The Last of Us (HBO Spoilers)

[briantw]

1 hour ago, Whiskeyjack said:

But I do feel it was rushed, largely because they skipped the section where Ellie and David have to work together against a common enemy. 

Yeah, I liked in the game when he reveals he had a pistol the entire time and never used it on Ellie, which builds a bit of trust between them.

[dbunting]

Much of the same reaction to this episode as everyone. It seemed rushed, like it would have been better spread out over two episodes. Same thoughts, the main meeting place is burning to the ground and no one notices? Not happy with myself for missing the cannibalism, should have seen that. When I saw the looks between the guys when the girl asked about burying her dad I just brushed it off, even though starvation was obvious, lazy on my part!  I did like that Ellie didn't need Joel to come save her despite it being hinted that he would. 

Since the water was shown to us several times and we also saw canoes, can we assume they escape via the water since they have no horse, Joel is still recovering, and the people of that town should be on their way to the burning building by now?

[Mexal]

I don’t think there are a ton of dudes left. From the main room at dinner, most of the men have been killed.

I get it feeling rushed. Still liked it.

[The Anti-Targ]

I thought not having any infected, again, in the main story was a bit disappointing having a few at least come wandering along having responded to Ellie's gunshot would have been good. In real world time a 4 mile hike to the resort and back in that snow is longer than an episode. The second half of the episode could well have been Ellie and David dealing with a clicker group ending with that everything happens for a reason conversation.

I'm not too concerned about the people not coming out to the burning building. It was a cold windy day and people would probably not be particularly looking out their windows.

Interesting that Ellie and Joel have been leaving a bit of a trail of destruction behind them. They went through Kansas City and picked up Sam and Henry, only for them to die, but in the process the Kansas City community is now assumed to be overrun with infected. And now in David's Cult with David and all or most of the leaders dead the remaining submissive part of the community is left to try to fend for themselves throughout winter, which they might not survive.

Interesting they decided to get David to try to rape Ellie in the burning building. Gamewise he was just determined to kill her, I was never sure in the game whether he was a sex pest or not, we never got to see the cult in action, though the cage scene in the game gave off a bit of that vibe.

[Darryk]

The latest episode was the best yet IMO

[Relic]

Very predictable and very Walking Deadish feeling episode. This show had been doing a pretty great job of avoiding the things that made Walking Dead unbearably dreary torture porn. And then this episode happened, and left me feeling disgusted... and uninterested in future eps. 

[Ran]

11 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Interesting they decided to get David to try to rape Ellie in the burning building. Gamewise he was just determined to kill her, I was never sure in the game whether he was a sex pest or not, we never got to see the cult in action, though the cage scene in the game gave off a bit of that vibe.

When Googling about it, I found someone linking to this where the voice actors for Ellie and David are asked about it. Kind of interesting to see their views:

 

Spoiler

TL;DR: Johnson initially makes an expression that looks like she's surprised that Troy Baker (Joel's original voice actor... and James in the TV show, as has been noted up thread!) even asked, but then she did sort of agree that yes, it's ambiguous, but that she had always it played it as if Ellie reacted to David's approach to her being sexual/predatory, and then Nolan North (David's voice actor) agreed that he played it that way as well.

 

[Mexal]

2 hours ago, Relic said:

Very predictable and very Walking Deadish feeling episode. This show had been doing a pretty great job of avoiding the things that made Walking Dead unbearably dreary torture porn. And then this episode happened, and left me feeling disgusted... and uninterested in future eps. 

It’s not a common occurrence.

[dbunting]

15 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

I thought not having any infected, again, in the main story was a bit disappointing having a few at least come wandering along having responded to Ellie's gunshot would have been good. 

And now in David's Cult with David and all or most of the leaders dead the remaining submissive part of the community is left to try to fend for themselves throughout winter, which they might not survive.

First bolded part, I think this is due to the cold. Fungus don't grow well in cold temps, but thrive in warm moist areas. Maybe they are applying some real world science to it?

Second bold, they now have a full deer and horse to eat. That horse alone will provide hundreds of pounds of meat and they have lost like 9 men in the two episodes. Based on that meeting/meal there was only like 30-40 in the entire group, so now 9 less mouths to feed. Joel and Ellie may have actually saved the community by getting them a deer and horse and simultaneously thinning the male population! 

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, dbunting said:

 

Second bold, they now have a full deer and horse to eat. That horse alone will provide hundreds of pounds of meat and they have lost like 9 men in the two episodes. Based on that meeting/meal there was only like 30-40 in the entire group, so now 9 less mouths to feed. Joel and Ellie may have actually saved the community by getting them a deer and horse and simultaneously thinning the male population! 

