The Last of Us - HBO TV show (With game spoilers)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, it’s official. I can’t stand Ellie. She is the most sanctimonious ahole. We see in this episode what a tremendous father figure Joel was to her - yet when he tells her he saved her because he loves her, she says she can’t forgive him for that (not letting them kill her to develop a vaccine). What a tool. She owes everything to Joel. She didn’t deserve him.

Yeah, hated her this episode. The way she was so cruel to Gail. Eating cake like an animal. Just wanted to punch her smug face. What an insufferable character

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it just seems to be handled differently than the men’s romance. Not sure if it’s the age of the characters, the writing or the acting but not as well done.

It could be all of these. I'd say the acting is probably the number one culprit, followed by the writing, but the age of the characters may also play a role. It's hard as a 45-year old not to roll my eyes a bit at "young love" sometimes, although there have been stories (My Girl and a book by John Green the name of which is escaping me right now come to mind, also to a certain again Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a fan of the Ellie character, but I did like her speech at the council meeting about how going after Abby isn't about revenge, but justice. Of course, it's also about revenge, but she made a good point.

However, I couldn't help but think about Abby's father being shot. By killing Joel, Abby was seeking justice for her father. So when does it stop?

That's the point. Who is the bad guy? It's clearly Joel. If they'd found a cure by killing one person, they could have saved thousands of people.

I think this is where casting matters so much. There are some people you can go either way on, but I personally find Pedro Pascal impossible to hate, so I'd never be convinced that Joel is the bad guy. Ellie, on the other hand, I couldn't care less about.

There are some other flawed characters that I have found it difficult to hate even when they do bad things (male or female) because you just fall in love with them. I'm trying to think of an actor I could have gone either way on, but here, if Joel was happy, I was happy, and screw the rest of humanity.

I am hating Kaitlyn Dever as Abby because I adore her. So while I hate what she did to Joel, obviously, I would have liked it a lot more if the actress had been someone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think they did a very good job explaining all the factions in Seattle and their motivations. I never played the game.

Also, what pregnancy test has a shelf life of 20+ years? I swear I don’t watch to criticize small details, but there’s been several times this season where you have to just go ok and not think about it too much. Their lightning fast trip from Wyoming to Seattle? And did they just stash their horse somewhere? They didn’t seem too worried about it.

As a horse owner I agree with you. (As a dog owner I also flinched when Maria unleashed the dogs against the Cordyceps when they raided Jackson).

Honestly though, for the trip, would you have wanted for it take any longer? I think there was more than enough of that. Ellie and Dina are not interesting enough to be the only ones on the screen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever Dina and Ellie are onscreen together, i think it's such a stark contrast. The Dina actress is so charming and expressive and the Bella actress is so wooden and flat.

+1
When Dina had tears in her eyes while watching Ellie sing and play the guitar, I got teary too. She is really a good actress.

. I don’t know anything about the video game, but really liked the song and episode. The writers, etc. had to know this song/ scene was going to be a hit. So, wondering if the lyrics might have any foreshadowing, or just defining their romance. Again, I know nothing about the game, nor am I asking for spoilers.

No spoilers, but that scene was pulled directly from the game.

I know it's a computer render but, in that scene from the game, Dina is dead eyed and not even looking at Ellie most of the time. Ellie, with Ashley Johnson's voice, sells that scene in the game. Starts around minute 3:

It's the opposite in the tv show because of Isabela Merced's choices on paying Dina.

Thanks for posting this, PP. I've never played or seen anything about the game but seeing the Ellie version made me shocked they hadn't cast Kaitlyn Dever as her! I have to imagine I would be enjoying the show a million times more had that been the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Damn Isaac is scary! I love that Jeffrey Wright reprised his role (same guy from the video game). His character is so hardcore and I think he did a great job.

+1
He is an excellent actor.

I agree, I love Jeffrey Wright! If you haven't seen American Fiction, watch it now. He is unbelievable in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a fan of the Ellie character, but I did like her speech at the council meeting about how going after Abby isn't about revenge, but justice. Of course, it's also about revenge, but she made a good point.

However, I couldn't help but think about Abby's father being shot. By killing Joel, Abby was seeking justice for her father. So when does it stop?

That's the point. Who is the bad guy? It's clearly Joel. If they'd found a cure by killing one person, they could have saved thousands of people.

Am I the only person who knows it's morally wrong to kill someone without their consent (Ellie as a minor is unable to consent), even of their death would save thousands? I'm taking about killing for a cure, not killing to stop that one person (like Hitler).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a fan of the Ellie character, but I did like her speech at the council meeting about how going after Abby isn't about revenge, but justice. Of course, it's also about revenge, but she made a good point.

However, I couldn't help but think about Abby's father being shot. By killing Joel, Abby was seeking justice for her father. So when does it stop?

That's the point. Who is the bad guy? It's clearly Joel. If they'd found a cure by killing one person, they could have saved thousands of people.

Am I the only person who knows it's morally wrong to kill someone without their consent (Ellie as a minor is unable to consent), even of their death would save thousands? I'm taking about killing for a cure, not killing to stop that one person (like Hitler).

