0:00

everybody and welcome back to another episode of

0:02

Nerd Soup. My name is Ruben, joined here

0:04

today with Aaron, and we are back to

0:06

review the last of us, Season 2, Episode

0:08

2, Through the Valley. And

0:14

before we get into today's episode, I want

0:16

to let you guys know that you can listen

0:18

to this wherever you get your podcasts. And

0:20

if you want more Nerd Soup, go ahead and

0:22

check out our Patreon page, where we upload

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0:26

on social media, Zepo Soup and

0:28

Nerd Soup. monkey and at nerd soup.

0:30

That's the main one. Really

0:33

excited to talk about this episode. Just

0:35

to get right into it, I

0:37

thought that this was the best episode

0:39

maybe of the series. The

0:41

stuff that was adapted from the game was

0:43

pretty accurate, but I thought that Maybe

0:45

it was even better than the game, I

0:47

would have to go back and play.

0:49

And the stuff that they added, like the

0:51

big battle, the assault on Jackson, reminded

0:54

me so much of the Watchers on the

0:56

Wall, and I'm sure a lot of

0:58

people were reminded of that penultimate episode of

1:00

Game of Thrones Season 4, just the

1:02

overall scale and the intensity of the zombies.

1:04

invasion. It was epic.

1:06

It was awesome. I love the hero moment

1:08

that they gave Tommy, just the, you

1:11

know, the overall city or town working together,

1:13

strategizing, using the barrels and all that

1:15

stuff. And then the acting. Possibly the best

1:17

acting that we've gotten from Pedro Pascal

1:19

as Joel. from Bella Ramsey as Ellie and

1:21

Caitlyn Devere. I don't know why on

1:23

the last review I called her Catlyn. I've

1:25

been doing that a lot too because

1:27

I said Cady O 'Brien and I think

1:29

her name is Cady O 'Brien. My brain

1:31

is just... I'm gonna go see a neurologist one

1:33

of these days. Caitlyn Devere. I hate

1:36

when people say this but hand her

1:38

the Emmy. She was fantastic. She

1:40

sold this moment to where I thought in

1:42

my head Joel was gonna survive because

1:44

of how well they were acting it out

1:46

and how well it was being executed.

1:48

I didn't know what was going to happen.

1:50

It's like I totally forgot the spoilers

1:52

of this episode. And God, that was just

1:54

a brutal beatdown. And just the little

1:56

things that they added to that scene, the

1:58

little changes that they made were great. You

2:00

know, there's really nothing I can complain

2:02

about when it comes to this episode. And

2:05

then to cap it all off with

2:07

the through the valley being sung and performed

2:09

by the voice of Ellie in the

2:11

video games, Ashley Johnson. God, this

2:13

was amazing. I'm just getting goosebumps talking

2:15

about it. So Aaron, I'm excited to hear what

2:17

you think. It'd be hilarious if you hated it.

2:19

I kind of wanted just so we can have

2:21

make a little bit more entertaining. Yeah, duke it

2:23

out like a whole skip and Steve and anything going. That's

2:29

my skip impression. That's

2:32

good. Did

2:35

you take that on the road?

2:38

But yeah, no, I love this episode as

2:40

well. I was a little worried. We talked

2:42

about, we touched upon it last week about

2:44

how they're introducing Abby. I think even in

2:46

this episode a little bit, it tried to

2:48

frame Abby as more sympathetic than she is

2:50

introduced to us in the game. So a

2:52

lot of those things are coming a little

2:54

bit earlier in the show, but it still

2:56

didn't take away from the moment. for me

2:58

because after that, I was just like, yeah,

3:00

I fucking hate Abby. Even with all like

3:02

her rationale and everything and playing the game.

3:05

I love her as a character, but it's

3:07

just like, you can't just kill Joel with

3:09

a golf club and just be like, well,

3:11

my dad died too. Well, I didn't know

3:13

your dad. All right. Oh,

3:16

is your dad as cool as Pedro Pascal? Oh,

3:19

your dad's a Mandalorian. Oh, okay. I didn't

3:21

know that. Yeah. Come back to me when

3:23

your dad is. Yeah. Exactly. Mr. Fantastic.

