THE LAST OF US 1x7 REACTION | "Left Behind" | REVIEW | HBO

[@dragontears]

The writer said the threat vs the game had to be taken back. In the game you CAN handle more of a threat. In the show there is more of a mortality realism. If he had fallen on a bar or whatever, it wouldn't have been believable that he would survive it, etc.

[@rumham7466]

Right. I’d think things like this are a given. Was anyone actually mentioning that or he was just discussing things? This is a story based in the world with humans. Not sure why so many people can’t separate the different entities. Source material-adaptation. If I was to compare every movie or show to their original material I’d spend a lot of time distracted and not enjoying the thing itself. Great show

[@Omn1Media]

Right! I get that, again, I’m not saying I want a 1 for 1 or things exactly like the game! I just would like a little more tension, I don’t need a giant brawler shoot out but just something and I’ve got no problem with the change to the injury

[@lexis4490]

I disagree. The tv show makes people think the clickers are not that much of a problem if you don’t act stupid.

[@stagger22]

As someone that hasn't played the game, this has become one of my favorite shows of all time. I'm glad I never played the game, and have no idea of what is coming. Also have no issue with the lack of action, though I guess that might be different if I had played it.

[@thekatekane]

Same here 💯

[@pencil6965]

Still recommend the game!! You’ll only enjoy it even more

[@rosathais]

Me too! And Bella's performance in this episode was superb

[@stagger22]

@@pencil6965 oh, definitely planning to play the game at some point. I bought it years ago planning to but hadn't gotten around to it, then I saw the show was coming and decided to wait and watch that first.

[@SuperInu]

It wouldn't necessarily have been different if you played it, honestly. I love the game and finished it several times but it does not diminish how genuinely impressed I am with the show. Sure, things were changed here and there, some larger some smaller but there has been nothing were I would clearly say "I don't like that" so far. Game and show work great in their own respective ways for their own respective mediums and I really wish we would get more adaptations of this caliber.

[@pabloc8808]

Every time I think Bella Ramsey can't get better I'm proven wrong. Fantastic chemistry with Storm Reid too, I thought this episode might not work very well because it's a flashback and all, but a fool was I

[@Ash-V-Leal]

Ok, that carousel song was "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure, if you know the lyrics tells exactly what Elli is feeling.

[@AL-fl4jk]

The soundtrack in this show is so subtle but brilliant

[@KillJoy5950]

I’m glad they didn’t give us the Sam treatment, and let Ellie watch Riley turn, and Ellie left to “hurt” her first love

[@アキコ2003]

Uhh my guy..that's worst

[@TomTomson81]

Can still come. There will definitely be a kind of flashback for Ellie. Ashley Johnson will perform there. So it would be quite possible that what happens is shown. Especially since Ellie still has a story to tell to Joel about first time "hurting people".

[@reynaldolorenzo8409]

@@TomTomson81 The flashback for Anna (Ellie’s mom) is either to confirm a theory that a few people (including me) have a theory because it was kinda hinted in the game, and it’s that Anna was bitten while she was pregnant and that’s what made Ellie develop her immunity. And definitely to connect the scene of Marlene in the first episode of “I put you there” because Marlene and Anna were best friends and she promised she would take care of Ellie. But they are not going to show Riley, they left it to interpretation just like the game but we all know what happened. Riley was bitten in the hand so she only had 2-8hrs so she became a Runner, Ellie killed her, the firefly found Ellie and Marlene saved Ellie by telling them not to shot her.

[@TomTomson81]

@@reynaldolorenzo8409 No idea why you feel called to spoil here. I didn't mention that intentional. But while you're at it. It will of course be a flashback from Marlene. She was present at Ellie's birth.

[@eloisewalker9632]

I appreciate the toned-down action to accommodate a bit more realism. If they'd stuck with the insane amounts of violence and infected as there are in the game, you end up with TWD levels of unrealistic survival. I mean, Joel surviving a two-storey drop onto a rebar that would have pierced several organs? Two teenagers surviving a whole hoard of infected? I like these changes. It also helps amplify just how difficult survival is in this world, where one injury or one infected can easily end everything.

