[Beryl]

Also noted for their cockney accents:
The Crying Game - Forest Whitaker
Bullet Train - Brian Tyree Henry

But then both have exceptional academic training.

 

[Shakhari]

Has both US and British citizenship. While being born in the US she grew up in London.

She came back to America full time in her early teens and switched accents because the American kids made fun of her.

 

[Random User 7]

Wow! Just finished episode 1. I’ll have to read through what been posted but this was fantastic. I even signed up for the podcast which I almost never due.

 

[dwatt]

From what the showrunners have said, I don't think that will be a problem here...they've said they see it running exactly three seasons.

That is good planning and foresight. Given that a lot of streaming platforms cancel or end shows at the three season mark. Better to have a good story planned to fit within those constraints than to get surprised.

 

[astrohip]

And then there were two...

I didn't realize she was only a guest star. 😥

 

[Rob Helmerichs]

For those who are into such things, there was a comic series (collected into a trade paperback) called The Last Of Us: American Dreams, co-written by the mastermind behind the game and the show, which is a prequel to both (some of Ellie adventures while she's at the military school she mentioned in the first episode). Drawn and co-written by Faith Erin Hicks. It's been about a decade since I read it, but I remember liking it a lot, and it seems to still be widely available (Amazon, B&N).

 

[morac]

Episode 2 was almost straight out of the game. Nearly everything in the episode played out like the game. That said even mostly knowing what will happen (I don’t remember all the specific game details, just the basic plot plus I’ve heard there are some changes), the production value of this show is excellent.

The clickers (the blind monsters) were pulled directly from the game from their look, to the sounds they made. Having the writer of the game (Druckman) as a co-producer of the show is a big positive. The whole museum part had me flashing back to playing the game trying to avoid “waking” up the clickers.

Edit:

The post show video mentioned that having the fungus communicate over distances was one of the changes, which is good since I don’t remember that in the game. It also works well from a show perspective.

 

[Steveknj]

To me, it's becoming more and more standard zombie fare. Why on TV do zombies all act the same way? Spastic movements, kind of hunched over, and so forth. I'll probably watch this in the way I watch most horror stuff, laugh at how ridiculous it all is. It looks and sounds great, so there's that. Otherwise, yeah, it's a zombie show. Shame they had to kill of Anna Torv though

 

[gossamer88]

Sorry to say but this felt just like another TWD episode. Not "must see TV" for me.

 

[astrohip]

I'm still in. Good story, great acting (Anna Torv😥), production values off the charts. As someone who watched TWD for 2-3 seasons, then quit, this seems like night and day to me. Sure, they share "walking dead" and a post-apocalyptic scenario, but other than that, this is its own story. FWIW, I'm not a game player either.

Interview with the showrunners...

‘The Last of Us’ Creators on THAT Clicker Moment, Flour Theories and Changes From the Game: ‘If People Are Upset, I Don’t Blame Them’ (EXCLUSIVE)

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from Episode 2 of “The Last of Us,” now streaming on HBO Max. The latest episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us” has unleashed a ter…

variety.com

 

[dthmj]

This 2nd episode was not my favorite. I really dislike suspense, and the whole episode was suspense.... It felt like they were just moving from one location to the next, and I guess teaching us about the clickers. I didn't think there was much story telling in this episode, but probably needed to set up future episodes.

From the previews, it looks like there will be more development, dialogue, storytelling, etc

 

[Steveknj]

This 2nd episode was not my favorite. I really dislike suspense, and the whole episode was suspense.... It felt like they were just moving from one location to the next, and I guess teaching us about the clickers. I didn't think there was much story telling in this episode, but probably needed to set up future episodes.

From the previews, it looks like there will be more development, dialogue, storytelling, etc

Isn't that what a show in the horror genre all about...suspense? About no knowing what was going to happen when the characters turn around the corner, or enter the next room? I thought it did a decent job of setting up why the girl was so special and confirming that their suspicions were correct. What's keeping me in this is what @astrohip said, the production values and the acting is above average. But in the end, it's still a zombie story based on a video game, so it won't take much for me to quit watching. The main reason I watched is because the track record of those involved in this production was top notch.

