Spoilers The Last of Us Season 2 - Spoilers

[Jayson1]

The last episode was very good and exciting but I feel like the show is basically over now. Killing off you best character and series lead might have great shock value but you just can't do that on a tv show when you don't at least have a character that is interesting enough to replace them. Ironically this is pretty much on par with what happened on the other zombie show when Rick Grimes was "Killed off" only worst because this happened in season 2, episode 2 and they are suppose to somehow do not only this entire season without a replacement but a season 3 as well. It was a very bold thing to do but it seems like a huge mistake. Flashbacks won't be enough. They killed the shows main selling point which was the father/daughter relationship between Joel and Ellie.

 

[Set Harth]

I can't go on Youtube mere hours after something popular premiered without some jackass putting the spoiler right in the title of the video or in the thumbnai, so i learned to be quick or just stay off my usual entertainment news sites until i had time to watch it.

Reminds me of a forum I used to go to where a major character death was put in a thread title, and then since that was the most recent active thread, it was the first thing you saw when you showed up at the main forum directory page.

Proper newssites don't spoil in the title and give you multiple warnings before the article but Youtube is just a free for all but even then sometimes you get a pretty good idea that something major has happened that makes watching the scene a bit less impactful.

It's an unfortunate development.

Even those of us who didn't play the games could tell where this was going. I was actually worried it would happen in S1. More recently, having made the 'mistake' of listening to the video games' soundtracks on Youtube, I got a video in the feed with a thumbnail that made it pretty obvious. But I still thought it would take longer to get there.

I just tell myself "calm down, Andor is on the way"

 

[Jayson1]

I was aware of what happened, even in some detail from the video game, even though I never played it but I was still shocked that they did it or maybe they did it so soon. I figured tv logic would kick in and they would realize you just can't replace your main character and Star actor and turn the show over to a teenager, who frankly is not so interesting outside of the Joel dynamic.

It is kind of amazing that the shows 3 best characters are now all dead. Joel, Anna Torv from season 1 and NIck Offerman from season 1 and still the shows best overall episode. Not as much cool action stuff in that episode as in this last one but emotionally it's great.

 

[StarMan]

The last episode was very good and exciting but I feel like the show is basically over now. Killing off you best character and series lead might have great shock value but you just can't do that on a tv show when you don't at least have a character that is interesting enough to replace them. Ironically this is pretty much on par with what happened on the other zombie show when Rick Grimes was "Killed off" only worst because this happened in season 2, episode 2 and they are suppose to somehow do not only this entire season without a replacement but a season 3 as well. It was a very bold thing to do but it seems like a huge mistake. Flashbacks won't be enough. They killed the shows main selling point which was the father/daughter relationship between Joel and Ellie.

It wasn't a mistake; it provides the impetus for the whole story.

 

[Jayson1]

Nobody is going to care about the story if it doesn't involve their favorite character.

 

[StarMan]

Nobody is going to care about the story if it doesn't involve their favorite character.

Game of Thrones didn't fare too bad.

 

[Jayson1]

They had a stronger supporting cast it was also a show that was not centered on what was really 2 character show in Joel and Ellie. I think a closer example would be the X-Files when Mulder left only Scully was a better character than Ellie and even Doggit was a decent character but it still wasn't enough because the show revolves around the chemistry between Mulder and Scully.

The other issue is I am not sure people want to tune into a zombie apocalypse show that feels like a teen romance soap opera. The show feels like it's about to switch over into being a CW show with better production values. I know Pedro Paschal seems to be in everything these days but is hard to replace. At the very least they should have saved the death and how he dies for later. If you put him in this situation and he doesn't die yet you know he will eventually be killed, it creates tension in every episode because anytime he is in a life or death situation you don't know if this is going to be be the new way they plan to kill him. Or they could have his death be the opening scene of season 2 and the entire season is basically a flashback that will lead to that death.

 

[FPAlpha]

They had a stronger supporting cast it was also a show that was not centered on what was really 2 character show in Joel and Ellie. I think a closer example would be the X-Files when Mulder left only Scully was a better character than Ellie and even Doggit was a decent character but it still wasn't enough because the show revolves around the chemistry between Mulder and Scully.