Are you saying that Joel was in the right then to kill all of those people to save Ellie? He's the good guy? I think it's a gray area....

I find Ellie to be SO annoying, but I thought Bella's portrayal of her last night to be spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a fan of the Ellie character, but I did like her speech at the council meeting about how going after Abby isn't about revenge, but justice. Of course, it's also about revenge, but she made a good point.

However, I couldn't help but think about Abby's father being shot. By killing Joel, Abby was seeking justice for her father. So when does it stop?

That's the point. Who is the bad guy? It's clearly Joel. If they'd found a cure by killing one person, they could have saved thousands of people.

Am I the only person who knows it's morally wrong to kill someone without their consent (Ellie as a minor is unable to consent), even of their death would save thousands? I'm taking about killing for a cure, not killing to stop that one person (like Hitler).

Even with consent I don’t agree with killing a person for thousands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so glad Pedro Pascal came back! But episode six was so boring. Besides his great acting chops. Bella Ramsey is such an awkward, affected actor. I'm done with this show

"awkward, affected" describes a teen, which the character is, so maybe you're just done teens?

I'm done with the Bella hate from a bunch of alleged adults. Y'all suck as people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a fan of the Ellie character, but I did like her speech at the council meeting about how going after Abby isn't about revenge, but justice. Of course, it's also about revenge, but she made a good point.

However, I couldn't help but think about Abby's father being shot. By killing Joel, Abby was seeking justice for her father. So when does it stop?

That's the point. Who is the bad guy? It's clearly Joel. If they'd found a cure by killing one person, they could have saved thousands of people.

I think this is where casting matters so much. There are some people you can go either way on, but I personally find Pedro Pascal impossible to hate, so I'd never be convinced that Joel is the bad guy. Ellie, on the other hand, I couldn't care less about.

There are some other flawed characters that I have found it difficult to hate even when they do bad things (male or female) because you just fall in love with them. I'm trying to think of an actor I could have gone either way on, but here, if Joel was happy, I was happy, and screw the rest of humanity.

I am hating Kaitlyn Dever as Abby because I adore her. So while I hate what she did to Joel, obviously, I would have liked it a lot more if the actress had been someone else.

This sounds less like an issue with the casting than with your inability to see the actors playing a role, not being themselves. Kinda creepy really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, it’s official. I can’t stand Ellie. She is the most sanctimonious ahole. We see in this episode what a tremendous father figure Joel was to her - yet when he tells her he saved her because he loves her, she says she can’t forgive him for that (not letting them kill her to develop a vaccine). What a tool. She owes everything to Joel. She didn’t deserve him.

Yeah, hated her this episode. The way she was so cruel to Gail. Eating cake like an animal. Just wanted to punch her smug face. What an insufferable character

Be real: you've hated her the whole show (and posted about it here, at length, after every episode).

She wasn't "cruel to Gail". She was cruel to Joel, refusing to keep his "little secret" because it made her realize he'd also lied to her about what happened with the fireflies. It's a time-honored teen tradition, breaking away from your allegiance to your authority figure/parent. It's just that, in this setting, the weight of it, the opportunity for it to be catastrophic instead of just dramatic, is so much greater. But she wasn't doing it to hurt Gail. She wasn't doing it for/against Gail at all. She didn't seem to think what it would mean for Gail. She did it to @ Joel, publicly, because she'd figured out he'd lied about keeping her alive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Damn Isaac is scary! I love that Jeffrey Wright reprised his role (same guy from the video game). His character is so hardcore and I think he did a great job.

+1
He is an excellent actor.

I agree, I love Jeffrey Wright! If you haven't seen American Fiction, watch it now. He is unbelievable in it.

Forever Bernard. Sorry not sorry. It's Bernard playing Jeffrey Wright playing Isaac.

[Anonymous]

I don’t get it. If Ellie is so against not being killed to save humanity why doesn’t she just give herself up to them so they can make a cure and a martyr out of her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, it’s official. I can’t stand Ellie. She is the most sanctimonious ahole. We see in this episode what a tremendous father figure Joel was to her - yet when he tells her he saved her because he loves her, she says she can’t forgive him for that (not letting them kill her to develop a vaccine). What a tool. She owes everything to Joel. She didn’t deserve him.

Yeah, hated her this episode. The way she was so cruel to Gail. Eating cake like an animal. Just wanted to punch her smug face. What an insufferable character

Be real: you've hated her the whole show (and posted about it here, at length, after every episode).

She wasn't "cruel to Gail". She was cruel to Joel, refusing to keep his "little secret" because it made her realize he'd also lied to her about what happened with the fireflies. It's a time-honored teen tradition, breaking away from your allegiance to your authority figure/parent. It's just that, in this setting, the weight of it, the opportunity for it to be catastrophic instead of just dramatic, is so much greater. But she wasn't doing it to hurt Gail. She wasn't doing it for/against Gail at all. She didn't seem to think what it would mean for Gail. She did it to @ Joel, publicly, because she'd figured out he'd lied about keeping her alive.

Her actions were cruel. Gail DGAF about her motivations.