tv show The Last of Us | S1 | Out now, S2 coming in 2025

[Venom]

I haven’t even played the game and I could totally feel the hospital scene, where Joel is looking for Ellie, likely being an accurate portrayal of the video game. 

[Hephaestus]

Good finale, thankfully they followed the source material very closely, but it definitely felt rushed. Of all episodes, this was the one that needed an extended runtime (an hour would've been perfect in my opinion).

 

That being said, loooved what they did with Anna. I was so looking forward to see her and part of her story and I definitely wasn't disappointed. It's something that the game never really took the time to dive into but it's so important, and I guess it's final confirmation of how Ellie got her immunity. I didn't expect her to be friends with Marlene though, that was an unexpected (although completely justifiable) choice and really put things into perspective.

 

Giraffe scene was so heartwarming, done to perfection. Hospital too to be honest, although I wish we saw more of Marlene because in the context of the TV show she felt like an afterthought despite being pivotal to the whole thing. I liked that they went a little over the finale of the game with them going back to Jackson, especially because Ellie's last dialogue is gonna be the base for what's coming next. I thought she was coming out to Joel in the end (in response to Joel pointing out she's not girly as Sarah), but then she refers to Riley as a friend and starts naming other people so maybe that wasn't her intention.

 

Can't wait for S2, I hope they get a bigger budget and take all the time they need to tell their stories. I know this has the potential to be one of the greatest TV show of all time (or at least of this genre).

[Helios]

6 minutes ago, Hephaestus said:

Good finale, thankfully they followed the source material very closely, but it definitely felt rushed. Of all episodes, this was the one that needed an extended runtime (an hour would've been perfect in my opinion).

 

That being said, loooved what they did with Anna. I was so looking forward to see her and part of her story and I definitely wasn't disappointed. It's something that the game never really took the time to dive into but it's so important, and I guess it's final confirmation of how Ellie got her immunity. I didn't expect her to be friends with Marlene though, that was an unexpected (although completely justifiable) choice and really put things into perspective.

 

Giraffe scene was so heartwarming, done to perfection. Hospital too to be honest, although I wish we saw more of Marlene because in the context of the TV show she felt like an afterthought despite being pivotal to the whole thing. I liked that they went a little over the finale of the game with them going back to Jackson, especially because Ellie's last dialogue is gonna be the base for what's coming next. I thought she was coming out to Joel in the end (in response to Joel pointing out she's not girly as Sarah), but then she refers to Riley as a friend and starts naming other people so maybe that wasn't her intention.

 

Can't wait for S2, I hope they get a bigger budget and take all the time they need to tell their stories. I know this has the potential to be one of the greatest TV show of all time (or at least of this genre).

Lord I dont even want to know how the straights are going to react to the actual plot in season 2. Will it be review bomb after review bomb? Will the audience be split like they were for the game?

[Hephaestus]

4 minutes ago, Helios said:

Lord I dont even want to know how the straights are going to react to the actual plot in season 2. Will it be review bomb after review bomb? Will the audience be split like they were for the game?

Audience in general will definitely be split, but I don't think review bombing is gonna be much different. I imagine episodes with prominent LGBTQ+ representation will still get hate, maybe even more than a certain important event.

 

It's so weird though because this is one of the many many shows featuring LGBTQ+ characters and storylines (so nothing new under the sun) and people who have played the game should be already acquainted with it, so the hate feels especially unwarranted.

[antoine_]

3 hours ago, X~MoviePoP said:

Horrible season finale. So anticlimactic and bland

I agree, they truly ****** it up even it’s the same as the in the game

[Specter]

I'm just watching it now and am at the scene relatively early where Joel mentions a certain musical instrument and I'm already

 

48 minutes ago, Helios said:

Lord I dont even want to know how the straights are going to react to the actual plot in season 2. Will it be review bomb after review bomb? Will the audience be split like they were for the game?

My thoughts are that that it's going to be an amplified version of the way the game panned out. 

