You know I’m just having some fun. Doesn’t bother me at all how you felt about ep 3. Differences are part of the beauty of this world. I’m all up in my feels right now.
DENIED! I forgot where he said it, but he kills the speculation about this. That's not who I/we thought it was. He is more coy about that character we saw in Jackson (similar to what they said in a previous TLOU podcast), which makes me think that probably is legit? It is a great interview if you want to hear more about this kind of stuff (TLOU2 spoilers are present, albeit somewhat vague at times, but I'd avoid if you don't want to know anything). He did confirm my suspicions about why they didn't use some of the action sequences from the game (i.e., it is too boring in a TV format).
So it was a creative decision rather than a budget decision? Shame. They proved that every time zombies showed up it raised the stakes and made for must watch TV. Prime examples were episodes 1, 2 and 5, some of the best episodes in the entire season and the action enhanced the following drama and made the show a lot better. Reduced action being a creative decision rather than a monetary is one I don't agree with.
Not enuff ACTIONnnnn. Me am MAN. me LIKE action. action no good, action BAD. me like shoot, shoot, bang, bang. Lulz, yall some CLOWNS. The kinda dudes that be eating at buffalo wild wings, drinking light beer with no taste, watching UFC on a Tuesday. Do NOT @ me. LULZ
Yall talking ABBY? NO clue who ABBY is. Or the actress yall want to play her. But from I'm seeing, I vote for VASQUEZ. 99'ers know.
I don't care what the critics think, I speak for myself. Episode 3 is hot boring garbage. It could sweep every award in existence and it would still be hot boring garbage.
I'm sure budget played a part. It cost ~$500K for a bloater suit they ultimately didn't use IIRC, and while HBO does love Mazin, I don't think they gave him a blank check for all of this. With the budget they did have, they definitely wanted to focus on things that makes TLOU stand out from other similar media (which already offer fantastic plots, epic settings, intense action, special effects that make you say wow, crazy cool zombies/bad guys, etc.). For them, the characters and their relationships were the core of the TLOU experience, so they focused on that. This is not Joel Wick or 128 days later. Highlighting the episodes with action sequences they did keep kinda illustrates why their process worked so well. They *did* keep the sequences that would help elevate that core experience. But if such an experience could be removed while keeping that core experience strong, they would drop it so they could improve the experience some other way. I don't think simply adding more action sequences would have really helped, especially if it didn't tie strongly to other events already present. As noted, I think it would actually drag things down by making things less grounded in reality (relatively speaking), and would ultimately be...boring. And by not going super overboard with it, they could keep things somewhat grounded, which did make those few actions sequences even more intense. Maybe they could have made it work, but that would have cost a LOT more money and been very difficult to pull off successfully. They went this route instead, and I don't think they're questioning that decision too much. Except now they have a bigger budget, so they might be more easily persuaded to go a little more epic with the action scenes they do decide to keep. Let's get 7 more bloater suits please.
I agree that just more random action does not necessarily add to the show, but more well picked out action scenes like those in episodes 1, 2, and 5 could certainly be sprinkled in. Even some of the non-zombie action could have used some more intensity. I also agree that budget probably was somewhat of a factor so hopefully a better balance is achieved in season 2. I don't completely agree with the entirety of your posts but you make compelling arguments that are solid in their reasoning. Refreshing.
God I hate 2023. This thread as many others turns into who is triggered more contest. Never played the game but thought the series was fantastic. Lots of tension and great performances. Ellie’s birth was jarring. I wish they did more flashbacks to when the crisis hit. As other said it was TWD with fewer characters and an actual quest.
It was pretty solid, though last 2 episodes weren't that great. The giraffe scene had a nice tough, the chemistry between the two main actors is definitely there, probably deserve some awards. But wouldn't call it a masterpiece necessarily, though for a video game adaptation it's probably the best thing yet.
So if the show follows the same story arc as the second game, do we get a Walking Dead-like viewership drop off?
