them see ignorant and bias they really are
Episode 3 was nearly a perfect episode of tv, the romance was literally like a mini movie

Yeah, a certain segment of people are causing a stir over something we've known to be the truth about the two characters for 10 years. It wasn't a surprise to me at all and if you played the game and came away shocked that's on you.

Secondly, this was sort of a relationship formed out of loneliness. If you had been alone for four years with no one around and no one to talk to, having that human touch and human connection is something very valuable and as Bill said towards the end of the episode, he wasn't afraid before he met Frank. Frank gave him someone to wake up to, but also someone to lose, and he didn't want to live life without him.

As for the "mini-movie" bit, it was actually long enough to count as a feature length film and funny enough, Murray Bartlett (Frank) said being a part of this show was odd as they were completely separated from most of it. What him and Nick Offerman filmed was "like filming something for Sundance" he said.

 

[Captain Tragedy]

What a beautiful episode. Also, it's a cheat code to get me to bawl my eyes out when you put "Nature of Daylight" in anything haha.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

Episode 3 was one of thr best works of TV in recent times. It really just told a simple story. It was surprising and beautiful. The problem now is they have set the bar pretty high for the rest of the season. Can they deliver with the remaining episodes?

 

[Nick]

Episode 3 was one of thr best works of TV in recent times. It really just told a simple story. It was surprising and beautiful. The problem now is they have set the bar pretty high for the rest of the season. Can they deliver with the remaining episodes?

I think to expect everything be on THAT level is a bit much to ask (people who have seen the whole season are saying this will likely be the episode they send out when doing an awards push).

What this episode did extremely well was set the tone that while this show is set in Post-Apocalyptic America, the show is a human drama first and foremost which imo is how Craig Mazin is trying to separate this from being “just another zombie show”.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Episode 3 was one of thr best works of TV in recent times. It really just told a simple story. It was surprising and beautiful. The problem now is they have set the bar pretty high for the rest of the season. Can they deliver with the remaining episodes?

The best is yet to come. There is story near the end that is Fantastic one of the best levels in a video game ever, I had school the next day but had to beat the level because I needed to know so badly how it was going to end

Bill I was excited for because of the actors...but in game its one of the more boring/plain kinda missions so don't you worry we have tons more stories to tell

 

[Nick]

The best is yet to come. There is story near the end that is Fantastic one of the best levels in a video game ever, I had school the next day but had to beat the level because I needed to know so badly how it was going to end

Bill I was excited for because of the actors...but in game its one of the more boring/plain kinda missions so don't you worry we have tons more stories to tell

One of the things that happened in this episode is going to have so much more meaning once people get to see the whole season and do rewatches.

Spoiler

Parts of the suicide note

Also:

 

[Jerroddragon]

I saw something about a directors cut of episode 3 is about 2 hours long

I am very much down for House of the Dragon and Last of us to release directors cuts inbetwen years when a new season is coming out to give us some new content

 

[Nick]

I saw something about a directors cut of episode 3 is about 2 hours long

I am very much down for House of the Dragon and Last of us to release directors cuts inbetwen years when a new season is coming out to give us some new content

I don't want to ruin the masterpiece that I saw. Longer doesn't mean better. Most of the time, things get cut from episodes for a legitimate reason.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I don't want to ruin the masterpiece that I saw. Longer doesn't mean better. Most of the time, things get cut from episodes for a legitimate reason.

Then don't watch. I would loveeeee to see more