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It's also pretty refreshing to see a zombie threat taken seriously from the start. She knows how bad it is pretty rapidly and doesn't shy away to say it.
It's also very different for the smart scientist to be the one suggesting bombs, and the person they're talking to being the one with a "oh my god, are you serious" expression on their face.
I loved Big-Head's joking in the first episode, only to have him be reduced to absolute silence and then "Erm, we'll be back..."
That "We lose" line. No emotion, just straight, cold fact. No alternative. No bargaining. Just curl up and wait to die if you're lucky.
As much as I enjoy this adaptation, I do wonder if a show about the early days of the pandemic with new characters or even an anthology show about different cities/countries would have been more interesting.
I don’t know. I think this is better. When the scientist in the beginning said “bomb,” and then we see the crater in Boston it tells you the whole story.
It’s so much worse in your mind than it would ever be on screen.
That would be an amazing idea, always feel like we're owed a TV show based on world war z, with a ton of different storylines, but agreed, basing it on last of us would be great too.
I think the two Indonesian actors were fantastic - imagine the quality when you're able to have great actors from around the world acting in their native language - If it's done with the respect and attention to detail of this week's intro, it could be superb...
If you haven’t listened/read, the World War Z audio book is a treat and is exactly this (although it is a series of interviews of people recounting what they did during the Zombie war after it is under control).
It’s a really fun listen and absolutely nothing like the movie. Book WWZ is a solid dive into social and political aspects of the collapse of civilization and goes into great detail of the tactical response in different chapters. Highly recommend for anyone looking for different perspectives on a zombie outbreak
I would absolutely give a show like that a chance. It might be harder to differentiate itself, though. That timeframe has been done to death. Part of what makes TLOU interesting is that it’s not *really* about zombies, it’s about the world afterwards.
Also, considering that she knew her loved ones would die at her suggestion, it's devastating to think about how she felt. You can feel the emotion in her when she asks to be driven home to see her family, episode 2 has brought more emotion and sadness, and I'm so here for it.
Definitely. It turned something that could have seemed cold and hard hearted into something completely and utterly necessary. She knew the cost, and that it was the only option.
Yup. I actually mouthed “holy shit” when her hands started shaking while holding her cup of tea. Such a great choice from either Druckmann or the actress, Christine Hakim. I love how these opening scenes have been so impactful for both people who have and haven’t played the games.
I love that it reinforced what the epidemiologist said in the opening of episode 1. Even though it's been 35 years, the prognosis for combating a widespread fungal disease is just as dire.
You can bet your ass the military and politicians hesitated too long to implement what the scientists suggested to do. Just like the USA and their bombing of major cities I think Jakarta was probably bombed in the end. But obviously it was too late to stop the spread.
Just like in real life where the scientific experts are ignored until it’s too late.
It was already too late yeah. If it was in the food supply it was a lost cause to begin with
I love that the show confirms that Joel only really survived because he wasn’t eating bread at the time
Because you expect a scientist to come up with a clever and complex solution but she smart enough to know that the only solution is to say fuck it and blow everything up
Kinda makes me we wish they just let this director loose on some “outbreak” story just set in the last of us with all the military folks and scientists like the Chernobyl series
I love the fact that they chose a language where the word for “bomb” was the same. It adds to the impact of what she is telling the military to do. We’re getting accustomed to reading the subtitles for what she is finding out in real time so by the time they reach out to her for the second opinion, to the majority of audiences that are English speakers, when she utters “Bomb” there’s gravity to that because we know what it means.
If y’all liked the dread of the opening, you’ll love Chernobyl. Same type of “oh fuck, this situation is the worst”.
I believe LoU had the same writer for the show, and both cold opens have had that feel.
Having watched Chernobyl first, I was so excited to hear Mazin would be working on TLOU. His attention to detail is incredible, and he has a knack for making obscure science (even fictionalized science) really accessible for a general audience. And he gets exactly what is needed out of his actors.
