The Last of Us

[Yerda]

I loved TLOU 1, it's one of my favorite games. However, I was completely underwhelmed and disappointed by the TV series. The characters were poorly reinterpreted and overall it was lethally lackluster and slow; most of the episodes were little more than fillers. I wasn't a fan of the second game and, considering the choices made for S1, it's not likely I'll watch S2.

I've just played the game, and it was good. I absolutely loved the tv series. Honestly can't imagine how they could have did a better job.

 

[Viker]

It's alright. It had just enough drama and tension and then just enough action. I imagine the action will pick up even more as the series progresses.

 

[Callisto]

Fair enough. I agree, their world didn't seem very threatening. I wasn't at the edge of my seat watching them walk through the city streets like I was watching The Walking Dead.

Agreed, and it's not like TLOU needed a ton of action to convey how dangerous the world is. Look at the first episode of TWD where there wasn't a lot of action at all (nor even dialogue), the zombies were minimal (fingers clawing between locked cafeteria doors). It was just Rick waking from a coma, alone in a destroyed hospital, trying to process what he was seeing and desperate to locate his family. The horror was implied and Rick's terror, questioning his sanity or if he was even awake, was palpable.

 

[Callisto]

I found that very annoying, as well. It's going to be even more annoying when they introduce the Dina character. I wish I could kill her off or at least mute her in the game.

Ellie in the game looked like Ellen Page, to be honest, to the point where they could've probably sued them. Lol

Ellen Page wasn't happy about it at all, I think mainly because she was voicing another game at the time and Ellie's resemblance overshadowed her own project. And Joel resembled Josh Brolin, who afaik, didn't have a problem with Joel looking like him. Several years ago there were plans to make TLOU into a movie and Brolin was on top of Naughty Dog's wish list to play Joel but the project fell through.

I didn't mind so much that Pedro and Bella look nothing like their characters, it was their personalities being so off the mark that was the problem (for me). Pedro's Joel was too remote and robotic vs game Joel's pained stoicism. And Bella's interpretation made Ellie annoying bordering on obnoxious at times whereas as game Ellie had a deft way of being smart-alecky yet endearing (though reportedly Bella was expressly told not to play/watch the game - poor choice to deny an actor the opportunity to review the source material).

 

[Callisto]

My better half called me a homophobe (jokingly) when I said I really didn't want to see a sex scene with those two fellas. Homeless-looking Ron Swanson having sex? With another middle aged hairy guy? Ooft, no thanks. If it had been Chris Pines vs Chris Hemsworth I'd have watch them lick the faces off each other quite happily.

Seriously though, I thought the episode was great. I wept like a toddler who just flushed his favourite teddy down the toilet.

I didn't mind that scene or the episode. Even so, it was completely out of place for the universe (and no, not because they're gay). It was like switching to a completely different series. This was one part of the game that they absolutely should have stayed true to and instead deliberately chose to sacrifice the story in order to virtual signal.

Firstly, where Bill and Frank lived (Lincoln) is less than 20 miles away from Boston. There is no way it would not be teeming with infected and, in the game, Bill spends his days setting booby traps to take out living intruders as well as thin out the infected population and to allow himself added defense if he's attacked by either while scavenging since only he knows what's a safe route. Ellie & Joel had run-ins with the infected when they go there and at one point, Joel is ensnared in a trap intended for the living while a group of infected descend on him and Ellie who has to figure out how to free him before they are torn apart. Even as they leave Bill, there are more infected to elude.

Secondly, Bill and Frank are completely different from the game (in fact, Frank is only referenced, he doesn't appear at all). While they'd been together they were NOT in love and, in fact, Frank had come to utterly hate Bill's guts and left Bill a final "f.u.". There was no romantic living together in a tranquil empty town. Bill was wholly irascible and abrasive, for good reason. But it's how he shielded himself and was fair so helps them. There is no idyllic life to be had in a zombie apocalypse.

The value in the original Bill was the interaction between him and Ellie which is non-existent in the series. In the game, Bill became a favorite character with him and Ellie hurling insults at each other like two rappers at a rap battle. However, you see grudging mutual respect develop from the initial dislike. And through Joel's activities, you learn about Frank and got why Bill was cranky and bitter, and how their relationship imploded. The tv version just rips you out of the universe as there's no way for the area to be that empty and deliberately cutting out a favorite interaction between two well-liked characters.

 

[Callisto]

I've just played the game, and it was good. I absolutely loved the tv series. Honestly can't imagine how they could have did a better job.

I could go on at great length as to how it could be improved, and I just posted an example re: Bill. Suffice it to say I'd prefer they have remained true to the source material and its characters, which they didn't.

 

[Yerda]

I could go on at great length as to how it could be improved, and I just posted an example re: Bill. Suffice it to say I'd prefer they have remained true to the source material and its characters, which they didn't.

The Bill mission was fun enough in the game. The episode was, for me, a beautiful piece of tv drama.

I get that we all have our tastes and if it isn't for you then it isn't for you. I really took Joel and Ellie to my heart when watching the series. Could've watched another hundred hours of them on screen. Most of what I really enjoyed about watching it was built upon the (pleasantly) surprising quality of the game's writing and acting. Having played it I'm not surprised that I loved the adaptation.

 

[Callisto]

The Bill mission was fun enough in the game. The episode was, for me, a beautiful piece of tv drama.

I get that we all have our tastes and if it isn't for you then it isn't for you. I really took Joel and Ellie to my heart when watching the series. Could've watched another hundred hours of them on screen. Most of what I really enjoyed about watching it was built upon the (pleasantly) surprising quality of the game's writing and acting. Having played it I'm not surprised that I loved the adaptation.

Of course, the appeal of any bit of entertainment is subjective.

As a thing unto itself, I agree there was nothing wrong with the episode per se. My issue with it simply is it's incongruous with the universe and the characters of Bill & Frank, and the significance of Joel and Ellie's encounter with Bill was sacrificed to go off on a tangent unnecessary to the overarching story. Having played the game a few times, I simply was left disappointed by the choices made for the series, this was just one. Again, YMMV.