[@Omn1Media]

I completely understand that and I’m not saying it ever needs to be TWD levels of ridiculous or even the game. It just sometimes leaves me underwhelmed. But not so much this episode but the last. I mean we had episode 5 and that was as insane as I think they can handle. The Joel thing just felt like something they just wanted to brush over. But it’s just a nitpick it doesn’t really change how good the show is for me.

[@clairealderwood1928]

A drop from that height would have had Joel’s head split open like a melon

[@sarah4hp]

@@Omn1Media I really liked that Joel just had that 1v1 fight, that he was warned, ducked and then attacked, and you think he might simply have gotten the upper hand and everything is fine until.... nope, the end of the broken bat was used to stab him, and now they have to escape the rest of the group while he is trying to just stay alive and avoid bleeding out. For me it works because that is how I feel it WOULD be - quick, intense, over very quickly, and the stakes are so high because injuries or a single bite is enough for it to be the end of you. They are also not super humans who can get attacked by a huge group and still make it out, they are as vulnerable and human as the rest of us would be in such a situation. So I have to say that I am the opposite of you - I prefer the show over the game version as the game version is more like a very good but VERY unrealistic action movie where the hero survives things they should never have been able to, and beats odds that makes little to no sense.

[@catiebeans]

This whole episode I was either misty eyed or full on ugly crying. I am not a game player, but a game watcher. It still hit me like a train, regardless of the differences. I appreciated how pure it was.

[@catiebeans]

If you want to watch a brilliant reactor, with insightful commentary, who hasn’t played the game, I highly recommend @funnylilgalreacts ! 💖

[@TomTomson81]

Riley chose Mileena in Mortal Kombat 2 and Ellie played Baraka. Both were Lovers in the game. Baraka skewered Mileena as finisher. That was the metaphorical endgame. That's how Ellie killed Riley.

[@AL-fl4jk]

Stop 😭

[@nataliazart]

I think this version is more sweet and that worked better for me. Maybe it's not so intense but it has sense that's more about Joel and Ellie's fears. I mean I love the subtle moments like the hands in the end.

[@richnorcal]

Myself, I think if people want to watch the game...maybe they should go play the game. This is an HBO television series based on a game. Shows and movies are made based on books since forever but they never follow word for word, why does this have to be any different? I'm enjoying the hell out of the episodes, zero complaints

[@rumham7466]

Thank you. Every single time I read comments it’s like has nobody read a book in their lives? Most movies are derived from books. Movies people would have no clue that they were. If they did a google search, they’d be surprised to see all the movies they’ve seen that were books first. I’ve never seen or heard so many people comparing the two separate things

[@Omn1Media]

I never said I wanted it to be, I agree with you

[@thankyoujames7257]

Quite honestly a 14 year old and a 16 year old is not surviving a hoard of those infected. Episode 5 put into perspective how deadly a hoard can be. So for them to only have one infected in an advanced stage attack them in the mall is more realistic for the to not be completely mauled. The hoard in the game is for the player to do something, run away, mash a button. They’re going for realism not gameplay sequences.

[@Omn1Media]

I don’t think it’s unrealistic for them to outrun a small horde but I also don’t want a 1 to 1 of the game. I’m just merely saying that some of these sequences carried more weight in the game to me. Like the Joel sequence last episode felt so rushed. I’m not asking for a shootout every episode but it’s just another situation that I feel lacked that gravity for me, though here it’s mostly because I knew the outcome.

[@thankyoujames7257]

@@Omn1Media I gotcha. i agree with the last episode. I missed the scene where ellie had to fight out of the university. I think it would have paired well with this show version of Ellie that has this strong need to want to be a protector but I get why it might have been scrapped. With this episode I think the focus was where it needed to be. imo, i prefer more of ellie enjoying being a kid and if it meant shortening the action scene to accomplish the goal of them getting bit, I’m okay with it. But I understand what you mean. ❤️

[@Omn1Media]

@@thankyoujames7257 Exactly!