Counterpoint: their kitchen burned down.  (maybe)

[Corvinus85]

After re-watching I'm thinking a detail I missed was James and David talking in code at the beginning, when David asked James how much food like venison and rabbit was left. So people wouldn't realize they were talking about the stored bodies. Because we see 3 bodies hanging in the storeroom, so it wasn't just that girl's dad they were eating, and when David tells James to go get the penicillin, he clarifies that he's not speaking code. 

[dbunting]

49 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

After re-watching I'm thinking a detail I missed was James and David talking in code at the beginning, when David asked James how much food like venison and rabbit was left. So people wouldn't realize they were talking about the stored bodies. Because we see 3 bodies hanging in the storeroom, so it wasn't just that girl's dad they were eating, and when David tells James to go get the penicillin, he clarifies that he's not speaking code. 

Yeah, and I thought he was lying to her about the 4 mile round trip so her timing would be off watching for him to come back, but then I remember them talking at the resort about seeing deer a couple miles away.

[The Anti-Targ]

2 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

After re-watching I'm thinking a detail I missed was James and David talking in code at the beginning, when David asked James how much food like venison and rabbit was left. So people wouldn't realize they were talking about the stored bodies. Because we see 3 bodies hanging in the storeroom, so it wasn't just that girl's dad they were eating, and when David tells James to go get the penicillin, he clarifies that he's not speaking code. 

Good point, I think a lot of people will have missed that conversation being in code. Certainly one video review of the episode I watched seemed to think it was a bit of a plot hole that there was deer meat in the compound and yet they were eating people. So they clearly didn't twig to the possibility of that conversation being in code.

10 hours ago, Ran said:

When Googling about it, I found someone linking to this where the voice actors for Ellie and David are asked about it. Kind of interesting to see their views:

 

  Hide contents

TL;DR: Johnson initially makes an expression that looks like she's surprised that Troy Baker (Joel's original voice actor... and James in the TV show, as has been noted up thread!) even asked, but then she did sort of agree that yes, it's ambiguous, but that she had always it played it as if Ellie reacted to David's approach to her being sexual/predatory, and then Nolan North (David's voice actor) agreed that he played it that way as well.

 

Spoiler

Though if you listen further on Nolan seems to contradict himself and say he didn't play it as being a sexual advance. It is interesting that it seems like Ashley and Nolan might have interpreted David's motivations differently, which means they didn't talk at the time about what his motivations are. And that's actually a natural way to play the scene where Ellie doesn't know David's intentions and hence will interpret according to her perspectives, and David know his motivations but won't have a clue about how Ellie is interpreting him. And David obviously got totally duped by Ellie believing that his charisma was bringing her around...until SNAP!

 

[Denvek]

12 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Good point, I think a lot of people will have missed that conversation being in code. Certainly one video review of the episode I watched seemed to think it was a bit of a plot hole that there was deer meat in the compound and yet they were eating people. So they clearly didn't twig to the possibility of that conversation being in code.

I didn't think it was that confusing - while it's initially weird when James and David bring the deer in so the "venison" they've just cooked can't have been from that deer like you might have initially assumed, when the reveal comes in later that's when you'd realise what the "venison" actually was.

[karaddin]

"Haha, this venison we're eating from the deer David brought back yesterday tastes so different from the venison we had yesterday. What's up with that?"

Cue frantic shush motions from the others

[The Anti-Targ]

Indeed, they should have said it was wild boar, because, apparently, that's more like how we taste. Similar metabolisms, omnivorous. We are the other other white meat I think. I dunno, I haven't seen much human meat, really I haven't, might have to ask a surgeon.

[Rippounet]

The last couple of episodes were pretty solid, though not quite as good as Ep3 or 6 imho.

Both were a good opportunity for Ramsey to shine, and boy did she deliver. Ep7 was a bit slow for my taste, but Ep8 was a small roller-coaster of emotions, with a poignant conclusion - despite having a clear video-game feel to it. Definitely a Walking Dead vibe to it, but then can you have a post-apocalyptic show without a crazy cult leader?

I both look forward to the next episode (is it really just nine?) and wish there could be more.

[Lord of Oop North]

Good episode, and Ramsey was great in it.

I think this plot would have benefited from more of a slow burn, as the heel turn for David was rather quick. It was still good, just a bit rushed. I think 3 episodes for this plot may have worked a bit better.

[Mexal]

Thought they nailed the complexity of the ending. Show surpassed my expectations.

[sifth]

Very good final episode.