Misunderstanding HBO's The Last of Us

[@uricksaladbar]

Hope ya like it 🙏

[@completelynormalperson7077]

I love it! You’ve been able to put into word exactly what I’ve been thinking! Im glad this video exists.

[@danielhazriq2302]

Masterpiece!!!!

[@MePatra]

Loved it ❤

[@yawn9327]

As always great points and very pretty and clean way of delivering them. Your videos are just so... well executed and greatly edited ! Now, just waiting on a Girl's Last Tour video...

[@FunkleSauce]

Thanks!

[@kkatrishaa]

i disagree with your point about david. he was a "kidlover" in the game; he wasnt a creep that enjoyed being a creep; he is scum AND a pedo. the show adds nuance as to how assault like this still amongst extreme circumstances and i've talked to many viewers who have also played the game have really related to how david was portrayed in the game-- how horribly traumatizing it must have been for the show's ellie. it makes the experience of ellie and david so much more REAL. it was absolutely necessary in one of the show's purposes to show exploitation AND to remind us that, as badass as she is, ellie is just a kid.

[@kkatrishaa]

great video tho!

[@koji6745]

David was shown having that kind of ''liking'' towards Ellie ALL the way through the episode. It wasnt just that line, He made it very clear. You really thought he wanted her to rule by his side just cos she was strong?

[@purplepixel7877]

My thought EXACTLY. Even in the og game it was obvious from the start David was a pedo, it wasn’t just insinuated or hinted on

[@thegoalistheplan3868]

Literally the since the first exchange they had with Ellie in a cage, I already knew he was definitely a pedo. It’s really weird how the OP didn’t catch any of the clear manipulation that even Ellie caught within the show

[@DarkEclipce]

Okay no. SA is not “love on an extreme level” it’s brutality. It’s taking away someone’s power over their own body and it has nothing to do with attraction or connection the way that love does. David was a kid lover because he was supposed to make Ellie feel what it’s like to be completely powerless, even over her own body. The same way the fungus violently takes over other people’s bodies. David was someone who “had a violent heart” there was no shame just a violent hunger for god-like power. To make David a pastor and a predator evokes real life examples of men who hide as moralists to hide their depravity.

[@crazyinsane500]

So if you wonder why Neil Druckmann conflates SA with love, I want you to look at the departure of Robert Cogburn from Naughty Dog. This wasn't just a poor writing choice: This was his earnest thoughts. He also said that the fungus zombies don't want to hurt people, if they just let the fungus zombies do what they wanted, nobody's get hurt. I really hope Urick didn't get into that because it was just a totally different topic, like how he didn't get into the predatory issues with David Cage.

[@DarkEclipce]

@@crazyinsane500 I agree. The fungus isn’t evil. It’s fulfilling its purpose as the species that it is. However as Humans, our purpose isn’t so easy to determine. We can excuse things like murder, cannibalism, and violence if the situation is either survive or die. However sa is something that we can never justify. While not better or worse, it’s akin to murder precisely because removing another person’s agency is akin to murder. In the last of us, we can partially write off Joel’s violence because he did it to survive and to make sure his brother could survive. But the defining line that the story is trying to convey is that for us humans, it’s not enough for us to just survive. We have to live. We need love and art and beauty and triumph. These things make us better than a fungus without advanced thought. However people like David are no better than the fungus. He takes agency from others and while he’s willing to do what it takes to ensure that they survive, there is no light or love for his people, just fear and a leader trying to self satisfy with religious power and power over children. Not to mention feeding them other people without their direct consent. Cannibalism is unique because it’s technically not unethical. However we feel that there is something wrong with it because we have the ability to empathize with another human to a greater extent than any other animal.

[@crazyinsane500]

@@DarkEclipce Here's the thing: The game that it's based only touched on SA in the scene with David. The game had the infection spread through standard zombie methods and spores, like a fungus, the SA stuff is exclusive to the show. That's because it wasn't written by Neil Druckmann, who is a big SA apologist, but the show is. So it's not that the fungus was fulfilling it's purpose, Neil Druckmann is just a creepy bastard who shouldn't be allowed near school zones.

[@Yuri-uf2tu]

@@crazyinsane500I’m confused as to why you are arguing with them, did you read their comment??? They are saying the creator of this video obviously missed the point of him being a pedo.

[@jackhanson3856]

@@crazyinsane500So… What are you doing? Is this just, like, a diary thing where you write down thoughts and package them as if you’re responding to a single thing they said?

[@Evyanon]

Hello! I’m one of the “not enough zombies” and I just want to say I agree with most of what you say, but when I say not enough zombies, I don’t need a big zombie set piece, I just felt like after the bloater the zombies are almost completely gone and it would have been nice to have some in the background or anything? My other complaint is the last episode felt like it needed a little more time, the first half felt way too rushed and could have been a whole episode, which would have given the hospital scene a bit more room to breath.

[@a-rat-in-your-walls]

I personally loved the Last Of Us show and think it's a piece of media everybody should consume, and I completely agree with your critiques. I actually found it really strange how short the last episode was.

[@tappajavittu]

Soooo.... you just wanna see things you recognize so your brain will give you a shot of dopamine cause you recognized that thing, is that it?

[@wyatt2019]

The comment you made about the last episode not having enough room to breathe is how I felt bout 7 out of the 9 episodes. The only ones I found decent paced were the Sam and Henry episode and the David episode. None of the major scenes in any episode ever felt like they had enough room to breathe or enough screentime to let the viewer sit with what they saw. And removing the huge threat of zombies and spores made the emotional scene at Jackson (previously a random farmhouse in the game), where Ellie and Joel argue after Joel wants to leave her, feel empty as hell. That part of the story felt so rush and made no sense compared to the game which hit way harder because the characters had actually been through some shit.

[@REChronic54]

The last episode is the shortest in the season. So yeah, I had to let that sink in a little bit.

[@pintolerance785]

Seriously this, straight up there are like 3 episodes where there is more then 1 zombie at any given time, episode 1-2-5 and every single other episode either has 1 zombie or 2 zombies. So yes the complaint is warranted that There Are Too Few Zombies in the show. Like for real we never get to see a big fight or anything on the last episode like seriously I watched the show along with my family and we saw everyone walking around in cities, the Colorado college, they are literally in the middle of a city in the final episode. No zombies. Like it seriously begins to feel like society could go back to normal if people wanted to all you'd have to do is set up a big government, expand out recruiting people, done deal, because there isn't a threat. Also it doesn't help that this is The Last of Us, you know the game known for its cordyceps fungus zombies. Which get shown off for 3 episodes. If I wanted to watch The Road then I would watch The Road.

[@GabePauleyV.P]

The David aspect of the game was pretty clear when I played it at thirteen. Now it makes even more sense with the clues leading up to the conformation. This is the especially traumatizing aspect of Ellie’s journey. She wasn’t especially quiet at the end of the game because she killed someone. She was quiet because she was almost SA’d/Murdered by a group of cannibals.

[@thisishowitallends9321]

I’m pretty sure he was the same way in the game too. I got it from the guys convo about David’s having a new pet and all of children shoes and the way he interacted with Ellie in the cage. Even when Joel stops Ellie from bashing him she implied he was to assault her. In the show, they just spelled it out for the dummies lol

[@waaa7732]

Yeah David was absolutely a pedo and a creep in the game, I genuinely don't understand how Urick and others think he wasn't or that its something the show made up. The show just made it less subtle

[@oksomynameisjeff4212]

​​​@@waaa7732the game was just *way too subtle* for even some gamers to play with and because of the times(it was way too conservative back then), none of the show's changes were quite in the game(like Ellie being subtly shown that she was a lesbian in the 1st and DLC of the game). And considering the David part, I was glad they just outright shown not only he was a creep but an actual degenerate to begin with. And third, the Bill n Frank part wasnt very understood by most gamers in the game especially the part where they were telling that they were "partners", and the way they treated Frank was way too harsh in my opinion and considering the era the game was in, most of the people wouldn't understand the LGBTQ+ nuances in the game

[@clover2739]

I think it’s way better if they spell it out. I’ve watched so many players, especially male ones not even catch or realise what David was doing, it completely went over their head and even though it’s bad they didn’t fully understand how extra horrible and traumatising it was for Ellie. So for the show, it’s a lot better making it clear so no one can mistake it, or even make it something he’s not to make him sound a bit better. With a topic like this, I’d rather they make it clearer because it was missed way too often (so the audience are dummies) just like how a lot of people didn’t catch how Bill was gay either and thought this was a new thing for the show. Being subtle works, but sometimes people need it hit over the head to get it lol

[@oksomynameisjeff4212]

@@clover2739 also being more clear makes things more easy to understand and not divisive over the messaging the game intends to tell.

[@mimsycookiiess]

@@clover2739I agree

[@dumbino7745]

3:55 wait, so you're not a goofy cartoon man who goes on whimsical adventures in real life :(

[@Blublublu23]

No, he's a goofy real life man who goes on whimsical adventures in cartoons :)

[@dumbino7745]

@@Blublublu23 my faith has been restored. thank you

[@ScuffedSoldier123]

To be fair not enough zombies really isn’t just having them non-stop fight but more of a reason to show why the world collapsed and why the shot is needed.

[@lumppump1182]

is zombies really the only way to convey that? i feel like the shot being needed could be shown by the state of the world rather than just having a lot of zombies

[@stephenswift9896]

The vaccine goes hand in hand with the infected. The poverty and collapse of the old world and the state that it is currently is because of the infected so it makes more sense to have shown more infected, not a ridiculous amount either just more than what we got because without infected it's just poor people fighting and I fail to see how that conveys the importance of the vaccine.

[@silverdededestruction2197]

@@lumppump1182 more zombies show more active threats lurking around, more active threats mean the likelihood of reclaiming land grows lower and the presence of active threats make scavenging all the more intense. Human scumbags and raiders can do this job too, but then we run into the problems: 1. It became man vs man again with zombies as a sideplot 2. Humans are still not as massive as a threat since the zombies can turn you if you are the slightest bit careless, whereas in Human vs Human you can get away with a scrap from a fight even if it seems unrealistic to not be as harmed as they should be. Human vs Human isn't a bad plot in a zombie survival setting, but it's been so overdone that it feels as if there's no way to expand upon it (doesn't help that many games and shows that go this route do the exact same thing without fail).