[@annemoore3590]

@@thankyoujames7257 I'm pretty sure they want Ellie to have not killed a human yet in order to really emphasize the impact of David. That means she can't be shooting a bunch of raiders at the university, as cool and intense that would have been.

[@rumham7466]

Another tear jerker of course. The really know how to make you care about characters in a short time. So you’re able to then really empathize with the situation.

[@nintandao64]

These episodes are barely an hour long, and the entirety of the DLC takes 1.5-2 hours to complete. It may not seem like much, but that difference in time covers a lot of moments and allows you to appreciate the slow burn. I didn't feel like this episode had too many moments that were worth cutting, they just had the grand task of getting us invested in this duo in a really short amount of time

[@Omn1Media]

They did a great job with such a short window!

[@jacquelinedimattia774]

For the entire episode I was saying: Oh they are so cute together 🤩.... What's going happen to ruin everything!?

[@ssotkow]

Another solid episode. Showrunners continue to impress. These characters are growing on us like Joel and Ellie are to each other.

[@laurenbendik2006]

Joel being helpless on the floor, telling ellie to leave him and then his face when he thinks she is actually gonna leave him 😭

[@kirstengilroy302]

I loved it apart from they made so much noise!!!! They didn’t even try to sneak about!!!! Pedro just shows so much emotion without saying any words. He is an incredible actor as is Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid!!!!

[@the_nikster1]

Omg right?! I was like: dude, stfu! You do realize you’re in the mushroom apocalypse right??? 😅

[@mr.crumbles2557]

I wasnt sure how I felt about the relatively sparse action in this series, but I'm coming around to it. The vibe is somehow both comfier and more isolating at the same time (than the game)

[@TheBambinoitaliano]

I am not a game player. Base on episode 4 when Ellie told Joel this is not the first time she shot at someone, I take it Riley was her first kill. A similar impossible position when Henry had to kill Sam in episode 5. That makes Joel admonishing Ellie for not knowing what is it like to lose someone a lot more hurtful in the last episode.

[@DaringDasher]

It was all of your Aladdin references for me lol

[@Omn1Media]

Sorry, it's all I could think of especially with her holding the handout to trust her XD

[@babeebel]

I was so happy watching this episode I love my lesbian daughter and then they hit me with that ending

[@lizziebeth157]

That Mitch Hedberg reference was *chef's kiss* I think of that bit every time I see an escalator 🤣

[@Omn1Media]

I’m glad someone knew what I was referencing! I fear the day no one will recognize it!

[@kwbam]

I love that you were getting Aladdin vibes and then the arcade's name is Raja. The name of Jasmine's tiger. That's pretty amazing.

[@Gunnhfran2]

They are gearing up for episode 8 and 9 for the action

[@joeb918]

The action is definitely truncated and the violence of it is turned way down. Ellie already comes across as pretty crazy, even here before some of her more crazy moments seen in the show. If they did the goriest part of Left Behind in the game when she takes out one with her knife rather slow, it would seem perhaps overly the top violent because it’s real life people doing it. It’s like we see seeing memories that are bits and pieces of what happened in the game, fragments of the emotional aspects, like someone is dreaming or having nightmares of them. Because sometimes they just go from one moment to another where in the game there was an action sequence. That’ll be my head canon reason for why there’s pieces that just bump against each other *leaving behind the omitted action parts of the game. Anyway… To quote another HBO series, winter is coming. I hope they do the next part well, because it really evolves Ellie to something different and is a key part of what her character becomes as the story of this one progresses to its end and what will be the second season. * bad pun, sorry! maybe it’ll intended if it’s received well, if not, it wasn’t!

[@GamiCross]

I love the theme that the two choices in their lives both seem to be 'shoveling shit' -- the 3rd option being 'death' - But no one noticing the obvious 4th option of "Living a quiet life with someone".

[@jonathanpowell7256]

Ellie & Riley were dancing to the original version of 'I Got You Babe' sung by Etta James, which Sonny & Cher covered years later.

[@Omn1Media]

Etta's cover came out 3 years after Sonny and Cher's. The song was written by Sonny Bono.

