SGS On Film

Preamble

We’re here at last, the penultimate episode of The Last of Us. It’s felt like it has flown by in what has been a whirlwind series so far. With that said, have you seen Episode 8 of The Last of Us? Let me know in the comments below.

Review

In the PS4 and subsequent PS5 remake, the Winter section was a tough and brutal stretch of the story that cemented Ellie’s and Joel’s relationship insofar as the violence they would commit to protect one another. Despite being flawed, Episode 8 is still a difficult and sobering watch that ties Joel and Ellie’s bond in blood.

The penultimate episode of the series finds Ellie still watching over an injured Joel. However, this is disturbed when she finds two strangers from a nearby improvised community who are attempting to steal her food. After a tense standoff, the three agree that in exchange for some medicine, the pair can take half of her food. However, the leader of the community, David (Scott Shephard), may have other plans for the young girl.

In what has been a fantastically consistent and exceptional show so far felt like it took a step down this week. Part of this comes from the rushed approach to the story and elements where the active experience of the video game trumped the inherent passivity of the medium.

The choice of distilling several hours-long sections into less than an hour of television, the story loses something in translation. Part of this comes from the gameplay being quite impactful in what they were saying about the character. For example, the final confrontation between David and Ellie was a terrifying experience that aligns the player with Ellie’s fear. But in the show, it plays like a sped third-act sequence from a slasher movie.

The same could be said about the portrayal of David. While the character fits within the grand scheme of the show’s theme of how leaders within insurgent groups function, I think they overegged the pudding on him. Part of this does come from the mentioned rushed approach, which goes from 0-60 on the ultimate reveal. At the same time, there’s a lot revealed about David that feels like it muddies the water on what they’re trying to say about him.

He’s someone who starts as a Maths teacher, whose very logic-based, finds religion but has darker tendencies, is willing to do unspeakable things to keep his community alive, and ultimately fakes his belief to keep order. I suppose you could take all that and interpret him as someone who perpetuates a cycle of abuse and evil (within a religious context in a post-apocalyptic setting). But that feels like quite a stretch and quite a cliché in what has felt like a nuanced show so far. I think I prefer the simplicity of the character in the game whose more predatory predilections were confined to subtext rather than overt declaration.

But for what it’s worth, the performances of the episode provide some semblance of emotion that filled this section of the video game. In particular, Bella Ramsey was a force of nature in her completely dangerous edge as someone who could commit violence within a heartbeat. Pedro Pascal was incredible in conveying a subtle sense of quiet desperation. And it was great to see Troy Baker (the actor for Joel in the videogame) in a supporting turn that illustrated so much in the flickers of eye movements and still moments of contemplation.

Preamble

With the series being well over the half way point, The Last of Us has not slowed down in its interest to me. On the contrary, the latter stretches of the game (namely the section entitled Winter) enthralled me the most. With that in mind, have you seen this week’s episode of The Last of Us? Let me know in the comments below.

Review

On the surface, Kin has the grandiose and expansive qualities that have come to define the series. However, the episode plays like an intimate and therapeutic bottle episode that tests Joel and Ellie’s relationship.

After the harrowing events of last week’s episode, Joel and Ellie continue their search for Tommy (Joel’s brother). Eventually, they both find Tommy settled in a community that has a semblance of normalcy. However, things become complicated when Joel tasks his little brother with taking Ellie to the last stop of their journey.

Perhaps more than in any other episode, Kin truly attempts to get beneath the surface of Joel and Ellie. This is not only from the vantage point of their induvial fears but how those hang-ups manifest in how they behave with one another. Joel fears that his age and competency have caught up with him and will eventually get Ellie killed. This is compounded by the guilt of not being able to save his daughter who he is still haunted by.

Despite the tough front that Ellie puts up, she’s truly afraid of being abandoned because deep down, there’s still a semblance of a child who is looking for guidance and hope. Bella Ramsey steals the episode with a comedic and empathetic turn as a character who seeks assurance and comfort. Pedro Pascal is heartbreaking in the scenes where he’s discussing his frailties and failures. And Gabriel Luna brings a subdued sense of sympathy as Joel’s settled and frightful younger sibling.

It would not be a review of The Last of Us without a reference to the second game. And Kin had plenty for me to chew on for the eventual adaptation. Aside from featuring part of the setting of that game (Jackson), the episode featured several seeds that will eventually flourish in the second season. The most notable is a prolonged scene where Ellie and Joel are discussing their dreams. The former is expressing her admiration for a female astronaut and wanting to go up to space. Without spoiling it, this sets the stage for one of the most heartwarming scenes in the second game. I hope it’s adapted in the second season.

In the same scene, Joel expresses his dream of wanting to own a farm with a bunch of sheep. This is a potential foreshadowing for a plot point in the second game insofar as a place where Ellie finds herself. But above all, the episode alludes to Joel’s violent past. Aside from serving the episode and its theme of who you should put your trust in, it also alludes to a theme that’s explored in Part 2, which is the unravelling of treasured generational figures.

Preamble

I know. I know. I’m late to the party on this one. Thanks to the Super Bowl, Episode 5 of The Last of Us was streamed early. This had a ripple effect in jolly old England with the newest instalment hitting our streaming service in the early hours of Saturday. However, my weekend was quite busy, and I thought four blog posts in a week was tantamount to torture. Plus, I do like a routine. So, here we are. Have you seen Episode 5 of The Last of Us? Let me know in the comments below.

