Get Off My Lawn! - The Mad Ramblings of a Gen X-er

How 'The Last of Us' Season 2 May have Killed The Golden Goose

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HBO's adaptation of "The Last of Us" had us all invested in Joel Miller's journey through a fungal apocalypse - until they killed him off in Season 2. Was this faithful adaptation of the video game's storyline a critical misstep that could derail the entire series?

The magic of Season 1 came from how perfectly it translated the game's emotional core to television, creating a near shot-for-shot recreation of iconic moments while giving viewers time to connect with Joel. His complexity - a man whose protective rage is matched only by his capacity for empathy - made him the undeniable heart of the show. By following the game's controversial decision to kill him early in the sequel, HBO may have sacrificed their strongest asset.

What makes this creative choice particularly questionable is the execution. The show's version of Abby lacks the physically imposing presence of her video game counterpart, described as a "female Adonis" with significant muscle mass. Instead, we're asked to believe someone who "looks like a stiff wind could blow her over" could overpower and beat Joel to death. Beyond believability issues, the remaining characters simply don't carry the same emotional weight. Ellie comes across as less sympathetic than her game version, and supporting characters like Tommy and Dina haven't been developed enough to fill the void Joel leaves behind.

Perhaps the most compelling alternative would have been to keep Joel alive by sacrificing Tommy instead. This would maintain the revenge narrative while allowing viewers to witness Joel's "scorched earth" approach to vengeance - something we've seen glimpses of in his protection of Ellie. Great adaptations know when to diverge from source material to better serve their medium, and The Last of Us may have missed an opportunity to elevate beyond simple recreation.

Have you continued watching after Joel's death? Do you think the series can recover without its most complex character? Share your thoughts on this controversial creative decision and whether HBO truly killed their golden goose.

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Speaker 1:

What you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to. It is now dumber for having listened to it. You don't know what that ought to is, mr Trash. I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fucking blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a flamethrower to this place, do you understand?

Speaker 1:

the words that are coming out of my mouth. You want answers. I think I'm entitled. You want answers. I want the truth.

Speaker 2:

You can't handle the truth. We've said it once, we've said it twice, we've said it a million times the truth shall always set you free. This is Dennis Giddelfly, on the Mad Ramblings of a Gen Xer. Oh, it's been more than a hiccup since we've been on the mic. I don't even know what more than a hiccup would be. I don't even know if that would be considered. Would that be considered a hiccup and a burp? Sorry, just it's one of those mornings Was watching.

Speaker 2:

I don't watch a lot of television and there are a few shows out there that I guess that excite me and that I really want to get involved in. And it's not because I'm this superior intellect that doesn't watch the boob tube. No, I just prefer movies and things such as that. I I even watched terrible movies that you know other people probably would just turn their noses at, but I I find that more intriguing and interesting to watch than getting sucked into weekly or bi-weekly series, uh, but every once in a while, such as like the walking dead. Um, because I am, I am, I am into the not occult but horror films and zombie films and things such as that. And I was never a big. I'm not a comic fan either. So I never really followed the source material of the Walking Dead. So when AMC deviated from the source material, it really didn't bother me Because I didn't know the story. Because I didn't know the story, I didn't know the background, it was all kind of new to me.

Speaker 2:

But now with HBO Max and Naughty Dog and the Last of Us, which is now season two, I've been watching this because I am an avid video game player and I've been playing video games since Pong. But I don't really think they're ever going to make a Pong movie or television show. I don't think that might be in the works, lord only knows. You know, and I kind of went up the rankings I never got the Atari 2600. I always had. I had the Intellivision. Yes, I know, I had the rich bougie version of well, that would be ColecoVision.

Speaker 2:

But you know, being an avid video game fan and going through all the PlayStations, or I should say all the iterations of the PlayStation and everything else, because of mutated spores or spongi, whatever you want to call it, or the corseps, and it's interesting because when you play the game, they did a great job in the beginning and so did the series of investing you in the character of Joel, not so much his brother Tommy, but you really got to invest in, especially when Joel's daughter gets murdered and because she doesn't just die, she does get murdered by the soldier. I'm not going to get too completely into it for those that haven't watched or seen it or played the game, but the game does a great job investing you into that character. And when HBO Max went and did the first season of the series the Last of Us, it was interesting because they really took the time and effort to invest you again in the character of Joel, not so much his brother Tommy, but into his brother, and in some ways they almost did a shot-for-shot screen-for-screen remake of that opening sequence from the video game, which was fantastic. And going through that first season it was very interesting to see where they were going with the source material, which was of course Naughty Dog's video game. And while there was not much in reference to deviation from the source material, it was just nice to see it kind of play.