The other issue is I am not sure people want to tune into a zombie apocalypse show that feels like a teen romance soap opera. The show feels like it's about to switch over into being a CW show with better production values. I know Pedro Paschal seems to be in everything these days but is hard to replace. At the very least they should have saved the death and how he dies for later. If you put him in this situation and he doesn't die yet you know he will eventually be killed, it creates tension in every episode because anytime he is in a life or death situation you don't know if this is going to be be the new way they plan to kill him. Or they could have his death be the opening scene of season 2 and the entire season is basically a flashback that will lead to that death.

I don't know how the story will proceed from here but i have faith in the writers to deliver an engaging story and character moments that are fueled by Joel's death.

As Starman said Game of Thrones did well enough when they killed off several fan favorites as early as season 1 and impacted others severely when they cut off Jaime's hand for example forcing him to take a massive left turn so to speak. People got upset but as the story unfolded it was clear they were not the focus of the storyline but helped to propel the actual protagonist on a completely different path.

Game of Thrones had a huge cast as opposed to Last of Us but for me this doesn't necessarily mean it is better, only that it had more options. It will be an uphill climb for the show to keep its viewers now that a fan favorite character is gone but i figure people are now even more invested in Ellie's story and what will happen to her and between Abby and her.

Also i think i recall a statement by the creator of the game that the entire Last of Us game story has a finite ending with a third game and the show also stated that they plan to finish with season 4, so if true they do take the smaller range of characters into account and don't needlessly bloat the show like Walking Dead did.

 

[StarMan]

I don't know how the story will proceed from here but i have faith in the writers to deliver an engaging story and character moments that are fueled by Joel's death.

As Starman said Game of Thrones did well enough when they killed off several fan favorites as early as season 1 and impacted others severely when they cut off Jaime's hand for example forcing him to take a massive left turn so to speak. People got upset but as the story unfolded it was clear they were not the focus of the storyline but helped to propel the actual protagonist on a completely different path.

Game of Thrones had a huge cast as opposed to Last of Us but for me this doesn't necessarily mean it is better, only that it had more options. It will be an uphill climb for the show to keep its viewers now that a fan favorite character is gone but i figure people are now even more invested in Ellie's story and what will happen to her and between Abby and her.

Also i think i recall a statement by the creator of the game that the entire Last of Us game story has a finite ending with a third game and the show also stated that they plan to finish with season 4, so if true they do take the smaller range of characters into account and don't needlessly bloat the show like Walking Dead did.

I trust Mazin. This season is a much bigger challenge to adapt.

It's funny seeing a Jayson-style reaction getting pissy at a Joel-less future when the story is only just kicking off.

 

[FPAlpha]

I trust Mazin. This season is a much bigger challenge to adapt.

It's funny seeing a Jayson-style reaction getting pissy at a Joel-less future when the story is only just kicking off.

I understand it though. I have a friend who is a massive Pascal fan and she was devastated by the episode. If the show were any less good she might have stopped watching.

For me this happened in other shows:

Spoiler: Character death on Vikings

During Vikings when they killed off Ragnar. Travis Fimmel was such an integral part of the show and basically carried it and when his character died i quickly lost interest.

 

[Set Harth]

They still haven't explained how the whole Eugene thing went down, have they? Does that mean we're eventually getting a flashback?

 

[Nerys Myk]

When it happened in early GoT I was "in the know", because I read the books. So I was chuckling to myself over fans of Eddard and Robb fawning over them as the show's leads. Was on the fence here because while I knew about the game but was unsure they'd go there.

 

[Nerys Myk]

They still haven't explained how the whole Eugene thing went down, have they? Does that mean we're eventually getting a flashback?

I've heard they'll be doing an Eugene episode.

 

[Set Harth]

Was on the fence here because while I knew about the game but was unsure they'd go there.

Me too.

 

[FPAlpha]

They still haven't explained how the whole Eugene thing went down, have they? Does that mean we're eventually getting a flashback?

