There are definitely way more infected in the game, though I feel like 90% of that is from gameplay sequences. Not so many infected during major narrative sequences, and the show cut/altered some of those (largely for the best IMO). As I said before though, I think the show could have used 1-2 more infected sequences. They used such a sequence in the game to build up David as someone you can trust, and I think that might have worked better than what we got. You would likely have to cut some other content in order to add these 15-30 minute sequences though, and I don't really see much I'd like to cut (except maybe some of the KC/Kathleen stuff, as I mentioned earlier).
I agree. Sprinkle in another 1-2 scenes with infected and there wouldn't be any complaints. I read about the game situation with David that you are talking about and I think that was a good character interaction that should've been included. I'm not sure why they cut that scene out.
They thought they could replace the gameplay sequence with additional talking sequences. I did recognize that, and it did help, but I really preferred the gameplay sequence if I had to pick one over the other. Doing both would have been nice too. They likely couldn't copy the game exactly, especially if they did want to push the idea that the infected are largely dormant/MIA in extreme cold. So it would have required a good bit of creativity, plus of course more money and whatnot. Plenty of reasons *not* to do it, and like I said, I think they were smart to avoid these for the most part. But in this case, I think it would have been great if the show's events were slightly closer to the game. I still really enjoyed the episode overall, so this is more of a quibble for me than anything significantly wrong. I know others might disagree though.
Part 2 Opinion: Spoiler I can see why they might want to suggest that infected aren't as active in bitterly cold areas, but they'll have to make a narrative change when Abby meets Joel and Tommy. She encounters them amidst an infected horde in wintery Jackson, Wyoming and confirms their identities before taking them back to her group. The winter horde is what allows Abby to end her hunt for Joel.
George Washingtons acting has been incredible in this show. Spoiler Especially hacking up David at the end.
True Spoiler Yeah, I could see them changing the season (not sure it is that important for it to be winter in Jackson, unless I'm forgetting something), or yeah just coming up with some creative ways to make that work. If they avoided infected sequences for budgetary reasons, the huge success of the this first season might allow them to have a bigger budget for this kind of stuff in future seasons too. I do have a feeling that they'll make bigger changes when adapting Part 2 than they did with Part 1, and I think it will be much more challenging than Part 1. Just like Part 1, there are a lot of actions scenes, some/most of which could be just removed without missing much. But some of those actions scenes are super important, and they'll need to take care in adapting those for the show.
There's both a blessing and a curse working with HBO as GOT and others before have found out. They throw a ton of budget at each episode for spectacle, but obviously severely limit the number of episodes, and run time. Where another studio like AMC tries to stretch out budget over as many episodes as possible without making the episodes boring. It's clear to me that this story is far too condensed for as much ground as Season 1 is trying to cover... however the showrunners are doing a pretty freaking good job, and i don't doubt they'll nail the finale even with a ultra short run time with so much to go through. .......... Going into season 2, I hope that HBO loosens the purse strings a bit, and allows them to do something like 16 episodes over two years. Season 2A, and 2B the next year. TLOU2 is a huge story, and has a ton of ground to cover. If they try and cram all of that in 9 episodes again, it'll be even more tough to pull off.
Also the casting for the new actor that'll be a co-lead (everyone knows who I'm talking about) will be one of the most important casting decisions ever made in TV. It could seriously make or break HBO as the dominant prestige TV outlet. In the game this character isn't going to have the same type of charisma that a real actor can carry that can make an audience really care about a character that is in conflict with another character we care about. It also has to be a great match with Bella Ramsey. You can't cast Rhonda Rousey, or someone older. It's gotta be someone like maybe one of the girls from Stranger Things, etc. But someone who can also shift into a believable "protector." The showrunners have a tough job ahead of them for sure.
I guess it isn't official, but I think Craig and Neil kinda hinted at the second game taking 2 seasons at least. Or at least they're trying to figure out if it should be adapted across multiple seasons. Who knows, but I'm just assuming it will be 2 seasons (could be 3 if they decided to add supplemental content, but not sure I'd necessarily want that). It could be filmed altogether, but definitely feels like it should be 2 seasons worth of content (with a couple of good potential breaking points to split up the 2 seasons). I would have preferred more episodes in S1 and/or longer run times (maybe 15-20 minutes per episode on average), but I also think they did a great job. I'm also probably not the target audience, and maybe keeping things short and "fast-paced" appeals to more people. Someone made a comment that some shows might have dragged out David's plotline to like a whole season if this was a different show, and yeah, I could see how doing things this way can be much more appealing relative to other shows. Still kinda sucks for folks like us who want *MOAR*! At least this didn't end up being a 90 minute Sony-produced low-budget movie starring Mark Wahlberg as Joel.
The show has been mostly stellar when zombies have shown up, yet somehow they keep under utilizing them. I wish the show was somewhere between these two images. The human element has been compelling at times, other times a snooze and a bore, but the action and tension moments are being reduced for some odd reason.
re: casting for the new co-lead Spoiler Around 17 minutes in the episode 6 podcast the showrunners mentioned the girl who Ellie yelled at for staring could be foreshadowing Dina...
I'll say this: Lyanna Mormont might have won the Emmy with the last episode. If nothing else, it'll be the episode sent to Emmy voters FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
