no doubt, having Neil be directly involved, as the creator of the IP, was absolutely necessary. I'm really happy with the casting and the work they put in to expand on what we played but stay faithful to it as well. I thought Bella did a good job with Ellie and really captured how angry she was in the early-going, will see how she does the rest of the way but I was pleasantly surprised, I like that they captured the intensity of Tess, not sure I love the actress and I would really have liked to see Annie Wersching get the role, but it was played well. All around really good and I'm excited for the rest, really wish I could binge it but time is a closed loop and we're back to weekly shit now, oh well
There was a post-show part where Mazin and Druckmann and others were interviewed. Mazin, show creator and writer, was talking about Ellie watching Joel attack that soldier, saying that “she likes the idea of someone defending her like that, and she likes the idea of that guy being punished.” I feel like Bella Ramsey did a great job capturing the essence of Ellie, and so did the writers (obviously), but that line from a creator/writer makes me cautiously optimistic for the show as opposed to knowing it will be good based on this first episode. I clearly played the first game and very much enjoyed it, and my wife has seen me play through it. We saw the first episode and she said it was fine, but also that “because the game did so well of a job with storytelling and the voice actors, that she’s not excited by what appears to be an inferior telling of the story.” And although I’ll watch the show happily, I agree. I’m sure they’ll do everything right and hit all the notes, but I played through the first game a dozen times and the inflections of certain lines, the pacing, the music…it was as close to a perfect story that I’ve seen in media. Thanks for coming to my TED talk
Yeah this is and probably will remain the largest problem I have with the show, that Ashley and Troy just did such a perfect job in the game that I don't think anything can ever surpass it. The scene where Ellie runs away to the abandoned house and her and Joel have it out over Sarah and all that, it is the most perfectly-acted scene I've ever experienced in any kind of entertainment, and its what I have thought of every time I saw or heard about anything to do with the show. I will still love the show, I'm sure of it, but I agree, its not likely to top the game.
Yeah that was definitely uncomfortable to watch but it fit with the new lore they are trying to establish and it was actually a compelling bit of body horror to show how the disease affects people as it takes over. I prefer how the game handles this section and the battle afterward but I didn't hate this take on it. But that is certainly the most divisive thing to come from the show so far.
I actually kind of like the change for how the disease spreads in the show. They’re not wrong that logically the spore thing wouldn’t make as much sense, especially in the TV context. No idea why but I was more able to suspend disbelief playing the game versus watching the actors kicking up “dead” spores all over the place. The kiss felt weird but whatever. They fucking NAILED the Clickers which was really cool and really helped give you that feeling of terror you get playing the game.
Yeah they did nail the clickers for sure, way scarier than the game, more agile, stronger, harder to kill, etc. I was strangely bothered by the symmetry of the stuff on their faces but maybe the game had more of that than I remember, they really did a great job, and love that its all practical too and not CG