It's an interesting one. Would I be watching this If I hadn't played the games? Probably not. They're doing a solid job, but I don't know how much credit to give, because it's very easy to adapt, the material is basically standard zombie story anyway.
They're following the games much more closely than expected, and cutting out most of the giant stupid fights is fairly beneficial. Bella Ramsey is 20, they're doing a good job of passing for 14. Anna Torv is doing a great job, Pedro Pascal is pretty flat.
Of the tweaks, one of the interesting ones is that the Fireflies kinda suck now. They nearly lost a fight to Robert's gang and then lost a fight to infected colleagues. At least in the game it seemed to be FEDRA that took them out.
Can't believe I didn't recognise "Kathleen" as Rose from Two and a Half Men...
Good 4th episode, picked up the pace after last week's diversion. Got a feeling that the thing under the floor took several attempts and all of my ammo to kill in the game.
I started this a few days ago! My motivation for watching the show was seeing the reception of the humanity episode 3 brought to the table - when the show was initially announced, I was worried that it would be redundant because the cutscenes in the game are a very similar format to a television program. But it's not true. Game cutscenes have to be written in a way where they're sandwiched between gameplay, which limits the kind of storytelling they're optimized for. It's harder to write slow, more mundane stories in that format. (though I know the game slows down a bit, like with the giraffes, but still, it's different than showing daily life)
The show is definitely taking advantage of being able to show the slow moments of life more, and that's what allowed episode 3 to flourish. It's a perfect place to deviate, too. Honestly, when I played the game ten years ago, when I read the letter Bill left about Frank I thought it was unnecessarily cruel and mean-spirited in an already dismal environment. A letter is a chance for someone's intimate thoughts, so I was disappointed that it was just another cruel end.
But Episode 3 was perfect! I cried like three times over the course of watching it. When someone dies on their own terms and not by the fungus, I consider it a good end. They got beautiful ends and lived beautiful lives. It was the best episode of TV I've seen in a long, long time.
I understand it’s not exactly the kind of thing we want to glorify. Though, in an apocalypse where much worse fates are not only plentiful, but the new norm, it arguably is more empowering than not in this case. Living a fulfilling life and deciding to conclude it there when times are good is not a bad thing.
If Frank decides to end it, fine, but he shouldn't have just woken up one day and said to Bill 'this is my last day, and you're going to do everything I tell you to'. If you're going to do it, discuss it over weeks or months. And he could have just dosed himself, but instead he makes Bill do it. You could argue that he doesn't have the motor function, but he sure can do a lot over the course of that last day.
Making someone who loves you kill you just seems like among the cruellest things you can do to them. Eh, YMMV. For me it just rings sour, after they did so well with the rest of the relationship. Especially when Bill dies as well, because ' I am nothing without my partner' is another of those tropes I could live without.
There's a lot the show does that forfeits a lot the most memorable things in the game (particularly some key action set pieces, certain aspects of the game's horror, and things like Bill's interactions with Ellie). I does the new/different stuff so incredibly well though that it's a completely fair trade off, so I dont mind.
(I also think the depiction of the post-apocalypse is conveyed a lot better in the show than in games. It retroactively makes some of the jarring things of the world building in TLOU2 feel more sensical, imo).
I am not completely on ep 3 being "best TV I've seen in a long time" because there's a fuckton of great prestige television out there right now. But I certainly won't be forgetting that episode for a long time. It's a very good example of an adaptation completely faithful to the tone and themes of the source material while also doing its own thing.
The Henry and Sam episode made me cry. IMO its the most devestating part of the first game, but the changes they made for the show absolutely destroyed me. RIP my dopamine receptors jeez
I thought Kathleen was a really great new character as well, but I have Melanie Lynskey bias.
The TV show infected share the game trait of randomly spawning giant hordes at dramatically appropriate moments it appears.
"They killed Bryan" (and two other guys, but they are generic NPCs with no names, apparently) I really liked the cutting out of most of the action scenes, it served the story better. Think they could have let this one be too. The impulse to 'tie up all the loose ends' for TV means they have to wrap things up too quickly and neatly.
Very strong finale. Was worried about the short run time, but they did a really good job with it. Won’t happen, but would be great if they went a very different direction with Season 2 to the game…
I could have used one more episode for the hospital. The pacing felt off for me, especially compared to the rest of the season. It was not bad by all means, but it didn't really capture the feeling the game gives you. Especially the montage where Joel does his one man antivaxx daddy crusade - that particular gut punch fell kinda flat for me. Which is a shame because it's arguably the most important one, and they nailed all the others.
There are things the show really excels in, but it is far from perfect imo. My gripes with it are pretty minor - mainly, I felt the episodic story structure was a bit too formulaic with how they delivered their emotional beats. I like all the deviations and the added insights into the characters. I thought the world building made more sense. The foreshadowing for TLOU2 seems to be setting up for a more thematically coherent experience. The low points points of the show aren't real lows for me, more like midpoints between some high highs.
There are things I just prefer within the presentation of the game. I think ultimately, each telling elevates the other. Which is probably the best possible outcome when you're doing an adaptation.