Speaker 2:

In the video games you always see the cut scenes and you always have the. You know some people skip the cut scenes. I always watch the cinematic cut scenes, but in the video game you have the cut scenes and sort of the series was piecing together all the cut scenes to make a, you know, to make a drama, make a television drama. Let's have some coffee, guys. I'm going to drink that shit while it's still hot.

Speaker 2:

And, like I said, when I watched Walking Dead, I never, I only watched the first four seasons of Walking Dead, but I didn't know the source materials, for everything was a surprise to me. So I would not have been upset if HBO Max that first season took a different direction with the source material. I'm not one of these purists that says, well, it's got to be just like the video game. And I understand from Walking Dead they took some liberties with the source material as well. So I wouldn't have been upset. But, like I said, it was nice to literally see the timeframe from when the course of virus takes effect to when Joel's daughter dies, to the meeting of Ellie, to the fireflies and everything else and going through that whole progression in the very ending of season one, which the video game ending was a great ending, and that was a fantastic ending for the first season of the series.

Speaker 2:

Now, when you go into series number two that we're in now Naughty Dog. Of course, this was based off I rephrase that this was based off Naughty Dog's Last of Us 2, which was the follow-up to the very successful video game Last of Us. So once again, hbo Max has the source material, but as I'm watching it, you know what's going to happen, and if you haven't watched or haven't played the video game, I would turn the podcast off now Because I'm going to tell you some more spoilers. Oh wait, we should play some waiting music.

Speaker 1:

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

Speaker 2:

I didn't know which button to push on the soundboard, so I just pushed any button. Okay, so going into season two, you knew Joel was going to die. You knew Joel was going to get murdered by Abby because of revenge from what Joel did to Abby's father, who was the doctor at the end of season one, where he shot her in the head, shot him in the head. I should rephrase that. So you knew he was going to die and I will give HBO Max credit. They killed them all fairly quickly, so, and they didn't really. I mean, I personally would have dragged it out, but that's just me, but they killed them off very quickly and they're kind of going a direction with this that I don't like. Now, all of a sudden, now they're going to take liberties HO Maxx with the story and how the story played out. In the video game itself, tommy and Joel are actually surprised, attacked, we'll say, or ambushed, we'll say, by Abby and her group. After Tommy inadvertently gives up, joel says Joel's name and then, of course, then Abby figures out who it is and the whole thing with the golf club happens and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah Again. Like I said, we're not trying to spoil too much, but in this new series and in the HBO version, joel goes out with the character of Dina and of course he saves, he saves Abby, and then Dina gives up Joel again by accident, he says Joel's name by accident and then we kind of follow back into the video game arc and I'm watching this and I'm like, okay, okay, you really are going to kill off Joel. Now we have been invested with Joel's character through the entire season one. For the first episode of season two. We see the melodrama going on with him and Ellie and you know, like I said vis-a-vis the video game, that he's going to die. But then I keep thinking to myself am I watching this If you kill him? And you're already taking some creative liberties with some of these characters? Because Abby in the video game is this is this warrior woman, she's Xena warrior princess, she's this buff. I mean she's buff in the video game. I mean she is like she, she is like a female Adonis. You know she's got these huge arms, she's military trained, all this fun stuff. You know she's got these huge arms, she's military trained, all this fun stuff. And then you see the Abby in the television series and Abby in the television series looks like a stiff wind could blow her over and somehow she's this vicious leader that's driving this group. And I'm looking at her like I don't see it and I'm thinking to myself how is she going to beat Joel to death with her fist in a golf club when she looks like that? If a bus went by and she was walking down the street and it passed her, that she would probably go flying in the breeze. And the epic battle at the end between Ellie and Abby. I can't wait to see because it's so disturbing. I go by this.

Speaker 2:

I like the Jack Reacher novels. Jack Reacher was, of course, made into a movie by Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie, but Jack Reacher, if you read the novels, is like 6'3", 245 pounds, this hulking mass of a muscle who, at one point in science, can suck the air out of a room once he enters it. Massive a muscle who, at one point in science, can suck the air out of a room once he enters it. And then you made Tom Cruise. Jack Reacher Made zero sense. Then when you go into the Jack Reacher Amazon series, it makes you know. Then you have now a character who's an actor, who's playing a character who actually fits the build. So Abby, this new version of Abby does not fit the build whatsoever, but we're going to get into that in a minute. So as she shoots Joel with the shotgun, just like in the video game, she beats him to death. The golf clubs beat some of their bare hands. And I'm looking at this going, I'm not buying it. And then I keep thinking to myself are we, are we? Is HBO Max killing the golden goose? Because you really are not invested in any other character outside of Joel.

