The Last of Us HBO Show - Review Thread

[The Third Heat]

Ugh, Craig Mazin is going to become even more insufferable now, isn't he... Glad I ditched listening to his podcast years ago. Chernobyl was great and maybe he's become less of an asshat in recent years, but man, back when he was writing nonsense like The Hangover Part 3 and Identity Theft, he made listening to that podcast (Scriptnotes, with John August) really difficult, especially as an aspiring writer.

I'll never forget him bragging about buying a Tesla on a podcast aimed at helping struggling writers break into the business. Real classy.

 

[SmittyWerbenManJensen]

Nice scores and reviews! Will definitely check this out.

Crazy thread, however. smh

 

[Vonocourt]

imo the watercooler thing is overrated, a show will last forever (well, some don't I guess, they get deleted from servers now) but 'discussing theories' is only a fleeting thing that requires everyone to be on the same wavelength and keep up with the zeitgeist

Not that there's much to really discuss here, unless the show really starts to diverge into a different story path (would probably be a good idea tbh)

Click to shrink...

Well... yeah, that's why people engage with the week-to-week discussion.

 

[Lukar]

Not that there's much to really discuss here, unless the show really starts to diverge into a different story path (would probably be a good idea tbh)

Click to shrink...

Not everyone has played the games before. There will absolutely be a lot of people discussing the show week-to-week and theorizing what may happen next. Maybe not on here (though there will be a thread for show-only viewers to do so without being spoiled), but among the general audience? For sure.

 

[snausages]

Well... yeah, that's why people engage with the week-to-week discussion.

Click to shrink...

To me though, it's not an advantage that is worth the disadvantage of not being able to watch a show like this at my own rhythm. Week by week made more sense in the cable era where there are scheduled timeslots and money to make via advertising, but in the streaming era with the added flexibility of on demand I don't think it makes as much sense.

It's mainly kept like this imo cause it helps with online engagement and word of mouth, which are valuable things. But outside of that fact in a world where none of that would matter (which it does matter, to be fair) I think the boxset model remains the superior distribution method for TV releases where everyone gets to make their own choices about how to watch stuff.

There's the counter argument of 'just wait until March to watch the whole lot', which is valid I guess. But personally I wish it where this other way and this choice was available immediately. It's less about binge watching and more that I don't feel the viewing experience is enhanced by 45-70~ish minute drip feeds of a story once a week. Personally I prefer a 2 hour block once every 2nd night, as an example, which also helps to not forget earlier plot beats in earlier episodes if you aren't fully engaged with the zeitgeist all the time

 

[Vonocourt]

To me though, it's not an advantage that is worth the disadvantage of not being able to watch a show like this at my own rhythm. Week by week made more sense in the cable era where there are scheduled timeslots and money to make via advertising, but in the streaming era with the added flexibility of on demand I don't think it makes as much sense.

It's mainly kept like this imo cause it helps with online engagement and word of mouth, which are valuable things. But outside of that fact in a world where none of that would matter (which it does matter, to be fair) I think the boxset model remains the superior distribution method for TV releases where everyone gets to make their own choices about how to watch stuff.

There's the counter argument of 'just wait until March to watch the whole lot', which is valid I guess. But personally I wish it where this other way and this choice was available immediately. It's less about binge watching and more that I don't feel the viewing experience is enhanced by 45-70~ish minute drip feeds of a story once a week. Personally I prefer a 2 hour block once every 2nd night, as an example, which also helps to not forget earlier plot beats in earlier episodes if you aren't fully engaged with the zeitgeist all the time

Click to shrink...

The Boxset model for HBO shows was waiting almost a year for the season to hit home video, and it cost forty to fifty dollars. Now it's available the second the final episode airs for fifteen.

 

[snausages]

The Boxset model for HBO shows was waiting almost a year for the season to hit home video, and it cost forty to fifty dollars. Now it's available the second the final episode airs for fifteen.

Click to shrink...

To be clear I really should have said the Stranger Things model, not the classic DVD boxset as such

 

[Soupman Prime]

Not everyone has played the games before. There will absolutely be a lot of people discussing the show week-to-week and theorizing what may happen next. Maybe not on here (though there will be a thread for show-only viewers to do so without being spoiled), but among the general audience? For sure.