[@MercenaryX84]

How many F-Bombs did they drop in this one episode? I'm actually impressed. Also, officially my favorite episode of the season

[@Omn1Media]

I was actually starting to get concerned about whether or not it will get flagged by KZbin🤣

[@JoelMiller431]

*The Last of Us* Episodes Ranked (so far) 1. 1x01: "When You're Lost in the Darkness" 2. 1x07: "Left Behind" 3. 1x05: "Endure and Survive" 4. 1x03: "Long, Long Time" 5. 1x06: "Kin" 6. 1x02: "Infected" 7. 1x04: "Please Hold to My Hand"

[@ANTONIOCARLOS-uv5dw]

For me 1. 1x05 2. 1x01 3. 1x07 4. 1x06 5. 1x03 6. 1x02 7. 1x04

[@felicity9742]

This is how I would do it too

[@prudy67]

I am not a game player. One thing I think reactors who have played the game fail to grasp or consider is that many viewers can add two and two. There were mentions of Riley, mentions of the mall, we knew that Ellie was bit, we knew that Riley was no longer with us, and we know that the show likes to take a break and give back stories. I don't watch previews or anything before I get into the episode. I was pretty sure that this episode would be about Riley and Ellie in the mall and what happened. That being said I felt it was a great episode, and it was great information about Ellie's State of mind having to deal with an injured Joel, about contemplating leaving him or not leaving him. This show is absolutely great even for people who haven't played the game. It's a freaking masterpiece.

[@the_nikster1]

I’ve never played the game and so far, I’ve loved every single episode and have been emotionally invested in the characters since episode 1. I was enjoying the Riley and Ellie cuteness in the mall but in the back of my head, I kept thinking: this is too fucking cute and I know what’s about to happen. I HATE THIS FUCKING SHOW! 😅 when this season is over, I look forward to playing the game for the first time on PC when it comes out in March, tho. I’m really glad I watched the show first. ❤

[@aldojoel4836]

I understand the sentiment about the world. It's the nerf they gave Joel. He hasn't really been shooting people, so the struggles feel very minimal. I wish they would've fought a little more while escaping the university in last episode.

[@auntvesuvi3872]

Thanks, Omni! 🏬 #Omn1Media #TheLastOfUs #TLOU #TheLastOfUsHBO

[@MrDuneedon]

I just watched a playthrough of the LoU DLC ‘Left Behind,’ which contains the Riley story. On one hand, I see what you are saying about the game being much more intense. On the other? I think the show made an intelligent choice to do what it did, without a chase scene with a whole bunch of Infected. They slowed the pace and I think it paid off. Now, that said? The depiction of the video arcade in the game was much more accurate-because there’s no way in hell any of those machines would still be in working order!

[@damaruslove8688]

I’m convinced that either Ellie,Joel, a clicker or a bloater is going to be in mortal kombat 12

[@Omn1Media]

That would be pretty awesome haha

[@sweetblossom146]

OMG!!!! Ellie and Riley are so CUTE COUPLE... 😭😭😭

[@knoober3756]

As someone who’s never played the game and is being congruent with the show as the episodes drop, it was a story that needed to be told and I can understand why it’s there. But as of what I’ve seen of Ellie so far I just wasn’t attached to the character as much so it was kind of a slog. Like I said I understand why it’s there and it needed to be told but it wasn’t for me. Sry I’m a joel stan😂

[@gailseatonhumbert]

You don't survive the game injury to Joel in the real world.

[@Omn1Media]

I’m not referring to the injury specifically just how rushed it was

[@GingerGeek7567]

I am absolutely loving this series.. it keeps breaking my heart but I like it lol!!! Looking forward to next week's episode but until then we have some mando tomorrow yay.

[@phaurt]

My only problem with the show is there aren't enough infected

[@laurenbendik2006]

It couldnt be as intense as the game…its much more intense to be the one doing the actions.

[@joshmartin4761]

Mitch Hedberg reference!