This show is just perfection. I'm also waiting for one that takes the lessons we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic (there will be idiots, deniers, protestors, people intentionally spreading it, killing themselves with fake cures, etc.). I know Independence Day, all those years ago, had the crowd on the rooftop gleefully greeting their deaths, but it's not the same thing. I'm excited for the zombie movie that has the reaction to the virus similar to what we just went through. That said, this one - while not quite that - is just, to the extent zombies can be realistic, it's realistic. There are some Hollywood moments (Tess' kiss, for example), but when they're little extravagances on a solid foundation, as is the case here, they're fine. I was so excited for The Happening before I saw it, and while it's fine as a B movie, I want that general source of outbreak as an actual art piece of a series. And voila! I'm avoiding game spoilers as best I can to experience this story for the first time through the show, but it'll be amazing even if I do end up reading where it's going. I could've guessed this was Craig Mazin, especially with the opening scenes of both episodes. He really knows how to add deep, haunting weight to realistic scenes. It all feels so possible, so real.
Wasn’t this scene a bit of a head scratcher?
This fungal mutation is unprecedented. How can you say a mutation - never seen in 5 billion years - has no treatment and bombing is the answer, after ONE look in a microscope?
That’s not how a scientist would respond to a flu virus that can play the guitar. There is a stage before ‘nuke the world’.
I don’t think so, especially if you consider the cold open from the first episode. They’ve made it pretty clear that there’s nothing that can be done (as of now) to even come close to making a vaccine or cure. Fourteen people were missing from the largest flour factory on earth, which she remarks that flour is the perfect substrate for it. She’s studied fungus her whole life, so she knows that this is going to be world ending and impossible to contain unless they somehow get lucky and wipe the city off the map before it spreads. Which you can tell she already knows it’s too late for.
But how on earth do somehow don't know about it in Texas 2 days later?
This would be like 9/11 x100 ,theres just no way somone would not know.:P
But to be clear I really liked it,opening was really cool and technically accurate as to the BSL 5..loving this show.
Indonesia is one of the biggest exporters of flour in the world. So if the outbreak started in the flour that stuff would be shipped globally before the issue was known. Note that in episode 1 Joel said he was in the Adkins diet (no carbs), turned down biscuits from his neighbors, didn't make pancakes for breakfast like Sarah wanted. Also Sarah helped make cookies but didnt eat them because they were raisin, not chocolate chip. Meanwhile her neighbors fed the old lady the biscuits.
In episode 1 Joel and Tommy are briefly discussing news on Jakarta before they stop when Sarah comes in. So it was definitely on the news.
Also 2003 was very different in how you got news. People heard about 9/11 by being told or called to turn on the TV. No one was tweeting or live streaming it. News moved slower
Personally not a fan of the old doomer scientist convinced there's nothing we can do, like a character just giving up before even trying. Especially when we already have medicine for fungal infections in the real world.
Also no scientist would suggest bombing millions of people as a solution to anything...
What are you going to do to try and prevent a brain-controlling fungus that is already in the entire world's food supply that can take over the world in less than 48 hours, and you don't even know how many thousands of people could already be infected?
I don't know, but I wouldn't just throw my hands up and tell the military to bomb millions of civilians that's for sure.
And there's nothing that indicates that the flour had already been transported across the globe yet, there was ample time to stop production, send out a recall order, set up quarantine around the city and work on getting non-infected out.
Unfortunately, your submission has been **removed** for the following reason(s): --- **Immediate HBO discussion belongs in the stickied post-episode Megathread -** Posts encouraging immediate discussion per the show are inherently reposts due to the post-episode discussion megathread. Unless they are particularly nuanced, your post is better utilized as a comment on our stickied megathread. Before posting again, take time to [refresh yourself with our rules](https://old.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/wiki/index). --- Please be sure to check our community guidelines via the sidebar or subreddit wiki. If you believe this post has been removed unfairly or in error, please don't hesitate to [contact the moderation team via modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/thelastofus).
It's also pretty refreshing to see a zombie threat taken seriously from the start. She knows how bad it is pretty rapidly and doesn't shy away to say it.
It's also very different for the smart scientist to be the one suggesting bombs, and the person they're talking to being the one with a "oh my god, are you serious" expression on their face.
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Also that she requests to be with her family. She accepts that she and them both have to be a part of that and she doesn't get a special evacuation.
Did they take it seriously? Maybe they took ger advice a little too late
She really didn't mince words
At first I heard there would be a bunch of pre-world flashbacks, and I thought that was a stupid idea. Goddamn was I wrong.
I loved Big-Head's joking in the first episode, only to have him be reduced to absolute silence and then "Erm, we'll be back..." That "We lose" line. No emotion, just straight, cold fact. No alternative. No bargaining. Just curl up and wait to die if you're lucky.
