*** THE LAST OF US *** (Non-Gamer Thread)

207,275 Views | 2419 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by jokershady
TCTTS
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AustinAg2K said:

mazzag said:

I could do without the gay but appreciate the love and caring relationship. That said,
Why? I was hoping they'd show up and give bill and frank a reason to live.


Bill had a reason to live. It was Frank and Frank was clearly going to die. As he said, there was no cure before the pandemic. If they would have had something to cure him it would have ruined the show. I thought it was a great episode, and something you don't see in Zombie apocalypse movies. It's not like cancer would stop being a thing.

Anyways, the point of the whole episode was to show that there's still more to just surviving than killing zombies. If you're just going to be alone, then what's the point?

Bingo, to this and cajunaggie08's post.

Honestly, 2/3 of the way through the episode it was almost too bleak and depressing and melancholy for even me. That, and I was already dreading clicking on this thread, having to wade through the complaining from a certain contingent.

But then, two things happened...

1) The way they gave purpose to both the relationship, and the deaths, of Bill & Frank was so damn good. Ellie reading that letter out loud to Joel, then getting to the Tess part, and just the irony and the beauty in her not realizing/but Joel starting to understand, in that moment, that *she* just became the thing giving Joel not only a plot-driven purpose, but an emotional one, was incredible. Then...

2) I was pleasantly surprised to discover this thread wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting.

So, all around, a tough but great episode, with a rewarding ending in more ways than one. An episode that certainly sets a high bar in terms of television for the rest of the year.
Definitely Not A Cop
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It was pretty good.
JDUB08AG
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I thought he was gonna strangle him while playing the piano. Did not expect that storyline to play out.
joerobert_pete06
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Question:

A) Who is the target audience for the zombie apocalypse show and b) what was the purpose of putting the 'simple and slow' gay sex scene in this same zombie apocalypse show?

They could have taken this episode in many different directions yet they chose this. Frank could have been a doctor and they established some dependency on each other. Or they developed friendship around their grandmothers playing the piano. But no, last man standing end of the world doomsday prep scenario, they chose gay slow and simple?

Seems very disconnected from the target audience of a zombie apocalypse movie

Good acting but let's be real here
TCTTS
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I don't see you in any other threads questioning why *heterosexual* relationships are depicted in other shows/movies, as a means to establish bonds between those characters? So why does it matter here, in this instance, just because it's two men? Who cares? Regardless of gender, it was emotional, powerful, and thematically resonant in a way that helped to further seal the bond between Joel and Ellie, as well as our attachment to them. I explained why it all moved me so much in an earlier post, and I just can't imagine giving two sh*ts whether it was a heterosexual or homosexual relationship that got me there.

Also… it's HBO. I don't know who, exactly, you think their target audience is. Depiction of this sort is par for the course.
joerobert_pete06
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Stop worrying about the difference between you and me. The fact of the matter is that everyone here was surprised with the direction the writers took this story. I'm questioning why they chose this
BudFox7
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Lol if there was a TCTTS endorsed show list many of us would know exactly what not to watch.
TCTTS
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"Why they chose this" has been explained over and over in this thread. I don't know what else to tell you.
TCTTS
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Good one.
FL_Ag1998
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Just curious. You haven't posted in this thread or the other one before this episode. If you weren't interested in the show enough to post on either thread before, why start now?
aTmAg
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TCTTS said:

I don't see you in any other threads questioning why *heterosexual* relationships are depicted in other shows/movies, as a means to establish bonds between those characters? So why does it matter here, in this instance, just because it's two men? Who cares? Regardless of gender, it was emotional, powerful, and thematically resonant in a way that helped to further seal the bond between Joel and Ellie, as well as our attachment to them. I explained why it all moved me so much in an earlier post, and I just can't imagine giving two sh*ts whether it was a heterosexual or homosexual relationship that got me there.

Also… it's HBO. I don't know who, exactly, you think their target audience is. Depiction of this sort is par for the course.
Since you are inviting the discussion (no doubt you will complain that others are derailing the thread later)...

The reason is that people are tired of Hollywood pushing their agenda on everybody. If some aliens were watching our broadcasts, they would assume that in the last 5-10 years that 95% of our population suddenly became gay, POC, trans, or whatever. It has become more important to these shows than the actual story. It's fine to present a more realistic picture than the Ozzie and Harriet days, but isn't it about time, we make it actually realistic?

