'The Last of Us' - Season 1 Thread (NO GAME SPOILERS!) | HBO | January 15, 2023

[GoldenGlove]

I feel like this was an agenda driven episode.

Because if you’re telling me this wasn’t in the game, then this episode does nothing to advance the story.

The only way this episode moves the story along is “Ellie and Joel got these supplies because Bill killed himself”

Why did Bill kill himself?

(Insert an hour-long story about his gay lover being terminally ill)

This episode could have been 25 mins long and skipped the sassafras.

I agree. This episode was made with Emmys and Awards in mind. Trying to get away from being written off as another zombie show and be taken seriously by Hollywood and the award show snobs

 

[EzekelRAGE]

Bill in the game was so generic and too Walking Dead. Which is probably why they took this aspect of his character and rewoven to make him something different.

Survivalist Bill will probably be in later half of the show. He just be a different character name and all. Probably a better character too. So... I just let it play out. The show runner saw something in the lore and he likes it. Took creative liberties. Made a good episode with it.

I guess this episode hits home hard for me, because I really moved to a really shytty small cac town for my career with some of the worst dating experience in my life to the point that I didn't want to do shyt anymore. Getting a bullshyt DUI that I later beat in court. I was in that perpetual cycle of questioning my life. Then, I accidentally found my wife, focus hard on other career opportunities, and we moved to Houston. Life been at it's peak for the past 4 years. The episode kind of made me relive that struggle of loneliness and feeling of that happiness of finding her.

Sometimes an episode is more than just characters and plot. It's about how things make you feel.

I wonder if that who Troy Baker plays

 

[King Jove]

obviously they can't implement every single thing from the game or else joel would be crafting shivs, molotovs, and nail bombs every 5 minutes

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

My issue with how they did this wasn't even the relationship between Bill and Frank. The problem for me was more about them crippling Bill's character and having him quit. It also makes less sense given the circumstances.

Bill is a survivalist to the core. He was ready for the world ending. That's represented well in this episode, it also was how he was depicted in the game. Now, I get the dynamic of showing Bill falling in love and his perspective changing... But idk, when you go the suicide route, like they did, it opens up other possibilities that weren't explored.

It makes sense for Joel and Ellie to just keep it pushing in the game because Bill is still alive and on high alert, and still about surviving. Now when you have Joel make it to Bill's house and he's dead. Would he be so fast to keep going West? He was literally ready to turn around in the last episode. Seemed like there should have been more internal conflict displayed here instead of it feeling like just another checkpoint.

Bill's situation was about as safe and secure as one could hope for. Hard seeing someone like Joel just looting that place and leaving so quickly.

Joels original motivation for this, even before Ellie was to find Tommy, so that aspect is explained pretty well.

 

[GoldenGlove]

I mean, Joel still wants to check on his brother. Plus Bill's letter and relationship just confirmed Tess' mission of getting Ellie to the FIreflies for Joel. You are right that he wanted to turn back last episode......but Tess died giving him that mission. Bill and Joel are the same person. Where Bill decided to die with his lover, Joel decided to keep on pushing and surviving, in part to complete his own lover's last wish.

I get it, but if they didn't spend so much time on Bill and Frank, they could have sold that more. I understand how it moves things along, but it felt weak imo. I understand it, just think the execution wasn't really all that.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

 

[Regular_P]

I feel like this was an agenda driven episode.

Because if you’re telling me this wasn’t in the game, then this episode does nothing to advance the story.

The only way this episode moves the story along is “Ellie and Joel got these supplies because Bill killed himself”

Why did Bill kill himself?

(Insert an hour-long story about his gay lover being terminally ill)

This episode could have been 25 mins long and skipped the sassafras.

This is exactly why it is objectively a trash episode. I'm disgusted.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

I hope if/when they do a third game it ends on a optimistic/lighter note like this episode kind of did.

I know a lot of people love how frank and bills story (the piece of it we see) ends in the game but we don’t really have to get beat over the head with cynicism to know how high the stakes are.

I feel like maybe season 2 may have a lighter ending as well

 

[Lord-Yosh]

They really went left with that shyt. Decent episode. Weakest of the 3 so far.

 

[Sghost597]

They setting up Ellie to be that psychopath for Part II.

 

[Sghost597]

Very realistic aging of a white woman, better make up than a clicker

The clicker looks too plastic for me, because the lighting isn't the greatest and the make up is super stiff. They designs are fantastic, tho

 

[Theodoresolderbreh]

I feel like this was an agenda driven episode.

Because if you’re telling me this wasn’t in the game, then this episode does nothing to advance the story.

The only way this episode moves the story along is “Ellie and Joel got these supplies because Bill killed himself”

Why did Bill kill himself?

(Insert an hour-long story about his gay lover being terminally ill)

This episode could have been 25 mins long and skipped the sassafras.

Bill dying because he lost his purpose was basically what happened to Joel. They heavy handily showing us what he needs to do ultimately. Except we had to make an uturn into bussy town still the episode was fine for filler. They can't do the game straight forward it wouldn't work out over 9 separate hour long episodes. Joel still got the thing he received in the game, still got the emotional suicide punch we just minus the town and school bloater fight section.

 

[$cam-U-Well_Jack$on]

I feel like maybe season 2 may have a lighter ending as well

Absolutely not.

 

[Sghost597]

Bill dying because he lost his purpose was basically what happened to Joel. They heavy handily showing us what he needs to do ultimately. Except we had to making a uturn into bussy town still the episode was fine for filler. They can't do the game straight forward it wouldn't work out over 9 separate hour long episodes. Joel still got the thing he received in the game, still got the emotional suicide punch we just minus the town and school bloater fight section.

Isn't the bloater still in a school gym in the promotional material?

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Isn't the bloater still in a school gym in the promotional material?

Not specifically the gym