3:26

Cowboy. from

3:28

the Kingsman and

3:30

bisexual goddess. Yeah. I

3:34

think Pedro Pascal would enjoy being called

3:36

a goddess. I think he'd be like, yeah,

3:38

that's accurate. And this is coming off

3:40

of a week where you just completely bashed

3:42

Pedro Pascal. So I think you heard

3:44

the criticism. I felt bad. I felt bad

3:46

after this episode. I'm like, oh, shit.

3:49

I'm gonna miss Joel. I'm gonna miss Pedro

3:51

Pascal's Joel. Because I felt more sad

3:53

over this Joel's death than the Joel that

3:55

I liked more. Because that is my

3:57

one slight criticism of Tealoo2, and I think

3:59

they made it better by... It just

4:01

it's so abrupt and it's like Abby is

4:03

so evil in the game And like

4:05

you said they they're doing a better job

4:07

here of making her a bit more

4:09

sympathetic But even in the end I still

4:11

hated her because of yeah and her

4:13

friends the way that her friends were trying

4:15

to calm her down and really You

4:17

know get her to give up on this

4:19

mission. So yeah, you know, it's unforgivable

4:21

what she did. And like I said, it's

4:23

the most that I that I maybe

4:25

like Pedro Pascal as his character. And it's

4:27

because of the the siege on Jackson

4:30

as well, because he gets to he dies

4:32

with all this uncertainty. He doesn't know

4:34

what's going to happen to Tommy and his

4:36

nephew and Tommy's wife or Jackson. Yeah,

4:38

it's gut wrenching. We'll see if it's a

4:40

better change because that is a great

4:42

moment in the game where you do get

4:44

to know a bit more about Abby's

4:46

backstory and you kind of have conflicting thoughts

4:48

as the person playing the game. It

4:50

seems like they're kind of going for a

4:52

little bit more of a soft approach

4:54

there, but it didn't take away from this

4:56

moment in this episode. And like you

4:58

said, just her performance in that moment. I

5:00

mean, she's not maybe not as physical

5:02

as the video game Abby is, but hitting

5:04

all the emotion of that character needed

5:06

in that moment, just the emotional physicality rather

5:08

than the physical, I think it's

5:11

still played very well. Oh yeah, because

5:13

she ate up that scene, dude. She had

5:15

all the... the charisma and really the

5:17

gravitas of a leader that she could be

5:19

this rogue ex -military ex -firefly who is

5:21

dangerous who knows how to fight who knows

5:23

how to strategize who knows how to

5:26

use weapons and that she's losing a bit

5:28

of her mind here like when she

5:30

tells her friend mel knock her out mel

5:32

hesitates and she's like do it or

5:34

i'm gonna fucking crush her head i was

5:36

like damn why you being so mean

5:38

to mel she's there helping you she's your

5:41

friend And people brought up the fact

5:43

that three days prior to her filming this

5:45

scene, her mother had passed away. So

5:47

I imagine she brought a lot of that

5:49

raw emotion because I was so convinced

5:51

that this was a young woman who was

5:53

heartbroken by this loss, who just can't

5:56

grapple with why Joel would do this, why

5:58

he would kill someone who wanted to

6:00

save the world. And I think there's a

6:02

real change in her demeanor from when

6:04

she first tells Joel that she knows who

6:06

he is and she's laying out what

6:08

they're going to do to him. After she

6:11

shoots him with the shotgun and the

6:13

kneecap, you can just see that adrenaline overwhelm

6:15

her to where it's far more of

6:17

an instinctual reaction. All of that pain, all

6:19

of that suffering, all that PTSD that

6:21

she's dealing with, the trauma has taken over

6:23

her entire body. And her better

6:25

judgment is no longer there. There's nothing

6:27

that Joel can say. There's nothing that anybody

6:30

could say. that would stop her. And you

6:32

know, that's what the game did. It played

6:34

with different perspectives and how if you don't

6:36

have that perspective of your enemy, of

6:38

your foe, that you're not going to be

6:40

able to see things from their side. And

6:42

maybe you make that decision if you're in

6:44

Joel's shoes. But yeah, no, super messy, real

6:46

bloody, real brutal. They absolutely nailed it.

