The Last of Us - HBO *Spoilers* See warning in post #1

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120300903#Comment_120300903

Yeah there wasn't a lot of her in the trailers (speaking anyway), but when I saw that one trailer that ends with her acting like a Clicker and then sheepishly apologising, I thought "That's Ellie".

MOR316

Thought it was a waste of an episode. Didn't show her in the mall, getting supplies to treat Joel, which could have led to her flashbacks of her and Riley

Reviewers said the last two episodes felt rushed and I can certainly see why. They're going to have to leave out a lot, which is vital to the story. Shame. For a show that for was kick ass for 5 episodes, it seems it's running out of steam. Still good but, could have been better

nc6000

Eh, isn't the mall a long long way from where she has got to with Joel?

While I love the fact that we're not spending entire season arcs in towns/settlements, I'm more convinced that 9 episodes was not enough to cover the game narrative without feeling rushed.

Add into that a great Bill stand-alone and the DLC and I feel it even more. Fine so not a 2 season long story but, rather, a 12-15 episode season feels justified

MOR316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302646#Comment_120302646

No...

In the DLC, "Left Behind," she comes to a Mall where she gets supplies for Joel. It's a lot better than going, "Oh look! A needle and thread! This will make him better"

Evade

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302646#Comment_120302646

I think he meant that in the game once Joel gets injured Ellie brings him to a mall where she has to scavenge for supplies to help him which triggers the memories of Riley and her in the mall. It was a much better frame than pausing at the top of the stairs.

MOR316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302707#Comment_120302707

Bingo...

Could have triggered the flashback, could have patched Joel up in the safe place, could have introduced David's men and carried on from there in the next episode. All of that episode was a waste. Learned nothing about FEDRA we didn't already know, the time in the Mall and leading up to it with Riley was a waste and Joel being patched up with only a needle and thread makes no sense.

So going by the trailer for the next episode, it's going to be ridiculously crammed and the pacing will be all over the place

trashcan

I wonder is there a bit of a divide between those who have played the game and those of us who are watching it “fresh” Having read that Ellie gets supplies from a Mall to help Joel in the game, I’d agree that would have made more sense then patching him up with a needle and thread. I just don’t understand the criticisms of Bella Ramsey though.I think she’s brilliant in the part, and in no way annoying.

edit - I just saw some interviews with Bella on YouTube. I had no idea she was English ! Makes her performance all the better.

Sad Professor

The present day mall stuff is fine in the game, which needed some action to break up the flashback sequences, but in terms of story it is pretty redundant. Subsequent scenes, which most gamers played separate to the dlc, cover much of the same ground. That said, as bookendings go, I agree that Ellie pausing at the top of the stairs isn't great. It seems originally there wasn't even that and it was only added because of a note from HBO. They also had difficulty getting a suitable location for the mall in the flashback (they had to use CGI to make it look bigger), so I reckon they hadn't the money to do anything more.

Zero-Cool

The podcast mentioned that the city they were filming in had an abandoned mall and were told they could do whatever they wanted to it including smash it up. Only catch was that it was a single floor with an escalator leading to one big shop at the top so looking out over the trailing was looking at a white wall so they used cgi to create that light up scene. Good trade off saving them creating a whole set.

Evade

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302820#Comment_120302820

I don't think Bella Ramsey's Ellie is bad, it's just that Ashley Johnson's was better. But that might not even strictly be down to the performance. Adding the perspectives of various other groups and the Bill and Frank detour means there was a lot more screentime for Ellie by this point in the game so she was more fleshed out and had more personality. Left Behind, the episode, had hints of the better version of Ellie but because of the reduced focus beforehand I don't think Bella has as good a grasp of the character as Ashley.

apache

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120300230#Comment_120300230

She's awful. Is there something wrong with her? She was in a horror I watched before where she played the part of the strange teenager very well. She got decapitated. Played the ps games and enjoyed them. Just caught the last two episodes. Am gonna watch it from start.

Edit - sorry I just remember she was in GOT.

Mr.Prodston

I was quite worried about Bella Ramsey as I only really knew her from GoT - but she's absolutely knocking it out of the f*cking park in the role! Her range showcasing the highs, lows and in between of everything thrown at Ellie is phenomenal! Honestly it's hard to imagine anyone else being capable of playing the role so well, right now?

The criticism, I imagine, stems for the most part from her not looking like Ellie in the game? But does Pedro Pascal look like Joel? That doesn't seem to be a problem.

