The Last of Us HBO trailer (Gaming)

by Korny , Dalton, Ga. US. Earth, Sol System, Monday, September 26, 2022, 16:07 (575 days ago) @ Cody Miller
edited by Korny, Monday, September 26, 2022, 16:15

Games by design lock you into a narrow perspective (games that divert from this usually have the ability to play as multiple characters as the while "gimmick" of the game itself, and rarely is it in a narrative sense*), you are kind of "in the shoes" of a single person, rarely as more than one at a time. With a show, we can get to know characters like Tess, Marlene, Tommy + Maria, and even David. We're already going to get moments between Bill and Frank, which the game had none of (Bill will reportedly be in nine out of the ten episodes, but no telling if this was an accurate report), and I'm eager to see how they can make us care more about the ancillary characters, since outside of the segments with Sam and Henry, TLoU was a fairly lonely affair throughout.

I think they need to be careful, because too much and it goes down the hole of superfluousness that harms the story. Time is rarely what prevents us from knowing or feeling for characters, and honestly I felt and understood them quite well in the game. If they don't tie back into the narrative in a more meaningful way (that is, unless they change it), it can derail the narrative and feel like wheel spinning.

I think that's the thing though. I have zero interest in revisiting Joel and Ellie's journey. In a perfect world, they'd be cameos at the end, and the series would follow Marlene's journey West, giving us even more empathy for the fact that she was technically the one making the difficult but "right" calls in that world. But if I can't get that, I'm more than happy to see how people in that world live more than I am at seeing if a TV series can make me connect to Joel's bond with Ellie in the same way the game did.

Maybe I'm weird. Sammy and I are loving The Rings of Power, because it's a slow burn show just showing the workings of Middle Earth without any grand journey or bombastic adventure with epic strings and horns as the camera pans over people running on mountain #237. I love the tiny moments and small scale (that Orc scene in the house!). And yet, online all I see is people complaining that nothing happens in the show.

What are they adding to compensate?

Flashbacks! Extended moments with characters we might not have cared much for otherwise! They do have ten episodes to cover, and Craig Mazin did an amazing job at handling an ensemble cast across five episodes with Chernobyl, so I'm pretty eager to see the world outside of the relationship between Joel and Ellie (which is what I wanted in the first place).

Interesting idea. But I can't help but feel that say, flashbacks with Joel and his daughter wouldn't just be unnecessary. We got it 100% from just a brief set of sequences in the game. It could be interesting if handled correctly and focused on appropriate moments.

Sarah is listed to appear in only two episodes, so likely just E1, and either the start of E2, or a lone flashback later (probably when Ellie gives Joel the photo). Bill is a great example of perfect "just enough" story and character in the game that didn't need to be fleshed out for us to get, but I dunno. I think I'd love to see a slice of Bill's life before the narrow PoV of Joel enters the picture. Or maybe he'll be presented in a whole new way, like Kendo in the Resident Evil 2 remake.

I dunno, but I'm hopeful, and I trust the people making the show, so we'll see!

(I wish they hadn't included the pivotal "Oh Baby Girl" moment in the trailer. But it's funny that it looks to be set outdoors for maximum clarity on their expressions. Once again, that's showbiz, baybee!)