'The Last of Us' - Season 2 Thread (NO GAME SPOILERS!) | HBO | Neil Druckmann stepping away from creative involvement

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

I felt it was an enjoyable season with some highs (episode 2 and 6) and some lows. I think Pedro likely takes another Emmy and Isabella Merced should be a heavyweight contender as well. Dina was the MVP of the season.

However, I'd say 'Andor' was the best overall show I've seen this year.

 

[mvp_status]

Mel's death was handled alot better here than in the game imo

I think Bella is doing a better job than alot of ppl are giving her credit for, but I wasn't feeling the constant jumping between revenge mode and quippy spoiled brat. But that seems to be a writing issue.

Also her getting shipwrecked and captured for .2 seconds was a waste of the budget they could've used for something more meaningful.

As far as the rest of the episode, it ended right where I assumed it would. I'm curious to see what ppl who didn't play the game thought.

 

[Jmare007]

Cool cool.... so why are people talking about changes? From what I can see, it's just the Ellie being an action hero shyt that's been reduced and in a television structure, if you are trying to keep it more grounded in reality, those alterations likely have to be made.

Probably because they feel the story is being rushed (which it is, for obvious reasons) and because, by making Ellie more realistic, you take away the things that made her a strong MC.

Like I said, I think it's the right choice for TV but they didn't balance out the things you lose by adapting the game they way they are doing it with new or more stuff to make the her character more compelling. Bella Ramsey was put it in an impossible situation imo. She was asked to be funny, charming, vulnerable, a sociopath and a killer in different scenes in the same episodes, nothing stuck because they had to move forward to the next scene/encounter.

We both agree this season had dope highs and some lows. And a show like this is gonna get more heavily criticized for those lows, that's the HBO standard

I don't dislike her. She's a kid on a revenge tour. Should she be more matured at this point? I don't think so. Even teenagers who have seen a lot and been through a lot and have had to grow up fast are still kids and do a lot of dumb things. Ellie might have some mature outlooks on life but they aren't going to be fully cooked as a teenager. It's like a kid who takes a couple civics classes and now think they know all about how the government operates.

Again, the fact that it makes sense doesn't necessarily make her a good or compelling character to follow as your MC. You don't dislike her and that's dope, but it's pretty evident a good number of viewers -who aren't gaming nerds, trolls or tryhards- aren't feeling her and I 100% understand why

 

[StatUS]

Exactly and therein lies the issue. YOU are getting them out of ridiculous situations to advance the story. In a TV show, you are not in control... they have to follow a narrative structure that would make sense from point A to point B without throwing on endless amounts of plot armor.

The rest of my post explains the dichotomy of the different mediums but you got it. The narrative structure you're speaking on doesn't make sense for someone who was around OGs like Joel and Tommy in an apocalypse to be damn near helpless in a war zone. But if that's the route they're taking of a normal helpless girl getting in way over her head then they just have to write it better because there's a complete disconnect with the scenes they're using from the game. The Nora part was the only one that worked so far.

 

[Mister Terrific]

P

To the Van Lathan's of the world, that would only serve to make her MORE unlikable..

People don’t hate Walter White, Tony Soprano or Rick Grimes. They know what type of story this is.

“Pppoint to wh..wh…ere Abby is…”


Vs

“Point to where Abby is, and it better match up”

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

This show proves that all the criticism of “Neil Druckmann wanting to just make movies” or how “these are movie games” should kinda be thrown in the bushes.

there are just a lot of things the medium of gaming affords the narrative that you will never be able to recreate in live action. The game being an interactive experience lends so much to the empathy and urgency you feel with the characters. You have to literally survive seattle not just passively watch people skip through the actual danger of it.

it’s kind of hard to put yourself into Ellie’s shoes in this show becuase you simply just don’t spend enough time with her. You don’t get to read through her journal, rummage through her little garage apartment, sit down and practice guitar with her, get the side dialogue with the characters that help with the world building, etc.

gamers are going through what a lot of book readers go through when they adapt novels to the big screen.

Things like fallout work better as tv shows because they are completely original stories and the main stories in those games usually suck.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

damn near helpless in a war zone.

Is that right? Because she's caught bodies and survived several attacks in Seattle already including a million zombies surrounding them at the public transit station. Sounds like you want additional plot armor. I don't think that would work.

 

[Mister_DoItNice]

It was funny watching the Midnight Boys pod. A lot of the things they’re feeling right now are intentional on the part of the writers. However, none of it was developed enough over the course of the season for any of it to feel earned. That’s where the frustration comes into play for me.

I legit hated the finale.

 

[Deafheaven]

Is that right? Because she's caught bodies and survived several attacks in Seattle already including a million zombies surrounding them at the public transit station. Sounds like you want additional plot armor. I don't think that would work.

“Bodies” caught

One wlf soldier
Nora due to her being spore dead anyway
Owen n preggo gf. Which in the show wasnt even intentiona



Call me crazy but I dont think a half a dozen or so more kills and a few more cordy encounters would have breached into this nebulous concept of plot armor you have. Especially considering game ellie smoked like 200 people lol

 

[EzekelRAGE]

Maybe, but didn't they turn on Dex when everyone around him died?
When everyone around Ellie gets killed or harmed due to her obsession, same thing

They turned on Dexter because of the writing in that last season or two. Was trash. But people still fukk with him. That's why there is a prequel(renewed for S2) and a sequel series(drops july).

I dont think Dexter is a good comparison though. Dexter was a serial killer, but he had a "code". He would only kill other serial killers. That's why stuff like what happened to Doakes was meaningful. With Ellie it's just dumb decision after dumb decision fukking over the people around her. Then she isnt smart about how she does things

To the Van Lathan's of the world, that would only serve to make her MORE unlikable..

Na, Van wouldve rocked with that Ellie. They brought up how characters like Tony Soprano and Walter White were able to get fans behind them even though they were killers/bad people . The writers just needed to do a better job with how they did Ellie.

 

[Sghost597]

Yeah they better film 3 and 4 together.

As a non-game player

Changing characters in a game is one thing but for a tv show, you can’t wait essentially 3 years to get back to progress from this point no matter what Abby’s story is:

Season 4 hasn't been greenlit.

 

[daemonova]

Ugh! Got in late so I’m watching now.


I’m highly upset we got 7 fukking episodes. This is ridiculous. And a 55min finale. Smdh This better be back in 2026

Even HoTD didn’t do us like this.

Rhaenrya still glaring out the windows at Dragonstone

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Na, Van wouldve rocked with that Ellie. They brought up how characters like Tony Soprano and Walter White were able to get fans behind them even though they were killers/bad people . The writers just needed to do a better job with how they did Ellie.

I know Van lol.... they'd be asking why a teenage girl is murking 200 soldiers and clowning it. No doubt about it and a lot of people in here would be saying the same thing.

And I know that because every time Ellie killed someone in earlier episodes people were in here bytching about it, the receipts are in here

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

For the record, Seattle doesn't really get thunderstorms. I've lived here for 16 years and seen like < 10 lightning and thunder storms ever. Just tons of rain when we get storms.

 

[Human Torch]

So many things felt rushed once they got to Seattle.

Is budget the justification for a 7 eps season? Cuz they condensed way too much into 7episodes.