You're never gonna recreate something entirely, and nor should that be the aim. For me, she's bottled that essence and I've been really pleased that my worries were misplaced!

ULMarc

I don't think Ellen Page was an option anyway! So going for total likeness would have been a tall order.

Le Bruise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120302980#Comment_120302980

Liking the podcast as well, gives some great insight into the trials and tribulations of creating the series (and the reasons why certain decisions were made). Creating the mall sounded like a real pain for the production designers.

bucketybuck

I have never played the game so any comparison to the game character is moot, I can only judge on the show itself.

And I think Ramsey has been fine. Certainly don't hate her, seems to be doing a fine job with the material and I'd put any issues down to the writing more than her performance.

But I really don't understand people talking about "phenomenal" or "knocking it out of the park", I'm not seeing that at all, not in the slightest. That sort of praise has to be coming from those who played the game just as much as the "she doesn't look right" criticism is. For praise like that she could only be meeting some expectation the viewer had and getting bonus points for it. For those without expectations it is just a good performance I suspect.

I did hear a comment somewhere that I thought apt, "She plays the character as if she knows she is the hero of the story". There have been times where that rang true for me while watching.

And even spunky teenagers shut the **** up when entering a dangerous location, instead of jabbering on like they are in the car going to the shops. I do wish the show would be more realistic about that.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305204#Comment_120305204

What I think makes her exceptional is the same reason I think Sadie Sink is by far the stand out actor in Stranger Things. She seems to be able to do a lot with small actions and glances.

I know she is shouting, roaring and telling everyone to fuk off but is also doing lots of really subtle little things. Pascal is very good at that too. Someone mentioned how you could see her emotions behind the Wolf mask and Pascal also had an interesting knack for that in Mando with a bucket on his head.

MOR316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305204#Comment_120305204

In fairness, in the game when you encounter Clickers and Bloaters, she makes noise and they're never alerted

trashcan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120305204#Comment_120305204

Well, I came to the whole thing completely fresh. Never heard of Bella Ramsey before, hadn’t heard of the game, hadn’t seen Game of Thrones. Had seen Pedro Pascal in Narcos (terrific performance) and in the second Kingsman film. I think Bella is superb in the part, so nothing to do with expectations from my part, as I had none.

plus, as I mentioned earlier I watched some interviews with her on YouTube and she seems a lovely grounded kid.

MOR316

Maybe the criticism comes from the fact Ellie in the game (1st game,) is quite sensible/mature/withdrawn? And she actually has an adult voice.

Where as Belle actually plays her as a kid?

Either way, there's no criticism from me on that score. I like both

Acosta

Enjoying it overall, but that latest episode was a drag.

MOR316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306589#Comment_120306589

Really depends how the next two play out...

If they do the way I think they do, it will be a complete waste of an episode

trashcan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306566#Comment_120306566

She’s supposed to be 14. As someone with a 14 year old niece she nails it for me. A mixture of sassiness, cheekiness and vulnerability.

MOR316

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120307835#Comment_120307835

As I said, there's no criticism from me.

I am just theorising as to why some people are being critical

Tony EH

That was as dull as dishwater and just hammering home everything we already knew. The story needs to go forward, no retread previously mentioned plot beats. Hopefully next week we'll get back on track.

The Mrs has already lost interest. She says the show is all over the place and I can see her point.

Penn

Another really strong episode. A lot more action, nailed the parts of the game they were copying (which was the vast majority of the episode), and terrific performances from all involved but particularly Bella Ramsey who was absolutely incredible.

Final episode next week. If they nail it, this will likely replace Westworld as the best first season of a TV I've seen.

RobertFoster

Wasn't expecting such a big part for Troy Baker, thought it'd just be a cameo. Having watched his playthrough a couple of years back I'm sure he got a kick out of it.

bucketybuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120320750#Comment_120320750

It might be the best TV copy of a video game plot ever, but it is far too flawed to be the best season of TV ever, first season or any season.

Shank Williams

Feels very rushed now - feel it’s gone downhill rapidly from the start

Tony EH

After the sheer redundancy of episode 7, 8 felt like things were moving in the right direction, albeit far too quickly. Problem is, is that we have just 1 more episode to go now to wrap up the story of the first game. Presuming, that is, that HBO don't leave us on a shitty half finished cliffhanger.

That being said, I think 8 was probably the best episode of the series so far.