And I don't understand what the HBO audience comment is supposed to mean? You think HBO has a larger gay audience than other channels?
johnnyblaze36
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TCTTS said:

"Why they chose this" has been explained over and over in this thread. I don't know what else to tell you.
You don't even know anything about this story, started your own thread, clogged up 3 pages of butthurt, and then tell someone else you don't know what else to tell them?

You have definitely wont the MVP of least self aware person on the planet.
FL_Ag1998
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The gay relationship was in the game, but Bill and Frank's relationship ended differently and was only spoken about in the past tense. So the gayness was much more subtle. But it wasn't invented by the show.
aTmAg
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FL_Ag1998 said:

The gay relationship was in the game, but Bill and Frank's relationship ended differently and was only spoken about in the past tense. So the gayness was much more subtle. But it wasn't invented by the show.
Fine, but that doesn't change my point. If they merely spoke about it in past tense and were more subtle then it would have been much less distraction.

That being said, I found the whole prepper thing interesting. To see how somebody could not only survive in such an environment, but thrive. I do not think that he would have a gas supply for 20 years straight however. That stuff requires maintenance by teams of people.
Definitely Not A Cop
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Sounds like we need a super straight non spoiler thread and a super gay non spoiler thread.
"Condoms are for bananas" Thad Castle
JDUB08AG
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Can y'all both just stfu please.
johnnyblaze36
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joerobert_pete06
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Johnnyblaze 2024
Prosperdick
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Besides the topic everyone is discussing (at least we're not talking about the game lol) was anyone else freaking out when you realized he had a steak knife? I was like WTF are you doing? Then he's playing the piano with his back to him.

I also loved the line "never gets old" when he watches the zombie trip the wire and gets shot in the head.
BudFox7
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FL_Ag1998 said:

The gay relationship was in the game, but Bill and Frank's relationship ended differently and was only spoken about in the past tense. So the gayness was much more subtle. But it wasn't invented by the show.


Anyone playing the game that inferred a gay relationship had those ideas trounced by the end of their relationship. This relationship was not in the game. It was well acted and a good episode but it was not part of the game.
Nagler
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Nagler said:


Worst thread ever. 12 pages of arguing about gamers.



2 pages of two dudes slap fighting. Take it elsewhere ladies.

Truly an awful, awful thread.
drmwvr
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Moving on….

On a macro level, I liked how they explained the worldwide pandemic was caused by a contamination of the food supply. Second time they mentioned wheat (Indian doctor said it was a good host/habitat). It all happed pretty quickly in three or four days. Not sure that's in the game but it was a new take on the zombie apocalypse story to me. More great world building!
Prosperdick
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drmwvr said:

Moving on….

On a macro level, I liked how they explained the worldwide pandemic was caused by a contamination of the food supply. Second time they mentioned wheat (Indian doctor said it was a good host/habitat). It all happed pretty quickly in three or four days. Not sure that's in the game but it was a new take on the zombie apocalypse story to me. More great world building!
Although I had to roll my eyes when Joel said it started at a wet market in Jakarta....I kid, I kid!
Robert C. Christian
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drmwvr said:

Moving on….

On a macro level, I liked how they explained the worldwide pandemic was caused by a contamination of the food supply. Second time they mentioned wheat (Indian doctor said it was a good host/habitat). It all happed pretty quickly in three or four days. Not sure that's in the game but it was a new take on the zombie apocalypse story to me. More great world building!

Makes me want to go back and watch episode 1. What kind of cookies grandma was eating, the pancakes Joel's daughter made, etc.
FL_Ag1998
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BudFox7 said:

FL_Ag1998 said:

The gay relationship was in the game, but Bill and Frank's relationship ended differently and was only spoken about in the past tense. So the gayness was much more subtle. But it wasn't invented by the show.


Anyone playing the game that inferred a gay relationship had those ideas trounced by the end of their relationship. This relationship was not in the game. It was well acted and a good episode but it was not part of the game.


Yes, the relationship was in the game. However, the game didn't show 20 years of Bill and Frank's relationship. That would have been a hell of a cut scene.

