The Last of Us (HBO)
- Thread starter Aragorn
- Start date
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
I thought the government just controlled Boston. I guess I am a little confused as to how this government actually works within this universe. Also why don't they still call themselves the United States? If they have control outside of Boston I would think they would keep the name.
One thing I'm a little unclear on is whether anyone else in this group knew that that particular crew was out baiting and murdering passers-by? Judging by the reactions it seemed like at the very least it wasn't a given, hence the knee-jerk assumption that it was a mercenary attack, not just a case of mugging people who fought back.
In the game they all just seemed like fairly faceless thugs, and (unless I've forgotten something) you never get much of an insight into the internal politics. Here it seems there's at least the facade of some kind of underlying community beyond a ravaging warband.
That and "what the hell was going on in the basement?"
In my mind, people like this are actually worse. Oppressors are generally doing what they do for reasons of self-interest; typically out of sheer greed and/or fear. Persecutors tend to do what they do because they think it's the right thing to do. Righteous zealots are always far more dangerous and unpredictable.
In the game they all just seemed like fairly faceless thugs, and (unless I've forgotten something) you never get much of an insight into the internal politics. Here it seems there's at least the facade of some kind of underlying community beyond a ravaging warband.
That and "what the hell was going on in the basement?"
At the risk of hair-splitting, I think they're more at the "persecute" stage rather than "oppression" since this is clearly a witch hunt for all the supposed collaborators and most everyone is on board with it. I'm sure they'll get to oppression later though, if they survive that long.
In my mind, people like this are actually worse. Oppressors are generally doing what they do for reasons of self-interest; typically out of sheer greed and/or fear. Persecutors tend to do what they do because they think it's the right thing to do. Righteous zealots are always far more dangerous and unpredictable.
Yeah, if you watch the Inside the Episode, they specifically talk about how they wanted to turn this group into something deeper than the generic bad guys they were in the game.
One thing that stood out to me in it was also Neil Druckman saying he loves to flesh out the villains, and my first thought was that he really took that to an extreme with The Last of Us Part II.
I really liked how this one started the build the Ellie/Joel relationship, Bella Ramsay and Pedro Pescale really did a great job here.
I've only seen Melanie Lynsky in Two and a Half Men before this, so this kind of role for me to see her in.
One thing that stood out to me in it was also Neil Druckman saying he loves to flesh out the villains, and my first thought was that he really took that to an extreme with The Last of Us Part II.
It's FEDRA, and it's pretty likely FED is short federal, so that would seem to indicate it's country wide, not just one city.
I really liked how this one started the build the Ellie/Joel relationship, Bella Ramsay and Pedro Pescale really did a great job here.
I've only seen Melanie Lynsky in Two and a Half Men before this, so this kind of role for me to see her in.
I have been a big fan of Melanie Lynsky since "Heavenly Creatures" which is a great but disturbing Peter Jackson movie based on a true story. Not sure if I buy her in this role of a military style soldier type though. I am hoping their is more to her character than just that. Because if not I am not sure why any of these soldiers would follow her commands.
It's explained in the current episode and quite well i think.
Oh my god, what is this show? I have to think hard back to a show that launched itself so hard to the top and then refuses to come down. IGN gave this episode a 9 and it is fully deserved.
Well damn, this episode had it all. Postapocalyptic hardship, drama, action, horror and again - crying for characters we have just met and who didn't deserve to die.
The writing is so good that at least i can understand, maybe even sympathize, with Lynskey's character now that we know the whole truth. Ex-Freedom Fighters who won their freedom but were betrayed by collaborators that cost them their leader, her brother. Then again, the collaborator had his reasons too to work for Fedra - the entire show is a world of different shades of grey and it is just awful what is happening to people and where it pushes them.