[@dmaxwell910901]

​​@@silverdededestruction2197If you show them too often, they lose their menace. The Infected are more like monsters that not everyone has seen, but everyone knows is out there. If we see them constantly being fought off, they lose that. Remember that scene where Sam expressed astonishment that Ellie and Joel had seen a Clicker and lived? That's how they should handle them. I personally think there should have been at least one more episode with infected as the primary threat, maybe like the part of the game leading up to the Firefly base. However, I'd still take what we got over having them constantly as set dressing.

[@fedoratheexplorar2143]

I do think that the zombies should have been a bit of a bigger threat not because it needed more action but because.....if they were a bigger threat than we as a viewer would be cared and invested in the vaccine. I played the game and saw how populated everything was with zombies and died to them a lot of times so in the latter half of the game I did think about the benefits of the vaccine being developed. The zombies were only a threat in the first half so it doesn't hit as hard. It doesn't hit as hard.

[@gendygoblin8391]

I think they wanted to pull the viewer focus on the character development over the elements the characters have to think about. In the game you are actively fighting the infected but in the series you are just watching it and tv logic doesn’t make those moments as tense since you know the characters will make it if you have played the games. First time viewers will see the zombies and know they are a threat but players have had to crawl through hell to know how important the vaccine is but that is in the perspective of Joel so while you feel his conflict through gameplay and story, watching it is going to feel more like conflict between journey and destination. Idk does that make sense? I am just discussing for fun.

[@X-SPONGED]

My interpretation is that was the whole point. The real threat in this world isn't the zombies, it's the desperate people living in it. If you aren't exploring dark and moist buildings, zombies shouldn't be much of a problem, it's the people you should be afraid of.

[@fedoratheexplorar2143]

@X-SPONGED But then the vaccine isn't that important and the viewer gets the feeling that even if all zombies were magically wiped out the world wouldn't get much better. You can definitely debate that's true but it's confusing to me in terms of player/viewer motivation as you're supposed to feel conflicted about Joel's decision.

[@michimatsch5862]

​@@gendygoblin8391also, it's really hard for a movie to instill the danger they pose into you. They cannot keep killing the main character and rewinding for once. And the pacing of movies is different.

[@X-SPONGED]

@@fedoratheexplorar2143 personally, I don't feel conflicted about Joel's decision. She saved a naive little girl from getting her brain scooped for nothing. The fireflies have shown their incompetence all throughout the campaign. They're constantly being pushed back in every front either by Fedra, the infection, or their own stupidity (remember the university and the monkeys?). Marlene isn't really trying to make the world better by making a vaccine. It's to give hope to her rebellion. Something to prove all the bloodshed they all went through is worth it. Besides, I highly doubt a brain surgeon knows fuck all about making vaccines let alone mass producing them (plus, vaccines only work on viruses and bacteria. Fungi are notoriously hard to get rid of especially when it's already in your bloodstream.) The conflict is from the rash decision Joel makes at the end, you can argue what he did is ultimately good in every single way for the long run but he didn't think of any of those points when rushing through the hospital. All he's thinking is "Save Ellie, nothing else matters", he's being as selfish as Marlene, he's doing this not for the good of humanity, but for himself. That's the conflict. TL:DR, Vaccine wouldn't do much anyways + Firefly stoopid = Joel did nothing wrong (kinda)

[@npc_undead]

for kathleen it could make more sense if they showed what she was actually capable of instead of only showing the effect she has on the people she controls, especially if she isn’t immediately intimidating. i was actually expecting a scene where she tortures someone or something along those lines to see why people are afraid of her. but i really like the idea of a karen archetype in the apocalypse who is genuinely sociopathic and somehow rounded up enough people to do her bidding

[@anolive7535]

I mean she does shoot that doctor who helped hide Sam, but yeah I agree that her character didn't really work for me.

[@tappajavittu]

That story arc could've and should've been handled way better, it felt like a filler side quest with the obligatory introduction of a miniboss zombie, definitely the weakest part of the show.

[@ADcommenter]

"Oh boy, a new character that was never in the game!" And then she appears for like two fucking episodes. *And is never mentioned again.*

[@beccazach]

Well, she was capable of getting that room of informants shot and burned alive without question from anyone. Being only 10 days into their freedom, all the other rebels would still agree with Kathleen's revenge bc her brother's death is what motivated the overthrow of FEDRA in the first place. The only perspective we see of someone questioning her is Perry, showing by comparison how dangerous and unforgiving Kathleen is- but he seems to be in the minority and still carries out her orders due to his loyalty to the rebellion.

[@clover2739]

@@beccazachthank you! I’m confused why people always act like Kathleen is only this intimidating person and they go ‘why would they follow and listen to her?’ Idk… to me it’s pretty obvious when you watch the show? We can already see that the people in Kansas city are angry themselves, they want revenge. We watch them all tear fedra apart and torture them and make their lives hell for what they did to them. They obviously agree with Kathleen’s mindset. Why would they not listen to Kathleen and turn against her? As we see from Brian’s death, they care about each other. They wouldn’t turn against Kathleen for no reason, this group has a loyalty to each other. The only people who they have an issue is are fedra and collaborators, because the collaborators would tell on them and make their lives he’ll when fedra was in power. The collaborators are hated (even by Joel before he got to know Henry and feel sympathetic to his situation) Henry even tells us that Michael who is Kathleen’s brother was the leader of the resistance and was this great person that everyone loved. Kathleen would be the most angry naturally, but do people think that most people in Kansas city wouldn’t feel that anger as well? They all clearly looked up to Michael. He was the one who was working on them getting out of this torturous situation they were in. Sam deserves to live and people hate Kathleen for saying it, but to most people if you were in that situation being tortured and raped, and someone killed the leader of the resistance to help their younger brother, even if he’s a kid. Why would they care about that? Like you said, the only person who seems to be more resistant is Perry and that’s it. He clearly doesn’t seem like he’d be the type of person to turn on Kathleen and kill her. We are also shown that Perry really cares for Kathleen as well, even though he doesn’t always agree. That’s another example of love and caring for people can be a horrible thing, plus Perry still doesn’t fully disagree, because her methods worked and her anger at her brothers death was the reason that they came in top of fedra, even if it was from way harsher methods than her brother Michaels. I don’t think Kathleen is supposed to be the most physically intimidating, she’s not someone who is scary because she’s shown torturing people. It’s that her grief has made her completely blind sighted and people listen to her, because they need that anger as fuel for what they’re doing. Her not looking and sounding like a typical leader, shows way more to me. That the leader isn’t just the biggest and toughest, but the fact that someone who is just normal, who probably would’ve been more like a teacher became this way because of the situation they are in. I understand why people don’t like Kathleen’s character, but they always ask questions which is already answered in the show through the context we’re given.

[@limemime565]

Less is more. Was so refreshing to have a horrorish show that treated the infected as more as an aspect of the world that only showed up when it was relevant rather than basically just having a monster of the week

[@jtlego1]

And honestly, that lack of Infected just made the times when they *did* appear (the Clicker swarm+Bloater, the Runner that attacks Ellie's mom in the last episode's cold open/flashback) all the more harrowing.

[@ZaLewdWarudo]

But that's exactly how every season of the walking dead after the first has treated them. And it also sucks.

[@limemime565]

@@ZaLewdWarudo difference is walking dead was still relying on the surprise zombie bs when it was convenient instead of it being a natural plot element

[@ragedsycokiller]

@@jtlego1 not really. It created the opposite effect that the humans were more boring to me and the zombies were barely a threat outside of everyone's mind until the plot machine kicks in. Would have loved a more 50/50 stakes like in the game again tbh. Plus

[@Clown_the_Clown]

This show was god awful. Episode one already was pretty iffy with many choices. Episode 2 was awful with the kiss, and Episode 3 just was fan fiction about two incredibly minor characters.

[@Tarnished-bn5gq]

The showrunners deciding to make the runners more human in appearance in order emphasize the “beauty” and “intimacy” of the infected ultimately came off as far more disturbing and necrophilic, especially when you know why the writers did that. It was entirely unnecessary and just makes the runners and infected more gross and disturbing, in the wrong ways.

[@stuffwithjon]

I disagree that game Bill was hiding he was gay. What he was hiding was that he was in love with someone. Because acknowledging that the person he loved is gone forever is far too painful for him.

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

The big issue I have with the show is the removal of the spores and the danger they pose, after all they're the main transportation and infection device of the fungi after all, removing them got rid of a key part of the threat of the world itself. Sadly though if Season 2 is covering the second game, then well that is going to get very heated fast and very conflicted shall we say for the audiences.

[@X-SPONGED]

I think they removed the spores because having a gas mask on all the time would be detrimental to the actors' performances but also because with how spores work IRL, Joel and Ellie wouldn't last a day outside without constantly looking like a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Metro character.

[@josh165]

​@@X-SPONGEDFunny you say that because Pedro Pascal literally played the Mandolorian. A character who has his helmet on for 99% of the show.

[@X-SPONGED]

@@josh165 I know, but the man himself said he'd prefer with no mask, the director and writer agreed so the change was made.

[@tappajavittu]

@@X-SPONGED Not to mention what a fucking nightmare it would be for the actors to act pretty much the whole show in gasmasks. I'd highly recommend anyone who wants that to try to wear a real gasmask for even an hour and experience how awful it is in real life. EDIT: yadda, yadda, yadda mandalorian, yadda, yadda, yadda.... It's totally different to act wearing a bucket with proper airflow and room for your head than wearing a (in real life) airtight gasmask that's tightly strapped against your face.

[@ApexGale]

The spores also make no sense because in reality, spores would get you pretty much anywhere.

[@twintin122]

Zombie is not filler, in the game. When I played in TLOU-1 and saw these terrible crowds of zombies, I understood this world as fucked up. In the show, I didn't feel threatened by zombies, the world was in "crisis". That feeling strongly influences the final.