I already said that the show fleshed out their relationship (pun intended) much more that the game did, as well as showed a different ending to it. But in the game Ellie did find a gay mag that belonged to Bill. And halfway through last night's episode there was a point where I figured they were showing how Bill and Frank's relationship soured and came to the conclusion it did in the game.

As stated before the point of the show is to show more of this world, add layers. Sure, in the game, if a gamer wanted to they could infer that Bill was gay and his and Frank's relationship was strictly platonic. But are you saying that the way their relationship ended in the game absolutely negated the possibility that they had once liked and even loved each other previously? That's just not true.
AustinAg2K
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Prosperdick said:

Besides the topic everyone is discussing (at least we're not talking about the game lol) was anyone else freaking out when you realized he had a steak knife? I was like WTF are you doing? Then he's playing the piano with his back to him.

I also loved the line "never gets old" when he watches the zombie trip the wire and gets shot in the head.


Nice try, but we're not going to be tricked into a discussion about the show. We're too smart for that on this thread.
drmwvr
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Robert C. Christian said:

drmwvr said:

Moving on….

On a macro level, I liked how they explained the worldwide pandemic was caused by a contamination of the food supply. Second time they mentioned wheat (Indian doctor said it was a good host/habitat). It all happed pretty quickly in three or four days. Not sure that's in the game but it was a new take on the zombie apocalypse story to me. More great world building!

Makes me want to go back and watch episode 1. What kind of cookies grandma was eating, the pancakes Joel's daughter made, etc.


Wasn't Joel supposed to pick up a cake and forgot about it?
FL_Ag1998
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drmwvr said:

Robert C. Christian said:

drmwvr said:

Moving on….

On a macro level, I liked how they explained the worldwide pandemic was caused by a contamination of the food supply. Second time they mentioned wheat (Indian doctor said it was a good host/habitat). It all happed pretty quickly in three or four days. Not sure that's in the game but it was a new take on the zombie apocalypse story to me. More great world building!

Makes me want to go back and watch episode 1. What kind of cookies grandma was eating, the pancakes Joel's daughter made, etc.


Wasn't Joel supposed to pick up a cake and forgot about it?


Yep
J. Walter Weatherman
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I think if I were binging this show I'd be more ok with what basically amounted to a bottle episode, but it was pretty annoying to wait a week for an episode that barely moved the plot along and now have another week until the next one. I was actually excited when they went back to another flashback and really liked the reveal of the original outbreak, but 50 minutes of just the two of them seemed like overkill to me and probably could have been told in half the time. Of course I also hated Fly and other similar type bottle episodes for the same reason.
joerobert_pete06
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drmwvr said:

Moving on….

On a macro level, I liked how they explained the worldwide pandemic was caused by a contamination of the food supply. Second time they mentioned wheat (Indian doctor said it was a good host/habitat). It all happed pretty quickly in three or four days. Not sure that's in the game but it was a new take on the zombie apocalypse story to me. More great world building!


I also liked how they flashed back to Jakarta to show the origin of the outbreak
WES2006AG
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I loved the episode. I think my favorite part was watching it and knowing how it would cause some people on here to absolutely melt.

This thread delivered.
joerobert_pete06
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Ya I agree, it felt unnecessary and out of place to go in such detail with their relationship
barbacoa taco
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What surprised me about this episode is that they died before Joel and Ellie even got there. Judging from the episode previews it looked like Bill encountered them on their journey. Kind of bummed, I expected Bill to be a major-ish character going forward and it turns out he's just in one episode (barring any flashbacks). An entire episode dedicated to their story.

Did not expect a full story to unfold in one episode like this. Beautifully done.
JDUB08AG
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J. Walter Weatherman said:

I think if I were binging this show I'd be more ok with what basically amounted to a bottle episode, but it was pretty annoying to wait a week for an episode that barely moved the plot along and now have another week until the next one. I was actually excited when they went back to another flashback and really liked the reveal of the original outbreak, but 50 minutes of just the two of them seemed like overkill to me and probably could have been told in half the time. Of course I also hated Fly and other similar type bottle episodes for the same reason.
I actually kind of like them showing how others lived in this new world post outbreak. While it won't necessarily have a direct link to the show's direction, this background insight will shape some of our thinking as they make their journey.
MBAR
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Brian Earl Spilner said:

Had a feeling there'd be some pearl clutching.


More reliable than the sunrise.
 
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