 

I could be wrong but I think TLoU I will rack up a few acting awards this year, but that's about it. I don't think it's a very revolutionary series, just pretty good. Unlike in games where the narrative focus was unusual at the time for zombie games, in TV there have been plenty of on par or even superior character dramas aplenty. 

 

But S2 - if it ends with what I think it will end with - will be a cultural moment. Think all the anger the audience had for the game, dialled up to 11 because a lot of non-gamers are in on this. 

 

Critics will live for it, and we'll get that cycle again  I got to dust off some of my Abby essays. 

 

I really don't know what it is about Joel in particular that drums up this attachment. He's obviously well characterized, but I guess I'm jaded with gamers and people in general attaching themselves to objective ******* (in the world/setting) protagonists dd. I've seen it happen with other ones like Kratos, for instance. 

 

My non gamer relative texted me she won't watch S2 if /that/ happens, I told her the hate campaign was largely people being bigoted, and she said idc they better rework the plot

 

[Wrecked]

1 hour ago, Hephaestus said:

I didn't expect her to be friends with Marlene though, that was an unexpected (although completely justifiable) choice and really put things into perspective.

We actually already knew this information because of the comic book they released in 2013, but I guess anybody who didn’t read it wouldn’t have known.

 

[Wrecked]

https://ew.com/tv/the-last-of-us-season-2-bella-ramsey-time-jump/
 

Quote

Mazin also confirmed season 2 "will be different" from Part II. "It will be different just as this season was different [from the first game]," he continued. "Sometimes it will be different radically, and sometimes it will be [barely] different at all. But it's going to be different and it will be its own thing. It won't be exactly like the game. It will be the show that Neil and I want to make. But we are making it with Bella."

[Hephaestus]

7 minutes ago, Wrecked said:

We actually already knew this information because of the comic book they released in 2013, but I guess anybody who didn’t read it wouldn’t have known.

 

I have that comic and even read it, but I completely forgot about it 

[Wrecked]

8 minutes ago, Hephaestus said:

I have that comic and even read it, but I completely forgot about it 

 

Yeah, in the comic Marlene gives Ellie a letter from Anna and her knife. This is why you can read the letter from Anna in Ellie’s backpack. I’m so glad the show gave us this backstory and also explained why Ellie was immune. I can’t wait to binge watch from the beginning. 
 

One of my favourite deviations was Joel revealing that he tried to kill himself. It just added a whole new layer to his character. It also explains why he can’t hear well from that side. 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Wrecked

[Helios]

38 minutes ago, Phantom said:

I'm just watching it now and am at the scene relatively early where Joel mentions a certain musical instrument and I'm already

 

My thoughts are that that it's going to be an amplified version of the way the game panned out. 

 

I could be wrong but I think TLoU I will rack up a few acting awards this year, but that's about it. I don't think it's a very revolutionary series, just pretty good. Unlike in games where the narrative focus was unusual at the time for zombie games, in TV there have been plenty of on par or even superior character dramas aplenty. 

 

But S2 - if it ends with what I think it will end with - will be a cultural moment. Think all the anger the audience had for the game, dialled up to 11 because a lot of non-gamers are in on this. 

 

Critics will live for it, and we'll get that cycle again  I got to dust off some of my Abby essays. 

 

I really don't know what it is about Joel in particular that drums up this attachment. He's obviously well characterized, but I guess I'm jaded with gamers and people in general attaching themselves to objective ******* (in the world/setting) protagonists dd. I've seen it happen with other ones like Kratos, for instance. 

 

My non gamer relative texted me she won't watch S2 if /that/ happens, I told her the hate campaign was largely people being bigoted, and she said idc they better rework the plot

 

Not the non gamer Relative already planning a boycott.  Im not really concerned about the haters but I hope they get the casting right especially if they recast Ellie. Bella did a phenomenal job this season.

[Wrecked]

Just now, Helios said:

Not the non gamer Relative already planning a boycott.  Im not really concerned about the haters but I hope they get the casting right especially if they recast Ellie. Bella did a phenomenal job this season.