Speaker 2:

Tommy is an outlying character. Ellie is not the, the, the TV series version version of Ellie. She is not as sympathetic of a character. She kind of comes off as a dickhead and she kind of comes off as something you're not someone you're not really overly rooting for. There's no empathy with Ellie. No, there's no empathy with with Ellie and you have some of the other background characters, but there's really no standout character in this version.

Speaker 2:

Tommy's kind of a wet wimp in this version, kind of what we see when he goes to. He goes to the, the the shrink watching the little league baseball game and he's worried about Ellie. He doesn't want Ellie to be like Joel and justify the anger. Joel did what he had to do to keep his brother alive, especially in the early days, because, if you remember, in both the series and the video game Tommy's kind of a fuck up when he gets arrested that Friday night before everything happens. It seems this was not the first time that Joel had to bail him out of jail. He also works for Joel. So Joel seems like he was doing whatever he could do for those 20 years to protect Tommy.

Speaker 2:

And Tommy seemed to have forgotten that in this series, in this series itself, in the TV series, in the video game, of course he goes out for vengeance, but is it more because of the fact that he gave up his brother by accident and got him killed? I don't know, you have to speculate that on your own, because in this version Dina's the one that gives him up. But Tommy seems to be susceptible to anyone that gives him attention. But he's very impressionable, which is why he was recruited by the Fireflies and he needs someone like Joel or the Fireflies to take care of him. But in this version of it you would think that someone just murdered your brother, beat him to death with a golf club and you would, you would want vengeance.

Speaker 2:

Now, in the original game, tommy's the one that goes out. Tommy's wife then sends Dina and Ellie out to find Tommy. But in this game, tommy's like well you know, I don't want her to be like Joel man, and I kind of look at this like, okay, well, you know, that kind of sucks because now I have a feeling that Tommy's going to go after Ellie and Dina, but we're not going to get into that. But as I'm watching this again, alex, and as they're killing Joel and I just watched episode three as well I keep thinking I think HBO is making a huge mistake. You're killing the only, you killed off the only character that had any depth to them.

Speaker 2:

That his faults, the faults in Joel, is what drives him. It drives him to be the person that he is. It drives him to protect the people that he loves. His rage and his anger is only equaled by his empathy, but at times, like I said, it's his driving force. I think it was the driving force of the show. So after he dies, I know they're going to bring back vis-a-vis flashbacks, which I always hate, but after he died it's like and I'm watching, I'm like I think they really fucked up, because I think the whole series is going to go downhill because of the fact that this character, this character that projects strength and anger and flaws on screen, is now gone and we're stuck with an Ellie character who is not, as you know, who is I don't want to say lovable, because I think lovable is a bad term but who is not as likable as her counterpart from the video game.

Speaker 2:

So we jump into episode three and as I'm watching episode three and I'm watching this build up episode, I always call those episodes filler episodes. It's a filler episode because you had an action packed episode in season two, so now you need a filler episode in season three. Walking Dead used to do that shit all the time. Racher does that all the time as well. So you to have that build-up episode going into season episode four, when they find the wolves and go after them and they hunt for abby. But as I'm watching this episode, I'm like I have.

Speaker 2:

I have really no more vested interest in the show now that joel's gone, because I have no vested interest with the fact that there is really not a character here that makes me sit there and say, okay, I really want to sit up and watch this series Now. Maybe it's just because it was a filler episode in episode three and you have such a, you're coming off such a, not a euphoria, but you're coming off such a shock because of the death in season two. But I'm watching it. I'm just like, eh, I don't really empathize with Ellie. I'm not, I don't, I don't, I don't thoroughly enjoy the Dina character, the old man with the crutch I can't remember his name. That would that uh called them a dyke in season one, episode one. You know he was the only one that had his speech, was the only one that had interest, because it's like this whole town all of a sudden became a haven for pussies.

Speaker 2:

I was like, oh my god, the liberals have invaded jackson. Because of the fact that you're watching, you're like you would not want vengeance. Joel had been with this group for five years, who helped build the way the city is where jackson what has become? And he is, and he's his brother, is on the town council and so is the brother's wife, and we're just like, eh, we're going to let bygones be bygones.

