The One Big Thing™ I was curious to see how they'd adapt that was mostly (but not totally) absent was how the game cuts from Joel fighting towards Ellie with her fighting for her freedom in general. It really calcified the validity of some criticism I've seen of this show that Joel and Ellie's relationship has been backgrounded for the sake of "a TV show", or even more generally making this season 9 episodes instead of 10, or 12, or 22.


In the game it's a really powerful contrast, IMO, of how capable a Big Guy like Joel is compared to a Tiny Girl like Ellie, but also emphasizes my favorite read of why Naughty Dog games hit so hard which is that they ask you to play a role, like Nicole Kidman as Hamlet's mother (I don't know why this came to mind first, obviously if you're Hamlet you fuck a Nicole Kidman lookin' mom), rather than just play a game. They can convince you to think like their characters rather than a kid holding a controller considering a game's rules.


I get handwaving most of that but I really felt it in this episode. Any time I've replayed this game I've turned it down to the easiest possible difficulty during this section because it's so damn stressful. The really significant moment is when the humanity of the shelter campfire draws the infected and you fight alongside David until his homies arrive. It draws you into that character further right before he pulls the "everything happens for a reason" rug...and while I get that that means more special effects, makeup, blocking, etc. for the show it was strange to me to not have that sort of life or death bonding moment for Ellie and David, doubly so because we really don't get any other totems pointing to why he sees her as such a capable child bride to help lead his "flock".


If I haven't said it before, I'm happy that this show seems to be connecting with tangential audiences the way it ought to, but at this point I'm pretty convinced this is a good, sometimes pretty good, but not great show and that leaves me with a distinctly sour aftertaste.

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"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
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