The Last of Us (spoilers)

[A_B]

And the scene with Ellie and the little kid (I don't remember which was sam) kinda proved that just taking the blood didn't work, but the scientists likely wouldn't have known that. So, I agree it's still a bit problematic to just be rushed to brain surgery immediately. One would think a few tests woulda been run for the sake of scientific curiosity.

And one thing they didn't really tie back into for the game because they wanted to focus on the relationship was that the whole landscape was a lot more overrun with infected than the show really depicted. The hospital shootout in the game was as much zombie slaying as firefly slaying, if I recall. So at least in that world, the scientists may have been in a much bigger hurry as opposed to what looked like a pretty safe environment in the hospital, all things considered.

[Nonlinear FC]

1) The attempt to save the little kid with shared blood was beyond half-ass, scientifically speaking. But I do think there's enough of a notional idea that after 20 years, they kind of know more than nothing.

2) We talked about it around midway through, only so much budget for the baddies, I suppose. In addition, they might not have wanted to lean so heavily into the zombie stuff. Maybe calculated, but I can tell you someone like my wife only wants to deal with that stuff on a fairly minimal basis. Walking Dead got old to a lot of those initially excited because it was routinely fucking gross, and, like... I get it. I also don't particular like looking at regularly.

[Shirley]

Yeah, you can't just smear your blood on an open wound like that and have it get into the body. If that worked, we'd all die of infections at a young age.

[rass]

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Well god damn

[phxgators]

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Well god damn

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I’m not sure a non-finale episode of any show ever felt more like a season finale.

[rass]

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Well god damn

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I’m not sure a non-finale episode of any show ever felt more like a season finale.

Yeah.

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GoT used to like to do their big battle episodes before the finale, but not episode 2.

I haven't played the game(s), but sort of had the idea that Joel was going to be offed just from some discussion I've seen (even if not explicit spoiler discussion), and he's so damn busy as an actor. But I didn't think it would be this early, and the trailers made it seem like the two of them would have it out over what happened in SLC.

[A_B]

What ever will the storytellers do!?!?!?!?

[A_B]

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My biggest issue (I played the game so I knew what was up) was the White Walkers attacking The Wall or Hardhome. What a ripoff of GOT for that set piece.

[DaveInSeattle]

Well...that was intense. I was worried about having nightmares after we finished the episode last night.

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What the hell was Abby trying to do when she slid down the mountain and "woke up" the Zombie Horde?

Did the Horde know to go to the town by the tendrils in the water main?

So Abby woke up the Zombie Horde, got saved by Joel, tortured and killed Joel, and pretty much doomed the city of Jackson...and still left Elly and Dima alive?

Do the dogs not get infected by the Zombie bites?

[wlu_lax6]

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Will Smith's Dog says yes they do

[Jerloma]

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My biggest issue (I played the game so I knew what was up) was the White Walkers attacking The Wall or Hardhome. What a ripoff of GOT for that set piece.

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Joel dies in the video game? How does that work? Doesn't the game have different outcomes based on how you play it?

[A_B]

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My biggest issue (I played the game so I knew what was up) was the White Walkers attacking The Wall or Hardhome. What a ripoff of GOT for that set piece.

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Joel dies in the video game? How does that work? Doesn't the game have different outcomes based on how you play it?

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Yes, pretty early in the 2nd. You spent a lot of the first game playing as ither Joel or Ellie. Then in the second you alternate between Ellie and Abbie. There are no different outcomes, no, but it was a game that had you playing the "good" guys and the "bad" guys both.

[L-Jam3]

I watched S1 in the two weeks before S2 premiered (I fell behind, then cancelled HBO Max during the writers' strike and didn't pick it back up, so I just rewatched from E1), so the story was fresh in my memory.

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Joel just shot the doctor pretty much in cold blood. I think even he understood that Abby's rage towards him was somewhat justified, and he almost appeared resigned to his fate.

[Jerloma]

I watched S1 in the two weeks before S2 premiered (I fell behind, then cancelled HBO Max during the writers' strike and didn't pick it back up, so I just rewatched from E1), so the story was fresh in my memory.

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Joel just shot the doctor pretty much in cold blood. I think even he understood that Abby's rage towards him was somewhat justified, and he almost appeared resigned to his fate.

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Weren't they going to kill Ellie to make a vaccine or did Joel just think that?

[L-Jam3]

I watched S1 in the two weeks before S2 premiered (I fell behind, then cancelled HBO Max during the writers' strike and didn't pick it back up, so I just rewatched from E1), so the story was fresh in my memory.

