The show is absolutely fantastic. Its exceeded any expectations I ever had for it. They nailed those damn clickers man. And the infection is far more terrifying in the show than it was in the game. The hive mind thing, works way better than spores. Love the acting. It isnt just a stupid carbon copy of the game either, this is its own thing, and they are killing it so far.
HBO: The Last of Us
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ironwez20
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I liked the episode but like people said it felt rushed. I thought the stuff with Tess would be handled in episode 3 but it wasn’t. It felt very rushed and fast paced. Also that ending was just very strange. Dont get it. I liked the game version better of the scene actually. It kinda flowed more naturally.
I said those exact same words on prom night.
And I immediately thought STD lol...
Yes, the hive mind is a great change as the spores would have been problematic. And while I agree this isn't a carbon copy of the game, the museum hide-and-seek with the clickers and things like using that plank to cross from rooftop to rooftop immediately brought to mind playing the game.
Yeah I like the hive thing more than spores too, plus spores wont just stay in confined places they'd be everywhere and in small doses you'd never be able to see them like you can in the game, no one would ever be safe from them.
This isn't the game, it's an adaptation, it's faithful enough to the game that it feels right but it's also it's trying to be it's own thing which is fine. No creator just wants to make a carbon copy of someone elses work.
As long as they respect the source material whilst doing whatever else they wanna do then I see no issue, afterall the creator of the source material is fully on board and involved with this project.
This isn't the game, it's an adaptation, it's faithful enough to the game that it feels right but it's also it's trying to be it's own thing which is fine. No creator just wants to make a carbon copy of someone elses work.
As long as they respect the source material whilst doing whatever else they wanna do then I see no issue, afterall the creator of the source material is fully on board and involved with this project.
Strange yes, but...the invalid old lady did the same thing in the first episode and no one said anything about it.
It probably spreads faster than a bite in that fashion according to the timeline of infection in the explanation the early part of the episode.
The pacing might feel rushed because they're cutting out parts that would otherwise just be gameplay with no significant impact on the story. But Tess only lasts about 2.5 hours into the game too.
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Great episode. All the actors are nailing it. Pascal is showing an incredible amount of subtlety in his performance. The hide and seek with the clickers was fantastic. I do not get the complaints about the acting and the effects. I think the show is very well done so far, changes made, sure, but it is never going to be 1:1 anyway.
As an aside, I’m deep into the second game now and loving it. Quite different and I’m finding it scarier and has amazing atmosphere to it, especially with all the snow scenes.
As an aside, I’m deep into the second game now and loving it. Quite different and I’m finding it scarier and has amazing atmosphere to it, especially with all the snow scenes.
Yes, I thought the "kiss" was to expedite her connection to the hive mind.
You can see her hands shaking more as it happens, most likely a form of instant turning rather than waiting for a bite to take.
RandomHero
Super Freak
Seems like a lot of people didn't like, or dare I say "get", the ending of the episode last night - but personally, I thought it was brilliant. It was uncomfortable and pretty gross, yes, but it tied in the idea that scientist from 1968 brought up on the talk show we watched as the first episode opened. This isn't The Walking Dead. The infected aren't brain dead being just looking to feed on flesh and move on to the next meal. The cordyceps fungus is an ecosystem, looking not only to survive, but to control. In that moment, the fungus didn't deem Tess a threat, so it thought best to bring her into it's network to continue growing.
The idea is that the cordyceps fungus is supposed to be downright terrifying - and seeing how it moves from host to host accomplishes that.
I know everyone's mad there's no spores, but Craig Mazin was talking about how spores work in a game environment because they kind of just float in a specific, controlled spot. That's not how it works in real life, spores are everywhere, and the group would have to be in their masks the majority of the time outside of controlled zones, which is just not what you get on TV. Look at the way the real Richard Winters complained about how often the soldiers in Band of Brothers had their helmets off.
No book/game adaptation is going to be 100% accurate to the source material, but as long as the changes make sense, I'm cool with it. In this case, with Tess, I thought the change made sense and really made you scared of the cordyceps. That wasn't fun to watch and I wouldn't want to see a character I care about go down like that.