It was super tense from the beginning but once again Ellie proves to be the kind heart of it all by being just who she is. We get some very sweet moments between her and Sam, children just being children and you feel the dread start to build because this world is just so brutal and harsh. Just when we are led to believe they will make it ( but we know they don't already as it's Joel's and Ellie's story) we are treated to one hell of an action sequence between the Freedom Fighters and a swarm of Infected with a huge Hulk style Infected as a Mini Boss, that sure was something in the game.
The most heartbreaking thing though is when Sam is revealed to have been bitten and we/i just know that's it leading to one tense and heartbreaking episode end that makes you just sad.
I don't know what else to say other than this may be the show of 2023 and the year has just begun.
The writing is so good that at least i can understand, maybe even sympathize, with Lynskey's character now that we know the whole truth. Ex-Freedom Fighters who won their freedom but were betrayed by collaborators that cost them their leader, her brother. Then again, the collaborator had his reasons too to work for Fedra - the entire show is a world of different shades of grey and it is just awful what is happening to people and where it pushes them.
It was super tense from the beginning but once again Ellie proves to be the kind heart of it all by being just who she is. We get some very sweet moments between her and Sam, children just being children and you feel the dread start to build because this world is just so brutal and harsh. Just when we are led to believe they will make it ( but we know they don't already as it's Joel's and Ellie's story) we are treated to one hell of an action sequence between the Freedom Fighters and a swarm of Infected with a huge Hulk style Infected as a Mini Boss, that sure was something in the game.
The most heartbreaking thing though is when Sam is revealed to have been bitten and we/i just know that's it leading to one tense and heartbreaking episode end that makes you just sad.
I don't know what else to say other than this may be the show of 2023 and the year has just begun.
This one didn't his me as hard as I thought it might. Maybe because unlike the Bill & Frank story I knew full well what was coming as was resigned to it from the jump.
Still a little surprised just how fast they got through this section; I'd assumed we'd get the best part of two episodes with Henry and Sam.
It seems as if in the early days the idea was to establish a QZ in most if not all major cities (especially those with useful resources and infrastructure), and once the bombing of the local area was done to reconnect them all with established supply routes (hence the "ploughed" highways.) Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Some QZs were overrun regardless, some (like Baltimore) fell after just a few years, others like Boston, Atlanta, and (until literally 10 days ago) Kansas City were all still up and running and co-operating two decades later as evidenced by Joel & Tess getting their pills from the Atlanta QZ, and knowing the KC's FEDRA by reputation.
It terms of governance, you're probably looking at less of an actual government and more a set of feudal city states that trade out of necessity, because none of them are truly self-sufficient. Whether there's a leadership behind all of this seems to be an open question. FEDRA seems like a faceless organization by design. There's no propaganda depicting any kind of supreme leader, or mention of a ruling body, even within the individual QZs. It looks like it's mostly a headless bureaucracy. Also of note is that since the phone lines are certainly toast, communication is limited to radio and couriers.
So in practical terms, each QZ is on it's own when it comes to defence. If one QZ gets overrun or overthrown, the other QZs don't have the spare personnel or material to risk sending reinforcements potentially hundreds of miles, and with the spotty communications by the time anyone hears about it, it's likely a futile gesture anyway. So my guess would be that FEDRA is probably just sort of dwindling along with the rest of the species. No real plan going forward, just furiously treading water.
Still a little surprised just how fast they got through this section; I'd assumed we'd get the best part of two episodes with Henry and Sam.
At this point? Who knows!?
It seems as if in the early days the idea was to establish a QZ in most if not all major cities (especially those with useful resources and infrastructure), and once the bombing of the local area was done to reconnect them all with established supply routes (hence the "ploughed" highways.) Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Some QZs were overrun regardless, some (like Baltimore) fell after just a few years, others like Boston, Atlanta, and (until literally 10 days ago) Kansas City were all still up and running and co-operating two decades later as evidenced by Joel & Tess getting their pills from the Atlanta QZ, and knowing the KC's FEDRA by reputation.