Speaker 2:

I was like, okay, this is kind of going the wrong direction. So now I've lost vested interest in the show and I was thinking what could they have done to keep this going, the show. And I was thinking, what could they have done to keep this going? You, you, of course, could have stretched out, see, uh, you could have stretched, uh, the Last of Us 2, the video game into two seasons, have a season two and a season three. Um, but that, that, just that just would have been trying and taxing at best.

Speaker 2:

But if you were already taking creative licenses with the source material, why not change it up even more? Why lose one of the best characters on the show and then only bring it back vis-a-vis flashbacks? My theory was this, and I had a theory, I had a thought process Don't kill off Joel. It would take the story a little bit into a different direction. But it's one of those things that if you don't kill him off, you still have a great character.

Speaker 2:

And with my new brilliant idea, you can still follow the Abby arc, even though I don't think anyone believes this. Abby could hurt a fly. But here's my thing Instead of killing Joel, kill Tommy. Still follow the video game premise, but have the ex-Fireflies in Abby's group, you know, be ambush Joel and his brother, and then have her go through the quintessential bad guy dialogue, where I'm going to give you my entire master plan of what we're going to be doing and have Abby accidentally mention that she's looking for Joel and then have Tommy, who is, and then have Tommy, who is well, man up and protect his brother, who has protected him which seems like his entire life, and state that he is Joel.

Speaker 2:

Then of course, joel says I'm Joel, and then you would just have Abby make the decision to kill Tommy and literally just have her be, have Tommy fulfill the same ending as Joel and kind of have Abby in that I mean she makes her rephrase a Joel in, in, in in that Ellie role because of the fact that would you not love to see Joel enact vengeance for the death of his brother? We saw what he did to the Fireflies in that hospital in Denver. We saw what he did to them. Would you not love to see a scorched earth approach by Joel going to Seattle with a singular focus of destroying whoever killed his brother? Ellie said it best when she was talking to Tommy and she said you know that Joel would have been going out after them five minutes after it happened, because for some reason in the series they let three months go by, because, of course of the attack of the mutants from the Kulsep the Kulsep mutants, we'll call it but they let three months go by before they decided you know what. Let's go and act of vengeance, and you can still have Abby I mean, excuse me, you can still have Joel and Ellie in the dynamic about what he did to the Fireflies. You can still have that whole arc and story, that story arc, but then you could also have Abby and Joel teaming together with this animosity going after Abby and her crew for murdering Tommy, after Abby and her crew for murdering Tommy, and you can literally still have one of your most flushed out characters available for not only all of season two but season three, season four.

Speaker 2:

It's not like when they killed off Rick, or allegedly killed off Rick in Walking Dead, because we all knew he wasn't dead, but it wasn't like when they did that because of the fact that that series had already run. What eight, nine years before? Andrew Lincoln said he didn't want to do Walking Dead anymore, that he wants to do other projects. So they had already gone. You know eight, nine seasons, or how many it was, before they killed off Rick and went with another character base which then quintessentially basically ended the show because people like Maggie and Daryl and Carol they you know the king, they couldn't carry the show on the own because, you know, andrew Lincoln's character of Rick was once again the quintessential flawed character that we all could relate to, kind of like Joel.

Speaker 2:

So, and as I'm watching this, I keep thinking do I even really care about episode four? Do I even really, if there's eight to 10 episodes again? Do I really want to invest any time going through watching this? You know pretty much the answer to me is no. I rather watch Snow White. That was a joke, that was a bad joke, but that was actually a good joke. So, like I said, sometimes I think these writers and creative people, they want to follow the source material to a T, but then they want to deviate from the source material when it leads to them to what they feel is going to be to create a better story. And what's a better story? Of Joel enacting vengeance for Tommy? You could still have the. You could still have Joel incapacitated and have Ellie and Abby have this epic, epic battle, have this epic battle. It's like Gonzo fighting Kermit the Frog, but you can still have this epic battle. At the end you could have Joel incapacitated and dying as Ellie has to battle, you know, has to battle Abby, and then you know they find a common ground. I'm not going to say what happens, but you know what happens at the end. I just think that would go a better route and a better direction.

Speaker 2:

Oh, we're going to try to get back on track doing these videos or podcasts. I just haven't had the opportunity in time. So, as always, don't forget the truth. I'm Charlie Cicifre. This is Tim. This is Get Off my Lawn. The Mad Ramblings of a Gen Xer. You.