The idea is that the cordyceps fungus is supposed to be downright terrifying - and seeing how it moves from host to host accomplishes that.
I know everyone's mad there's no spores, but Craig Mazin was talking about how spores work in a game environment because they kind of just float in a specific, controlled spot. That's not how it works in real life, spores are everywhere, and the group would have to be in their masks the majority of the time outside of controlled zones, which is just not what you get on TV. Look at the way the real Richard Winters complained about how often the soldiers in Band of Brothers had their helmets off.
No book/game adaptation is going to be 100% accurate to the source material, but as long as the changes make sense, I'm cool with it. In this case, with Tess, I thought the change made sense and really made you scared of the cordyceps. That wasn't fun to watch and I wouldn't want to see a character I care about go down like that.
greygoose
Super Freak
After what I thought was a mixed first episode, I really enjoyed episode 2. Intrigued to see where the story goes from here.
Mandible
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I'm completely cool with changes - as I've mentioned I loved the two new opening scenes that (weren't in the game) and have set everything up.
My issue is with the amazing character interactions, connections, subtleties that have been completely omitted or glossed over. Characters are what make anything. Giving them "more" across the board only helps - not detract.
Here's one tiny example where they completely and unnecessarily charged things and dropped the ball in the show:
Where the cars "block" Joel & Sarah, and Tommy off from each other in episode 1 was goofy, dumb, unnecessary, and didn't help the adaptation in any way. In the game, Joel has to carry Sarah, so he hands Tommy his gun and says "You keep us safe." Then they finally get separated when Tommy is prepared to (pretty much) sacrifice himself to hold back some infected to give Joel and Sarah time to get away. Far better. Far more impactful. Far more natural and organic.
Then when Tommy shows up at "the" moment, it adds weight to that as well as you assume he probably got overrun trying to hold back the infected and died - but instead turns up to "save the day" (so to speak).
In the show, he just turns up because that's where they "roughly" said they would meet up.
My issue is with the amazing character interactions, connections, subtleties that have been completely omitted or glossed over. Characters are what make anything. Giving them "more" across the board only helps - not detract.
Here's one tiny example where they completely and unnecessarily charged things and dropped the ball in the show:
Where the cars "block" Joel & Sarah, and Tommy off from each other in episode 1 was goofy, dumb, unnecessary, and didn't help the adaptation in any way. In the game, Joel has to carry Sarah, so he hands Tommy his gun and says "You keep us safe." Then they finally get separated when Tommy is prepared to (pretty much) sacrifice himself to hold back some infected to give Joel and Sarah time to get away. Far better. Far more impactful. Far more natural and organic.
Then when Tommy shows up at "the" moment, it adds weight to that as well as you assume he probably got overrun trying to hold back the infected and died - but instead turns up to "save the day" (so to speak).
In the show, he just turns up because that's where they "roughly" said they would meet up.
Rayman
Freaked Out
Me likey showy. And the game too. I’m glad they’ve changed enough for me not to go ”oh I know what’s happening now” all the time, as well as going “oh I definitely know this scene” and getting that perfect recreation of the game at times (the scene at the museum, awesome).
The changes with the cordyceps, however controversial, feel very well thought out now that we gained some context. It adds up to that “who’s the real evil here”. Also, the hive thing makes it feel as more of a big nemesis, instead of just mindless creatures working on their own. It’s adding up to the core idea, and I like that. This is exactly what an adaptation should be.
Someone mentioned the CGI… mate, if this CGI doesn’t work for you, I mean… don’t know how could you even play the game first. If CGI in chapter 2 was bad, the game in your eyes must look worse than my avatar. I’m 33, still consider my vision to be pretty good, no glasses needed, perfect (trained) color vision, watched the show on a 4K OLED screen in compliance with Dolby’s screen size to distance recommendations… sure some things were not perfect, but come on.
I was actually wondering how the hell they achieved those levels of production value both in the CGI department and set design. It’s one of those things I thought they would never make it feel as good as the game looked, and man oh man am I impressed. As high as the budget may be (a bit over 100 million estimate), taking into account the hours of footage, it’s not that much for the result we are seeing.
I can’t wait. With… what happened at the museum, Joel will obviously gain more importance now and become more of the protagonist most of you remember from the game.