Review

For once, I was at a loss for words at the end of Episode 5 of The Last of Us. Instead, I was a tearful puddle who was trying to comprehend what I had just seen. But in the hours since being in that state, I can say this now. Perhaps more than any other episode, Endure and Survive made me think of the nature of video game adaptations insofar as how fidelity and change can walk hand in hand with one another.

Joel and Ellie’s temporary shelter is disturbed by the arrival of Henry and his little brother, Sam. After a tense standoff, Henry tries to persuade Joel to help him escape the city via a series of underground tunnels. However, things become harder as the sibling pair are being hunted by the leader of a local resistance group, Kathleen, who is hell-bent on killing them for their betrayal of the overarching cause.

Conceptually, Endure and Survive has the skeleton of the Henry and Sam section from the video game in terms of getting to the same emotional endpoint. But the deviations to get us there are fascinating and meaningful. Firstly is the difference in Sam. In the game, he was a talkative person who still had a sense of innocence. While this latter quality is retained in his television counterpart, the former is lost due to the character having contracted leukaemia. This subtle change results in a theme that gets to the heart of the game, which is the lengths you would go to for your loved ones.

To get medicine for his brother’s condition, Henry had to rat out one of the community’s best people, which resulted in his death. Lamar Johnson during the moment where he says he’s the bad guy provides an incredibly moving performance that carries the weight of ambiguity in this post apocalypse world. Equally as compelling is Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, whose seemingly sweet and soft-spoken nature hides a dangerous side.

This juxtaposition between Sam and Kathleen not only plays like a parallel of that previously mentioned theme (with Kathleen being a dark mirror of Sam insofar as her relationship to her sibling is concerned). It also greatly informs Joel’s journey as someone who initially sees Ellie as cargo to be delivered but opens up to be a meaningful person that he grows an attachment to. This seeming change in attitude is the episode’s best moment of filmmaking. The camera captures Joel in a medium shot as he ruminates over a person’s grave. Ellie is faded in the background. Pedro Pascal captures an authentic sense of loss and wistfulness that seek to get the character to reflect on what’s been and very well could be lost.

But above all, the episode made me consider and reflect on the differences in how leadership between these insurgent groups. That’s an interesting shade of grey that the game never delved into but is great thematic material for the television adaptation.

Preamble

In contrast to previous preambles, there’s nothing substantive to say other then it’s been a joy carrying on watching and reviewing this show. It has become appointment television in an era when that has faded in importance. Have you seen this week’s episode of The Last of Us? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Review

So far, I’ve appreciated The Last of Us for how it stands in contrast to its source material, whether it’s major changes like Frank and Bill’s relationship in the last episode or small changes that either juxtapose or paint fascinating portraits of its characters. With this in mind, Episode 4 engages as a fascinating singular experience that’s about the core human values and instances of culture we have left in the show’s post-apocalyptic world.

After exiting Frank and Bill’s privately closed town, Joel and Ellie go in search of the former’s brother, who should be near a Firefly base of operations.

Perhaps more than its source material, Episode 4 of The Last of Us tightens its focus to ask about what we have left in a post-apocalyptic world. In an early section, there’s almost a wistful quality as Ellie hands Joel a tape of Hank Williams’s “Alone and Forsaken” to play. The cheery campfire quality of the song excellently contrasts with long shots of ravaged and run-down industrial spaces filled with car traffic jams and abandoned military hardware. It reminded me of the following point: cultural things like music, art, film and theatre only carry meaning because they exist and have lived within the confines of a stable society.

Once that society breaks down, there are only a few of us who carry the memory and meaning of that piece of art. There was a slightly melancholic edge when Joel says to Ellie that Hank Williams was before his time. It truly made me think of the title of the show and video game insofar as there are very few of us who carry the memory of works of art. The same could be said of human laws. There’s a scene in the middle of the episode where a woman called Kathleen is interrogating a medical doctor. She lists basic human values from a relief group. Like the point with the Hank Williams song, it reminded of just how fragile the constructs of human law can be when society breaks downs. They’re not fixed and are only carried as maxims by a few of us.

Aside from this philosophical point, the rest of the episode is dedicated to the further bonding between Ellie and Joel. I appreciated how their bond gets them to change roles as the episode goes on. At first, Ellie is a persistently fun and curious person who seeks reassurance from Joel. The scene at the camp illustrates this quality as Joel is kept awake but wants to remain tight-lipped with Ellie.

And to get my obligatory reference to The Last of Us Part 2 out of the way, some of the sound design and tension that came from the ominous wood setting did remind me of how terrifying the Seraphites can be in the show’s second series.

By the end of the episode, Ellie is a somewhat closed person who wishes to keep some elements of her past a secret. And Joel is the curious one who wants to know about the other time that the young girl used a gun.

It was heartwarming to see Bella Ramsey cut loose as Ellie in the episode. Her lighthearted moments of jostling and almost whimsical curiosity were a treat to see from a character who has been caustic and fierce. Likewise, it was also great to see Pedro Pascal cut loose. The almost absent-minded qualities that came from Pascal’s performance during the Sarah scenes in the pilot return here. There’s something almost quite bittersweet about their resurgence as he tries to console Ellie after a traumatic incident.

Much like the philosophical qualities that defined the episode, the revolving door of traits that Ellie and Joel imprint upon one another is perhaps a good indication of any of the bonds of human connection. They still somewhat hold true, even when the world around us has gone to hell and so few of us remain.