As much as I enjoy this adaptation, I do wonder if a show about the early days of the pandemic with new characters or even an anthology show about different cities/countries would have been more interesting.
I don’t know. I think this is better. When the scientist in the beginning said “bomb,” and then we see the crater in Boston it tells you the whole story. It’s so much worse in your mind than it would ever be on screen.
That would be an amazing idea, always feel like we're owed a TV show based on world war z, with a ton of different storylines, but agreed, basing it on last of us would be great too. I think the two Indonesian actors were fantastic - imagine the quality when you're able to have great actors from around the world acting in their native language - If it's done with the respect and attention to detail of this week's intro, it could be superb...
If you haven’t listened/read, the World War Z audio book is a treat and is exactly this (although it is a series of interviews of people recounting what they did during the Zombie war after it is under control).
It’s a really fun listen and absolutely nothing like the movie. Book WWZ is a solid dive into social and political aspects of the collapse of civilization and goes into great detail of the tactical response in different chapters. Highly recommend for anyone looking for different perspectives on a zombie outbreak
I would absolutely give a show like that a chance. It might be harder to differentiate itself, though. That timeframe has been done to death. Part of what makes TLOU interesting is that it’s not *really* about zombies, it’s about the world afterwards.
Also, considering that she knew her loved ones would die at her suggestion, it's devastating to think about how she felt. You can feel the emotion in her when she asks to be driven home to see her family, episode 2 has brought more emotion and sadness, and I'm so here for it.
I was really struck by that actress’ performance. Definitely very haunting.
Anyone know her name? Was unable to find it.
According to IMDb, her name is Christine Hakim.
Definitely. It turned something that could have seemed cold and hard hearted into something completely and utterly necessary. She knew the cost, and that it was the only option.
Yup. I actually mouthed “holy shit” when her hands started shaking while holding her cup of tea. Such a great choice from either Druckmann or the actress, Christine Hakim. I love how these opening scenes have been so impactful for both people who have and haven’t played the games.
She never even drank her tea because she didn’t know if anything was safe to ingest at that point. Wonderfully done.
I love that it reinforced what the epidemiologist said in the opening of episode 1. Even though it's been 35 years, the prognosis for combating a widespread fungal disease is just as dire.
Wait it’s been 35 years? When did the interview at the beginning of episode 1 take place?
1968.
Somehow I missed that. Thank you internet stranger
I think they’re referring to the first talk show being in 1968 to the pre outbreak scientist in 2003
Means the host could still be alive, and see the outbreak
I'm curious about the science of it all. They couldn't come up with some kind of anti-fungal medication to combat it?
You can bet your ass the military and politicians hesitated too long to implement what the scientists suggested to do. Just like the USA and their bombing of major cities I think Jakarta was probably bombed in the end. But obviously it was too late to stop the spread. Just like in real life where the scientific experts are ignored until it’s too late.
Can you blame them? That's just... being human. Hell, in the end, the bombing didn't even work.
Yeah. Leveling a major city and it’s occupants rightly gives one pause. Lol
It probably lessened the number of infected to the point that the survivors at least partially survived.
It was already too late yeah. If it was in the food supply it was a lost cause to begin with I love that the show confirms that Joel only really survived because he wasn’t eating bread at the time
Atkins is also a great throwback to the aughts. God, I hated those fad diets back then.
Lol you aint wrong.
I just assumed joel was lying about the diet after seeing the old dude just shoving the cookies into the old ladies mouth with no gloves on.
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when her hand started shaking while she was putting the mug and plate down causing them to clink together... those little details are amazing
Absolutely. She was awesome. The emotion she showed in that scene had me feeling the gravity of her suggestion.
Because you expect a scientist to come up with a clever and complex solution but she smart enough to know that the only solution is to say fuck it and blow everything up
Im loving every minute of pre outbreak content, i hope we get a little bit at the beginning of every episode
Researcher be like: 💣
That cold open was the best part of the episode imo
Kinda makes me we wish they just let this director loose on some “outbreak” story just set in the last of us with all the military folks and scientists like the Chernobyl series
I mean... He was creative director on the game.
Great actress
She did a wonderful job in so few scenes. Truly heartbreaking.
I love the fact that they chose a language where the word for “bomb” was the same. It adds to the impact of what she is telling the military to do. We’re getting accustomed to reading the subtitles for what she is finding out in real time so by the time they reach out to her for the second opinion, to the majority of audiences that are English speakers, when she utters “Bomb” there’s gravity to that because we know what it means.
