I'll start with the negatives:
My opinion after Episode 8 was that you cannot tell the story of TLOU in such short episodes, that was after a 50 min episode.
For the finale, it was unforgivably the shortest episode of the season at 44 mins?
Overall, the show started off really really good. In the first few episodes I was recommending this to everyone I talked to, telling them that this was one of my favourite shows I'd ever watched.
Unfortunately, that opinion changed after Episode 6.
From 7 onwards, I felt the show just shifted from being too slow at times to needlessly rushing through specific plots, character relationships and action sequences that took place in the game that enriched the story, added suspense and drama, and gave depth to character relationships.
The pacing from the majority of the first half of the season just didn't match up with the second half.
Also characters being introduced at the start of an episode and then being killed off at the end felt too quick and rushed. Had they split the season up or made episodes longer, I think that may have made it seem less rushed.
In hindsight, I wish they had skipped certain things they added to the show that were not in the game, and stuck to the original storyline.
I thought the casting of David and Riley was poor.
In David's case, I didn't feel the actor was an accurate on-screen version of him or that they did a good enough job of portraying how creepy he was.
This was also largely due to the fact that they skipped over his whole storyline of helping Ellie fight a swarm of infected, in which he gains her trust, before revealing that he knew who she was all along.
I had really been looking forward to his encounter with Ellie and unfortunately was left very disappointed when they rushed through his story in 50 mins.
I also would have liked to see Joel have to fight his way through David's survivor group to get to Ellie.
Instead it was a rather easy process for him to find her, and for them to escape a whole resort of people that were hungry for revenge for what he had done in Colorado.
In the case of Riley, I just didn't feel like her relationship with Ellie was authentic or believable. When compared to Bill and Frank, who I felt an emotional connection with, I felt nothing when watching Ellie and Riley together. It was rather bland and felt rushed.
In general, I found that episode mostly boring, and thought that they ruined it by showing the infected person so early on that would attack them at the end of the episode.
To me, this completely removed the element of surprise, and I found myself sitting there bored during the episode just waiting for him to attack Ellie and Riley.
I thought the finale should have been much longer, as it felt rushed and basically like the show's producers had run out of time and needed to cram the rest of the story in.
I would have liked to seen the hospital scene more drawn out, although I will say that I liked how it was done so artistically and with the music in the background.
Although Joel cares for Ellie, this doesn't necessarily make him a good person.
It felt like the show rushed through scenes where we see him be ruthless to get what he needs/wants, and would have liked to have seen his character development fleshed out a bit more, along with his relationship with Ellie.
Now for the positives:
I loved Bill and Frank's episode.
I was a bit disappointed that we never got to see Ellie meet Bill as their encounters in the game are hilarious, but I loved what the producers did in writing a story that had me really caring for 2 people who were not main characters in the game and whose story wasn't explored originally.
I thought Bill/Frank's episode (Episode 3) did a really great job of portraying post-apocalyptic life with someone you loved and cared about, and how you wouldn't want to go on living without them. Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" was used beautifully in their final moments together.
In fact, overall, the soundtrack for the show was really good in my opinion. It was great that they brought back Gustavo Santaolalla to do it.
Episode 3 ran at 1 hr and 16 mins, which to me was perfect. I don't know why the producers didn't make all the episodes as long as this or as the season premiere's.
I also enjoyed the other added backstories which weren't featured in the game, as I felt that these really enriched the story. These included:
There were some nods to fans of the game as well that were a nice touch such as
It was also great hearing the original music from the game used so heavily as it really brought me back to playing it years ago for the first time. Hearing that music and Ellie tell her pun jokes was very nostalgic.
In terms of acting, I thought Pedro Pascal was very good, as was Bella Ramsey.
They both did a great job of portraying Joel and Ellie with the scenes they were given.
Although this show had a lot of good things about it, overall it left me thinking it could have been much better, and that they could have done a lot more with the story, and not rushed certain scenes or character storylines.
I'll summarise this show with a quote from a friend:
"My wife hates zombies, but she doesn't mind watching TLOU because there is never really any of them in it".
Overall, I think that has been a huge downside to a show that started off so well, from Episode 1 showing how terrifying a day one outbreak can be, to Episode 5 showing a evolved swarm attacking a group of armed survivors.
While we didn't need "The Walking Dead" level of zombies in every episode, this show, in my opinion, just skipped too many scenes that should have featured them a bit more, and largely for that reason, it just doesn't live up to the real drama, suspense and terror of the game.
My opinion after Episode 8 was that you cannot tell the story of TLOU in such short episodes, that was after a 50 min episode.
For the finale, it was unforgivably the shortest episode of the season at 44 mins?