I just posted an article and a quote that confirmed Bella isn’t going anywhere. 
 

Spoiler

I think there will obviously be people who’ll be sad about Joel dying, I mean did anybody want that? But it made perfect sense and lead to an amazing Part II which a lot of people loved, so it’ll be interesting to see how to GP react to it as we don’t know how it’s going to go down in the television version. 

 

[Helios]

4 minutes ago, Wrecked said:

I just posted an article and a quote that confirmed Bella isn’t going anywhere. 
 

  Hide contents

I think there will obviously be people who’ll be sad about Joel dying, I mean did anybody want that? But it made perfect sense and lead to an amazing Part II which a lot of people loved, so it’ll be interesting to see how to GP react to it as we don’t know how it’s going to go down in the television version. 

 

Isnt she supposed to be 14 in the first game? How will she looks 5 years older in the next season?

[Hephaestus]

7 minutes ago, Wrecked said:

 

Yeah, in the comic Marlene gives Ellie a letter from Anna and her knife. This is why you can read the letter from Anna in Ellie’s backpack. I’m so glad the show gave us this backstory and also explained why Ellie was immune. I can’t wait to binge watch from the beginning. 
 

One of my favourite deviations was Joel revealing that he tried to kill himself. It just added a whole new layer to his character. It also explains why he can’t hear well from that side. 

Yeah, I actually remembered after you pointed it out, really nice touch! To me the most interesting part was giving a backstory to Ellie's immunity though, it was what I was actually looking forward to and I'm glad they had the courage to do it despite it being still unaddressed in the games.

 

Joel's suicide attempt was also another great touch. Might be weird to some, but it's something I truly believe Joel would've done (at least the TV show's version of the character). 

[Hephaestus]

[Wrecked]

7 minutes ago, Helios said:

Isnt she supposed to be 14 in the first game? How will she looks 5 years older in the next season?

Well, like the article explains, Bella was 17 when they started recording the series and she’s now currently 19 which is the same age as Ellie was in Part II. She’ll also be a little older than 19 by the time they start filming. It’s also mentioned how hair, makeup and wardrobe can change the way somebody looks. I think they purposely made her look younger in the show so that she could come across as being 14. I’m sure once we see her in action, it’ll be great. 
 

You also have to remember that they aged Pedro down in flashbacks and aged him up in the present day scenes. He looks different outside of the show. 
 

8 minutes ago, Hephaestus said:

Yeah, I actually remembered after you pointed it out, really nice touch! To me the most interesting part was giving a backstory to Ellie's immunity though, it was what I was actually looking forward to and I'm glad they had the courage to do it despite it being still unaddressed in the games.

 

Joel's suicide attempt was also another great touch. Might be weird to some, but it's something I truly believe Joel would've done (at least the TV show's version of the character). 

It was a great and plausible way of showing why Ellie was immune. I’m also glad that she actually said that she had to kill Riley, because although I thought that was abundantly clear, I’ve seen some YouTube reactors confused as to what happened to her because they didn’t actually show it. 
 

I think a lot of people in Joel’s position would have attempted suicide, imagine losing your only child at the same time the entire world goes to ****. It also added more weight to his speech at the end about finding something to fight for. God, I’m not ready for S2. 

[Specter]

Just finished and hm 

 

I definitely think the 

 

montage of Joel gunning down the hospital should have been more of a struggle. It needed an air of a "final fight", I get why they went for the cinematic look-how-far-gone-he-is sentiment by having it look almost effortless, but I think it kind of made it underwhelming.

 

[Hephaestus]

10 minutes ago, Wrecked said:

It was a great and plausible way of showing why Ellie was immune. I’m also glad that she actually said that she had to kill Riley, because although I thought that was abundantly clear, I’ve seen some YouTube reactors confused as to what happened to her because they didn’t actually show it. 
 

I think a lot of people in Joel’s position would have attempted suicide, imagine losing your only child at the same time the entire world goes to ****. It also added more weight to his speech at the end about finding something to fight for. God, I’m not ready for S2. 