You may prefer the adaptation or the videogame, but imo, there’s no denying there’s good quality screenwriting, acting and production value in this series, wether you’re new to it or not. Most people I’m personally involved with have never played the game, but are all in on the series, including my wife who hates horror stuff so… that really is something.
The changes with the cordyceps, however controversial, feel very well thought out now that we gained some context. It adds up to that “who’s the real evil here”. Also, the hive thing makes it feel as more of a big nemesis, instead of just mindless creatures working on their own. It’s adding up to the core idea, and I like that. This is exactly what an adaptation should be.
Someone mentioned the CGI… mate, if this CGI doesn’t work for you, I mean… don’t know how could you even play the game first. If CGI in chapter 2 was bad, the game in your eyes must look worse than my avatar. I’m 33, still consider my vision to be pretty good, no glasses needed, perfect (trained) color vision, watched the show on a 4K OLED screen in compliance with Dolby’s screen size to distance recommendations… sure some things were not perfect, but come on.
I was actually wondering how the hell they achieved those levels of production value both in the CGI department and set design. It’s one of those things I thought they would never make it feel as good as the game looked, and man oh man am I impressed. As high as the budget may be (a bit over 100 million estimate), taking into account the hours of footage, it’s not that much for the result we are seeing.
I can’t wait. With… what happened at the museum, Joel will obviously gain more importance now and become more of the protagonist most of you remember from the game.
You may prefer the adaptation or the videogame, but imo, there’s no denying there’s good quality screenwriting, acting and production value in this series, wether you’re new to it or not. Most people I’m personally involved with have never played the game, but are all in on the series, including my wife who hates horror stuff so… that really is something.
ironwez20
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Yea I need to stop doing a side by side comparison of the game in my head. It’s kinda hard not to tho lol. Gotta start looking at this as a reimagined experience
R_R_X
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I definitely like the hivemind aspect of the infected and how the fungus is basically a network spreading and taking over the globe but I hope it's not utilized later down the road as some kind of "you kill the source you kill them all" type thing, I still think the tentacles are weird and the kiss was just odd to me I wasn't scared I just thought it was silly and took me out of the moment it reminded me too much of the strigoi in The Strain who are vampires with parasitic worms inside them and the vampire Master pukes worms inside the mouth of humans to make them his host.
Anyway I absolutely loved the clickers, they go into the process of recreating them in live action in this bts video and the prosthetics look phenomenal if I coulf I would pay for one of those busts and proudly display it in my home.
Anyway I absolutely loved the clickers, they go into the process of recreating them in live action in this bts video and the prosthetics look phenomenal if I coulf I would pay for one of those busts and proudly display it in my home.
Well looks like I'm gonna that guy on this thread. lol
Spoiler/Rant alert!
In my not-so-humble opinion, the hive mind idea was dumb and unnecessary. They wanna get rid of spores because it's "not realistic"? Sure, fine. But then go on to add fungal roots reaching miles under the ground that allows other fungus zombies to 'feel' whenever someone steps on them?? And then Duckman saying things like "These things don't have to get violent". Uh sorry, come again?? Then wtf was going on with the fungie guy charging Joel and Sara in EP 1? He wasn't just violent, he was freakin' downright psychotic! And he was unprovoked as well! Same goes for Tess's sacrifice. Holy crap, that was a load of BS! They made her sacrifice feel completely useless in the show compared to the game...where it actually felt like it meant something. But hey! A fungal kiss of death is so much better because Drunkman said it was!
Okay, I'm done. Might've turned more into a rant that anything. But honestly, if Druckmann keeps this crap up where's he unwilling to listen to any of his current co-writers, then he is going to run this franchise into the ground until there's nothing left. Maybe thats why he keeps selling remakes/remasters of LoU1. I dunno.
I'll probably continue watching the show, but go into it with the same mindset I had going into Part II. That yeah, it might have the The Last of Us name plastered on it, but it will never be a true The Last of Us again.
I can't help but wonder, if he hadn't fired all of his co-writers that helped make Part I into the legend it is today, how would Part II and this series have turned out?
Spoiler/Rant alert!
