User Reviews

As a guy who admires the video game, played it several times and enjoyed it every single time, its hard to say I'm not biased about this. On the other hand, because I loved the game that much, it could have created a lot of negativity serrounding the series.

THANK GOD they actually took the game, and made a series based on the game nerrative and main story line.

Characters:

Joel - Probably one of my favourite characters of all time, literall masterpiece of character design, as an upcoming father, I connected even more to his story and couldn't let go of what he did for Ellie.

Ellie - I think game Ellie is much better then series Ellie, but Bella did overall good job with taking this perfect innocent young girl, and create her again in a series, which was not an easy task.

Overall what makes the last of us so great, is the fact that no one can really find hapiness in this cruel world, you can see it with Sam, with Ellie, with Joel, with each and every character that can't find pure hapiness, and even if they do for a couple of seconds, the cruel world takes them back to the sorrow of the reality they live in, as depressing as it sounds, this is where real relationships are made, Joel and Ellie's relationship is just something out of this world.

Must watch in my opinion.

As a middle aged woman, the last of my thoughts was to watch a zombie movie but then, I stumbled into this and I got instantly hooked. Every single character is unique and visibly broken, after all is a post apocalyptic movie so it makes perfect sense unlike the avalanche of cheap horror movies where they all look healthy and with their hair always in place. The atmosphere is so depressing that the pain of every single character is almost palpable. Joel and Ellie did an outstanding job in showing their fear and anger but so did the other characters. This is not a zombie story though the undead are like that due to a virulent pandemic infection. When global tragedies like that happens, the true nature of a human is revealed. At the very beginning, Joel is running away by car with his daughter and his brother, along the way they see a family of 3 with a little child desperately asking for help but Joel refuses to help them thus condemning them to certain death at night in a place crowling with infected. It may be a coincidence or fate but soon after he will have to experience the death of his own daughter. This series is a journey into rock bottom feelings yet, when you are lost in the darkness seek for the light. A masterpiece in every single aspect: thank you for giving us this. I want more!

The whingers in previous reviews, who complained about episodes that don't contribute to the plot have missed the more significant aspect of good narratives which are the thematic concerns, of their creators. Apocalyptic stories always draw attention to what makes us human and TLOU follows this trope. Bill is surviving the apocalypse in style, but when he lets a man into his home the trust he shows him enables them to build a life more meaningful than mere survival.

The main characters are on a journey that is important to the future of humanity, and despite their different fears they show courage & compassion for those who would suffer if the pandemic was to continue. Elly's character is, for me, an inspiration as she is a typical teenager in many ways but criticises the superficiality of teenage culture of the 2000's, choosing instead to "save the f...ing world". Young and old work together as Elly is supported and learns about the past from Joel & Joel begins to confront his past, that he has tried for so long to avoid. The many things that make us human are explored in this series reminding us that life is short and connection is what we need to be whole, not power.

This show suffers from a contrived setup and a lack of direction for the main storyline.

The creators really embraced the "tell don't show" approach. This is especially evident in the last episode. In the matter of a couple of episodes, Joel went from "I don't need you" to "I will slaughter innocent people for you". When did that happen, did I miss something? There's a time gap between the events of the last two episodes; why not take this opportunity to demonstrate how the bond between Joel and Ellie grows in the aftermath of the previous episode? When it comes to the finale as a whole, it seemed that the writers had no clear understanding of what they wanted to do with it, so they threw in random bits of conversations and interactions that are so disjointed it's frustrating to watch. The tension or suspense that should have been there is rarely present. The subject of the infected is barely touched upon. From what I gathered, they are pretty scarce and don't pose a big threat to others.

They spent an unforgivably long amount of time as they delved into exploring this jumble of supporting characters, only to have them all killed at the end of each episode. None of the significant scenes and dialogues were given time to really sink in, looking like a series of checkpoints, something which was better executed in the game.

The only light in this never ending darkness is the actors, especially Pedro Pascal. However, the series on the whole is pretty superficial, mainly because the screenplay had no clear direction.

I really loved this series . At the beginning, I had not high hopes and I just started it because of the hype, as the post-apocalyptic theme did not seem original to me.

Nonetheless, I liked it from the first episode. The narrative was well structured and the sequence of events run smoothly . The acting was really good ,as well, while the characters were absorbing and amusing .

I particularly appreciated their genuineness. It was hard to label them as good or bad even when they presented unjust behavior or actions , given that in times of crisis the uncertainty transforms people and awakens their primitive instincts.

This kind of character portrayal led to the appearance of some thought provoking moral dilemmas. For example, the story of Henry and Sam at episode 5 makes you wonder : is it acceptable and justifiable to sacrifice a life in order to save someone you love ? Or, in a personal level : would I do it too in those circumstances? The same goes for episode 8 and 9.

In episode 8 , the portrait of an unethical but (questionably) successful leader is depicted that could be characterized as a Machiavellian ruler. Through immoral , even hideous, methods he succeeds to preserve his community. Lastly, in episode 9, Joel chooses to save Ellie instead of allowing her sacrificing and saving humanity. Is it that easy to condemn him or we can justify him( given his story, his loses and his traumas)? . All in all, I really enjoyed this show that masterfully manages to deal with topics such as humanity,ethics,pandemic, social and political crisis and human relationships. I just hope that the second season will live up to the quality of the first one.

Usually video game adaptions are rubbish (resident evil, sonic) And it isn't as good as naughty dog's spectacular digital, virtual adventure (which I actually played after I saw the show) the headline said it all. The Last of Us is one of my favourite dramatic emotional tv shows spanning about ten, hour long episodes each gripping and authentic- quite thought provoking diving deep into different points and topics. Very Immersive. It's a bit slow paced for a post apocalyptic outlast though with lost of boring dialouge especiallyfor a VIDEOGAME ADAPTION. It's not a far fetched, chaotic apocalypse, more of a ruin of an aftermath as the result of a fascinating and terrifyingly real fungal infection (ophiocordyceps) terrifyingly manipulating the body. It compares to the walking dead and 28 days later but In my opinion it trumps them all, gripping you in dark and gritty emotion with quirks and twists that have you sympathize with the characters. The father daughter relationship between Joel and Ellie is just spectacular. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey really portrayed the classic video game protagonists so well. The grizzly old man, lost in the past of the outbreak and ellie the curious, feisty 14 year old, cute but dangerous. It really stays true to the game. Even an episode based upon its prequel dlc, left behind and one focused on bill and his relationship which feels awkward but key. The awesome, unique infected which I was excited to see only showed up once or twice in the most generic forms which disappointed me quite a bit. Though the bloater looked great! Bit I love the drunken, antagonistic humans. And David was a great villain, a strangely real obsession with ellie and appearance who shows up at the darkest times. It just shows the terror of cannibalism and what a global pandemic can do to human kind. It shows that the real monster are - well the flesh eating infected but you know also humanity itself which really makes you wonder if man deserves to survive or if nature itself should just take over completely. But I do think it really just shifts its focus to the survivors which is interesting but a bit boring sometimes. The end was great too. It just shows the bleak, depressing impact and story. She could've saved the world, the last hope and he chose the flip side. All this for that. That's the powerful, most moving part. Then you look at all their backstories. The sad and rightful deaths. Then the swear - the lie. Since the sequel successor, part II was amazing (though I didnt agree storywise) I'm definitely hype for season two.

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:

• 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.