6:48

And we talked about all the amenities that

6:50

they had at Jackson. Now courtesy of Abbey,

6:53

they've got Topgolf. Yeah, I should have done

6:55

it last week for the Masters. That would

6:57

have been nice. Yeah, that would

6:59

have been perfect. Talk about the marketing. I'm

7:01

surprised that they did it this early.

7:03

It happens very early in the game as

7:05

well, but I thought HBO was going

7:07

to do like their damnedest to get just

7:09

a few more episodes out of Pedro.

7:11

I give them a lot of credit for

7:13

sticking with it because it looks like

7:15

with how they're slotting Abby for the Emmys

7:17

or Caitlyn Devere for the Emmys, it

7:20

looks like they're sticking to that same structure.

7:22

Get ready to learn Ellie, buddy. If they're going

7:24

to split it into two seasons, I think it's

7:26

the right way to go and the wrong way

7:29

to go would have been stretching it out just

7:31

for the sake of having Pedro Pascal. in

7:33

the show. And I think what they'll

7:35

do is that we are going to get

7:37

way more flashbacks than we actually got

7:39

in the game, because we do get that

7:41

between the five -year gap. We see scenes

7:43

with Joel and Ellie. I imagine because

7:45

it's Pedro Pascal, because he's a huge star,

7:47

they might sprinkle in three or four

7:49

of those, you know, really key moments. And

7:51

I think it's a bold choice too,

7:53

especially from a television side of things. Because

7:56

that was one of the criticisms a lot of people

7:58

had in the game. It's like, well, now we have to

8:00

just, now we just play with Ellie. And

8:02

I think that's an easier transition in the

8:04

game because you've spent hours and hours of

8:07

hours. It's not like you're going into Tee

8:09

-loo being like, oh, I like Pedro Pascal,

8:11

so I'm going to play this game. In

8:13

the show, I think actors do carry shows

8:15

for a lot of people in certain aspects.

8:17

I do enjoy Bella Ramsey's Ellie, so it's

8:19

not going to be a problem. And I

8:21

know where the story is going, and I

8:23

enjoy it a lot. But I wonder if

8:25

some people... That's why

8:27

I think it's important that they built

8:29

the character of Ali the way they had

8:31

and especially bringing in someone as strong

8:33

as Caitlin Devere for Abby to kind of

8:35

some of the new focal points of

8:37

your story. You know, look back at Game

8:40

of Thrones when they killed Ned. If

8:42

they didn't build a strong cast around him,

8:44

then that would have completely derailed the

8:46

show. I wonder how, because I haven't really

8:48

seen too many people's reactions. Who

8:51

haven't played the game or didn't know

8:53

what was happening? So I wonder what their

8:55

reaction is going to be going forward

8:57

Yeah, it's going to be interesting because it

8:59

seems like the episode is being well

9:01

received by people who have played the games

9:03

people who haven't It's got the highest

9:05

rating on IMDB round tomatoes. It's being bombed

9:07

and all the reviews are ridiculous But

9:10

yeah, it's interesting to see the difference between,

9:12

you know, a TV audience and the reception

9:14

of killing off a major character because we've

9:16

been conditioned with shows like Game of Thrones

9:18

and other shows as well that's kind of

9:20

been, you know, a staple of television. Every

9:22

now and then a main character is going

9:24

to die. It's not like a cheap, like,

9:26

kill off your character in season eight because

9:28

the actor doesn't want to be in that

9:30

role anymore or has better things to do.

9:33

It's, I mean, I don't know, there's

9:35

not really that many examples of

9:37

true main leads. getting killed off

9:39

this early. And a few instances

9:41

that we have seen it, I think,

9:43

well, especially with Game of Thrones, it added.

9:45

And I think this layer of revenge

9:47

is something that helps that narrative so much

9:49

because the minute Joffrey kills Ned, you're

9:51

like, all right, come on, Rob, go fucking

9:53

down south and kill this bastard. Now

9:56

it's the same thing where it's like, all

9:58

right, Ellie, fucking get your shit together

10:00

and go to fucking Seattle or wherever they

10:02

are. And take her head off. Yeah,

10:04

and I think because people were so invested

10:06

in the relationship and similar with the

10:08

games, you're naturally going to side with Ellie.