[@a-rat-in-your-walls]

I love how they adapted the game and I completely agree. The show has more a sense of a collapsing world as opposed to a world that's already gone.

[@theshire9173]

I agree that I wish there were more zombies, but I can understand having fewer. It only takes one bite to end your life, so even if there aren't many, they can do a lot of damage. Also, in the game, Joel and Ellie can die to zombies and respawn, which they can't do in the show. Because of this difference, if we had too many zombies in the show where Joel and Ellie are perfectly fine every time, then the zombies would feel like much less of a threat if they're so easily defeated every time. I do wish they had more of a balance (I don't remember any zombies after Kansas City), but I understand that they needed to reduce the number of zombie encounters to make the characters seem vulnerable

[@X-SPONGED]

Probably because the zombies mostly retreated into dark damp places and only migrate once in awhile. The only reason you get zombie segments in the game is for gameplay reasons. Besides, I think the show is trying to illustrate that the real danger aren't the zombies but the humans.

[@silverdededestruction2197]

@@X-SPONGED I think your last point is a common complain universally accepted in almost every form of zombie media That it's the Humans who are the threat, not the zombies. It's an overdone trope that humans are the true monsters and not the literal monsters, and that's why people complain about the lack of zombies. It's not a bad trope obviously, but it's been done to death with so little variety in how they execute it, and it feels like there's no way to spice it up either.

[@X-SPONGED]

@@silverdededestruction2197 whilst I do agree it's been overdone, I don't really see how to include more zombie scenes in the show without making it feel bloated (pun intended) or forced

[@MarkofQuad]

Definitely feels like you were overtly dismissive at peoples concerns about the lack of zombies within the show. I'm sure all of us can appreciate the character driven aspects you enjoyed, while having the threat of the spores and zombies being given more intensity as a threat and the purpose for Joel and Ellie's journey. Walking about barren and destroyed landscapes doesn't really convey much need for a vaccine, whereas the games use of action really helped sell that aspect and why Ellie would be willing to go through with the operation in the first place.

[@silverdededestruction2197]

If anything,, barren landscapes make it feel more like a different apocalypse entirely.

[@sheyla12]

i dont think ellie's motive was for the greater good though? i thought a big part of it all was her survivors guilt. not necessarily finding a vaccine for those who need it, but more like, she needs to do this because everyone she's cared for died. her reasons are more for her own self-interest rather than an altruistic one

[@pulatelephonics]

The thing is, there isn't a way to convey that zombies are a constant threat without pulling a walking dead and killing someone off every other episode. A point someone else brought up was that they are a threat in the game because they can easily kill us; but we can respawn, and the characters in the show cannot. And if they went through each encounter without risk, then the zombies wouldn't have fulfilled their purpose of being a threat.

[@patathatapon]

It's amazing how you hired an actor to lip sync your lines for you! Pretty impressive!

[@kupotenshi]

It seems that the ones who enjoyed the show the most are those that didn't play the game first. If you're a huge fan of the game, the show did fall short because you do end up comparing the show performances to the game and it breaks your immersion. The show was most enjoyable when it explored things that weren't in the game, like Bill and Frank's love story, and Ellie's mom, and David's character, it felt like something new.

[@AnimatedCarl]

Yeah. The moment where Joel and Ellie are having their argument is so powerful in game with Joel's "mighty thin ice" line and the equivalent scene in the show just doesn't come close for me. Also, they made a lot of changes I'm concerned will stack up in Part 2 and make that even more awkward for game fans.

[@kinnyboy]

My only complaint is not really feeling the connection between Joel and Ellie. The game did a much better job of having their relationship be more of a slow build. The show it was like one episode Joel saw her as a package, then the next he loved her like a daughter. Only thing I think could’ve made the show better was an episode strictly following Joel and Ellie traveling, telling stories and just building their relationship

[@SnowMinkMemeQueen]

They said years ago, in relation to the scene with David in the game that had she not reached the machette in time he would have r*ped her. they added the line in the show to solidify that point.

[@Lessembarrassingman]

Episode 8 is probably my favorite episode but I DO THINK that the “not enough zombies” complaint actually does matter a bit for that one. I think the infected encounter from the game that Ellie and David go through is probably one of the more important ones, not thematically but just it’s a more engaging reveal if we have some reason to believe David might be a good guy before we find out he’s not. Even if him helping Ellie fight zombies doesn’t convince you, just an excuse to get a bit more time with him before the reveal might’ve done something. Great video Urick! Can’t wait to sob in distress as you burn part 2 to ash.

[@level3xfactor]

The reason why not enough zombies is an issue for me is because you see SO LITTLE of them, that they don't even feel like a threat. You begin to question how the world fell and how it's still the way it is. Also, the show doubled down on Joel's decision that made him even more right than he was in the original game. I swear, everytime they go back to that in this franchise, they make it worse lol

[@elaz925]

Its been 20 years. They were a huge threat everywhere and wiped out a huge chunk of humanity. Now they are less of a direct problem but now humans are the problem. Like that one town. The humans stupidly shoved all their zombies into the sewer and then ignored that they existed for over a decade, only to ignore the signs of structural problems until they broke out.

[@John-iq7ry]

The infected actually seem like MORE of a threat in the show to me because they're A LOT harder to deal with than in the game. One stalker was enough to infect Ellie and Riley and force Ellie to mercy kill her best friend. Bloaters in the show are seemingly impossible to kill and clickers are more deadly as well. Yes, there are less of them. In live action, they had to make the action sequences more believable. Especially since they made Joel older and weaker in the show.

[@level3xfactor]

@@John-iq7ry yeah but there's like four of them in the country lol

[@RichterCabello]

The fact that you see little of them makes them seem even more of threat

[@lesedimokgobi]

​@@RichterCabelloTo 1 or 2 people NOT THE ARMY😂. Why bomb cities if there are so few infected

[@dragonfluf]

That short live-action segment was genius. It barely changed the basic pacing and structure of the video, but it got me thinking about how you use your visuals to convey a point. Really cool concept, using different storytelling methods to get the viewer to think about what gets lost and added in translation to a new medium.

[@Blublublu23]

Thanks for including Barry as an example of a really minor character being killed off and actually caring about them being killed and as one of your favorite shows this year. I really hope you find the time to do a video essay or at least a review on Barry sometime in the foreseeable future. It just really meant a lot to me since NO ONE is talking about this (mostly) masterpiece of a show. Thank you and have a good day... starting NOW.

[@christophernoneya4635]

I really liked the original David as a villain, he was a pretty realistic interpretation of a predator. He uses his authority in a community to protect himself, and even his community members are uncomfortable with it and you can see how hard he's trying to force the community members to just accept it for the time being. My biggest problem with the second game (which I did enjoy) was how all the factions felt like rejected fallout factions, and I think the show interpretation of David brings him closer in that direction

[@lunaarr_6614]

for the line with david, i've heard a lot of other people (more so women) say the same thing as i'm going to. it was obvious that he was grooming ellie. he doesn't actually think those things (things as in he's ashamed for eating people) and he doesn't actually think that she could be a great leader (he might but that's not the real reason he said it) he was grooming her, trying to make her feel safe and special around him. he was always a gross pervert from the beginning, you see ellie realize it when he touches her hand. that was his motive the entire time. i see so many people misinterpret that part of the episode and thinking he is a genuine guy trying to do good with the horrible stuff he's got and then PLOTTWIST he's a pedo. but there's little things sprinkled in from their first encounter where you see that's probably not the case with him and he's just trying to groom and assault ellie from when he first met her. and that whole encounter is a contrast to joel, who also had to do horrible things to survive (killing innocent) but was genuine in the fact he really didn't have another choice. you see the deer in the episode not being put to use and the line from david "my men were looking for some food" when talking about how joel killed one of his men when they attacked him. those men seemed to looked for people. david also had the biggest plate of human pot roast compared to everyone else and he seemed to enjoy the fact that that young girl was eating her dad (that's anyways how i interpreted davids acting) which shows he genuinely doesnt have any remorse for whats he's done. he just tells ellie that so she could trust him and then assualt her. he was a teacher before the outbreak, meaning i think he's done this more than once. sorry for this being so long and kinda jumbled :,)

[@cheapturbo6439]

I'd agree that having filler zombie action scenes for no reason would have detracted from the show, but I feel that the lack of zombies overall in certain segments detracted from the world of the show, in a drama and realism aspect. The characters should deal with more zombies in general, in a realism sense, but dramatically over all, the lack of zombies makes the world feel less threatening, and you could say thats not what this show is about, but I'd argue that the last of us story wouldn't work with a non threatening world, since it's all about love in a broken world. I'm not asking for much here, these scenes don't have to be big scenes, but the lacking of these scenes doesn't add anything to the experience, only detracts. This is where my view of the "There aren't enough zombies" argument is, and I'd say its a very fair argument, especially compared to the other 2. This is coming from someone who played the game, and did like the show, but was more of the fan of the game overall (I actually liked the gameplay), so it's a clear bias, but again, I wouldn't call it a misguided one. Now with that out of the way, this video was still very good, and the argument of "Pointless if you played TLoU first, so why?" was one I was still partially holding until this video, so big props Urik, I always love your analysis videos.

[@dionysianapollomarx]

Yeah. Only the first criticism by most people really holds water to me. Having more zombies doesn’t have to make it look like another “monster of the week” flick. It shouldn’t feel like a parody of the game, but it also shouldn’t feel like an undersold version of it. I’ve always felt this way about the show. The other two arguments don’t hold water at all. The second argument can be refuted with “the show presented a casual representation of gender minorities.” This video does well of doing just that. (Ellie’s DLC episode though was drawn out a little too long, and the impact wasn’t as forceful. It needed to be an ellipsis.) The third argument holds the least water. It’s a different medium. The world looks broken, sure, feels broken, sure, but it’s as broken as a rundown county with a few zombies in the mix is how it feels to me. But it isn’t as broken and dysfunctional as you would expect in a zombie-stricken world. Though realistically, there wouldn’t be much zombies as they’d mutate and die of starvation. They’re still a good plot device in a “love in a broken world” situation. The lack of them in some bits lost me, even a dozen should be a real challenge (the DLC adaptation being exception). The tension in the later episodes felt less pressing. In their absence, a big gang fanatic of thugs was the best possible replacement, which wasn’t there in the later episodes. Only a few of them were there. The show doesn’t need to play up the drama, to highlight the theme further, but the lack of even a short action sequence detracts as well a bit. For example, the episode (7?) when Ellie and Joel got caught by the thugs at the hospital when trying to ride out on a horse. A struggle needs to feel like a struggle, and the longer it takes the more impactful it feels. The more push and pull, the more tense. The victory becomes more compelling.

