The Last of Us (2023) - Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Sean Bryan]

Yeah, that was excellent.

A big departure from the game, but clearly worth it.

Emotionally engaging and fucking sad as fuck. Really pretty beautiful.

Just for frame of reference for those who have seen the episode but haven’t played the game:

Spoiler

In the game, Bill is not dead. Joel and Ellie get to town and navigate some traps before connecting with Bill. Bill gives Joel a truck but it needs a battery. He has a line on where he can get one, but it’s in a part of town that is not protected from the infected, in the school. Joel and Ellie have some close calls navigating through the infected and the school to get the battery, but ultimately get what they need. This has lots of intense sneaking and fighting of the infected. I mean great, scary, intense survival stuff. Lots of great, great game play.

But this show isn’t a game, so it doubled down on the character and emotional elements of this section and instead focused on a part of the story that was just hinted at in the game. In the game, Frank has passed, though we don’t know the specifics. But through notes we get the sense that there was somewhat of a falling out between Bill and Frank. Bill also warns Joel that caring about people and bringing someone in is what will get you killed, which is technically what happened to Bill in the show, though not in such a bad way but rather a beautiful way.

Bill is pretty crusty and he and Ellie clash a good bit. Would have been fun to see some of that dynamic. He warns Ellie not to steal any of his stuff, which she swears she won’t, but of course she does. When Joel and Ellie are leaving town the truck with the newly acquired battery still needs the help of movement to get it started. So as they try to exit and get it to turn over as Joel pushes and Ellie steers Joel has to fight off infected coming at them from the neighborhood houses. Playing through that, it was freaky intense. Ellie later fucks with Joel by asking questions about the porn magazine she stole from Bill that she already understood, just to make him uncomfortable.

So while I would have loved to have seen more of the intense and creepy survival and infected fighting aspects of this chapter from the game incorporated into the episode, what they ultimately did with the episode delivered an emotional punch that trumps any of that. Well done.

The creators said that this is the episode that deviates the most from the game, but they felt it was worth it and I agree.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Also, RIP to Annie Wersching who played Tess in the game.

Just freaking terrible.

 

[Joe Wong]

Also, RIP to Annie Wersching who played Tess in the game.

Just freaking terrible.

That's a horrible shock! Annie was a great presence in a couple of the latter seasons of 24.

 

[Joe Wong]

I'll echo the earlier comments about this episode 3.

Spoiler

A beautiful, emotional, love story. Took time to show the initial meeting, the tentative early moments, the frictions, the good times, and the bad. It shows that even at such dark times, tales of the human condition can connect and move us.

It reminded me of the amazing intro sequence in Pixar's Up, and that's about the greatest recommendation I can give this episode.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This one definitely wowed me. Structurally, it was something I'd never seen before: We spend a lot of time with Joel and Ellie, then we jump back in time and tell a completely different story for the length of a full episode, and then we return to Joel and Ellie. Most writers and most networks wouldn't trust the audience to go along with it. I'm so glad they did here. And using the mass grave as the mechanism of transition -- wow.

A beautiful, tender, powerful heartbreaking episode.

This is such a bleak world that I think we needed to see that something beautiful is still possible in it. Just wonderful work from all involved.

Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett should both get guest actor Emmy nominations. And I think Bartlett should win it. It's basically a two-person play, and it's telling the entire journey of a love story. From the tenderness with which Frank walks Bill through making love with another man for the first time, to the tenderness with which Bill cuts up Frank's food after he has been stricken with Parkinson's. I believed the romance, and I believed the fights. Most of all, I believed they were happy together, right up to the end.

I did get a good laugh out of this exchange:
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot! I live in this world; you live in a psycho bunker where 9/11 was an inside job and the government are all Nazis."
"The government are all Nazis!"
"Well yeah, now! But not then."

Just for frame of reference for those who have seen the episode but haven’t played the game:

Spoiler

In the game, Bill is not dead. Joel and Ellie get to town and navigate some traps before connecting with Bill. Bill gives Joel a truck but it needs a battery. He has a line on where he can get one, but it’s in a part of town that is not protected from the infected, in the school. Joel and Ellie have some close calls navigating through the infected and the school to get the battery, but ultimately get what they need. This has lots of intense sneaking and fighting of the infected. I mean great, scary, intense survival stuff. Lots of great, great game play.

But this show isn’t a game, so it doubled down on the character and emotional elements of this section and instead focused on a part of the story that was just hinted at in the game. In the game, Frank has passed, though we don’t know the specifics. But through notes we get the sense that there was somewhat of a falling out between Bill and Frank. Bill also warns Joel that caring about people and bringing someone in is what will get you killed, which is technically what happened to Bill in the show, though not in such a bad way but rather a beautiful way.

Bill is pretty crusty and he and Ellie clash a good bit. Would have been fun to see some of that dynamic. He warns Ellie not to steal any of his stuff, which she swears she won’t, but of course she does. When Joel and Ellie are leaving town the truck with the newly acquired battery still needs the help of movement to get it started. So as they try to exit and get it to turn over as Joel pushes and Ellie steers Joel has to fight off infected coming at them from the neighborhood houses. Playing through that, it was freaky intense. Ellie later fucks with Joel by asking questions about the porn magazine she stole from Bill that she already understood, just to make him uncomfortable.

Interesting to learn, thanks for sharing.

I did love what we got with Joel and Ellie this time around. You can tell that Ellie is a child of the apocalypse, because when she's stocking up on supplies she goes straight for the tampons and toilet paper. She knows exactly what's going to matter most for quality of life on the road.