100% at least about the flashbacks.

In the season trailers we see scenes between Ellie and Joel we haven't yet seen in the show, so there will be flashbacks.

For Eugene i guess he got infected and Joel had to kill him. Would be the easiest storyline but i have a feeling there's more to it. Was Eugene in the game ( just yes or no, no story spoilers please)?

 

[Aragorn]

I can't go on Youtube mere hours after something popular premiered without some jackass putting the spoiler right in the title of the video or in the thumbnai, so i learned to be quick or just stay off my usual entertainment news sites until i had time to watch it.

Proper newssites don't spoil in the title and give you multiple warnings before the article but Youtube is just a free for all but even then sometimes you get a pretty good idea that something major has happened that makes watching the scene a bit less impactful.

It's an unfortunate development.

Spoilers get more clicks than being respectful of spoiling things for you. Even when entertainment sites say spoiler ahead, the freaking photo they have with the story gives it away. They also put the spoiler in the URL for search engines so that's what you get if you search for the show.

 

[JD]

The last episode was very good and exciting but I feel like the show is basically over now. Killing off you best character and series lead might have great shock value but you just can't do that on a tv show when you don't at least have a character that is interesting enough to replace them. Ironically this is pretty much on par with what happened on the other zombie show when Rick Grimes was "Killed off" only worst because this happened in season 2, episode 2 and they are suppose to somehow do not only this entire season without a replacement but a season 3 as well. It was a very bold thing to do but it seems like a huge mistake. Flashbacks won't be enough. They killed the shows main selling point which was the father/daughter relationship between Joel and Ellie.

The game already proved you wrong you wrong five years ago, Ellie, Abby, Dina, Jesse, Abby's friends and Tommy are more than interesting enough to keep the story going without Joel, and Bella Ramsay, Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, and Gabriel Luna are more than strong enough actors to carry the series on without Pedro Pascal. We haven't really seen enough of Spencer Lord, Tati Gabrielle, Ariela Barer and Danny Ramirez to really get a feel for their take on the characters, but I trust that the creators of the show knew what they were doing when they cast them.

They had a stronger supporting cast it was also a show that was not centered on what was really 2 character show in Joel and Ellie. I think a closer example would be the X-Files when Mulder left only Scully was a better character than Ellie and even Doggit was a decent character but it still wasn't enough because the show revolves around the chemistry between Mulder and Scully.

The other issue is I am not sure people want to tune into a zombie apocalypse show that feels like a teen romance soap opera. The show feels like it's about to switch over into being a CW show with better production values. I know Pedro Paschal seems to be in everything these days but is hard to replace. At the very least they should have saved the death and how he dies for later. If you put him in this situation and he doesn't die yet you know he will eventually be killed, it creates tension in every episode because anytime he is in a life or death situation you don't know if this is going to be be the new way they plan to kill him. Or they could have his death be the opening scene of season 2 and the entire season is basically a flashback that will lead to that death.

It's really not going to be anything at all like a CW show, the story goes to a lot of places that CW shows would not go anywhere near.
To retell the story from the game Joel's death had to happen very early, it's what the whole season's story is about, and having him around long would have totally changed it. They could have maybe given us one more episode, but that would have been about as far as they could go without totally changing the story.

As Starman said Game of Thrones did well enough when they killed off several fan favorites as early as season 1 and impacted others severely when they cut off Jaime's hand for example forcing him to take a massive left turn so to speak. People got upset but as the story unfolded it was clear they were not the focus of the storyline but helped to propel the actual protagonist on a completely different path.

Game of Thrones had a huge cast as opposed to Last of Us but for me this doesn't necessarily mean it is better, only that it had more options. It will be an uphill climb for the show to keep its viewers now that a fan favorite character is gone but i figure people are now even more invested in Ellie's story and what will happen to her and between Abby and her.

Also i think i recall a statement by the creator of the game that the entire Last of Us game story has a finite ending with a third game and the show also stated that they plan to finish with season 4, so if true they do take the smaller range of characters into account and don't needlessly bloat the show like Walking Dead did.