Yeah, it was definitely the most plausible reason to make it immune and I think anyone who's been deep enough in the game lore already strongly suspected it, we only need confirmation I guess. Also agree on Riley, another thing the games never addressed but again most people already basically knew. If they chose to stay together until the lost they head together, of course it was Ellie that killed her.

 

I'm so ready for Part II, the emotional journey will be one for the history books. Really looking forward to know who will be cast in the key roles!

[Wrecked]

24 minutes ago, Hephaestus said:

Yeah, it was definitely the most plausible reason to make it immune and I think anyone who's been deep enough in the game lore already strongly suspected it, we only need confirmation I guess. Also agree on Riley, another thing the games never addressed but again most people already basically knew. If they chose to stay together until the lost they head together, of course it was Ellie that killed her.

 

I'm so ready for Part II, the emotional journey will be one for the history books. Really looking forward to know who will be cast in the key roles!

I don’t want to come across as mean, but sometimes I think the GP can be quite dense. One of the YouTube reactions I saw for episode 8 had them saying they hope the episode starts by showing what happened to Riley as it wasn’t explained and I just don’t understand that mindset. We know Ellie is immune and know that Riley isn’t. We also know what happens when people get infected by Cordyceps. Ellie also told Joel in episode 4 that the man she shot to defend him wasn’t her first time, so that was clearly a callback to Riley. I think I have to realise that not everybody watches shows as intensely as I do, as when I rewatch these episodes with my friend, I’m constantly having to explain things to them. 
 

The fact they’ve taken Part I and made certain scenes have even more emotional weight than the game (Joel’s PTSD flashback in episode 1) makes me excited and extremely nervous for Part II getting adapted as the game itself was already more mentally draining that the first one. 
 

Are you booking the therapy sessions or should I? 

[Starshine]

I cannot WAIT for the incoming mess during season 2 and a GOAT season 3. Now that’s a rollercoaster, Part I was nothing.

[Mr. Peanutbutter]

I thought the finale ended out of nowhere.  Overall great season, great show. Can't wait for season 2 and now I really want to play the game

[Wrecked]

Just now, Mr. Peanutbutter said:

I thought the finale ended out of nowhere.  Overall great season, great show. Can't wait for season 2 and now I really want to play the game

That’s how the game ended and at that point in time, nobody knew we were going to get a sequel. 
 

I loved how it divided so many people because that’s exactly what it’s supposed to do. 

[Wrecked]

 

Source: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/the-last-of-us-finale-ending-explained-interview?utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

 

We already knew this, but I’ve seen a few people coming into this thread to ask, so here you go. 

[cloudbusting]

WHAT a finale

might have to rewatch because I was also watching the Oscars for EEAAO’s sweep, but that was powerful

 

have to agree that the hospital was a bit too rushed and effortless (maybe I’m just salty that I have a tough time with that section in the game for some reason), but also what a way to show how ruthless Joel can be in the name of protecting family

 

i think overall my feelings about the show are overwhelmed in a great way - it’s so MUCH but incredibly acted. a few spots where you could feel that the team was finding their footing, but it’s understandable because imo adapting has challenges you just don’t get from something totally original. easily like a 9/10 for this season because the strengths outweigh any of my minor criticisms
 

Part II is gonna wreck me but I’m PERCHED for 

Spoiler

Mother Abby, especially when we get her side of things

[Homebrand]

Meh, the finale was one of the worst episodes for me. Pretty anti-climatic. We had minimal to no buildup with the firefly’s (and their base) and Marlene’s character, so there was hardly significance to anything. Like was I meant to feel emotion for Ellie and Marlene being friends / knowing each-other their whole life?  
 

Also, I feel like we hadn’t seen much, if any infected since the Sam / Henry episode either.. not saying I wanted aimless infected killing, but they didn’t really feel that crucial to the overall story when they felt a bit more tangible and pivotal to the story in the game. 

They had time to make this episode much longer, or even had an extra episode? It almost feels like we skipped an episode and jumped straight into the conclusion to me