10:10

It's more so, I mean, of course,

10:12

it's also avenging Joel or getting revenge for

10:15

Joel, but when a character doesn't get

10:17

the chance to say goodbye or anybody in

10:19

any circumstance, you know, it stings even

10:21

more because of what's left unsaid. And even

10:23

Ellie having that moment with Jesse where

10:25

she says, I'm always going to be Ellie.

10:27

He's always going to be Joel. Our

10:29

relationship isn't going to change. We're going through

10:31

some stuff, but we're going to get

10:33

past it. And she even wants to go

10:36

out on patrol with Joel. You know,

10:38

she's extending an olive branch. So that's why

10:40

it's so gut -wrenching. And I think that,

10:42

you know, the purpose of the second

10:44

game was to kill off Joel, so then

10:46

you can get this revenge story. And

10:48

Ellie leads the story now. But

10:51

I felt, going back to my criticisms of

10:53

the game, that it was a little abrupt.

10:55

and it maybe could have been handled better.

10:57

I know that there's a purpose to killing

10:59

off a Joel, but maybe there was a

11:01

better way to get to that moment. And

11:03

I feel like that's a criticism, not necessarily

11:05

a criticism, but an opinion that you shared

11:08

as well and other people that really loved

11:10

that second game. Because I do consider it

11:12

to be a near masterpiece. But even moments

11:14

like Ellie crawling over to Joel and hugging

11:16

his dead body, that wasn't in the game.

11:18

That broke me and I feel like there

11:20

were other things like even Joel telling Abby

11:22

to shut the fuck up and get or

11:25

just get on with it. You know, I

11:27

thought that was a funny little subversion in

11:29

a moment like that where the so -called

11:31

villains giving her monologue and gets interrupted. But

11:34

it didn't take away from from Abby's

11:36

aura in that moment as well because

11:38

even when Joel snaps at her, she's

11:40

like, trust me, we're going to be

11:43

here for a long time, buddy. Um,

11:45

so just, uh, Both of them in

11:47

that scene were just so intense and

11:49

then eventually devastating. It would have been

11:51

funny if Joel was just being petty

11:53

when he took Dina. It's

11:55

like, all right, fine. We'll just take your girlfriend

11:57

out. Come on, new daughter. It

12:00

kind of felt like that a little bit. Look,

12:03

I got a new Ellie. And then he saves Abby. He's

12:05

like two ellies. Look

12:07

at that. Hot dog. Inflation,

12:09

huh? Yeah, you got to leave. We

12:12

need your garage. Joel's

12:16

got the space. I'm

12:19

still keeping the house to myself. You guys can all

12:21

live in the garage. But yeah,

12:23

just the devastating, like it's always the worst, even

12:25

though like they kind of both know they're

12:27

good, just it was never really said. But in

12:29

that moment kind of conveying the love that

12:31

she still has for Joel, at that moment though,

12:33

it being the last, it's just heartbreaking. And

12:36

there was a couple of changes. I

12:38

know some fans of the games, I actually

12:40

seen it kind of both ways where

12:42

Tommy is with Joel and Ellie and Dina

12:44

share the moment they had at the

12:46

7 -11. And I think it

12:48

works both ways. It was cool seeing Tommy

12:50

just be the fucking commander of the wall. Oh,

12:53

I love that. Yeah, I didn't mind that

12:55

change whatsoever. Yeah. I mean, the Dino moments with

12:57

Ellie were nice in the game, but I

12:59

think we still have a lot of time to

13:01

dive into their relationship. Oh, yeah, totally.

13:03

I think you can recreate. It's funny because that was

13:05

one of my favorite moments of the game that I

13:07

mentioned on the last review when they find the stash

13:09

and they both get high together because in that moment

13:11

when I was playing the game for the first time

13:13

I was like yo I got a joint I'm about

13:15

to spark up with them and it was just such

13:18

a nice moment. Dude I keep forgetting that she was

13:20

high when she watched Joel get his fucking head smashed.

