I’m posting it here because it started as a video game so it’s only fair.

All spoilers are fair game here. If you haven’t played the games and are only watching the show maybe go to the TV thread in Pop Culture. We’re full spoilers here.

TLOU premiered on HBO tonight and it was FUCKING AMAZING.

DISCUSS.

It was a good episode, Pascal definitely nails Joel's aura...but I also think basically every change was inferior. Don't like that Tommy's only 3 weeks out now, takes away from the reunion, and like, did he just get married in 3 weeks? Fluffed the opening more than needed, was still good, but the original was perfect. The Robert stuff is shite. Not sure how I feel about the tendrils yet.

It's good TV, but I wish they'd have kept more key moments in tact, I was expecting change, but certain changes felt unnecessary, and for the worse. Hopefully I can separate it more as it goes on, just wish they'd stuck closer to the road map.

I was dog sitting yesterday and they advertised the SHIIIIIIIIT out of this on TBS during my Austin Powers marathon. Never got past an hr into the game, so I'll give it a shot eventually. Whatever changes won't affect me since I pretty much only saw the beginning of the game.

Jan 16, 2023 9:32:27 GMT RagnarokMike said:

It was a good episode, Pascal definitely nails Joel's aura...but I also think basically every change was inferior. Don't like that Tommy's only 3 weeks out now, takes away from the reunion, and like, did he just get married in 3 weeks? Fluffed the opening more than needed, was still good, but the original was perfect. The Robert stuff is shite. Not sure how I feel about the tendrils yet.

It's good TV, but I wish they'd have kept more key moments in tact, I was expecting change, but certain changes felt unnecessary, and for the worse. Hopefully I can separate it more as it goes on, just wish they'd stuck closer to the road map.

I'm going to wait and see what they do with Tommy's story before I make up my mind. I just re-played the first game and their reunion in the game was kind of awkward. Joel and Ellie randomly show up at a hydroelectric dam looking for shelter and supplies and it just turns out that Tommy and a whole crew have been there for months trying to get the power back on? And then they bicker for a minute about The Fireflies and then dam gets immediately raided and you have to fight them off. Then Ellie runs off and you track her, then Joel decides to go with Ellie anyway and Tommy goes home. There isn't much there to work with.

I got a feeling that they're going to flesh out Joel and Tommy's relationship a little more whereas the game just made them angry at each other and not speak for a long time without ever really explaining why. I think in the show Tommy's disappearance will be because he joined The Fireflies and didn't know how to tell Joel.

As for his marriage that remains to be seen. Tommy kept contact with Joel but we don't know what he told him and what he kept from him. Still a lot to play out between those two.

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As for the change in spores/tendrils, I don't like it but I get it. When playing the game you just kind of accept that wearing a mask in an infected area will stop you from breathing in spores, but it's silly that the second you leave an area you can take your mask off and be fine, and that you don't need to wear a mask when around other infected that would be releasing spores constantly, or change your clothes, wash your body/hair, etc etc. They're going for a more scientific approach in the show and all these concerns would be raised immediately by viewers.

With the tendrils it adds an element to the show that you wouldn't get with spores. Going into infected areas will be crazy suspenseful now, knowing that at any second something could snap out and grab someone to infect them.

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I'm liking who they picked to play Tess so far. She's quite good. Definitely a more rugged version than the character in the game but the finer points are all there. I'm wondering if we will see some of Joel's history through flashbacks and stuff. The game doesn't give you much insight to what he was doing for the 20 years between the outbreak and meeting Ellie, except for little voice lines here and there. And there's a lot for the show to unpack that we didn't see in the game (Joel and Tess clearly being romantically involved, Joel crushing booze and oxy, selling oxy, burning dead children, etc)

I've never played the game, so purely from a television perspective, I enjoyed the initial tension built and then the chaos of the opening half and Pedro never ceases to amaze me with how well he pulls off an American accent.

The second half, I was seeing flashbacks of that awful DMZ series, but I'll overcome that. High potential to be a killer series.

Man...the Clicker scene this week was SO DOPE. They are not fucking around and got them over huge.

Kinda hilarious that Ellie got bit again. That was a fun addition to the scene. It also made the reveal that Tess got bit that much more impactful. I could see viewers that didn't play the game being stunned that she only lasted two episodes, and when they escape and you see that Ellie got bit you would probably breathe a sigh of relief only to have your hopes shattered minutes later.

The cold open in Jakarta was chilling and very well done. The actors were perfect. The dread on their faces as they've already realized it's over, and this is going to have a massive global impact...fuck, I can't imagine being in that position and they really nailed it.

I recently watched Chernobyl and I see Craig Mazin is following a similar formula. Cold open that takes place in the past to tell more of the story and why we're where we are at present day.

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So the big question: tendrils/hivemind. I'm a fan of the change now after seeing that these are more than mindless rage zombies like in the game, but more like how an actual fungus behaves in that they can communicate in a primitive manner. The growths of fungus all over the world makes way more sense now. In the game it was just for atmosphere and the release of spores, but this is way more interesting and scary.

The kiss was a little weird though. I know it makes sense since the fungus attaches to the brain and the mouth/nose would be the easiest way for the tendrils to exit the body/spread, but it was still kinda weird.

In itself that was a great episode, but damn do I miss those Ellie/Bill interactions. Pretty much a complete 180 on Bill’s story from the game, rather than being obsessively militant and driving Frank away, he continually softens and they die in each other’s arms. I can somewhat get, with the tragedy coming down, letting one group get a happy(ish) ending though.

Very good episode though. Likely to win awards.

Nick Offerman will get an Emmy nod at the very least.

I was looking forward to seeing Bella Ramsey and Nick Offerman square off, but it was a worthy sacrifice for one of the best episodes of TV I’ve ever seen.

I love that they aren’t afraid to deviate from the source material in creative ways. It really did make for a better story overall. Much better TV than “Joel shows up, Bill is an asshole, Joel takes truck, Bill may or may not die of injuries he suffered thanks to Joel.”

You could get Bill & Frank’s backstory and ultimate demise from the game through flashbacks but that would be too convoluted imo. I much prefer the route they went. There’s going to be enough horror and heartbreak in this show that these two guys could get a happy ending.

Yeah, the deviation is for the best so far. I suspect if we do Last of Us 2, we will see HEAVY deviation given how bad fans hated that game.

Best way I saw it put: In the game, Bill was a cautionary tale for what Joel could become if he closed himself off, in the show, Bill is an inspirational tale of who Joel could become if he opens himself up.