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Joel just shot the doctor pretty much in cold blood. I think even he understood that Abby's rage towards him was somewhat justified, and he almost appeared resigned to his fate.

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Weren't they going to kill Ellie to make a vaccine or did Joel just think that?

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My argument was he killed all the other Fireflies in the hospital. He could’ve just taken Ellie without popping the doctor. When I watched it, it stuck in my head and thought “that doctor wasn’t a threat at that point.” YMMV

[A_B]

I watched S1 in the two weeks before S2 premiered (I fell behind, then cancelled HBO Max during the writers' strike and didn't pick it back up, so I just rewatched from E1), so the story was fresh in my memory.

[+] spoiler

Joel just shot the doctor pretty much in cold blood. I think even he understood that Abby's rage towards him was somewhat justified, and he almost appeared resigned to his fate.

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Weren't they going to kill Ellie to make a vaccine or did Joel just think that?

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My argument was he killed all the other Fireflies in the hospital. He could’ve just taken Ellie without popping the doctor. When I watched it, it stuck in my head and thought “that doctor wasn’t a threat at that point.” YMMV

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HE HAD A KNIFE (Presumably)

[Giff]

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Thanks for ruining any interest my wife had in the show.

[Giff]

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Thanks for ruining any interest my wife had in the show.

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I hope this post doesn't prompt Enoch Root to call me a cunt while comparing me to sexual harassers while begging me to suck his cock.

[Nonlinear FC]

Massive spoilers in this, but very interesting profile/interview with the actress portraying Abby.

https://www.vulture.com/article/kaitlyn ... -abby.html

[A_B]

Massive spoilers in this, but very interesting profile/interview with the actress portraying Abby.

https://www.vulture.com/article/kaitlyn ... -abby.html

Does it talk about how the jank-ass gamers were mad she wasn't the first pick for Ellie because Bella wasn't a "hot" enough Ellie? And then they did fan service by making her Abby, who is MUCH different physically in the game?


I will read it, because it's certainly not Dever's fault and she is a great actor. First time I really noticed her was Dopesick but I thought she was phenomenal.

[Nonlinear FC]

Yeah, not exactly that, but definitely talks about gamers being annoyed with the casting (mostly because she's not jacked like the character in the game. Show runners explain that there was a reason Ellie and Abby were so different physically, because it made the game play distinct from one another, and that just wasn't a concern for the TV series.)

The article gives a very distinct reason why her portrayal of he character was very personal in the moment she was acting out those final scenes.

[rass]

So shit…

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The game makes you play as Abby and kill Joel. That’s pretty fucking awesome if so.

[rass]

Corona ad was not unintentional cmon

[Nonlinear FC]

I'm sure all of you guys are all over this, but if you were like me:

They do a pretty chunky after-show recap. The show isn't all that complicated, so the recap does little more than solidify what you probably already knew, but we still found it somewhat useful.

[A_B]

Corona ad was not unintentional cmon

It was perfect.

[DaveInSeattle]

Since the thread has "(spoilers)" in the title...do we have to put stuff in the spoiler tag?

Anyways...I'm hoping at some point we get an explanation about the group with the weird facial scars.

[A_B]

Since the thread has "(spoilers)" in the title...do we have to put stuff in the spoiler tag?

Anyways...I'm hoping at some point we get an explanation about the group with the weird facial scars.

You do in the game, and I have to think that showing them wasn't just the end of it, BUT I can see if you're in the business of picking and choosing, that could be the part you choose to leave on the floor.

[rass]

Since the thread has "(spoilers)" in the title...do we have to put stuff in the spoiler tag?

Anyways...I'm hoping at some point we get an explanation about the group with the weird facial scars.

I dunno. Last week I cycled through doing it to be respectful to doing it because it was amusing to thinking it was silly.

[Nonlinear FC]

Ok, I agree with Dave, it seems pretty silly by Tuesday to be spoiler tagging everything.

1) Did anyone else find the proposed number for the assassination posse to be weirdly large? Like, a Seal Team is usually 16 members, then divided into two, sometimes four, different squads. I was totally with the town folks that said that just on general resource allocation, 16 of their best soldiers was an insanely out of whack proposal.

2) I think the key thing about the scarred people is the reference to them running away from a war. Put that up against the truly frightening fire power of the armed forces in Seattle and it's giving you the beginning notion of... whatever the hell "the war" they fleeing is about.