[@Omn1Media]

I wondered if anyone would get that! Haha

[@laurencereyes1871]

My two cents as a gamer who loves both games. Awesome series! Better than most of the other video game adaptations we've had. Didn't like pedro and bella at first, but they grew on me especially Bella. I know Pedro's skills from GOT, Mando and Narcos. I only knew Bella as Lady Mormont. She is a great Ellie, not perfect, but still amazing. I'd rather have a great actress like her, than someone who looks like Ellie but sucks at acting. My only nitpicks are the lack of action and infected interactions. I understand that at its core TLOU is Joel and Ellie's bond throughout their journey, but I feel like a few more infected action sequences would have benefitted the show. Also maybe doing the original 10 episodes or longer runtimes. Other than that, awesome show! Best video game series adaptation we've had compared to MK, Halo and the rest.

[@wyattchandler6359]

The only episode I had any real problems with was ep 6. Cause like you said there was barely any action. And with this ep we didn't see Ellie having to battle her way through David's Group and Infected. Other than that the show has actually been pretty solid for me.

[@ladynoluck]

I think, because they are focusing on the relationships/characters and recognizing the realities of this world and Joel’s age, it’s just not realistic in the show that 1) Joel would end up in so many dangerous situations as constantly as he does in the games and 2) Joel would be able to survive all of them. Basically, the show only gives Joel fights that this Joel would realistically take on (as an experienced and knowledgeable person avoiding unnecessary danger) and would realistically survive (despite his age, etc.).

[@Omn1Media]

Next episode should scratch that itch I imagine!

[@animeman84]

@@wyattchandler6359 that’s because David meets Ellie next episode so you’ll have to wait

[@wyattchandler6359]

@@animeman84 uhh no. If you remember in the Left Behind dlc Ellie fights the bandits from the university. These are membersof Davids group. When they meet he even talks about how his men were killed by a crazy man with a little girl. They really should have kept it at 10 episodes or even longer to fully flesh things out.

[@12chapin]

That’s not the song it’s, let’s go to the mall everybody, is all about having fun😆. Hey Omn1

[@marcialopez7228]

Was that a stalker?!🤔🤔🤔

[@Omn1Media]

Possibly, I'm not sure! It did sneak around quite effectively though they were making so much noise it didn't have to try too hard haha

[@bonkiatsu470]

🔥❤️🔥

[@martinmillar7137]

Would tend to agree tbh game was more intense...its a game.. this felt more grounded (no pun intended) 😊😂

[@UKShipspottingRailFreightTV]

I've never played the games so don't really know anything but it's been a great season so far but sorry this episode was really boring.

[@RanticProductions]

I personally disagree about the game doing them better.

[@andyd3447]

I absolutely agree about the university scene. I stated this last week and was attacked by so many people. Apparently the show creater said that all of the action in the game is "gameplay" whatever the hell that means. Its like, if we dont have a controller in our hand we cant get any action? It makes no sense.

[@TCReyes]

Dude doesn’t know what gameplay is

[@dlweiss]

I honestly wonder if they were so worried about newcomers dismissing all action as "video game stuff" that they overcorrected and minimized the action whenever possible. Which is a shame, because certain "action" sequences in the game WERE great storytelling moments, in spite of (or because of) the action happening.

[@joshuajohnson1796]

Especially the university stuff when Joel falls and gets stabbed by the rebar and Ellie has to help him walk and they both have to shoot their way out while Joel keeps falling was powerful storytelling because the sense of fear you feel for Ellie and also worrying for Joel

[@andyd3447]

@@dlweiss I think it has more to do with the show creator being pretentious and telling people what he thinks good story telling is. The problem with that is that you have millions of fans of the GAME expecting at least some action and getting almost nothing. If I have one big criticism of this series its that they rush the action parts way too much. We get 55 minutes of talking and maybe 1-2 minutes of fast paced action. The pacing feels way off. Other than that the show is great.

[@L.L.Cool.T]

It’s kind of like when a a TV/movie is adapted from a book, and all the book lovers/readers cry and complain “that’s not how it was in the book! It’s not faithful to the source material!! 😭” Like….it’s an adaptation. The vision is going to be different. And yes, it sounds just as annoying.

[@tokkibeanie]

I thought it was okay. Idk it just hits different in the game. The actors just kinda feel dry.

[@XCVIII]

I found the ending kinda underwhelming personally