The Last of Us - HBO Series [Spoilers after episodes have aired -- no game spoilers]

[getbak]

I saw a tweet earlier in the week from a tv critic who had already seen the episode that said the only thing standing in the way of Murray Bartlett winning his second Emmy will be Nick Offerman winning his first.

It's hard to argue with that sentiment after watching the episode.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

10 miles West of Boston sure looked like East Kananaskis to me (probably the Sheep river).

Brilliant episode.

Oh man I love that area. I am excited for the episode

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Well.

... Damn.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Craig Mazin may have done what seemed to be impossible to me - he made a show better than his work on Chernobyl.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by getbak

I saw a tweet earlier in the week from a tv critic who had already seen the episode that said the only thing standing in the way of Murray Bartlett winning his second Emmy will be Nick Offerman winning his first.

It's hard to argue with that sentiment after watching the episode.

This was like the episode where Al Swearengen showed up on Game of Thrones

But x2

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Quite enjoyed that episode. Gave Bill (wonderfully cast) a better spot in The Last of Us. Less of a tragic character.

Note on the game after the spoiler! (I know I know, I’m sorry - but this episode in particular really landed for me)

Spoiler!

In the game you find out that Bill’s partner actually comes to resent Bill, and rushes off to leave him at one point. He then gets bit, and ultimately hangs himself. Bill, Joel, and Ellie eventually stumble across his hanging corpse…and Bill just takes the lump. Joel later finds a note from Bill’s partner saying how much he had grown to hate Bill. I really enjoyed the much more optimistic story told for Bill in the show. My biggest complaint with the game series was always that it dwelled too long and too deeply on the horrors of humanity…and this episode (#3) was the opposite. Well done.

Thanks! Much appreciated

I haven’t played the game, and am interested in knowing about it (not in playing it, though lol.. just for the purposes of trying to better appreciate the series)

[getbak]

"You live in a psycho bunker where 9/11 was an inside job and the government are all Nazis."

"THE GOVERNMENT ARE ALL NAZIS!"

"Well, yeah, now, but not then."

[nik-]

That was probably one of the best episodes of TV I've ever seen.

[rubecube]

The biggest shock of the night is that twitter is being surprisingly reasonable about this episode.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by chemgear

They really changed it from the game. So much more backstory and wow that acting. Even Pedro finally reacting to the loss of Tess having to step outside with the note.

I look forward to seeing how sales for Linda Ronstadt songs jump up this week.

EDIT: Ellie's T shirt, the shot of the window at the end, the "video gamey" reverse code hint in the letter, the same meal at the start and the end.

We both put that song on our spotify during the episode, lol. This show real feels like something special.

[Sr. Mints]

"This is not an Arby's"

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoBcHVEA77B/

edit: couldn't figure out how to shrink photo after the fact.

[jayswin]

That was literally the best episode of TV I've ever seen. It was just beautiful in every respect. To have Alberta as the backdrop of that was like winning a $150k lottery and then winning a $50k bonus before cashing out. Just brilliance.

I don't watch anything twice and can't understand how anyone does, but I will be watching this episode again before next week.

[getbak]

There's nothing better on tv than Nick Offerman's giggle.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1619899301865607168

[jayswin]

When living in a world of alt right sources working successfully to divide our society, and specifically using the LGBTQ community to do so, you look at that episode and see something wonderful in that regard.

How do you win those people over in a world where we've been forced to only battle them head on and hopelessly see no other way to get through to them and make them see the world from our perspective? You take an actor that has won over the entire male population with his characters on screen and make a beautiful episode that brings warmth to the hardest soul.

That episode breaks LGBTQ barriers through pure quality. That's hard to do.

[Cole436]

I haven’t ugly cried to an episode of TV like that in years. All I could think of as the episode was progressing was that I hated that I knew how this story ended. By the end, I was so grateful that the writers changed Bill and Franks story to something I didn’t see coming.

[Johnny Makarov]

WTF? isn't this supposed to be a video game/zombie show?
It's 1:45am and I used up like 10 kleenex's.

Amazing. Prob the best 1:14mins of TV i have ever watched.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

I haven’t played the game, and am interested in knowing about it (not in playing it, though lol.. just for the purposes of trying to better appreciate the series)

Couple of game scenes... obviously quite different this time since they changed a lot this episode.

Spoiler!

Worth noting that Bill and Frank were not originally intended to be together romantically, just partners. When W. Earl Brown took the role that was his interpretation of the character.

[SportsJunky]

Stupid sexy Swanson.

[MillerTime GFG]

Interesting to see the reactions here. I mean, I thought it was quite a good episode, but I didn't finish it thinking "that was one of the best shows I've ever seen".

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

Interesting to see the reactions here. I mean, I thought it was quite a good episode, but I didn't finish it thinking "that was one of the best shows I've ever seen".

I’d agree with this. Good episode and a bit of a world builder. But I didn’t come away thinking anything remotely close to best tv episode ever. I thought it was weird they jumped from the raiders attacking to 10(?) years later. Would have liked to see that play out a bit more.