3) I'm gonna put this in a spoiler tag because folks that have played the game (I have not) might already know this answer and it's wildly speculative and sometimes people don't like that kind of speculation thrown in their face:

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It might just be that the actress playing Abby is so endearing... She's clearly in pain that killing Joel does not resolve... I have this idea that the squad she is leading left the WLF army many years ago in the hunt for Joel and they have no idea that it has turned into the incredibly dark force it is now. Murdering pretty much unarmed religious folks is pretty fucking wild. Just a hunch that when they get back to SEA, Abby's crew is not going to relate or fit into whatever Darth Vader shit has taken over.

[Nonlinear FC]

Since the thread has "(spoilers)" in the title...do we have to put stuff in the spoiler tag?

Anyways...I'm hoping at some point we get an explanation about the group with the weird facial scars.

I dunno. Last week I cycled through doing it to be respectful to doing it because it was amusing to thinking it was silly.

With that said, it just occurred to me... The best use of spoilers in this thread is for posting from Swampers who have played the game and have a rough idea of where things are headed. Kind of like in the GoT discussions.

[A_B]

I would be happy to answer/talk about certain things having played the game, but I wouldn't want to get too far into exact spoilers from the game that could affect the viewing experience. That and I don't know what will or won't be included. While GoT was very discussion/spoiler heavy and speculative, that was at least based on literature in the world with a lower access point (meaning a lot more people read than play video games) and if one wanted to you could go hand George RR Martin $150 for all the books (don't want to get GC down on me any more, despite me agreeing with him) and read them.

Playing the video game for a n00b, even on easy level, would be cumbersome for a lot of people who may have never been much of a gamer. I finished it in less time than it would take me to read a couple of GoT but I was pretty into it and playing it several hours a week at any point with downtime.

That said, you could probably read a synopsis of the games in 10 minutes each.

[rass]

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It might just be that the actress playing Abby is so endearing... She's clearly in pain that killing Joel does not resolve... I have this idea that the squad she is leading left the WLF army many years ago in the hunt for Joel and they have no idea that it has turned into the incredibly dark force it is now. Murdering pretty much unarmed religious folks is pretty fucking wild. Just a hunch that when they get back to SEA, Abby's crew is not going to relate or fit into whatever Darth Vader shit has taken over.

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I had the thought that hunting down and killing the hammer-wielding (holding) ginger girl (among others) wasn't really in line with how most of Abby's crew rolled, but didn't make that jump. I'm assuming Ellie isn't just going to kill Abby on sight, especially since she's among the last who can tell her what happened in SLC, so makes sense to maybe give them a common enemy. Good call.

[Nonlinear FC]

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I was struck by how at least half of Abby's WLF crew seemed very torn about what was happening to Joel. Not super torn, because I don't recall any of them ever saying "stop!" But they had a range of emotions that I interpreted as unease-->anxiety of what was happening. Factoring in this group spent years on this mission, I don't think it's realistic for them to want to stop it... But what Abby was doing was getting into "enough already" territory.

The other MASSIVE tell* is that they didn't just kill Ellie on the spot. They had a specific mission and while the execution (ha) of that mission was done in an extreme manner, they limited the death toll out of no other reason than a set of ethics/code. Contrast that with killing children in the woods. Vastly different approach to the job, no?

* - One man's "tell" or plot device is another person's massive plot hole. I'm not saying not killing her is problematic, but that sure is a strong moral code that Abby's group adheres to in that moment. Even if you want to make the case that they left her with broken ribs... They clearly didn't do enough to leave knowing she was dead.

[A_B]

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I'm not sure the group that massacred the scars was abby's specific squad, as was posited by NLFC earlier

[rass]

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I'm not sure the group that massacred the scars was abby's specific squad, as was posited by NLFC earlier

I agree, but that overall group was named dropped in the moment.

[Nonlinear FC]

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I'm not sure the group that massacred the scars was abby's specific squad, as was posited by NLFC earlier

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You're using squad here is confusing... I'm saying the WLF, somehow affiliated with a larger organization, killed the religious hammer people. Scarry said wolves were hunting them, something to that effect.

Abby and her squad (those 6 or 8 or however many) have been detached from the WLF for many years while completing their mission. But I ALSO had wondered how/why Abby would've been so far away from Seattle when her doctor dad was killed... However she got that information, she had to have been out near the Rockies. So the WLF could also be highly de-centralized, spread out in the PAC NW over to the Rockies... Or Abby and that crew had ambushed some WLF squad at some point and taken their gear as cover...


Shit, I"m officially overthinking this.