[@Max501]

It is odd the infected just disappear near the end. They could of just have them walking in the background as a obstacle threat rather than a monster of the week situation. At first it felt like the snow areas might of push the infected away until the last episode just didn't show them at all. Almost like if they didn't even exist due to the plot/budget?

[@X-SPONGED]

I personally disagree with your opinion. The world doesn't become less dangerous because zombie encounters are less likely, because one of the messages of TLoU is the depths that humanity would go to just to survive. The real danger aren't the cordyceps, it's the survivors.

[@sunny-zh1wr]

good point! i half agree with this, tlou hbo series felt more depressingly calm, like most of the damage had already been done, and while that worked v well for me it did take out some tension. but also, i think it had less zombies because ellie and joel cant respawn (obviously) irl, which makes more logical sense, it would seem like they had a shitton of plot armour if they faced so many zombies every day and still never died

[@hopelesslyoptimistic8231]

I feel like zombies have been horribly misused in modern media. Most people believe today that zombies are just canon fodder, because that’s how games and modern movies treat them. Zombies are not just a disaster like a tsunami or earthquake; they are the main antagonist. People commonly make the mistake that zombies are just the backdrop to the main enemy-humanity, which is partially true for some stories, but zombies are meant to represent a force that the main character can’t overcome, and even when they understand the complexity of survival, the zombies will always remain a consistent threat. They are a psychological and physical threat-they represent the idea that the world cannot change anymore but people around you can hopefully better themselves or get lost into the animalistic that the zombie have making the distinction irrelevant. It isn’t just about humanity-it’s about Humanity Vs. Change. If the infected were a bigger threat in the show, then it would of made the cure so much more meaningful because it would give back the autonomy humanity desperately wants back.

[@merchantarthurn]

Big note about Long Long Time - they didn't just "happen" to be gay! The time that the Last of Us' apocalypse happened + the age both men were makes them finding a safe haven to love each other in is an important part of the emotional vulnerability - these men would have not found that safety for their whole life up to the point of the show. It was something that hit me pretty hard realising that

[@lamarlopezgonzalez6621]

The show isn't Metro 2033. That's my lame but inmovable take

[@MOnTIrOVkO]

Russians still try to make TV series. Since a first book release. And they still have rights.

[@a-rat-in-your-walls]

What does this even mean lmao

[@ChildlikeMan]

David's pedophilia was "revealed" in the same way as in the game, almost word for word. That line you take issue with is just a visceral confirmation

[@user-ei1oy5df6m]

I was not ready for a physical appearance 😭

[@theappler9516]

one reason that i wanted more stealth/action scenes is because a lot of them were really important for me to really sell joel and ellies relationship getting stronger. in the games, by the time that joel trusts ellie with a gun, she has already proven herself capable with a knife and on her own (making it through the hotel to meet up with joel by herself). right before this moment she also directly saved his life with his sidearm. these details show off her own strength and ability and make trusting her with a gun feel like a reasonable step forward in their relationship. also, in the games, we get to see joel and ellie cooperating more in combat, saving each other from strangles, etc. (maybe that only happened so much when i was getting used to playing lol). either way, these gameplay moments could be adapted well in a way that helps to further the themes while delivering on more tension. however, it feels like theres only a few action sequences in the show, and when they happen, ellie is oftentimes just kind of sidelined. when the scene where ellie saves joel is combined with the scene where they originally crash, you dont get a sense of gradual trust building, but instead, it just feels like joel goes from "no, you cant have a gun, i dont trust you," to "oh, i know it must be a lot to hurt a person, here's your gun back." like, he didnt even question where she got it from. at this point, it feels really out of character for joel to just brush aside ellies gun for an attempt at a heart to heart. overall, i think this change is mostly because the show focuses on making ellie seem more like your typical 14 year old girl, but some of the ways they focus on this, to me, makes it feel like it takes away both her and joels character growth and autonomy

[@KydaWoIf]

For me, it's the performance of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. In the HBO show, their relationship feels like it changes too suddenly and unnaturally. I also dislike how obnoxious Bella Ramsey presents Ellie to be. She is incredibly immature and annoying and never shuts up even in serious situations. I know it isn't very fair to compare the show to the game, but in this case Ellie from the game feels much more real and mature, like a 14-year-old would be if they grew up in the zombie apocalypse.

[@jasonfenton8250]

I was really disappointed by Pedro Pascal in this. Video game Joel is very expressive despite being a very closed off person. There's a tension under the facade most of the time and when Joel snaps or is allowed to indulge his violent urges Troy Baker can brilliantly growl some of those lines. Combined with the great mocap work Joel comes across as animalistic a lot of the time, like a bear or something. But he can also sound genuinely warm in those rare moments where he can let his guard down. HBO Joel is so boring and comparatively lifeless. I'm going to assume it was the director's fault since I know Pedro Pascal can give a good performance. Just compare the body language and line delivery of "you'd just come after her" at the end. Game Joel steps forward and leans his whole body forward, asserting himself in the scene and really growls the line, you can hear the aggression in it. HBO Joel flops about like a fish and looks totally lifeless.

[@laurenb4738]

My thoughts exactly. That aspect made it hard for me to enjoy the show

[@callmepsycho3132]

Agreed, Joel is a bitched down version in the show, While Ellie is annoying asl.

[@annaezhova2477]

For me personally the Tess's kiss moment was weird because it made me me confused. For a moment I was like wait is this some character whom Tess met before who got bit offscreen? Does she know him? At least it would make some sense this way? And the thing is, even if it was indeed a minor character whom I forgotten about it wouldn't help because... Well he would have been forgotten about

[@crazyinsane500]

Wait until you find out the rationale behind that. Like why it was even written at all. Like Urick touched on but kinda glossed over, *that was supposed to be "romantic." The main writer behind this show, Neil Druckmann, said that the zombies don't want to harm people, if people just let them do what they wanted nobody would get hurt. The "peaceful" option here is for people to be the victim of SA and not fight back. Probably relevant to mention that Neil had a part in some Weinstein-esque shenanigans where he helped protect a predator by the name of Robert Cogburn by firing Cogburn's victims when they went to Naughty Dog HR.

[@mcgfn]

@@crazyinsane500disappointed to learn, but not surprised

[@tonybippitykaye]

I’ll admit I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get to see game accurate Bill where we see him at his lowest point and his interactions with Joel and Ellie, but I can’t act like episode 3 didn’t give one of the most emotionally beautiful and devastating episodes of television I’ve ever seen. Hell, it recontextualized how I view media with more prominent lgbt themes since I tended to be dismissive with them. It also made me see more clearly the people who could actually appreciate the writing and acting on display versus the people who just cried out “woke trash” indiscriminately. I remember being pissed off because Az of Heels vs Babyface and his friend gave the episode a freaking 1/10 because they thought it was pandering bullshit that “wasn’t Bill” and Geeks vs Gamers taking an entire video to say how the episode was just a vehicle to push left leaning agendas in media (and don’t even get me started on his episode 1 review where he praised it while equally shitting on it for just having disabled people on screen…). I thought the whole idea of these guys was that they were supposed to be arguing that good writing shouldn’t be substituted for representation and diversity. Some people like Drinker and Mauler stay true to this, but for the majority of them, even in the face of both good writing and D&I being there, it’s not enough because a gay couple was focused on. The amount of comments I saw where people were like “woke trash” or “good luck repopulating the earth” just really made me saw what this side was: people who just as equally don’t watch the stuff they criticize. If you’re not fighting for better writing, then what the hell are you even fighting for because it sounds less like you want better writing and more like you just want to continue to pretend like these people don’t exist. Anyways, apologies for the rant. TLDR: Episode 3 was a phenomenal piece of television, even if it was disappointing to see the deviation, and people need to stop getting so butthurt and offended over a gay couple or similar getting screen time.

[@Selnathorn]

"I just wanna play Pikmin 2" is such a mood. Especially when my friends try to convince me to play some giant open world epic xD

[@jackcouch8322]

Yeah, 50 hour epics are great. But sometimes you want to just hang out with your little buddies and solve problem with them.

[@Selnathorn]

@@jackcouch8322 And since I just beat the new Zelda and Pikmin 1 and 2 are now on switch, guess what I'm gonna do ;)

[@Tarnished-bn5gq]

Marlene wasn’t intended to be likable, she was deliberately written to be a awful human being, whom betrayed the final wish of Anna Williams (keeping her daughter safe), and whom just was incompetent and caused her own death. What the show does do correctly is showing the other massive theme of the series before it especially becomes prevalent in the second and third seasons. The downward spiral of self destruction that is a path of vengeance. Joel’s massacre is so much darker and more impactful because we see his descent throughout the show. His obsession with Ellie leads him to commit harrowing acts of violence, and while the scavengers he kills in the university and David’s soldiers in the town are more justifiable, him brutally and ruthlessly killing almost the entire hospital, full of people who most likely don’t even believe Marlene or Jeremiah’s motives and probably just are doing it to support themselves and their families, is far more grim and chilling. The blunt and careless way he kills Jeremiah, this time in front of Abigail, his own daughter, also is more impactful and shocking, as it parallels and makes the audience further understanding why Abigail brutally kills Joel with a golf club in front of his adoptive daughter 9 years later. It wasn’t really about vengeance to Abigail, it was about balancing the books, by showing Ellie what Joel had put her through by giving her that trauma as well.