Overall, the show started off really really good. In the first few episodes I was recommending this to everyone I talked to, telling them that this was one of my favourite shows I'd ever watched.
Unfortunately, that opinion changed after Episode 6.
From 7 onwards, I felt the show just shifted from being too slow at times to needlessly rushing through specific plots, character relationships and action sequences that took place in the game that enriched the story, added suspense and drama, and gave depth to character relationships.
The pacing from the majority of the first half of the season just didn't match up with the second half.
Also characters being introduced at the start of an episode and then being killed off at the end felt too quick and rushed. Had they split the season up or made episodes longer, I think that may have made it seem less rushed.
In hindsight, I wish they had skipped certain things they added to the show that were not in the game, and stuck to the original storyline.
I thought the casting of David and Riley was poor.
In David's case, I didn't feel the actor was an accurate on-screen version of him or that they did a good enough job of portraying how creepy he was.
This was also largely due to the fact that they skipped over his whole storyline of helping Ellie fight a swarm of infected, in which he gains her trust, before revealing that he knew who she was all along.
I had really been looking forward to his encounter with Ellie and unfortunately was left very disappointed when they rushed through his story in 50 mins.
I also would have liked to see Joel have to fight his way through David's survivor group to get to Ellie.
Instead it was a rather easy process for him to find her, and for them to escape a whole resort of people that were hungry for revenge for what he had done in Colorado.
In the case of Riley, I just didn't feel like her relationship with Ellie was authentic or believable. When compared to Bill and Frank, who I felt an emotional connection with, I felt nothing when watching Ellie and Riley together. It was rather bland and felt rushed.
In general, I found that episode mostly boring, and thought that they ruined it by showing the infected person so early on that would attack them at the end of the episode.
To me, this completely removed the element of surprise, and I found myself sitting there bored during the episode just waiting for him to attack Ellie and Riley.
I thought the finale should have been much longer, as it felt rushed and basically like the show's producers had run out of time and needed to cram the rest of the story in.
I would have liked to seen the hospital scene more drawn out, although I will say that I liked how it was done so artistically and with the music in the background.
Although Joel cares for Ellie, this doesn't necessarily make him a good person.
It felt like the show rushed through scenes where we see him be ruthless to get what he needs/wants, and would have liked to have seen his character development fleshed out a bit more, along with his relationship with Ellie.
Now for the positives:
I loved Bill and Frank's episode.
I was a bit disappointed that we never got to see Ellie meet Bill as their encounters in the game are hilarious, but I loved what the producers did in writing a story that had me really caring for 2 people who were not main characters in the game and whose story wasn't explored originally.
I thought Bill/Frank's episode (Episode 3) did a really great job of portraying post-apocalyptic life with someone you loved and cared about, and how you wouldn't want to go on living without them. Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" was used beautifully in their final moments together.
In fact, overall, the soundtrack for the show was really good in my opinion. It was great that they brought back Gustavo Santaolalla to do it.
Episode 3 ran at 1 hr and 16 mins, which to me was perfect. I don't know why the producers didn't make all the episodes as long as this or as the season premiere's.
I also enjoyed the other added backstories which weren't featured in the game, as I felt that these really enriched the story. These included:
- the origin of the outbreak
- Ellie's birth and her immunity
- Kathleen and her insatiable hunger for revenge
There were some nods to fans of the game as well that were a nice touch such as
- Ashley Johnson (Ellie's voice actor from the game) play Ellie's mother
- Troy Baker (Joel's voice actor) play James
- Jeffrey Pierce (Tommy's voice actor) be killed by a bloater exactly in a manner that happens in the game.
It was also great hearing the original music from the game used so heavily as it really brought me back to playing it years ago for the first time. Hearing that music and Ellie tell her pun jokes was very nostalgic.
In terms of acting, I thought Pedro Pascal was very good, as was Bella Ramsey.
They both did a great job of portraying Joel and Ellie with the scenes they were given.
Although this show had a lot of good things about it, overall it left me thinking it could have been much better, and that they could have done a lot more with the story, and not rushed certain scenes or character storylines.
I'll summarise this show with a quote from a friend:
"My wife hates zombies, but she doesn't mind watching TLOU because there is never really any of them in it".
Overall, I think that has been a huge downside to a show that started off so well, from Episode 1 showing how terrifying a day one outbreak can be, to Episode 5 showing a evolved swarm attacking a group of armed survivors.
While we didn't need "The Walking Dead" level of zombies in every episode, this show, in my opinion, just skipped too many scenes that should have featured them a bit more, and largely for that reason, it just doesn't live up to the real drama, suspense and terror of the game.