Topic: The TV Show Thread

@LN78 Yeah, there is a modicum of narrative purpose so the two can bond and chat and create a sense of cooperation. I didn’t mind them personally. A lot of games have one party member push a crate or pull a lever for another party member. At least in TLoU there’s some occasional witty banter.

I actually think the second episode of the Last of Us was even better than the first. Feels unusual in a TV show to introduce and payoff a punch of stuff in the same episode, but I appreciated it. I wish more TV shows did this, for the longest time the pacing of TV was what killed my interest.

I also liked how they tried stealth, they ***** it up and it descended into total chaos from there. They just like me fr fr. Only here there are no insta death fail states you have to restart, and as such I am sorta coming round to this whole thing.

Going in I was like ‘why does this exist’ - but I guess this is why. Every fresh playthrough I dread sequences like this, and not for the reasons intended, and here I got to just enjoy a cool episode of TV, rather than seethe with frustration at a game for an hour being stuck in the same place.

Also, about the whole ladder thing above. I ain't suggesting ladder puzzles are inherently good or bad, really. I just think if you had never played a videogame before, and then the Last of Us was your first game, I think you'd wonder why there are so many sequences of moving boxes, platforms and ladders and wonder if that is normal in modern videogames.

Oh wow, I genuinely had no idea about that. I might have to replay Part 1 when the show is over then, I kinda wanted to, but the price of entry is massive on PS5 (less so on PC which I think comes out in March?), but I was also kinda dreading some parts, but this is a game changer literally.

Wow episode three of the Last of Us was magical. The world has changed more in ten years than I think I really appreciated. What was once implied and danced around in the game, now just gets to become text here in the TV show. Awesome stuff.

@LN78 "Not to state the obvious but I don't think that particular actor would be very suitable these days."

Agreed, way too old to play a believable teenager these days.

@Kidfried "You know he's called Elliot Page."

Yeah now but not at the time of the lawsuit. I doubt the lawsuit would have happened if that was the case back then.

"Ramsey's performance specifically was praised by The Washington Post, Guardian and many other outlets actually."

That may be true but The Guardian also praised She-Hulk so....

That alone would make me question my career choice if I was Bella Ramsey.

It is difficult for me to get a read from Ramsey just in these first three episodes. At this point in the story with Ellie having her full guard up, she is kind of a massive ***** (justifiable or not) and the inherent unlikability of the character at this stage of the story makes it difficult for me to really objectively gauge Ramsey's performance.

That being said, I think episode three had two of Ramsey's best moments so far, one being that haunting sequence with the trapped infected she finds in the basement and then the 'warming up' sequence right at the end in the car, it at least shows she has great chemistry with Pascal.

@LN78 "PS "The Guardian" is not a measured and rational source. They gave "Velma" a positive review."

This guy gets it!

@LN78 Indeed, hard to think Mindy Kaling who wrote it had input into the US Office which is one of my favourites.

Wait, did someone suggest Elliott Page for the role? I suppose that was the deleted comment, yeah? Little old I think.

I don't know what it is about Bella Ramsey's performance so far but everything has just felt really forced. It's something where I have trouble really pinning down what's wrong, I just know something feels off. Had a similar opinion of Rami Malek in Little Things, for example, which I just watched recently. Performance was just off and I had trouble buying him for the part.

Oh well.

Edit: also feel the need to register my dislike of The Guardian lol. Which is funny because I remember them being good at one point but like, idk what happened. Same with New York Times and Washington Post. Though the latter two haven't gone quite off the rails in the same way as The Guardian. Honestly I'm more of a The Atlantic type guy these days.

Sorry for going so off topic by the way. Just bored.

Personally, I think the off thing just comes from cross media translations. It takes a lot to make something not just feel like cosplay to me, and even after three episodes I'm still seeing Pascal, Ramsey etc rather than being convinced I am seeing Joel and Ellie et al.