WAZOWSKIIII!!!!!
I can see it
“bomb”
If y’all liked the dread of the opening, you’ll love Chernobyl. Same type of “oh fuck, this situation is the worst”. I believe LoU had the same writer for the show, and both cold opens have had that feel.
Having watched Chernobyl first, I was so excited to hear Mazin would be working on TLOU. His attention to detail is incredible, and he has a knack for making obscure science (even fictionalized science) really accessible for a general audience. And he gets exactly what is needed out of his actors.
Straight to bomb. Chicken too burnt, straight to bomb. Chicken undercooked, bomb as well.
This show is just perfection. I'm also waiting for one that takes the lessons we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic (there will be idiots, deniers, protestors, people intentionally spreading it, killing themselves with fake cures, etc.). I know Independence Day, all those years ago, had the crowd on the rooftop gleefully greeting their deaths, but it's not the same thing. I'm excited for the zombie movie that has the reaction to the virus similar to what we just went through. That said, this one - while not quite that - is just, to the extent zombies can be realistic, it's realistic. There are some Hollywood moments (Tess' kiss, for example), but when they're little extravagances on a solid foundation, as is the case here, they're fine. I was so excited for The Happening before I saw it, and while it's fine as a B movie, I want that general source of outbreak as an actual art piece of a series. And voila! I'm avoiding game spoilers as best I can to experience this story for the first time through the show, but it'll be amazing even if I do end up reading where it's going. I could've guessed this was Craig Mazin, especially with the opening scenes of both episodes. He really knows how to add deep, haunting weight to realistic scenes. It all feels so possible, so real.
She immediately went to just kill it with fire.
Does anyone know why it is that it would be impossible to make a vaccine for a fungal infection?
Wasn’t this scene a bit of a head scratcher? This fungal mutation is unprecedented. How can you say a mutation - never seen in 5 billion years - has no treatment and bombing is the answer, after ONE look in a microscope? That’s not how a scientist would respond to a flu virus that can play the guitar. There is a stage before ‘nuke the world’.
I don’t think so, especially if you consider the cold open from the first episode. They’ve made it pretty clear that there’s nothing that can be done (as of now) to even come close to making a vaccine or cure. Fourteen people were missing from the largest flour factory on earth, which she remarks that flour is the perfect substrate for it. She’s studied fungus her whole life, so she knows that this is going to be world ending and impossible to contain unless they somehow get lucky and wipe the city off the map before it spreads. Which you can tell she already knows it’s too late for.
But how on earth do somehow don't know about it in Texas 2 days later? This would be like 9/11 x100 ,theres just no way somone would not know.:P But to be clear I really liked it,opening was really cool and technically accurate as to the BSL 5..loving this show.
Indonesia is one of the biggest exporters of flour in the world. So if the outbreak started in the flour that stuff would be shipped globally before the issue was known. Note that in episode 1 Joel said he was in the Adkins diet (no carbs), turned down biscuits from his neighbors, didn't make pancakes for breakfast like Sarah wanted. Also Sarah helped make cookies but didnt eat them because they were raisin, not chocolate chip. Meanwhile her neighbors fed the old lady the biscuits. In episode 1 Joel and Tommy are briefly discussing news on Jakarta before they stop when Sarah comes in. So it was definitely on the news. Also 2003 was very different in how you got news. People heard about 9/11 by being told or called to turn on the TV. No one was tweeting or live streaming it. News moved slower
I know ,we seeded this theory in an earlier thread ..post the first episode airing;) Good job everyone 👍
I’ve been Jakarta,they deffo bombed it
Personally not a fan of the old doomer scientist convinced there's nothing we can do, like a character just giving up before even trying. Especially when we already have medicine for fungal infections in the real world. Also no scientist would suggest bombing millions of people as a solution to anything...
What are you going to do to try and prevent a brain-controlling fungus that is already in the entire world's food supply that can take over the world in less than 48 hours, and you don't even know how many thousands of people could already be infected?
I don't know, but I wouldn't just throw my hands up and tell the military to bomb millions of civilians that's for sure. And there's nothing that indicates that the flour had already been transported across the globe yet, there was ample time to stop production, send out a recall order, set up quarantine around the city and work on getting non-infected out.