[@magnificmango336]

I’d actually disagree about the change with David. The reveal that he’s a pedo recontextualizes his earlier line about having “always had a violent heart” in this really creepy, stomach churning way that helps instill a sense of disgust and fear in the viewer. He’s truly sees himself as a changed man doing bad things for what he believes are good reasons, but upon meeting Ellie that denial begins falling apart. By the time they fight in the burning restaurant, his mask has completely fallen off and we see him at his absolute worst, the exact opposite of the person he kept claiming he was. He was lying to himself as much as Ellie, and him giving in more and more to his darker urges as the episode goes on is really interesting in my opinion.

[@Erlaxis]

Bill's story in the game was darker and simpler, but I still liked it. The show's story is good too, honestly. Very well done and original, I think. I felt that the show was pretty good, with a more optimistic and uplifting feeling throughout. Personally, I prefer the slightly sadder and darker tone of the game's story, but overall I think the show was a solid adaptation.

[@bianka2307]

While that one inclusion may have not been significant to show David’s character I think it’s there more importantly for plot progression in the sense of putting Ellie in a vulnerable spot. She’s a strong spirited and emotionally unfazed by zombies or even during her first few interactions with David after she’s put in the cage. Up until now, she hasn’t felt more threatened until David tries to take advantage of her. And while she does save herself in the situation it isn’t until the aftermath of the situation she’s in shock and truly needs Joel’s presence to calm her down, instigating their bond and realization of each others value. I think that’s the role it plays and yes it’s always creepy in any context but I see why it made its way into the show

[@ADcommenter]

My biggest complaint is that they didn't give the show enough time to shine, the entire series was so short that it would take me less time to watch it rather than play the actual game which would take longer than the entirety of the show.

[@SamanthaLain]

Well the game was always going to be longer, there is a lot of filler to cut out of the game

[@theshire9173]

But they adapted all of the plot from the game other than the Bill, Joel and Ellie segments, but those were replaced with the Bill and Frank story. The game is just as short as the show if you only took the story without the gameplay

[@ADcommenter]

@@theshire9173 What are you on about? The game took 10 hours to complete compared to when i watched the series in only 6 hours. If you were to cutout the gameplay and just leave the cutscenes then no shit sherlock, it's shorter than the show. Point is, they could've used those empty filler gaps to add more elements to the story that were never in the game. Filler that could've also acted as tension to make us wonder what's gonna happen next. We could've atleast given kathleen five more episodes, yet she's already gone in two. They could've shown more of what happened between henry and kathleen, they could have shown more flashbacks to the initial days of the apocalypse. Maybe they could've even shown how ish surviving in the sewers before eventually leaving it.

[@SorinPetre-ir1wf]

David in the game...also wanted to diddle Ellie. It was pretty obvious in my opinion,what with trying to get her to trust him,calling her special,tenderly touching her hand? What they did in the show was spell it out for the people who didn't get it in the game. Like you.

[@animalcharmer6321]

I completely disagree with your interpretation of David, but I respect your opinion. To me the reveal of the David being interested in Ellie is the natural conclusion of how he’s speaking to her, he is a creep, and I think overall the way he speaks to her is continually being colored by the fact he’s manipulating her. I think that the sequence is better in the game because they don’t have him give a line spelling it out for the audience, it’s just implied, but I understand the point they were going for by assigning him a line where he just admits to what he wants from Ellie before he’s killed.

[@crazyinsane500]

That's actually in the video itself. . . This is one in a series of comments posted in the last few hours that say the same thing. Did you see this video posted in the Last of Us subreddit or something saying like he thought it was done better in the show?

[@lauralynz1907]

Where do Joel and Ellie show each other love? Even after David Joel shows concern and he's solicitous, but it didn't feel like the love I felt watching it in-game. The show finale doesn't work because they failed to show the love and connection of the two and they actually made it all about Joel saving Ellie for himself, selfishly, and almost like he was on autopilot and not in control of his actions. He had a dull stare of someone who'd lost his mind and was acting on instinct out of his control, not out of loving concern at all. That's what happens when the creator decides to change things to fit a sequel that doesn't fit the original story. It's obvious what they're doing and why. I never asked why make it into a show. I've seen that take but never understood it either. There's a whole audience out there who will never see it otherwise, it makes sense to make it into a show. Just not the show they made if they wanted a new audience for the original story. Clearly, that's not what they want, though. Which is their right. Just as it's our right to be disappointed that we hoped to show the story we loved to friends and family, but that's not what we got. Using a letter in the absence of any depth of knowledge of or real connection to the letter writer can never have the same impact as the actual in-game encounter of Joel, Ellie and Bill. That's simply how we as humans work. That letter in the show is just words on a page to Joel, he hasn't seen what the audience has. It's strange for the writers to get that so wrong and act like Joel knows what went on with Bill and Frank when as far as we know Bill and Joel are not close friends, Frank and Tess were. That's literally what they showed us in the story. Yet you, they and others mistake audience knowledge of the characters with the the actual in-show characters knowledge which is actually very different. I have no idea why show-Joel should care about what Bill says. So my complaint isn't that it's woke filler, but that it's not as effective as the game encounter for the purpose it was meant to fulfill. In fact it's completely ineffective despite trying hard to be otherwise. When a writer's concern is to avoid the "Bury your Gays" stereotype, then they aren't writing the story to make sense, only to avoid something that isn't and wasn't true of Bill in the game. He was alive when Joel and Ellie left and he could have still been alive in the show - they could actually have both stayed alive and shared what they'd learned with Joel when he and Ellie arrived. Instead the show literally killed the gay couple! How is this not burying your gays? Because they made the choice (which they didn't, the writers did)? Because you say so? Frank had no disease in the game, the world killed him, and not because he was gay. They fooled the whole group of people celebrating this episode and they still buried the gays! smh Not enough zombies is not a problem. Really? More zombies would just be filler? In a show about the need for a cure that requires the death of an innocent child? Where's the reason for that egregious choice if the zombies are barely a threat? Then to actually say (because you think more zombies would just be unnecessary filler) that those who want more zombies prove their bigotry because they call Ep 3 filler but still want more zombies?! Talk about a straw man argument! You define it your way so you can dismiss people as bigots...which includes anyone who dislikes Ep 3. I dislike that episode not because of a gay romance but because it's so totally illogical and unrealistic as to be eye-rollingly comical. I can say that because I know I'm not a bigot and couldn't care less about them being gay. I'm angry for Hollywood to once more fail to present a gay story effectively and believably and then still be applauded anyway. They've been playing at it for decades and still have yet to make any forward motion. To me that proves it's all a lie and I see right through it. I know boomers get a bad rap, but we've seen stuff younger generations haven't and know that this is not progress. I was there when they first started trying to put representation into media and this is even worse than it was in the beginning, when they actually got some of it right. OK that's the first 15 minutes. I can't watch the rest now, and this is too long anyway. BTW - Starting out blaming media illiteracy is so pretentious that it's infuriating.

[@Skamberin]

I dipped out of the show when they removed spores as It was impossible for me to buy in to a world where bites and slow growing fungi was the only way to get infected. Unlike 28 Days where infection is immediate (in seconds), here you get bitten or infected, get ill and then turn, giving ample time for execution. They burn the bodies, the ash clouds dont contain infectious spores either. No barbewire setup, or landmines or other traps to stop bipeds, no firebombing, no anti organic gaseous nerve agent. The spores could come in anywhere, unless you had a solid gasmask and were aware, millions could be infected without knowing, the spores lingering for years, as corpses rot in cities huge clouds of spores could spread and travel across the country. But no, we get mouth tentacles, idiotic, and I dipped out, don't care about the rest when I cant buy in to the premise. And yeah 28 days is its own thing and it'd be hard to accept it infecting the entire world

[@allyvick2941]

big disagree on david they set it up subtly the entire episode snd it’s a show of like brutality not extreme love or whatever it’s a way to show humans are just as bad if not worse then the cordesyps (i can’t spell lol)

[@TheSupersamwow]

Long long time is my favourite episode of the series but I feel as though it hurts the show because the rest of the season felt so rushed afterwards.

[@pico2848]

I saw the series with my dad and he absolutely loved it, even so that he wanted to play the game (he has not played video games since halo 2). That's what a good adaptation does

[@avamagnanti5509]

this is how i felt after watching it too and ive never been interested in any games besides the sims

[@Xaixiu]

Then he'll realize how worse the game truly is compared to the show

[@mariaeduarda-qi2rg]

I really like the video!! Love your stuff, but i really disagree with the bit about David, I think the most important thing about his character is exactly how, in the first viewing you don’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then if you watch things again you can see exactly how he manipulate Ellie, you see some small touches and some lines that really make you uncomfortable and makes you see that maybe his interest in her isnt innocent. But I also hate that line, his whole character is based on manipulation, on how he wants Ellie to feels like she needs him, so this bit in the end where he is just so unapologetically evil feels like it goes against all his work so far.

[@mcgfn]

Not sure how controversial this is but my problem with the show mostly resides in the portrayal of Ellie by Bella Ramsey. They have really good acting ability but I think the show turns Ellie from a mature and smart teenager into a more immature and less serious child. I think it mostly comes from how snarky Ramsey's Ellie can be. I think she swears a little too much in the show, it makes Ellie seem less like someone who just speaks like an adult and more like a middle schooler who has to let everyone know that she can say "fuck". (Yes Ellie IS a middle schooler but the most interesting thing about her character in the game is how she seems more like an adult with a sense of childlike wonder rather than just being a kid). I think the closest the show comes to portraying the Ellie that feels closest to the game is in the "Left Behind" episode. Ramsey obviously has a lot of talent and emotional range I just think that the writers could have taken slightly different options with her dialogue.

[@luckylucas7957]

I personally disagree with this at 20:15. It being more impactful because there’s less blood on his hands is one way of looking at it, but in my opinion it’s more impactful in the game because you see way more infected so the potential vaccine is presented as more important, and Joel is still willing to take away that chance. The player gets to go through hundreds of infected and see just how bad it is firsthand, but I guess that’s the difference between it being a game and it being a show, I just think it’s a bit better in the game

[@randchuck2492]

I swore that in the game David attempts to rape Ellie as well before even seeing the show. Maybe I just read too much into it when I played the game when it came out.

