I thought it was good. Set-up at least some of the back story of Ellie. She's a kid who's only read about the 'old' times so getting to see her reaction to stuff like a mall or video games or Victoria Secret is fun. Also just acting like a kid, stealing drinks - have a big crush, etc.
I thought it was good. Set-up at least some of the back story of Ellie. She's a kid who's only read about the 'old' times so getting to see her reaction to stuff like a mall or video games or Victoria Secret is fun. Also just acting like a kid, stealing drinks - have a big crush, etc.
Yes - the story isn't about zombies, it's about one character, Ellie, who is changed by being exposed to the world, and the player (or viewer, now) taking that journey out of innocence, with her - and a second character, Joel, who is changed by his relationship with Ellie, and us taking that journey with him. It's basically all character arc, plot is barely a consideration. In order to get that across to the audience, giving enough screen time to who the characters were, are, and become is necessary - for example, the scenes with Joel and Ellie after they leave Wyoming don't have the same tone as his interactions with her outside Boston. That again is why I think this should have been a couple episodes longer, not just to slow down the pace but to get those changes across more clearly to the viewer.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
Last edited by CorsiHockeyLeague; 02-27-2023 at 11:19 AM.
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I thought it was one of those instances where the flashback was a nice break from the breakneck pace of the present timeline
I felt like we learn so little about the inner workings of the Boston QZ and what was going on there. We got a peak from the citizen's side. This time we got a glimpse into the other side
It showed us how Ellie too has lost the closest person to her, and thus what motivates her now in order to not let that happen again
It being engaging from start to finish helped too
Without this and episode three, TLOU's world would feel much smaller and less fleshed out. These episodes help to world build as well as expand on characters. I don't have an issue with it
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I enjoyed it, but it was hard to shake the feeling the entire time that it was a "lesser" episode in the season. I actually felt Sarah(?)'s actress was a bit stilted and drug Ramsey down to her level in some scenes, and the scenes where Ramsey really put her back into it, the difference was quite noticeable.
I found myself glancing at the clock a few times during the ep, not because I was bored mind you, but was mentally clocking how much of the episode was going to be flashback and was surprised when the flashback interval passed the 30m mark. I'm mostly in agreement with the thread that the pacing would have been better spent trimming the fat down by ~5-10m and showing a bit more around the "current" Joel/Ellie timespace.
I think it's debatable if this flashback episode was really necessary. As I said before it wasn't even part of the original game and a DLC add-on. I really like the show but it's not above criticism.
To each their own. I though it was pretty necessary. It added to the main character and also to the universe. We got a much better idea about how the "government" works and the views of the opposing sides.
The show kept the backstory contained to a single episode and really just hit on the big points. It's not like we got multiple episodes of Bethany vs. Ellie drama.
What has happened to any of the settlements we have either seen or heard of where FEDRA was overthrown? Wiped out.
Well, what examples do we have, other than Kansas City? Frank said the Baltimore QZ was "gone", but that might not have been a matter of Fedra being overthrown - I would think the more likely reason would be that the infection got in. Riley also says that other QZs have been liberated by fireflies with success, though who knows if that information is reliable or just Marlene feeding people hope to keep them fighting.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
While being the weakest episode of the season so far, still a damn good hour of TV.
Bella is a powerhouse and I can’t wait to see what she does with the material in Part 2.
A lot of this episode was lifted directly from the DLC, and those moments did hit hard. I do think there were some pacing issues this episode, and maybe not enough intertwining present day Ellie with past Ellie.
I understand why they didn’t have Ellie see any infected in the present day considering how much of a threat just one infected was, but I do think I’m starting to feel a little let down with how few infected have been on screen this season. I wish that the scene in the mall reflected the DLC a bit more with a chase of a few infected just to have a bit more urgency.
I do also think the ending could have shown Bella alone in the mall and mirrored it with her alone while Joel is dying at the end, giving a bit more of a thread of the fear and eventuality of losing people.
Chemistry was great, the cinematography was excellent, and the acting was beautiful. I think it could have been tightened up a bit, and woven in a bit more with the main narrative and it would have been a phenomenal episode.
One of the ongoing themes in real life and mirrored in media is that people notoriously have no idea whats best for them.
Even in that last episode, Riley joins the Fireflies because FEDRA was going to put her on 'Sewer Duty.'
"Thats what they think of me!"
Well lady, I dunno, maybe you should have put more effort into your school work instead of getting into fights all the time and running away?
Being given a crappy assignment as a 17-year old doesnt seem like it warrants joining a terrorist organization bent on destruction and murder.
Showing kids who are unable to see the bigger picture beyond their immediate problems (freaking out thinking that sewage duty is what she would be condemned to for the rest of her existence), delinquent behaviour, etc. Pretty accurate portrayal of teen problems/crises in a QZ reality. The show has done a great job of making the world fungus world feel realistic
Last time I was in Northlands it kinda looked like that anyway.
Lol 100%
Second last time I was there, the food court was mostly in darkness and it was myself and one couple in the entire place on a weekday, and just 3 food counters open (subway, a&w and wok). Over half the stores were no longer occupied
Last tiime I was there half of it was boarded up with plywood
They had great timing to be able to make use of a shady looking old mall in its twilight
I mean, if you really think about things from the point of view of Earth... humanity is the actual fungus, and the fungus in the show is just Earth trying to fight back and return all these carbon-based spores to where they came from.
This article seems to get some details wrong - the designer said the carousel belonged to Northland and it went to another mall after Northland went out of business and they rented and shipped it back.
It's actually the carousel from Chinook which they got rid of after they renovated their food court. You can tell by the mountain scenes along the top.
The homosexual demographic seems to be weathering the Apocalypse rather well.
Lol at the angry old man bigot posters that only showed up in the thread to complain after Episode 3, wandered off and are back again for this episode now. Was obvious in the gaming thread and so obvious now.
It's absolutely Northland. Everything above the first floor was added digitally. When they shot it there were a ton of pictures of the set that were on social media.
Craig Mazin talks a bit about this in their official podcast.
I was neat to see the awe of standing in front of a long lost arcade, "This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen". Even in the real world, they are mostly gone already. Except in Japan.
