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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It was a really wonderful episode. I was minorly spoiled for it because I follow Tom & Lorenzo and they'd seen it before it aired and posted several non-spoilers but rave comments about it before it aired with stills from the episode so I knew from the jump base don context clues that Murray Bartlett was going to show up and also that presumably they would have a relationship. So I think that dulled the emotional impact of the storyline a bit for me but it was still incredibly well done. Murray Bartlett was wonderful as always but I loved what Nick Offerman did with that role, which was in many ways the same role he always plays except in a very unique situation and getting to see that character become vulnerable the way he does was so touching. I would love to see these two actors in something else again. Just really amazing. "You were my purpose." Gut wrenching but yes, Frank, romantic.

Also just want to echo the sentiment that sometimes storylines like this feel shoehorned in to deliver some requisite diversity to a show and this didn't at all. It felt totally organic and it did not feel possible to imagine this storyline with any other characters than this. It didn't feel like a "gay storyline" so much as it just felt entirely like Bill & Frank's story and their gender and sexual orientation was secondary to their unique characters and relationship.

I also liked that we are seeing this love story between them unfold in full before [b]we ever find out exactly what the nature of Joel and Tess's relationship was[/b], even after Tess has died. It feels like this episode and others will continue to hint at what was between them, and we will continue to get flashbacks to when Joel and Tess were together, throughout the season until it is more clear what they had between them. And I like that way of telling their story because it allows us to see it through Ellie's eyes a bit, as she is also on the outside looking in, but unlike Ellie, we are also getting a Birdseye view via a parallel storyline like this that likely has some relationship to Joel and Tess (as is made clear in the scenes between the four of them and also in Bill's note to Joel, where it is made clear that there are parallels between Bill and Joel though also clear differences that I think bother Joel and he doesn't want to think about them).

Anyway, if this episode doesn't sell you on this show, not sure what will.[/quote]

I thought it was pretty clear Joel and Tess were a long-term couple. You don't think so?[/quote]

DP, I think I'd say, yes, BUT.  It was clear they had a long-term relationship, but I think it's also been made clear that Joel wasn't fully emotionally attached. I found the second episode to be kind of a snoozer, but if you leave out the zombie parts there is a lot there. Tess warms to Ellie and is very natural with her. You can see the possibility of a real attachment developing. And the scene right before Tess dies has a lot packed in. It's Ellie, not Joel, who immediately understands Tess is infected. Joel is shocked. And then Joel physically recoils from her/assumes a defensive stance. Somewhat understandable, but there's not even a moment of hesitation. And then Tess's last words are pleading with Joel to take Ellie and notably saying, "I never asked you for anything. I never even asked you to feel the same way." Bill's suicide note is a reminder to Joel that he failed in regards to Tess. But it's also a very heartfelt admission from a like person that it was worth it to fully open up oneself to fully caring for another.[/quote]

DP.  Wow!  You got so much more from that episode than I did!  I didn't pick up on that at all.  I guess Tess loved Joel but he was ambivalent about her?  Interesting.[/quote]

My take is that he locked himself down after his daughter was killed. I do think he and Tess were involved romantically, but he never let himself get too close or too emotionally intimate. He's furious when she shows up all beaten up in the first episode and she calms him down in very much a girlfriend type way.[/quote]

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