 

[dthmj]

Isn't that what a show in the horror genre all about...suspense? About no knowing what was going to happen when the characters turn around the corner, or enter the next room? I thought it did a decent job of setting up why the girl was so special and confirming that their suspicions were correct. What's keeping me in this is what @astrohip said, the production values and the acting is above average. But in the end, it's still a zombie story based on a video game, so it won't take much for me to quit watching. The main reason I watched is because the track record of those involved in this production was top notch.

Who said it was horror?

It's a post-apocalyptic drama.

It can certainly have horror elements - but I wouldn't classify it as only a horror.

But it is a show about zombies - though I suspect, much like TWD, it will be less about the monsters and more about the people.

 

[Steveknj]

Who said it was horror?

It's a post-apocalyptic drama.

It can certainly have horror elements - but I wouldn't classify it as only a horror.

But it is a show about zombies - though I suspect, much like TWD, it will be less about the monsters and more about the people.

Tomato-tomahto When a show has zombies (or vampires, or crazy psychotic Chuckie style killers) it's a horror show to me. FWIW, DirecTV classifies it as horror, so I guess THEY do

 

[DevdogAZ]

I'm still unclear as to why they needed to get to the top of the museum and walk across that scaffolding. Was there some reason they couldn't just walk on the ground around the museum building? It seems like with a whole city available to them, and all the "clickers" congregating in that one street, it should have been pretty simple to approach the state house from a different direction.

Also, why not keep a few of those hand grenades for future use?

 

[Steveknj]

I'm still unclear as to why they needed to get to the top of the museum and walk across that scaffolding. Was there some reason they couldn't just walk on the ground around the museum building? It seems like with a whole city available to them, and all the "clickers" congregating in that one street, it should have been pretty simple to approach the state house from a different direction.

Also, why not keep a few of those hand grenades for future use?

I THINK it's because they thought going that way would be safe passage? Or maybe that's how it was in the game...so, by rule they had to do it that way

 

[astrohip]

Also, why not keep a few of those hand grenades for future use?

That bugged me a tad. I would think in this world, every weapon you can carry is worth its weight in... sandwiches?

 

[David Platt]

For those who are into such things, there was a comic series (collected into a trade paperback) called The Last Of Us: American Dreams, co-written by the mastermind behind the game and the show, which is a prequel to both (some of Ellie adventures while she's at the military school she mentioned in the first episode). Drawn and co-written by Faith Erin Hicks. It's been about a decade since I read it, but I remember liking it a lot, and it seems to still be widely available (Amazon, B&N).

Oooh, thanks. I didn't know this existed. And, coincidentally, a friend of mine happened to mention this exact same thing about ten minutes after I read your post so I figured that was a sign that I needed to order it.

 

[Random User 7]

My wife's Infectious Disease team was discussing this very topic, because I had the same thought. There are a couple of possibilities: that the fungus WAS airborne at the beginning, but has mutated in the twenty years that we skipped. There's also another theory floating around online that seems plausible: https://www.gamesradar.com/the-last-of-us-tv-show-hbo-outbreak-theory/

That's a really interesting theory. And based on the clues in that article, it seems very plausible.

On a completely unrelated note, how is it possible that the world's largest flour mill is in Jakarta, Indonesia, nowhere near massive fields of wheat like we have in the central US.

Without a Trace. Good show!

So I haven’t watched episode two yet but I believe you’re right about the flour based on the HBO podcast I listened to. They said those paying attention to the breadcrumbs will be rewarded. This was after talking about the woman being fed biscuits.

 

[Rob Helmerichs]

So I haven’t watched episode two yet but I believe you’re right about the flour based on the HBO podcast I listened to. They said those paying attention to the breadcrumbs will be rewarded. This was after talking about the woman being fed biscuits.

Heh...