I'm not sure, the last thing I saw from Neil Druckman, the creator of the game and co-creator of the show, was that they don't have any plans for a third game or for the show to go past the end of the games.
I'm hoping for a third game, but the end of the second game does kind of work as the end of the story if that is all we ever get. I would like to know what happens next, but it's not a huge cliffhanger or anything like that.

100% at least about the flashbacks.

In the season trailers we see scenes between Ellie and Joel we haven't yet seen in the show, so there will be flashbacks.

Yeah, they already said in an article I read yesterday that Pedro Pascal came back to film flashbacks, and there were several scenes in the trailer that I recognized from flashbacks in the game.

For Eugene i guess he got infected and Joel had to kill him. Would be the easiest storyline but i have a feeling there's more to it. Was Eugene in the game ( just yes or no, no story spoilers please)?

There was stuff dealing with Eugene in the game, but it was the same as in the show.

 

[StarMan]

The trailers have revealed the gee-tar session and the two major flashbacks.

Also, I didn't click at the time, but Ashley Johnson (OG Ellie) was the singer in the outro.

 

[FPAlpha]

The trailers have revealed the gee-tar session and the two major flashbacks.

Also, I didn't click at the time, but Ashley Johnson (OG Ellie) was the singer in the outro.

I'm a big fan of Critical Role, a famous D&D streaming play group of which Ashley Johnson is a cast member, so i have heard her voice often enough way before i started to play Part 1.

It's a bit strange to hear her voice whenever Ellie speaks btu she does a marvelous job. I knew she can sing as she did several singing projects for Critical Role and from what i read this was an adaptation/cover of the song, fits very well in the show.

Coincidentally Laura Bailey, another member of Critical Role, voiced Abby in Part 2 and as an easter egg she was also one of the nurses in the first season that Joel threatens.

 

[Jayson1]

The game already proved you wrong you wrong five years ago, Ellie, Abby, Dina, Jesse, Abby's friends and Tommy are more than interesting enough to keep the story going without Joel, and Bella Ramsay, Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, and Gabriel Luna are more than strong enough actors to carry the series on without Pedro Pascal. We haven't really seen enough of Spencer Lord, Tati Gabrielle, Ariela Barer and Danny Ramirez to really get a feel for their take on the characters, but I trust that the creators of the show knew what they were doing when they cast them.

It's really not going to be anything at all like a CW show, the story goes to a lot of places that CW shows would not go anywhere near.
To retell the story from the game Joel's death had to happen very early, it's what the whole season's story is about, and having him around long would have totally changed it. They could have maybe given us one more episode, but that would have been about as far as they could go without totally changing the story.

I'm not sure, the last thing I saw from Neil Druckman, the creator of the game and co-creator of the show, was that they don't have any plans for a third game or for the show to go past the end of the games.
I'm hoping for a third game, but the end of the second game does kind of work as the end of the story if that is all we ever get. I would like to know what happens next, but it's not a huge cliffhanger or anything like that.

Yeah, they already said in an article I read yesterday that Pedro Pascal came back to film flashbacks, and there were several scenes in the trailer that I recognized from flashbacks in the game.

There was stuff dealing with Eugene in the game, but it was the same as in the show.

Even if it worked in the game though doesn't mean it will work in the show. One issue is Bella Ramsay is not that interesting away from Joel. They make her come off like a spoiled brat trying to be edgy by always cussing. I felt that was fine as a counter balance to Joel's more conservative(not politics but in personality and demeanor." character. Also from what I understand tv Joel is more nuanced than game Joel who was more of a hard ass but without a sensitive side.

The other characters fine but also so young. I am more into the adult characters so far in the show. Maybe Joel's brother and his wife and Catherine O'Hara, and from what I understand we will be getting Jeffrey Wright as well, will rise up and have bigger roles but still so much focus is still going to be on the kid characters. Heck even the bigot guy would be great character to use, because I have liked that actor in so many other things.

Also I just have issues with the revenge motive as well. People killing other people is going to be common. He killed a doctor who was going to kill Ellie with that surgery. He kind of had it coming.