[@waaa7732]

He 100% does in the game. Basically all of his dialogue to Ellie is classic grooming tactics (calling her special, trying to get her to trust him etc). Ellie breaks his finger because he tried to hold her hand. The most obvious is at the end when she keeps saying "he tried to...." to Joel. That's why she was so traumatised afterwards, Ellie has had many people try to kill or hurt her but she knew what David was trying to do to her

[@randchuck2492]

@@waaa7732 I thought so! I wonder why he neglected to mention how much it's blatently insinuated upon in the game as well and acted like it's something they just created for the show.

[@clover2739]

What you said in this comment is the exact reason why they had to make it more obvious in the show! A lot of people completely missed the fact that David was going to rape Ellie in the game, almost all people I’ve seen play it (especially men and I don’t mean that offensively, it’s just they seem less likely to notice small hints at it) so it tends to go over a lot of peoples head. So David is still mad but not made out as bad as he is, and how that situation would traumatise Ellie even more. With how the show did it, there’s no way anyone can question it or miss it and think that David is any better than he is, like he is actually shameful or wants to help. He clearly doesn’t, that’s just manipulation to get to Ellie and he’s even said he’s always been a violent person. He wants her as a child wife for control.

[@randchuck2492]

@@clover2739 I get what you're saying. I personally saw it even at the time though despite it being more subtle in the game maybe. I just figured I misremembered after seeing this video. I hadn't played the game since it came out after all.

[@clover2739]

@@randchuck2492 oh I’m not referring to you, because you did pick it up even though it’s subtle. I’m talking about how a lot of people completely missed it, with how this video was explaining it and why it would be better to make it clearer because for a lot of people it went over their heads. You definitely weren’t looking too much into it

[@STANNco]

when the zombie mouth raped Tessa that was too much man, I get the theme is love and they said they thought it was beautiful but I thought it was disgusting and it sucked me out completely, rest of the show is pretty good tho

[@help5990]

Part 2 is something I dread because if you give a shit about the relationship between Joel and Ellie you’re going to hate if they’re true to the source material.

[@Sreven199]

Solid overview with some great points. I think I still prefer Bricky's interpretation, especially Troy vs Pedro playing Joel, but your interpretation of the Bill episode cast a new light that I didn't notice before.

[@nicholassnyder2241]

It’s not a misunderstanding, The Last of Us video game is better then most movies or shows, the show was never going to match the game, few shows do. My biggest issues with the show is that it’s filmed in Canada, but the intro literally shows the US made out of fungi, they could have filmed here, they should’ve, there’s places so junky they wouldn’t even need film sets. I wanted something as gritty and realistic as the game personally, but the show is ok I guess

[@brotherbrod]

the show isn't bad bc it's "woke", it's bad bc it fundamentally misrepresents the source material. it changes the personalities and core motivations of its characters. even on a technical level the show is extremely disappointing. the cinematography is bland, camera work is bland (literally just handheld the entire time), the writing is far less interesting than that of the game, the costume design is laughably bad at times (winter episodes i'm talking about you), the performances are pretty weak (outside of episode 3, those mfs went crazy), and holy shit the editing.... the editing is DOGSHIT. there are a few video essay's out there that explain what i'm trying to say almost perfectly. okay okay i'm at the point where you're talking about the bill and frank episode and holy shit. Bill's pain was NEVER that he was gay, it was that he was so set in his ways and straight up scared of actually living that he drove frank away which led to his death. the fact that Bill and Frank were lovers didn't even really matter all the much, just that they cared about each other was enough to resonate with players. the episode wasn't bad, it's honestly the best of the season, but my god your analysis of it and the characters within it is horrible.

[@lesedimokgobi]

Can we all be really honest here for a second. There are less zombies because they ran out of budget It ain't cheap recreating a fictional mall😂. I don't think the less zombies thing was a creative choice

[@ericw1340]

I didn’t like how they scaled back the violence in the tv show. I played the game first, and seeing game Joel smash people’s heads against kitchen counters made me physically cringe. The Last of Us is about the awful things people do for love, but I couldn’t help feeling (while watching the show) that every characters actions were neutered. I think the audience should see the atrocities committed as they are, instead of panning the camera away or cutting down on the brutality. I’m not saying they should make it a gore-fest, but I feel like the show portrayed the characters too likeably instead exhibiting their truly monsterous actions.

[@oiijupiter]

I agree with most of the video, but I don't think your take on David makes sense. It's okay to prefer he wasn't a predator, but you talk like they retconned it, he's clearly a pedophile both in game and on tv show, not just in that line you mentioned, all his moments have clear subtext, maybe not as clear to some people (men mostly), but it's still there.

[@KidAL0]

Really appreciate your brief words on the “games aren’t art” opinion. Like yeah, some people think games are lesser… just like some people think books are nerdy/lame, or some find common films and TV shallow. A number of Marvel fans are still up Scorsese’s ass for his short statement on the MCU years ago, but I kinda agree with his sentiment, even though I still kinda like the first decade of the MCU too. I can recognize the faults in something I enjoy, see why those faults would cause someone to not enjoy it, and still feel completely valid in my enjoyment. Crazy thing called perspective

[@allstar4065]

Bro, I guarantee you this video would get much more views if you edit the thumbnail to show that you're also talking about the game! I didn't click earlier because I thought you'd just be talking about the show.

[@Luna-pk7gz]

I mean the word woke has just lost all meaning hasn't it. It's just used if there's anything diverse in any media no matter if it's good or bad, you got a trans or gay or lesbian character in your show, or hell a strong female character. It's woke apparently according to far right lunatics.

[@TechnoticPlate]

I mean I cant really blame them considering the amount of shows that made significant changes. Changes that have no reason whatsoever that the only definitive answer the viewers can come up with is "woke".

[@Luna-pk7gz]

@@TechnoticPlate yes you can blame them, since 90% of the time it really is they just hate gay, trans or women

[@crazyinsane500]

@@TechnoticPlate If they think the changes are insincere or pandering, they would be calling them insincere or pandering, not woke. They use the term "woke" because that's what reductive minds do, they try to assign a label and stop at that. These aren't intellectuals looking to explore the problem, they're people desperately looking for an excuse to disengage.

[@larrybobinski1257]

@@Luna-pk7gz you are the kind of person to get excited whenever your favorite soulless company puts rainbow on their products aren't you?

[@TechnoticPlate]

@@Luna-pk7gz Not really. I'd say its the fault of people who constantly keep asking for diversity in media for whatever reason. So they gave us diversity at the price of substance. We had PLENTY of shows with diverse well written characters and no one had a problem with them in the past, not even these "far right lunatics" had any complaints.

[@JustBeingAlive]

Good show but not great. Should had more action filler. Like no joke. This SHOULD has been 2 seasons.

[@slapdat700]

I agree. Season 1 could have ended with Sam and Henry’s death, season 2 goes from there. TLOU2 is already confirmed to be split into two seasons, so why not split TLOU1 too

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

@@slapdat700 Honestly surprised they're even doing TLOU2, Not a story I would want to really to my hands involved with.

[@bertramjensen188]

Of all things I was not ready for the Neverhood soundtrack to play mid video, that game was a gem

[@yatofia]

BABE WAKE UP URICKSALADBAR POSTED!!!!

[@thomaslareau453]

Its not about having more zombie filler fight scenes its more about utilizing zombies as the main force responsible for creating a harsh oppressive atmosphere present in the game but not as much in the tv show. Even when the video game concentrate on character development from time to time you always felt this constant omnipresent threat of the clickers and infected and saw how humanity even in the best cases of survival was on its last leg. Take Bills story, in the game you clearly see how his compound is still overrunned by infected and clickers and he's had to resort to making makeshift traps and learning how to navigate them in order to survive, where every time he steps out of his home its a life and death risk. Compare that to Bills lifestyle in the tv show where the only real threat he faces is one attempt at a raid by 3 idiots in the middle of the night even tho his pristine gated safehouse should technically be surrounded by clickers and infected. im rambling at this point, but I just thought I shared my perspective.

[@noco-pf3vj]

Ah yes, David Cage was mentioned in almost every video essay about video games, what a man, a legend.

[@pascalzwerg2222]

Great Video! But I still disagree with you. I can not make a concrete point and may be biased because of the first game. I really don´t feel attached to the character like in the game I really do not care at all if someone dies. Lou P1 I was so attached it broke my heart from time to time. But in the show i could not care less. Billy was for me the most attaching character and this was the best part of season one. And one small other point I have is that I loved exploring the lost world but in the show that comes abit short in my opinion.

[@BallotBoxer]

Season 2 will have a "this is for the gamers" episode where the characters silently crouch-walk through ruins slurping up scraps to craft weapons they never get to use for a full hour.

[@Koupip]

honestly, i do agree with you on most point i just personally think the show sucks not bc its badly made not bc the characters are bad not bc x y z, i think its bad bc it lacks that part of the last of us where joel is a paranoid person who trusts no one, i didn't feel that joel slowely letting his guard down like in the game he just seems to instantly trust ellie and talk to her and other people like nothing is wrong, there also was a bunch of weird scenes like the one where there is a random indonesian scientists that shows up and never shows up again, or another part where there is a couple in a log cabin who just kind of show up which is also weird, the whole point of the last of us universe is that most of all humans died since its been 20 years since the outbreak started and i feel like there was too many random characters, they also declawed a bunch of villans like the hunters who are just too humanized imo, what made them scary in the game is that you didn't know much about them or how they functioned, but in the show its just "look here is their leader, here is all the people in the faction and you show up the moment they took over but they are already "hunting" and setting up ambushes" it felt rushed and just kind of meh, also the weird show of making the kid deaf or showing a really awkward sex scene between the two gay character (i also loved the episode except for that scene specifically) the show just lacked teeth tact and any kind of mystery, didn't even show joel smashing some guy's head in with a brick, or even just stab a the hunter its all hiden. which is why i didn't like the show, it felt easy sanetized and toothless, it felt like the last of us but if it was blended with a banana to make it into a smoothie for easy digestion. i got so bored i just dropped the show midway trough after i rolled my eyes so many times they started to hurt. so yeah all in all the show is a solid 6/10 for me i really expected to see more from an adaptation at least more scary moments reimagined but i guess i should just stick to video games

[@larrybobinski1257]

they definitely made joel more of a pussy in this show. he wouldn't survive 20 years in the apocalyptic world.