13:22

know. I would have been fucking

13:24

bugging out. Wakes up like man that was

13:26

a bad trip get up Joel let's

13:28

go home. But for Tommy's character it doesn't

13:31

really do much for his story in

13:33

the game. with him being there like yeah

13:35

it's it's it's heartbreaking to see your

13:37

brother wake up and see your brother's dead

13:39

body but I think that point gets

13:41

across when they arrive at Jackson and they've

13:43

got Joel's body you know Tommy's obviously

13:45

going to be you know distraught I think

13:47

giving This action sequence, and I hate

13:49

to be the guy who's like, it's the

13:51

best episode because we got this action

13:54

sequence, but it kind of is because that

13:56

was the most entertained I've ever been

13:58

when it comes to the actual threat of

14:00

the zombies. And like I said, I

14:02

really enjoyed the way that they went to

14:04

battle with them and all the different

14:06

tactics that they used to slow them down.

14:08

Tommy was commander of the wall and

14:10

we wanted the big big chunguses, the big

14:12

thick daddies, and we got one. We

14:14

got a great moment with them, too. And

14:16

it reminded me so much of the

14:19

game. How long is this flamethrower going to

14:21

last until I run out of fuel?

14:23

And will that be enough? And I didn't

14:25

think that they were going to kill

14:27

off Tommy, but still a very tense moment.

14:29

I met, for people who don't know,

14:31

they were probably like, this guy's fucking toast.

14:33

They should have like a half hour

14:35

sequence of him dodging gas bombs and slowly

14:37

just taking him down. Running up close,

14:39

shotgun running away. Yeah, running away, dodging the

14:42

gas. Getting punched and just patching yourself

14:44

up quick. Yeah, hiding, like in the most

14:46

obvious hiding space, but no one can

14:48

find you. Everybody freezes because I pause the

14:50

game, my mom made me a grilled

14:52

cheese. With

14:54

tomato slices. No,

14:57

dude, it might be it reminded me so

14:59

much of Game of Thrones in that we

15:01

got the big battle and we also got

15:03

the Ned Stark the red wedding moment for

15:05

the last of us as well because Ned

15:07

Stark because you had so many other characters

15:09

Surrounding him still a big shock, you know

15:11

an iconic death But the red wedding was

15:13

you felt like Robb Stark was the guy

15:15

and there's no way they're gonna fucking do

15:17

it again So that's why it almost feels

15:19

more like the red wedding where it's like

15:21

what the fuck? Where do we go from

15:23

here? That was the text I got from

15:25

my mom She's like, they killed off the

15:27

best fucking character. Well,

15:30

it's like, no, I think the red wedding

15:32

is like a felly. Yeah,

15:34

you basically would have to be like three

15:36

or four people. Because it's like, well,

15:38

we're rooting for, like Rob is the only

15:40

one going to get revenge. Well, everyone was,

15:42

but like Rob was the face of that.

15:44

It's like, all right, well, I guess we'll

15:46

wait for Daenerys. Yeah, it's hard to see

15:48

where you go from there. I think the

15:51

last of us, you can pretty much, you

15:53

know that Ellie is going to, at least

15:55

to try to get revenge. Yeah, the red

15:57

wedding, you're just like, oh, we've lost. So

16:01

hopefully Tyrion poises him next year.

16:03

Yeah, like Joffrey gets syphilis or some

16:05

shit. I was Tyrion

16:07

watching this episode. No,

16:09

I almost cried, dude. I was like legit devastated

16:11

for Ellie. Because it's like going back to when

16:13

I played it and trying to like relive that

16:15

through watching it. There's just so many moments you're

16:17

like, oh, well, now the day is going to

16:19

be saved. And I just never get saved. Oh,

16:22

Ellie's here. Immediately just gets fucking clapped.

16:24

Yeah, and I think the way that

16:26

they built up how Abby's crew is

16:28

getting cold feet, they're trying to game

16:30

plan and they get to Jackson and

16:32

they see how fortified it is and

16:34

Owen realizes this isn't going to work.