Click to shrink...

Can't wait for people to vaguely say things because they can't help themselves showing the world they've played the games lol.

But yeah with it being on HBO there will probably be a ton of people who have never played the games, I'm gonna try to get my gf to watch it and she's no gamer and doesn't even like watching me play games.

 

[Aiqops]

LMAO I am not ready for the TLOU2 discussion to reach the general audience

Click to shrink...

General audiences went through game of thrones, I am sure there will be less actual outrcry than the chud whining of 2019.

 

[Crossing Eden]

General audiences went through game of thrones, I am sure there will be less actual outrcry than the chud whining of 2019.

Click to shrink...

Regarding that event they should really go for their original idea since it makes a lot more sense for a slow burn HBO show than a game.

 

[Lukar]

General audiences went through game of thrones, I am sure there will be less actual outrcry than the chud whining of 2019.

Click to shrink...

Can't wait for (The Walking Dead reference, TLoU2 major spoiler) soccer moms to start chanting "if Joel dies, we riot" like they did for Daryl, only to be pretty damn shocked this time around

Regarding that event they should really go for their original idea since it makes a lot more sense for a slow burn HBO show than a game.

Click to shrink...

What idea is that?

 

[Nazgûl]

I hope we can see Ellie on a pallet.

 

[Lukar]

Wildberry_Prince Tagging you since you had asked about this earlier. Just found an article where Bella talks about her pronouns and gender identity a bit.

In ‘The Last of Us,’ Bella Ramsey Might Save the World

A working actor since joining “Game of Thrones” at 11, Ramsey takes her biggest role yet in this dystopian zombie thriller.

www.nytimes.com

Last month, "Catherine Called Birdy" earned Ramsey a Critics Choice Award nomination for best young actor/actress. (The awards will be handed out on Sunday night.) The non-gender-specific category was pleasing for a person who has long reckoned with gender identity — as a child, Ramsey loved being mistaken for a boy by strangers, she said.

"I guess my gender has always been very fluid," she said. "Someone would call me 'she' or 'her' and I wouldn't think about it, but I knew that if someone called me 'he' it was a bit exciting."

Now, if she sees "nonbinary" as an option on a form, she will tick it. "I'm very much just a person," she said. "Being gendered isn't something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn't care less."

Click to shrink...

 

[Yorker14]

I guess that's why the industry has a creative director and game director nowadays.

Click to shrink...

True, but with many productions these roles can still fall under an overarching "Director". TLOU2 as an example:

The Last of Us: Part II credits (PlayStation 4, 2020) - MobyGames

The official game credits for The Last of Us: Part II released on PlayStation 4 in 2020. The credits include 2,335 people.

www.mobygames.com

Whereas with the original TLOU those two roles were presented on more equal footing at the top, with no overarching "Director" above them:

The Last of Us credits (PlayStation 3, 2013) - MobyGames

The official game credits for The Last of Us released on PlayStation 3 in 2013. The credits include 1,338 people.

www.mobygames.com

 

[Crossing Eden]

What idea is that?

Click to shrink...

Back when they were thinking about making 2 a hub based open world game originally

Spoiler

You'd play as Abby who has arrived at and has been staying in Jackson. Jackson would've acted as a small hub where she would interact with people and no one would be aware of who she actually is until the twist.

 

[Kiekura]

Not even seen season 1, but still waiting for season 2 already. Oh boy that is gonna be awesome.

 

[slider]

Wildberry_Prince Tagging you since you had asked about this earlier. Just found an article where Bella talks about her pronouns and gender identity a bit.

In ‘The Last of Us,’ Bella Ramsey Might Save the World

A working actor since joining “Game of Thrones” at 11, Ramsey takes her biggest role yet in this dystopian zombie thriller.

www.nytimes.com

Click to shrink...

It's intimidating, and heartening, how some kids are so thoughtful.

I'll stop there because I could write a list of superlatives.

Edit: I said kid but don't actually know how old Bella is.