[@civilwarfare101]

Why are you even defending a show that mostly gets praised to begin with?

[@ojejkuzgnilem]

As always, great video! I'm glad you mention some recommendations in your videos because I believe we have a similiar taste and thanks to you I'm able to discover more shows/games that I enjoy. In terms of unnecessary stuff included in the show you mentioned, I actually prefer the show's version of David because it felt more justifying to see Ellie kill him in such a rage. It also made more sense to me that the reason he actually put himself in leader/guru position could've happened due to his true nature of being in control, similiar to abusing helpless victims (or yes, doing the necessary things to survive). Zombie's kiss to Tess was weird tho.

[@moviesaredope]

27:04 THANK You! I don't remember where, but I've definitely seen this kind of thing multiple times & it's always been done to a woman. Super freaking weird

[@juuppieandres9941]

Also why would fedra go way beyond their protection point just to kill some random fugetives? They were also dealing with fireflies blowing their city, tess dying by the fedras doesnt make any sense even for the first game, the official podcats with the creators talk about that

[@astarbird24]

big fan of the game but did unfortunately not enjoy the show at all. i really don't think it did the characters justice

[@brandonclarke436]

I hate the notion that a gamenthat explores dark themes cant be fun. Tlou game play does not fail to reinforce the story just because the game play is fun. The storynis about bad people who have to survive and to survive they have to desl with psychopaths and zombies. What part of that doesnt match the themes of the story? Because its fun? I just dont get it

[@tacticstories7159]

Amazing Video. I played the game and watched the show. And I think what they were going for with Kathleen is that they were trying to make the story for the last of us 2 more understandable. Since the main thing going on is that people go to any length to kill themselves in a Post apocalyptic world. And that in itself was badly executed.

[@SkelterHelter]

Meh, I think you might be wrong. Firstly there needs to be more Joel and Ellie content to develop both these characters; in many episodes, the content was shared between other specific characters' views. Their relationship or how close they got felt rushed; they drastically changed how they acted after Tommy's town episode. By the last episode, no content to show Ellie getting over the trauma of the cannibal's attack also felt rushed. Most of these expansions on the story you compliment didn't do anything, the differences in how the zombie acts or the lack of them in general. The Bill story doesn't add anything to the active plot of Joel and Ellie (and if anything it feels even dumber that luckily no one looted the town again while he was dead), just as Henry ex group background didn't do anything either; the whole Ellie mom scene is utterly useless considering one original line just told you the same thing, the precise location of her mom dying doesn't give you anything other than extra violence. Most of this content is there only, so Druckmann added something when it doesn't strengthen any story beats. It could be the classic tale of how a game's story and pacing can't be translated into a movie or tv series correctly to this day (with very few exceptions at best). The show writing could've gone from mediocre to ok in my eyes if they had some more episodes not to feel as rushed, had more content of both protagonists with each other, and had the infected matter more in the overall story instead of basically being forgotten it's what even started the story. The rewrites/new content could've related more to what the characters actively go through. But as it is, the neat directing and some good acting I can't say that this is enough to carry the show by itself. I find the pattern that people who saw the show before playing the first game usually are really forgiving and seem to dismiss the context of one to the other way too much, which usually also happens with movie remakes. As one final note, I think It's really odd how people talk about the Bill episode as one of the best episodes ever? Their romance fell so convenient and forced, I was 100% waiting for Bill's boyfriend to bring another group and betray him (and that's not even considering the game pointed out to his boyfriend hating him secretly). Just for the show have a huge time skip and they are still there together and luckily all raiders gave up easily. Then the episode ends with the message that killing yourself is good as long as you do it with a loved one? Like what? Should Joel have killed himself when Sarah died? At least Bill being alive would have a point of the trapped town still being online.

[@calebthecoomer]

When it comes to Bill killing himself I think it's more to emphasize that they got to live a happy life for the time that they had, and they both wanted to end that life on their own terms, together.

[@SkelterHelter]

That's literally opposite to Joel's plot, giving up on life because of a loved one is going away, I'm not sure how you cannot see it.

[@pintolerance785]

In conclusion, (at the beginning because I know a lot of folks aren't gonna read my wall of complaining texts) I have been a fan of The Last of Us series ever since the game first released, The Last of Us legit changed my life with how good it was and honestly The Last of Us changed the medium of video games as a whole why do you think Kratos got a kid when they made the new God of War. So as a massive fan who loved the first game, I find myself very, very, very, very disliking the second game to the extent that it still to this day boils my blood just thinking about it, so me hearing that your making a video about tlou2... Watch out man you should expect another wall of text from me, so for me Tlou original was 10/10. Tlou2 was 3/10. Tlou the show was 7/10. Tlou1 remake doesn't even get a score because its a cash grab since the original still holds up and has multiplayer, also the pc port was a disaster. So anyways I enjoyed the video and critiqued it a bit since like this is the 9530096th video that's come out praising either tlou2 or the show and basically saying that if you've got any problem with it then your wrong and I'm just here to say to the people out there. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO YOUR OPINION. Don't let anyone make you feel lesser because of a well thought out opinion you have towards something, and its purely up to you yourself to change your opinion, hating yourself for holding an opinion isn't good for anyone. Much respect to Urick since he turned me onto Disco Elysium which is one of the best games I've ever played I just felt that I should give my opinion about a franchise when I've been a fan since its beginning. 17:56 "adding another horde scene would feel redundant." There are 2 horde scene... 2. In the whole show. 2. in a 9 episode show. But hey that's just my opinion maybe I'm just one of those brainless lobotomies that thinks there should be more then 3 episodes (in a 9 episode zombie show which is set in a universe that is practically known for its cordyceps zombies) that shows off zombies. And then you go on to have this part about how, nobody is truly safe, and how all it takes is one zombie to do you in, but for me at least whenever a show has a threat but then rarely utilizes that threat its very easy for me to get a dissonance towards that threat I mean episode 3 literally has 2 people LIVE OUT THERE ENTIRE LIFE TOGETHER, and not once do they have ant sort of trouble with zombies, like... c'mon and I'm supposed to believe that these zombies could come out at any moment. I wasn't tense, I was waiting. Also not just me but a good number of people think that Joel going ham and killing an entire like army in the hospital at the end was, whatever term you can use for Ludo narrative dissonance in a tv show, so instead of it feeling weighty like you say it should it instead ends up feeling unrealistic, remember up until this point we've seen Joel fight a lot of people just by themself solo. in episode 4 Joel took on like 2 people, he shot one guy from behind cover and then Joel got taken out by some kid like a teenage boy got the drop on Joel. Then the next fight Joel got into was at the college where Joel gets stabbed by a broken bat, so once again Joel loses a fight. Then the next fight Joel gets the drop on one guy before he can react, and then does that same method again with 2 other guys. And then we never see him fight again until the last episode where he suddenly turns into John Wick, and be honest if you didn't already know who Joel was you'd think that it'd be weird. 23:00 David was obviously evil. Something that was good in the game is how there's a scene which shows Ellie and David fighting off infected together, I think that this "filler zombie" moment is actually good, because then it makes his betrayal just seem that much more messed up, but in the show we never got anything that would tell us that David is a good guy and it paints him in such an evil light the whole time its like as if you watch The Lion King, and you see the first scene with Scar like yeah, duh, this guy is evil. Also something else that's strange about your dissection of David's character is how you say that David's motivation of "assimilating Ellie thinking he knows best and wanting her to be apart of the group." is fine but him being interested in what he was interested in was "extreme and unnecessary." Like... I seriously do not understand this point what so ever. The whole episode we're getting undertones that the guys fruity in that way, the way how he asks the one little girl to call him dad or whatever, the fact that he's a literal cult leader, I mean he literally touches Ellies hand and asks her to be his queen or whatever like, he does this in both the game and the show so I don't understand the point of this argument, "Oh no you cant make me hate the obvious evil monster guy who I'm supposed to hate your making me hate him too much, he's too evil." I'm pretty sure they already went extreme enough with the undertones and him literally EATING PEOPLE AND SERVING THEM TO HIS GROUP THAT DIDNT KNOW THEY WERE EATING THEIR OWN FAMILY MEMBERS!!!!!!!!!!! 24:40 at this point I think that its you who misunderstood what David's character was about I'm pretty certain that you invented your own head cannon for what David's character was and then David being a you know what is revealed which like, obviously. And instead of you saying, "Oh man looks like I was wrong." Instead you invented this big convoluted idea that somehow the writers of the show who you've been praising this whole time are actually the wrong ones? Like c'mon man you could just admit that David in the show and the game are both evil scummy people. Of course I like your version, and I think that be a good character but I don't believe that, that is David's character in the slightest just because he has that one line about being ashamed of eating people like, there is this thing called lying both to other people and to yourself. And also the black mirror reveal and the Last of Us reveal aren't even trying to do the same thing, David being what he is isn't even a reveal, that one line is not a reveal, it just isn't. 28:00 You mean to tell me the scene where a zombie is making out with a human being turning them into a zombie made you uncomfortable. WOAH! NO WAY! I think that's literally the feeling the showrunners were going for what did you think you were supposed to feel happy, compassionate, Lustful? Like I highly doubt that was what your meant to feel. I agree with your critique of Kathleen I'm so glad we got so many hours of scenes with her actual meaningless character like you understand that during those hours we spend with Kathleen just being Kathleen, we could've gotten more scenes with Joel, Ellie, Henry, Sam, or MAYBE EVEN ANOTHER ZOMBIE!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOAH!!!!!!!!!

[@crazyinsane500]

Unfortunately, regarding your point on 28:00, the showrunners DID want you to see that as romantic, they verbatim called it romantic. Neil Druckmann in particular, a guy notoriously blamed for ruining Naughty Dog, said that the zombies didn't want to hurt people, it's just that if people let them do what they want (in this case, SA), then nobody'd get hurt. Now, you might think this is so divorced from reality that it has to be fake. Well, *outside* the written narrative, at Naughty Dog, he helped protect a predator by the name of Robert Cogburn who ended up getting metoo'd and fired by Sony, IE his bosses. He then went on an a official Naughty Dog post and tried to name and shame the victim for DARING to get his best friend fired for harassment. He has acted upon these morals he tried to put in the show. So, yeah, the people behind the show *genuinely* are that cartoonishly evil.