@Pizzamorg it really could be this. And so I'm sticking with the show in spite of my hang ups in hopes that it all gets ironed out by the end.

@zupertramp "did someone suggest Elliott Page for the role?"

It was me, well sort of, but I suggested Ellen Page and not Elliott Page who they are now because back in the day Ellen Page accused Naughty Dog of ripping off "her" likeness (I thought she sued but didn't as far as I can tell). It would be quite unusual if Elliot Page accused Naughty Dog of ripping off "his" likeness bearing in mind Ellie is a girl.

So I'll rephrase it in a more acceptable format for people who can't accept that transgender people were born as another sex and usually went under a different name prior to transition.

Before Elliot Page became Elliot Page they were known as Ellen Page. Ellen was a female who accused Naughty Dog of stealing her likeness for a female character they created called Ellie. Whether this is true or not I don't know but there was I think a resemblance. So when Elliot Page was Ellen Page they would have made a good actress to portray Ellie. Now because they are Elliot Page, they would not make a good fit for Ellie.

I wonder if this will be enough of an explanation as to why I heretically referred to Elliott as Ellen because in context it makes sense.

@The_Moose yeah I kinda picked up on what was going on from the subsequent back and forth. I do recall there being some accusations of ripping off his likeness (but yes hers at the time), and I wanna say the character even underwent a small visual revamp because of this.

But on the topic of how to reference those who've changed genders, even when referencing a time before the new gender, it's just generally encouraged to use the new gender. If anything try not to get too caught up on whether it makes sense and just consider it a courtesy. Like saying "bless you" when someone sneezes. Makes absolutely no sense really but hey, it's just polite.

Also just for the record I'm in almost a constant state of confusion regarding the changing norms so I personally don't get too worked up over what I'm going to generously consider a faux pas but conversely, I acknowledge that since some people often find themselves on the receiving end of a fair bit of ugliness on pretty much a daily basis, they may have less patience on the topic. Just one of those things y'know. So i'd urge you, respectfully, to consider cutting even those who jump down your throat a bit of slack.

Well, now that my subscription of SkyShowtime has run out, I've started watching Stargirl and resumed watching Walking Dead on HBO Max. Absolutely loving Stargirl (I just can't get enough of superhero shows) and it's nice to be watching WD again. I'm a couple of episodes into season 8 and it's amazing so far.

Right now I feel like I'm finally exploring more of what HBO Max has to offer besides Game of Thrones, lol. There's so much stuff on here that I need to watch. I really want to see Chernobyl and Band of Brothers next. Then there's The Last of Us but I still haven't decided how I want to watch it. I don't mind watching it weekly since I have tons of other shows to watch while I wait for the next episode, but at the same time I could always save it for when I'm done with those shows. And don't get me started on the movies. There's just so much stuff to be enjoyed here!

@LtSarge
Theres no shortage of stuff on HBO that I'm a fan of. Just some recommendations not including what you have mentioned:

•Boardwalk Empire (seriously why don't more people talk about this one)
•The Sopranos
•The Deuce
•Station Eleven
•Peacemaker
•Deadwood
•The Leftovers
•True Detective (Seasons 1 and 3 specifically, season 2 is a little more divisive)
•Succession
•Perry Mason
•Barry
•The Pacific (its a spiritual successor to Band of Brothers with much of the same creative team).
•Rome

@PegasusActual93 Appreciate the recommendations! I have a lot of those on my watchlist already, but there are some from your list that I haven't heard of. The Deuce, Deadwood, The Leftovers, Perry Mason, The Pacific and Rome sound very compelling, so I'll be adding them to my watchlist as well.

It's crazy how much stuff there is on HBO. It's nice to watch stuff that I've heard of, but I'm also interested in checking out shows that aren't that well-known. Your list is a good mix of both actually.

@PegasusActual93 lol that's pretty much my exact take on True Detective. It's not that season 2 is bad. It's just way too different.