 

[Lukar]

Back when they were thinking about making 2 a hub based open world game originally

Spoiler

You'd play as Abby who has arrived at and has been staying in Jackson. Jackson would've acted as a small hub where she would interact with people and no one would be aware of who she actually is until the twist.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

Ohh, that would be really cool. I think that could work pretty well on the show.

It's intimidating, and heartening, how some kids are so thoughtful.

I'll stop there because I could write a list of superlatives.

Edit: I said kid but don't actually know how old Bella is.

Click to shrink...

She's 19.

 

[amara]

Wildberry_Prince Tagging you since you had asked about this earlier. Just found an article where Bella talks about her pronouns and gender identity a bit.

In ‘The Last of Us,’ Bella Ramsey Might Save the World

A working actor since joining “Game of Thrones” at 11, Ramsey takes her biggest role yet in this dystopian zombie thriller.

www.nytimes.com

Click to shrink...

"It's the first time I've ever had a negative reaction to something," said Ramsey, who was 17 at the time. It became a kind of addiction. She returned again and again to the commentary about her appearance and perceived limitations, focusing primarily on the nasty remarks because she "didn't believe" the positive ones, she said.

Click to shrink...

People were unbelievably shitty to her and still are. Hope she sees all the praise when the episodes start coming out

 

[Wildberry_Prince]

Wildberry_Prince Tagging you since you had asked about this earlier. Just found an article where Bella talks about her pronouns and gender identity a bit.

In ‘The Last of Us,’ Bella Ramsey Might Save the World

A working actor since joining “Game of Thrones” at 11, Ramsey takes her biggest role yet in this dystopian zombie thriller.

www.nytimes.com

Click to shrink...

Ahh, that's great to see! I love seeing non-binary people getting this kind of exposure, I can only imagine the young people seeing them and suddenly having a better sense of themselves too.

And I totally get being excited by hearing someone use a different pronoun for you. I grew up with strict gender roles so any deviation meant I would hear she/her pronouns used for me. That thrill of hearing something different, even if it wasn't quite right, always made me happy (ignoring how fucked up it is).

 

[stat84]

Nice to see the first season covering the entire first game plus DLC.Assuming Part III will be the final game then we will have 3-4 high quality seasons.

I hope it also means the third game is coming soon before the show catches up

 

[nonoriri]

Wildberry_Prince Tagging you since you had asked about this earlier. Just found an article where Bella talks about her pronouns and gender identity a bit.

In ‘The Last of Us,’ Bella Ramsey Might Save the World

A working actor since joining “Game of Thrones” at 11, Ramsey takes her biggest role yet in this dystopian zombie thriller.

www.nytimes.com

Click to shrink...

Oh you love to see it.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Equanimity]

Facts. TLoU multiplayer was a lot of people's "main game" for years - myself included.

Click to shrink...

It's the only multiplayer game I've truly lost countless hours in since Call of Duty 2 on 360.

 

[The Unsent]

People were unbelievably shitty to her and still are. Hope she sees all the praise when the episodes start coming out

Click to shrink...

Bella is a champ having to deal with the negative fan feedback. It was really obvious they would get a backlash as soon as they were announced, even though by all rights they won the role fairly over 100 other actors and sounds like they nailed it. It's the same old story.

 

[boticide24]

Bella is a champ having to deal with the negative fan feedback. It was really obvious they would get a backlash as soon as they were announced, even though by all rights they won the role fairly over 100 other actors and sounds like they nailed it. It's the same old story.

Click to shrink...

I was lucky enough to attend the show's premiere and you're right, Bella absolutely nailed it. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season plays out.

 

[luca]

New clip is out!


View: https://twitter.com/katie__kate_/status/1613420262304931843?s=46&t=o80HtgCeo_bYqIwqjXlMdQ

 

[Zor]

Ugh, Craig Mazin is going to become even more insufferable now, isn't he... Glad I ditched listening to his podcast years ago. Chernobyl was great and maybe he's become less of an asshat in recent years, but man, back when he was writing nonsense like The Hangover Part 3 and Identity Theft, he made listening to that podcast (Scriptnotes, with John August) really difficult, especially as an aspiring writer.