Loved her sense of wonder at the idea of an airplane, and Joel's decidedly less romanticized memory of what air travel was like. Just the little things, too: Ellie is so excited to be riding in an automobile for the first time, but she doesn't know what a seat belt is. That's a detail that makes perfect sense, but that a lesser show wouldn't think to pay attention to.

And Joel being a Linda Ronstadt fan is the most on brand thing ever.

 

[Sean Bryan]

And Joel being a Linda Ronstadt fan is the most on brand thing ever.

Agreed. Though I’m hoping Hank Williams’s “Alone and Forsaken” gets some love next episode.

 

[Joe Wong]

Well done, Naughty Dog, well done.

 

[Chris Will]

Well, I guess I'll be the lone person here that was a little disappointed with this episode. All the pre-release reviews built this specific episode up so high that I don't know what I was expecting but, for me, it did not hit those kind of highs. Don't get me wrong, the love story was touching and very well done. The performances by both actors were great. I have no real complaints about this love story but, the ending to their story kind of ruined it for me. It's completely on me, nothing the filmmakers did, but personal events have tainted what they did, in all media not just this show, for me and I can no longer buy into it being a "lovely" act.

I would have rather Frank died because of his disease and Bill survive. Then we could have gotten the Bill/Ellie banter and Bill telling Joel not to get attached to anyone.

I also wanted Ellie to find a "Savage Starlight" comic because this is where she got her first one in the game. I hope the comic shows up somewhere, even if it is just an easter egg.

For me, overall a quality episode but, I enjoyed episode 2 more which is my favorite so far.

 

[Tino]

but personal events have tainted what they did, in all media not just this show, for me and I can no longer buy into it being a "lovely" act.

What do you mean?

 

[Tino]

So sad to see the amount of homophobia directed at this episode online. I guess that’s expected in the current environment.

Love is love. It transcends genders. Why can’t everyone see that?

 

[Chris Will]

What do you mean?

A number of years ago, my wife got severely depressed due to a hostile work environment and tried to kill herself one night by taking a lot of pills. Thankfully it did not work and she, with a lot of help, is much, much better now.

Maybe it seems superficial to some but, the show going that route at the end kind of tainted the whole episode for me. It took my thoughts to a very dark moment of my life that I don't care to ever revisit again. This was not the intent of the scene, I acknowledge that but, it just made the episode land differently for me then most everyone else.

This was the first episode of the season that I have not want to immediately re-watch. I always watch the episodes Sunday night and then watch it again with my wife later in the week. I'm not sure how she will react to this scene. I'm going to tell her about it so she can decided if she even wants to watch it.

 

[Tino]

A number of years ago, my wife got severely depressed due to a hostile work environment and tried to kill herself one night by taking a lot of pills. Thankfully it did not work and she, with a lot of help, is much, much better now.

Maybe it seems superficial to some but, the show going that route at the end kind of tainted the whole episode for me. It took my thoughts to a very dark moment of my life that I don't care to ever revisit again. This was not the intent of the scene, I acknowledge that but, it just made the episode land differently for me then most everyone else.

This was the first episode of the season that I have not want to immediately re-watch. I always watch the episodes Sunday night and then watch it again with my wife later in the week. I'm not sure how she will react to this scene. I'm going to tell her about it so she can decided if she even wants to watch it.

That’s tough Chris and certainly understandable. Great to hear she’s doing well now.

 

[DaveF]

Episode 3 was a homemade flamethrower that set my heart ablaze and reduced it to ash.

 

[Walter Kittel]

The show continues to excel. Very heartfelt and emotionally affecting episode in terms of love and loss.

- Walter.

 

[Mike Frezon]

My son got me to watch The Last of Us. It is not a show I would normally have gravitated towards. I came in knowing nothing.

So far, I haven't been all that impressed. The whole idea of cordyceps REALLY creeped me out when I first saw that segment on the BBC nature doc. And I'm not necessarily entertained by creepy. The story also seems to be moving very slowly. I'm only two episodes in and especially found ep. 2 frustrating because it seemed to me as if nothing really happened to move the story forward.

But I have a question. I am SO certain that I have seen Bella Ramsey in some other show/movie. But when I check out her credits on IMDb, I find nothing that I have seen. Any ideas? Does she have a sister or am I maybe confusing her with another actress? This is really bugging me.

 

[Tino]

My son got me to watch The Last of Us. It is not a show I would normally have gravitated towards. I came in knowing nothing.

So far, I haven't been all that impressed. The whole idea of cordyceps REALLY creeped me out when I first saw that segment on the BBC nature doc. And I'm not necessarily entertained by creepy. The story also seems to be moving very slowly. I'm only two episodes in and especially found ep. 2 frustrating because it seemed to me as if nothing really happened to move the story forward.

But I have a question. I am SO certain that I have seen Bella Ramsey in some other show/movie. But when I check out her credits on IMDb, I find nothing that I have seen. Any ideas? Does she have a sister or am I maybe confusing her with another actress? This is really bugging me.

Bella Ramsey played Lady Mormont on Game Of Thrones. Maybe that’s where you know her from.

 

[Tino]

'm only two episodes in and especially found ep. 2 frustrating because it seemed to me as if nothing really happened to move the story forward.

Come back after watching episode 3.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Come back after watching episode 3.

Well to be fair, nothing really happened there to move the story forward either.

 

[Tino]

Well to be fair, nothing really happened there to move the story forward either.

I disagree 100%

The relationship between Bill and Frank propel the story forward by showing that even in the most dire of circumstances, caring for, loving and taking care of someone matters above all.

Joel realizes this after reading Bills letter at the end which makes him understand that he must safeguard Ellie, as Tess wanted, and get her to safety.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Bella Ramsey played Lady Mormont on Game Of Thrones. Maybe that’s where you know her from.

Nope. That was listed on her IMDb credits. I've never seen GoT.