It terms of governance, you're probably looking at less of an actual government and more a set of feudal city states that trade out of necessity, because none of them are truly self-sufficient. Whether there's a leadership behind all of this seems to be an open question. FEDRA seems like a faceless organization by design. There's no propaganda depicting any kind of supreme leader, or mention of a ruling body, even within the individual QZs. It looks like it's mostly a headless bureaucracy. Also of note is that since the phone lines are certainly toast, communication is limited to radio and couriers.
So in practical terms, each QZ is on it's own when it comes to defence. If one QZ gets overrun or overthrown, the other QZs don't have the spare personnel or material to risk sending reinforcements potentially hundreds of miles, and with the spotty communications by the time anyone hears about it, it's likely a futile gesture anyway. So my guess would be that FEDRA is probably just sort of dwindling along with the rest of the species. No real plan going forward, just furiously treading water.
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I am so happy they avoided a Trope of her blood working to heal the deaf boy. She's supposed to be 14 so I didn't have a problem with her thinking something like that might work; I'm just glad it didn't.
And I have to say the writing staff is doing a marvelous job creating all these very human characters with very real motivations. It's rather refreshing to see that in TV. They really did a good job of showing all sides, but not really making a overt commentary as to if anyone person was better than another. It's just a real shitty world they live in, and people are just doing what they need to, to protect their own loved ones.
And wow, the explosion of all those infected at the end coming out of that pit really shows why normal humankind couldn't really defeat these creatures and maintain a normal society.
I really like the fact that while zombies of a form are involved in this story, the story itself really isn't about the zombies; it is putting the last of humanity, (IE -The last of us...) front and center.
The whole thing was just heartbreaking front to back.
And I have to say the writing staff is doing a marvelous job creating all these very human characters with very real motivations. It's rather refreshing to see that in TV. They really did a good job of showing all sides, but not really making a overt commentary as to if anyone person was better than another. It's just a real shitty world they live in, and people are just doing what they need to, to protect their own loved ones.
And wow, the explosion of all those infected at the end coming out of that pit really shows why normal humankind couldn't really defeat these creatures and maintain a normal society.
I really like the fact that while zombies of a form are involved in this story, the story itself really isn't about the zombies; it is putting the last of humanity, (IE -The last of us...) front and center.
The whole thing was just heartbreaking front to back.
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When the zombies came out I think I literally said something like 'Oh Shit" out loud or something like that and jumped. I am not someone who is one of those people who have verbal reactions like that usually when watching tv. I cry pretty easy but not something like that.
Damn, this last episode was fantastic.
I really liked the deeper backstory they gave to Henry and Sam than we got in the game. It really gave us some interesting stuff with Henry and Kathleen and the similarities in their motivations for what they've done.
The big infected attack was instense. Was that the big
I'm pretty sure Sam's fate was the same as in the game, but wasn't Henry's different?
And just as an FYI for anyone who hasn't played the game, Jeffrey Pierce, who played Perry, played Tommy in the game. And I believe we are also going to see the original Joel and Ellie at some point too. The cool thing with the games was everything was done through motion capture, so the actors gave full performances, not just voice overs.
I really liked the deeper backstory they gave to Henry and Sam than we got in the game. It really gave us some interesting stuff with Henry and Kathleen and the similarities in their motivations for what they've done.
The big infected attack was instense. Was that the big
I'm pretty sure Sam's fate was the same as in the game, but wasn't Henry's different?
And just as an FYI for anyone who hasn't played the game, Jeffrey Pierce, who played Perry, played Tommy in the game. And I believe we are also going to see the original Joel and Ellie at some point too. The cool thing with the games was everything was done through motion capture, so the actors gave full performances, not just voice overs.
Photosynthesis?
I don't think so. The infected ones in the last episodes lived underground.Photosynthesis?
Fungi eat decomposing matter, so they get their energy from the host bodies themselves, I think.