#and obviously joel and ellie and pedro and bella did amazing with what they had

[sortasirius]

You know, anyone that knows me knows how much I love these games. The first game I purchased when I finally got a PlayStation was TLOU, I took multiple days off of work to play Part II. These games mean so, so much to me.

And yeah, I didn’t really think the show would fail, just with the creative team (I am also obsessed with Craig Mazin’s Chernobyl miniseries), the studio, and the cast.

But really, this episode blew even my high expectations out of the water.

Let’s get into it.

First things first: I said this the moment he was cast, and I was right. Pedro Pascal was destined to play Joel.

The very beginning was very Craig Mazin, a cool way to set up the eventual outbreak without our characters having to talk about it.

I cried at the intro which is not surprising lmao.

The level of detail is phenomenal, how Sarah is caring for Joel just like Joel cares for her. I especially loved the dynamic they had. He was very much her dad, but because he had her so young, you could tell they grew up together in a way, and there was a friendship almost, a camaraderie there that most parent/child relationships don’t have.

I will say, I’m from outside of Austin and live in Austin now. That is not how the skyline looked in 2003 lmao. But the old Cap Metro bus?????? Literally only a small percentage of people would pick up on that and I sure did.

I also like that we followed Sarah at first, and could see that she knew that something was up on outbreak day.

The old woman turning behind her while she was looking at the movies? Now THAT is the horror I was looking for.

CURTIS AND VIPER!!!!

Loved the scene of Joel coming home and the watch. It’s such a lovely scene in the game, and I felt like they just added to it with the show.

It’s amazing how much I loved this Sarah. Of course I love Sarah in the game, but Nico did SUCH an amazing job with limited screen time. She was phenomenal.

Tommy getting arrested and sent to the downtown jail. Lmao. My king.

Sarah finding those people in the house was absolutely horrifying. 10/10 no notes.

There are so many homages to the game, the show takes on a life of its own but there were so many times where I was pointing to the screen because I recognized something from the game.

The sound design is also completely insane, it sounded real and my tv is not new lol.

Look, I have played and watched TLOU nearly a hundred times at this point. I knew what was coming, but man, it was like watching Sarah die for the first time all over again.

Nico’s obvious, gut wrenching pain coupled with Pedro’s raw and unendurable grief took that scene to a place I didn’t know it could go. And I cry every time I play the prologue.

They did a great job with the QZ, with the harsh reality of the inside and the terror everyone has of the outside. I’ll be interested to see if we find out who the kid who wandered into the zone was.

Tess. My beloved. That’s all.

I really can’t wait to find out more about Tommy and Joel. Because obviously they’re still in contact (which is markedly different from the game), but there still seems to be some sort of falling out there from his involvement with the Fireflies. Also interesting that Joel and Tess are actively trying to leave the zone to find him.

The game only hinted at it, so I’m glad they put so much focus on Tess being the boss. Also big spoon Tess? Please and thank you.

Bella is so fucking amazing as Ellie. Her intro is PERFECT.

I love that they kept Merle as Marlene, it was just cool to hear her and see her there. And she and Ellie’s scene was so great, it’s crazy to think that that (unless something huge changes in the show from the game) is the last time they see each other.

They did a really good job of cutting things I think. We didn’t really need to see them going to find Robert, it was more of a point to point for potential gameplay, but they still managed to bring him in in an interesting way, especially because Joel and Tess aren’t the ones to kill him in the show.

Pedro and Bella’s immediate chemistry. As if you needed more reasons to be obsessed with this casting.

SO cool to know that Tess and Joel know Frank as well as Bill, I can’t wait to meet them.

The scene of them in the apartment, nearly an exact replica of the game. Thanks I cried again.

The moment where Joel is protecting Ellie from the soldier, and it flashes back to him holding Sarah moments before he lost her. Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin I am kissing you both on the mouth.

And ending with a clicker noise. Perfect.

It’s like…kind of unbelievable how good it is. It’s one of those things that could have felt like a copy of the game, or lacking major beats, but they somehow managed to make it feel completely new and yet not lose any of the beauty that the game had.

I literally cannot wait for next Sunday, where I will be glued to my tv once again, waiting to see Ellie and Joel.

#tlou hbo #the last of us hbo #the last of us #spoilers