Click to shrink...

I mean... did he become more insufferable or less insufferable after Chernobyl? Seems like a weird thing to get hung up on.

Dude may well have grown as an individual because he certainly has as a writer (sorry Identity Theft fans!).

 

[Dust]

What's funny is that to mainstream nongaming audience Bella is going to become default Ellie and the game one might be "off" afterwards.

 

[TalonJH]

My mothers-in-law was super into The Walking Dead when it first came out. I'm recommending this as her next show. I think she will enjoy it.

 

[The Third Heat]

I mean... did he become more insufferable or less insufferable after Chernobyl? Seems like a weird thing to get hung up on.

Dude may well have grown as an individual because he certainly has as a writer (sorry Identity Theft fans!).

Click to shrink...

You're right, I don't know where he's at now. He has grown as a writer. Or at least, he's been allowed to write better material (he was very much a writer for hire during those days), so I'll give him that. I just really liked that podcast for a time, and it was very frustrating to realize Craig had annoying, "old man yells at cloud" opinions and wasn't very self-aware about his own success on a podcast who's intent seemed to be to help screenwriters, not discourage them.

I always likened it to if there was a podcast about lottery winners who just spent the whole time talking about how annoying it is to be so rich.

 

[Falcon]

You're right, I don't know where he's at now. He has grown as a writer. Or at least, he's been allowed to write better material (he was very much a writer for hire during those days), so I'll give him that. I just really liked that podcast for a time, and it was very frustrating to realize Craig had annoying, "old man yells at cloud" opinions and wasn't very self-aware about his own success on a podcast who's intent seemed to be to help screenwriters, not discourage them.

I always likened it to if there was a podcast about lottery winners who just spent the whole time talking about how annoying it is to be so rich.

Click to shrink...

Huh, I never felt like they were oversharing that much about their success, although I never listened to it as an aspiring screenwriter but rather just someone who likes hearing smart people discuss story so I can imagine it must hit a bit harder from that perspective.

 

[StrangeADT]

To me though, it's not an advantage that is worth the disadvantage of not being able to watch a show like this at my own rhythm. Week by week made more sense in the cable era where there are scheduled timeslots and money to make via advertising, but in the streaming era with the added flexibility of on demand I don't think it makes as much sense.

It's mainly kept like this imo cause it helps with online engagement and word of mouth, which are valuable things. But outside of that fact in a world where none of that would matter (which it does matter, to be fair) I think the boxset model remains the superior distribution method for TV releases where everyone gets to make their own choices about how to watch stuff.

There's the counter argument of 'just wait until March to watch the whole lot', which is valid I guess. But personally I wish it where this other way and this choice was available immediately. It's less about binge watching and more that I don't feel the viewing experience is enhanced by 45-70~ish minute drip feeds of a story once a week. Personally I prefer a 2 hour block once every 2nd night, as an example, which also helps to not forget earlier plot beats in earlier episodes if you aren't fully engaged with the zeitgeist all the time

Click to shrink...

What I hate most about the all at once model for availability is how the internet suddenly becomes this fucking dangerous place where spoilers are in every fucking corner. You're randomly browsing for something else and bam some major fucking spoiler pops up. Or you do a google search on one of the actors and you see shit like "blah blah actor *death by betrayal from character Y*" (where the bold part is the google auto suggest). It's fucking obnoxious when you have lots of obligations and can't binge watch an entire season literally the first night it's available and now you gotta walk on fucking egg shells on the internet to avoid being spoiled.

And that's if you even know about the show and could technically prepare and make arrangements for your responsibilities to be taken care of so you can no-life it. When you don't even know about the show and suddenly it's part of the zeitgeist you don't even have the mercy of being able to jump in partway through the season to avoid the largest spoilers that usually come towards the end of a season.

 

[The Third Heat]

Huh, I never felt like they were oversharing that much about their success, although I never listened to it as an aspiring screenwriter but rather just someone who likes hearing smart people discuss story so I can imagine it must hit a bit harder from that perspective.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I may have been projecting a lot of my own frustrations on it. I listened mostly for the talk about story, but whenever the show delved into "business" stuff, it felt like the advice was being doled out to a select few (fellow lottery winners, if you will) rather than the entire listenership. I got a little tired of the "gatekeeping." It's been a VERY long time since I've listened so I have no idea what the show is like now, but it was enough to make me a bit crabby towards John and Craig.