16:36

The plan is to convince Abby that

16:39

we've got no shot of finding Joel

16:41

and we need to turn back or

16:43

else we're going to die. And she

16:45

manages to get lucky. And it's another

16:47

moment that I imagine for people who

16:49

didn't know it was coming. We're shocked

16:51

to see that hand to see that

16:53

watch and realize that it's Joel saving

16:55

her. But also the way that they

16:57

adapted that pretty spot on like the

17:00

sequence when she's getting crushed by the

17:02

fence. That was amazing, man. Oh,

17:04

that was so good. And the threat

17:06

has never been this visceral in the show.

17:08

It's never been this real. And I

17:10

love the way that they use the hive

17:12

mind. But that whole chase with Abby,

17:14

that sequence was have my heart racing. I

17:16

was like, but I saved you. She's

17:18

like, yeah, save this buckshot boy. He

17:21

did try to throw that in her face. Like,

17:23

damn, I thought we were homies. Oh, did you

17:25

save me? You saved my fucking life? Oh. Shut

17:28

the fuck up, Joel. It brought me

17:30

back too, and she's like, you shot

17:32

an unarmed doctor. I'm like,

17:34

shit, I did too. I

17:36

guess I did also. It's

17:38

like the controller in my hands. I always forget

17:40

that, like, you don't have to kill the doctors.

17:44

I just smoked all of them. Well,

17:46

I always wondered did they make that

17:48

cannon because so many people smoke the

17:50

doctors in absolute panic? They thought, okay,

17:52

that's where we can go with part

17:54

two because so many of these psychopaths

17:56

who play the games killed all the

17:58

doctors because I killed the nurses too.

18:00

Yeah, I made them watch. Everybody

18:02

got lead. It was a lead party.

18:04

And then people were making the point

18:06

that Abby's dad did have a scalpel.

18:08

So technically not unharmed. It's

18:11

got a gun. I'm

18:13

just gonna check Joel's body cam. Yeah,

18:16

I don't know if this is gonna hold up.

18:18

That boy's gonna eat Cochran. I

18:20

mean, shitty doctor. I

18:22

mean, I don't know,

18:24

save the world and don't kill the

18:27

child. That's what I would have done. Yeah,

18:29

but fucking Ellie on the floor, dude,

18:31

just like seeing his final moments and his

18:33

last effort to get up when she's...

18:35

begging him god it was it was brutal

18:37

because it's just once again that that

18:39

unspoken tension knowing that it's never going to

18:41

be resolved and and you wanted it

18:43

to be resolved because you love Joel because

18:45

he is your dad and Ellie's his

18:47

daughter and and eventually they were going to

18:49

get to that better place but it's

18:51

just been ripped from you and um it's

18:53

one thing to lose someone you love

18:55

it's one thing for a loved one to

18:57

be murdered but when you have that

18:59

that baggage that wasn't settled that can drive

19:01

somebody fucking crazy And you saw it

19:03

there with the performance that Bella Ramsey was

19:06

giving. She was already seeing Red, and

19:08

she tells him, I'm going to track you

19:10

down and kill every last one of

19:12

you. And they were looking around like, what

19:14

the fuck did Abby get us, get

19:16

us involved with? Like, what the

19:18

fuck have we just done? Instant

19:20

regret, except for Abby. Yeah, it's,

19:22

I don't know. I do wonder, like

19:25

you said, how they're going to

19:27

use this character going forward with this

19:29

season. You know in the moment

19:31

you're kind of like you said she

19:33

is just evil villain kill Joel

19:35

whatever but even in like the. the

19:37

after show when you start making parallels

19:40

to her and Joel and Ellie and

19:42

just cycle of revenge and the consequences

19:44

of your actions. It's easier

19:46

like to process things when you kind of

19:48

sit back and kind of lay it

19:50

all out there. But in the moment, it's

19:52

just, I don't even know what the

19:55

correct word is, but for an introduction of

19:57

a new character and someone to root

19:59

against the way they. portrayed Abby in the

20:01

way, uh, uh, Caitlin Devere

20:03

played this character. It just sets

20:05

it up for like an all time,

20:07

just everybody can't wait to get

20:09

revenge on this character. Right. It's one

20:11

of those with Joel and Abby,

20:13

it's like you could kind of understand

20:15

why they did what they did.