[@pintolerance785]

@@crazyinsane500 Wow. I didn't know that, thank you so much for giving me that information. I already heavily dislike Neil Druckmann for ruining naughty dog and also how he claims full and complete ownership over the last of us story even tho when he first wrote the story it was complete garbage and Bruce Straley was the one who told him what to actually do. Idk how to describe it like Neil takes credit completely for the story even though it's very obvious that the story was a group effort from the whole team working together. If you watch the behind the scenes doc of making tlou show (which is full of stuff I dislike, like them ditching practical effects for spfx even though they had all the practical effects done and they looked great) Anyways in that documentary something they kept doing was, "This amazing world/story created by Neil." EVERYONE ON CAST SAID THAT. Like the guys definitely getting high off his own gas.

[@crazyinsane500]

@@pintolerance785 It's that one guy on the group project who does nothing but still demands his name be added to the credits. The best title Neil has earned was "The Hitchhiker" by an ex-Uncharted Movie writer because that writer actually challenged Neil's position and found out he was unqualified but schmoozed his way to where he was.

[@VizzyInks]

Just like the TLOU's series, your video clearly was made with thought and care. I was truly pleased to have clicked on it. No crazy music, no random visuals... I have seen so many commentary channels pop up recently, but good lord yours was my favorite! I am already excited to see the other videos about LiS and DBH, I loved those games when I was a teenager. Seeing this from a different perspective seems interesting. 💃🏼

[@VizzyInks]

Oh, I also wanted to say I like the new way you did the thumbnail compared to the older ones. 😂❤

[@reaganharris]

Awesome video, to begin with. Nothing you say is unwarranted. Only disagreement is the David being a pdo arguement. A huge chunk of the trauma Ellie endures in that episode is specifically that moment where he tries to force himself on her. Since its near the end of the show we don't get to see much of the following anguish Ellie would go through, whether or not I fully agree with you depends on how they use it in Season 2 (or if they use it at all). I'm biased though as someone who has been through similar trauma irl, but I hope they do follow up on that specific plot element in the future because they should. But awesome video man, sub earned.

[@LuvTonique]

With all due respect Mr. Saladbar, I think spending 37 minutes telling everyone "You just don't get it" is a bad take in and of itself. If people watched the show and didn't like it, they didn't like it, done and done. Nobody is 'wrong' or 'misunderstanding it' if they have personal reasons to dislike it. I don't think someone has to be homophobic if they think the third episode was pandering. Media is absolutely full of pandering right now, look at Disney throwing in easy-to-edit-out gay couples and then editing them out for their Chinese audiences. Fact of the matter is, people are getting tired of it, and with good reason. As a formerly transgender and currently bisexual individual I would personally love if everything stopped shoehorning in gay characters and focus on just telling good stories instead. I'm part of the LGBT and I personally wish the LGBT would shut the fuck up already. Not everything has to have LGBT representation, I don't fucking care who the characters want to fuck, I care about if they're gonna beat the evil wizard or not. But I digress. Maybe the show's good, but I personally don't care to watch it. Thought the games were stupid, especially the second one. I just wanted to say I don't think it's fair to say someone's homophobic if they don't like episode 3 and are tired of seeing gay characters in everything. Coming from someone with a boyfriend, I'm getting fucking tired of being told which male characters like to fuck men.

[@mask-mimic]

I personally would have liked to see have seen game Bill’s backstory in the show. I think it would fit theme of “you can’t stop and have fun” better since I found it weird this series loves to torment it’s characters that out off all them Bill and Frank were spared a dark fate felt almost like fan-fiction.

[@ericw1340]

This may be a controversial take, but I really don’t like the ending of Long Long Time. Frank euthanizing himself is understandable, but I don’t like how they portray bill’s suicide as something heroic or romantic. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have made Bill kill himself (it makes sense for the character), but as someone who struggles with depression, seeing group suicide portrayed as a beautiful victory makes me uncomfortable.

[@GarrusDeWitt]

I disagree with your defense of the lack of zombies. I don't think people want more set pieces. Even in the game, you fight more people than you do zombies. But the zombies and cordyceps are the reason the world ended. They are supposed to be threatening enough to break the world. More zombies does not equate to filler because the theme of the show is "love in a broken and dangerous" world. I don't need a lot of zombies but I needed a few more especially in the second half where they're practically absent. With the way they show how dangerous infection is and how people react to it, I would've appreciated if they were a bit more of a presence. Other than that great video. Your presentation is among the best I've seen on youtube.

[@maytalacedo20]

I think they did a good job with this adaptation but it wld've been interesting to show more of the fireflies and Fedra since it seems there's so much more to them to explore.

[@Aquiron2]

I agree with everything except the David part-he was implied to be a pedo and a r-pist WAAAAAY back in the game. It's implied through dialogue, notes and how Ellie says "He... he tried to..." when Joel saves her. The only difference between the game and the show is that the show made it more "on the nose" for first time viewers Which i think is okay. I can totally believe in a priest who is, well, y'know, and who disguises his sick wants as aomething for the greater good Despite that, i think this was a fantastic video! I want to make commentary videos like you one day

[@haterodiadordeplantao.680]

this is one of the videos i will happily desagree.

[@beccazach]

I definitely don't think David's "The fighting is the part I like the most" is a David Cage-esqe line because: 1)It seems that none of the other people in David's town know that he's that type of person. Only some people know they eat human flesh, but that's the extent of it and they still don't like it, as you can see by James' hesitancy to eat the stew. You said it was better in the game that they had another person talk about Ellie as "David's pet", but it only works because David's group isn't as fleshed out so you don't have to think too much about the implications of that and whether the whole group knew about the cannibalism this time around. When the show has to delve deeper into the workings of David as a realistic leader and the people he manipulates, it doesn't make sense for his group of truly religious, naive people to be complacent in his pedophilia if they follow him bc they genuinely believe he's a righteous man. Just because they hunt down Joel and Ellie for revenge doesn't mean they're bad people like David, bc he's an extreme form of evil and narcissism. 2) I watched a therapist react to the episode and her analysis of David was spot on. I'm not sure if you said this, but David is NOT RELIGIOUS. Yes, he uses Christianity as a facade for his own narcissism, but he also only talks about the cordyceps in a 'religious way' because it's an excuse for his horrible actions but not that he actually thinks he's in the right. David mentions that he was a teacher pre-outbreak, meaning he was in a state of authority like in the present. He knows he's a bad person, bc he likely had the same twisted thoughts but couldn't act them out on children due to society/laws. But now that it's the end of the world with no rules, he likely latched onto an idea greater than himself to keep surviving, but it's a belief that makes him still feel superior and in control- he doesn't want to worship a god, he wants to FEEL like a god. And Ellie is the one person he can't control. If he thought he was ''in the right" and truly wanted to reproduce similar to the cordyceps as you said, he wouldn't have stayed in the building to die once it was starting to burn down, he would've left the building and let Ellie be trapped inside. But he keeps talking to her and it's clear that he's desperate to claim his superiority over her, to finally control her, and the line "The fighting is the part I like the most" is the final straw as to why he's still in there and what he's going to do before Ellie realizes he's not just trying to kill her. They're in the minority, but there are a lot of people who played the game who still never realized that David was trying to sexually assault her. So I'm glad (in a weird way) that they made it more obvious bc David is a horrible person with no ambiguity and it's not something that happened spontaneously. He was like that before the outbreak and he continued to be the same- he just succeeded in keeping it under the radar.

[@TheMainAntagonist]

I hear your points but I just disagree. The show is just a shell of what the game is. Maybe I’ll always be biased since I experienced it first but I’d go as far as to say the show is a failure of an adaption.

[@basedturu2320]

21:37 now i get it why it feel something different when i see the thumbnail again

[@PodreyJenkin138]

The early walking dead is the best way to do a apocalypse show, they regularly dealt with the walkers in different ways and still had a character drama, this idea that yoy need to neglect the infected for a better story is ridiculous cover for a poorly written show

[@DueRag]

i think a problem that I have with the show is that its too short and i didn't like the way that the fungus spread that kiss scene was just weird I preferred the spores...

[@Dustyphoto915]

It doesn’t spread by kissing. That was some bs they did once in the show because of a terrible writing decision.

[@savannahmcabee3183]

so weird to say life is strange is a terrible queer story and then use max and chloe's song in the video 😭 as if i wouldn't notice bro come on

[@gendygoblin8391]

I feel like sprinkling evil acts onto a potentially interesting character that had events drive them to their personality takes away from an interesting conflict in journeys these characters had and makes you question your own morals. Adding the “I’m obviously evil” tag just shows the writers inability to translate that conflict and demonize a character instead of prove why their mindset doesn’t work. Avengers has done this so many God damn times where there is no interaction with the villain aside from stupid quips. Once they got to the final fight with Thanos they just had him change his plan to kill everyone. They just keep the status quo and go back to doing nothing.

[@satellitebreakfast]

Okay- Episode three is pretty good. Standalone, by itself, in a vaccuum, one of the best episodes of TV Ive ever seen. But with how short the series actually was, taking an entire episode to not really engage and further Joel and Ellie's story feels like they're wasting the time. The conflict and growth was delivered in a letter, for crying out loud. It was very tell-don't-show. It would have been nice to maybe have some more of the cool infected, too, despite it all.

[@yanzthemanz392]

I can’t wait to see season 2, and how they adapt the story from the second game. A lot of people had gripes with the sequel’s story (me included) and this could be a perfect opportunity to go back to that plot and iron out some of the wrinkles.

[@Mikx100]

Yeah it will required big mental gymnastics to explain how the zombies are a threat and they "stole" the cure from the world

[@callmepsycho3132]

Knowing Neil, it’ll probably be worse

[@HidinginPublic]

OMG HOLY SHI YOPUR FACE!!! YOU!!! That caught me off guard- how do you get your color balance so good. You're good at everything sheesh