Although I do still happily use John's software because it's great.

But back on topic: I do think this show looks good, despite my dumb personal bias.

 

[snausages]

What I hate most about the all at once model for availability is how the internet suddenly becomes this fucking dangerous place where spoilers are in every fucking corner. You're randomly browsing for something else and bam some major fucking spoiler pops up. Or you do a google search on one of the actors and you see shit like "blah blah actor *death by betrayal from character Y*" (where the bold part is the google auto suggest). It's fucking obnoxious when you have lots of obligations and can't binge watch an entire season literally the first night it's available and now you gotta walk on fucking egg shells on the internet to avoid being spoiled.

And that's if you even know about the show and could technically prepare and make arrangements for your responsibilities to be taken care of so you can no-life it. When you don't even know about the show and suddenly it's part of the zeitgeist you don't even have the mercy of being able to jump in partway through the season to avoid the largest spoilers that usually come towards the end of a season.

Click to shrink...

The internet will be a minefield of spoilers no matter the distribution model chosen. It's just the way it is, if anything weekly distribution prolongs the algorithmic spiciness of spoilers cause it's always kept in conversation week by week and the situation is reversed for people who will wait and watch the whole thing later on at their own pace, as each and every episode gets its own wave of 'video reviews' and written ones as well (which I always found weird personally, reviewing episodes?)

There is no escaping spoilers, other than walking on eggshells and finding ways to block youtube recommendations.

 

[Zor]

I always likened it to if there was a podcast about lottery winners who just spent the whole time talking about how annoying it is to be so rich.

Click to shrink...

Lol yeah, I wouldn't even bother to download it!

 

[SolidSnakex]

The internet will be a minefield of spoilers no matter the distribution model chosen. It's just the way it is, if anything weekly distribution prolongs the algorithmic spiciness of spoilers cause it's always kept in conversation week by week and the situation is reversed for people who will wait and watch the whole thing later on at their own pace, as each and every episode gets its own wave of 'video reviews' and written ones as well (which I always found weird personally, reviewing episodes?)

There is no escaping spoilers, other than walking on eggshells and finding ways to block youtube recommendations.

Click to shrink...

At least on this forum I think the decisions been made to do two threads. One will be for specifically discussing the show with discussion for the games being off limits, while another will be for discussing the whole series. It's like what happened with House of the Dragon where there was a thread that was specifically for the show with the books being off limits and another for discussing everything. So at least here that one thread should be a safe haven for anyone that hasn't played the games.

 

[Funkelpop]

So I heard the story is 10/10 but there's barely any gameplay?


Don't know how reviewers skipped that part?


/s

 

[Lukar]

The OTs are up!

Game spoiler OT (Use this thread if you've played the games)

Show-only OT (Please only post in this thread if you haven't played the games)

 

[StrangeADT]

The internet will be a minefield of spoilers no matter the distribution model chosen. It's just the way it is, if anything weekly distribution prolongs the algorithmic spiciness of spoilers cause it's always kept in conversation week by week and the situation is reversed for people who will wait and watch the whole thing later on at their own pace, as each and every episode gets its own wave of 'video reviews' and written ones as well (which I always found weird personally, reviewing episodes?)

There is no escaping spoilers, other than walking on eggshells and finding ways to block youtube recommendations.

Click to shrink...

Right but at least if it's week by week you can only be spoiled for what has aired. If it's all released at once then it's a guarantee someone has binged the entire thing while you slept. I have the capacity to watch one episode a day without getting into losing sleep territory (which I refuse to do when I have to drive my kids around every morning) so when an entire season drops at once then the internet is a minefield for basically an entire week at least. This gets worse for me if my wife is working nights since if it's a show I'm watching with her I'll wait until she is around.

I honestly don't understand why the streaming services ever did the all at once model. Like it doesn't seem to make sense from the perspective of keeping people subscribed.