I broke down and got a trial of HBO Max to finish the series. I finished it a couple of nights ago but too busy to post about it. I’ve avoided this thread since episode three and haven’t read through it since then. now that I’ve finished season one here are some thoughts on it. Overall the series is very good and the acting is great. The chemistry between Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal ring very true. Many of the other actors in smaller roles are outstanding also. The series though is incredibly bleak and other than the controversial episode three is anything but feel good TV.
Cont. For the moral dilema at the end of the season it makes sense given the arc of Joel. He's found his redemption and purpose that he's sought from the very beginning of the series and the rest of Humanity doesn't matter. For those who criticize episode three as not having anything to do with the overall story this actually ties it back to the rest of the story. Bill had found his purpose and told Joel to find his in the end nothing else mattered to them. Episode three basically was a parallel to Joel's story. It was how men who's nature is to be protectors even though they might not want to be that find their meaning. One criticism I have though with the last episode was that it suffered from what I call "Stormtrooper Syndrome" or how suddenly antagonist who are so fearsome and capable look like and act like Bufoons around the protagonist. Spoiler While I fully understand why Joel did what he did how it was handled in the episode felt rushed and that the writers and directors realized they didn't have a 10th episode so wrapped it up quickly. Yes Joel is a great fighter but all of the Fireflies there are hardened veterans who had defeated FEDRA and survived countless battles against the infected. That they just let Joel tear through them strains credibility. They suddenly can't shoot straight and make dumb decisions. it's especially seems foolish given how easily they captured Joel and Ellie earlier. Marlene is supposed to be this great leader and fighter yet makes some very bad decisions regarding Joel. If she was so dedicated to the cause of saving humanity and knowing hwat Joel is she should've killed or at least restrained Joel instead of giving him a weapon and walking him out. At the minimum not told Joel what they were doing to Ellie. To me they could've still had Joel save Ellie without Joel being an unstoppable terminator and the Fireflies being inept Keystone cops. A thought on the science of the show as I'm a nerd. I still like overall the idea that Cordyceps could jump to humans and infect them causing a world wide plague that ends civilization. I still am not completely sold on some of the infected. I get why the bloater was in the game and why they brought it into the show. To me though it still seems the most unscientific part of the show. Cordyceps does turn ants an other insects into zombies but it doesn't turn them into giant unstoppable killing machines. It's simple biology. If Cordyceps basic function is to grow and spread keeping a host alive and growing it to giant size with essentially armor plating doesn't make sense. It takes a lot of resources on the part of the parasite to do so when it's goal of spreading would be better done by a quick infection that is rapidly spread and then killing the host and consuming it. That is what actual cordyceps does. I get that it's more exciting to have this thing like a troll out of LOTR show up on the battlefield that can't be stopped easily but to me it's distracting from the seriousness of the show and just put in for cheap thrills. I'm going to spoiler this because I can't discuss it without giving away a major plot point. Spoiler How Ellie is immune to Cordyceps is very interesting and from my amateur scientific knowledge does seem possible. The placenta barrier between mother and fetus does filter out a lot of things but it's not perfect. If a mother was infected but hadn't completely succumbed it's possible some Cordyceps cells made it through the barrier but were damaged in some way. That meant they couldn't spread or reproduce as effectively within the fetus and so Ellie is technically not immune just that it's very very slowly spreading through her. Cordyceps being efficient though doesn't multiply infect a new host so she is infected but new infections don't take. The other possibly could be that like our gut biome existing symbiotic bacteria prevents new harmful bacteria from infecting. What that would mean though is that Ellie is still ultimately doomed and eventually she'll succumb. That puts Joel's moral dilemma into a different light that while he's saved Ellie for now she will die. All he's done is sacrifice humanity for only a little more time with Ellie.
Just skimming through some of this thread. Maybe it's because I never played the game and am not a gamer I'm fine with not seeing more of the infected. The problem with zombie stories especially over an extended story is that zombies are actually pretty boring. They do one thing and by nature can't have any character development. They are really just background for the drama of the human characters. I like them being essentially a hazard that frames the story and also something that compels the actions of characters and punishes the mistakes of characters. Just having a lot of battles with seemingly unstopoble zombies I think distracts from such a character driven story.