In my not-so-humble opinion, the hive mind idea was dumb and unnecessary. They wanna get rid of spores because it's "not realistic"? Sure, fine. But then go on to add fungal roots reaching miles under the ground that allows other fungus zombies to 'feel' whenever someone steps on them?? And then Duckman saying things like "These things don't have to get violent". Uh sorry, come again?? Then wtf was going on with the fungie guy charging Joel and Sara in EP 1? He wasn't just violent, he was freakin' downright psychotic! And he was unprovoked as well! Same goes for Tess's sacrifice. Holy crap, that was a load of BS! They made her sacrifice feel completely useless in the show compared to the game...where it actually felt like it meant something. But hey! A fungal kiss of death is so much better because Drunkman said it was!
Okay, I'm done. Might've turned more into a rant that anything. But honestly, if Druckmann keeps this crap up where's he unwilling to listen to any of his current co-writers, then he is going to run this franchise into the ground until there's nothing left. Maybe thats why he keeps selling remakes/remasters of LoU1. I dunno.
I'll probably continue watching the show, but go into it with the same mindset I had going into Part II. That yeah, it might have the The Last of Us name plastered on it, but it will never be a true The Last of Us again.
I can't help but wonder, if he hadn't fired all of his co-writers that helped make Part I into the legend it is today, how would Part II and this series have turned out?
RandomHero
Super Freak
If people don’t want to like something because they don’t like the guy who made it, that’s fine, but calling something unrealistic when it’s based on actual science and the way organisms actually operate is just trying to cover up that they have an agendas against someone.
The hive thing might be a little far fetched but I think it’s important to keep in mind that the cordyceps fungus is a real thing, and fungus actually can communicate over some distance as long as it’s connected.
It’s not as unrealistic as it seems.
The hive thing might be a little far fetched but I think it’s important to keep in mind that the cordyceps fungus is a real thing, and fungus actually can communicate over some distance as long as it’s connected.
It’s not as unrealistic as it seems.
Rayman
Freaked Out
Hive-mind fungus roots based on this real and also scary thing. It adds another scientific reality to the scary idea behind fungae adapting to humans. Can’t see what’s wrong with that, it’s expanding lore based on the same roots (pun totally intended) that the whole series is based on.Well looks like I'm gonna that guy on this thread. lol
Spoiler/Rant alert!
In my not-so-humble opinion, the hive mind idea was dumb and unnecessary. They wanna get rid of spores because it's "not realistic"? Sure, fine. But then go on to add fungal roots reaching miles under the ground that allows other fungus zombies to 'feel' whenever someone steps on them?? And then Duckman saying things like "These things don't have to get violent". Uh sorry, come again?? Then wtf was going on with the fungie guy charging Joel and Sara in EP 1? He wasn't just violent, he was freakin' downright psychotic! And he was unprovoked as well! Same goes for Tess's sacrifice. Holy crap, that was a load of BS! They made her sacrifice feel completely useless in the show compared to the game...where it actually felt like it meant something. But hey! A fungal kiss of death is so much better because Drunkman said it was!
About the “"These things don't have to get violent”, I don’t see why and where you see the issue. He says they don’t have to, not that they won’t under this or that circumstance. Alas, it’s not a written rule like “stay still in front of a T-Rex to stay alive”, and/or if it is, we still don’t know what that rule actually is. Anyhow, i do get what the intention behind the scene is and I find it specially not that hard to understand for those of us who played the game. It’s a moment of “beauty”, love-like, which compares beautifully with humans vs humans scenes such as the one with Joel beating the crap out of the other guy. Why does “the beauty” of the fungus expanding create a reaction on you, yet the beating did not?
Last point about Tess… it definitely wasn’t as epic but imo it served the same purpose and closed a line without having to open another one with FEDRA. The series hasn’t had time yet to explore Joel yet, let alone open the FEDRA line. That decision does impact us who played the game, but not that much those who didn’t.
Just my 2 cents mate. Maybe you started watching the show with the wrong mindset. It’s happened to me quite a few times actually and time, fighting with friends and reading helped me in those times of need
I still won’t ever like Robert’s Iron Man nor Captain America but hey… we all get to love or hate this or that pop culture phenomenon once in a while.Similar threads