20:18

And with Abby, I don't know, for

20:20

Joel's punishment, I'm not somebody who believes

20:22

in capital punishment, but I would say

20:24

some people, you know, he got what

20:27

was coming to him. He reaped what

20:29

was sewed when he killed. that doctor.

20:31

So there's not that same intensity of,

20:33

man, Ellie needs to go

20:35

to any lengths to get revenge against

20:37

this woman for what she did. But

20:39

there's still something inside of me that

20:41

is very, very upset with Abby and

20:43

her just not being able to let

20:45

this go and to come to terms

20:47

and to come to peace with the

20:50

fact that it's a messy fucked up

20:52

world and that, you know, when it

20:54

comes to finding a cure and if

20:56

it's even going to work and what's

20:58

more important than chance of saving the

21:00

world or saving your own little, you

21:02

know, family, it's complicated. And I think

21:04

that I appreciate that they made it

21:06

a bit more complicated, but still keeping

21:08

it where you're not on Abby's side

21:10

whatsoever. And I think a lot of

21:12

people will be, you know, coming out

21:14

of this episode, seeing red. So

21:17

the zombies came because of the pipeline,

21:19

right? Yeah, that's what it looks like. See,

21:21

I saw some criticisms that the battle

21:23

took away from Joel's death, but I couldn't.

21:26

Disagree more with that. I think it

21:28

added to it for Joel in the game

21:30

He saves Abby and then she just

21:32

goes berserk on him out of nowhere. He's

21:34

just like what the fuck? So

21:36

in the show at least she's able

21:38

to trick him It's not just because

21:40

oh my friends are there and we

21:42

could spend the night and it's shelter

21:44

We have food we have blankets, but

21:46

you need to get back and you

21:48

need us because we can fight we

21:50

have supplies So it's a more clever

21:52

way for Abby to lure Joel in

21:54

and like I said that uncertainty that

21:56

he that he dies with not knowing

21:58

what happened to Jackson or Tommy to

22:00

me I thought it was a great

22:02

juxtaposition between the threat that still exists

22:04

and how Joel is facing his own

22:06

reckoning and he's not going to be

22:09

around to protect these people to protect

22:11

this community or Ellie anymore because his

22:13

past finally caught up to him it's

22:15

there what Joel is now fighting for

22:17

that he has become a good man

22:19

he's important to this community but His

22:21

time is up so for me they

22:23

worked i thought they were beautifully together

22:25

as two concurrent storylines yeah it's a

22:27

clever way to kind of convey like

22:29

the two evils in this world without

22:31

being like maybe humans are the real

22:33

monsters that's deep right because the zombies

22:35

were fucking terrifying in this dude when

22:37

they realize oh let's go to the

22:39

weak point i'm like yo how do

22:41

they know that. Who's strategizing with them?

22:43

They got George Washington back there? Yeah,

22:48

bro. That's what I would do if I

22:50

was a zombie. I'm resurrecting all the, all

22:52

the greats. I'm like, where's Hannibal buried? You

22:54

know, Napoleon.

22:58

Get the wrong Hannibal. I

23:00

think we got the wrong one. At least he

23:02

comes with Eric Andre. There are two for

23:04

one special. Yeah. Yeah.

23:06

Just, uh, and, you know, when they

23:08

pull back and you see the horde

23:10

chasing Joel, Abby and Dina, Terrifying and

23:12

then when they change direction even more

23:14

terrifying that guy on the watchtower probably

23:16

shit his pants Imagine looking through your

23:18

binoculars and you just see gradually through

23:20

the fog that there are thousands of

23:22

these motherfuckers It was just awesome that

23:24

they that they went that big this

23:26

early in the season. Yeah, it's fucking

23:28

crazy You got to hope all that

23:30

shit, you know It's one thing to

23:32

build defense and everything and have all

23:34

these measures, but it's like well now

23:36

it's got to work I really thought

23:38

we were going to see some, uh,

23:40

some zombie dogs. Or maybe we will

23:42

in the future. I don't like zombie

23:44

animals. Oh, yeah, no. Fricks me out.

23:47

They're always so goddamn vicious. It's

23:49

like a dog can't comprehend what's going on. And just

23:51

like, what the fuck is going on? Like, at least a

23:53

human, you can now be like, all right, this is

23:55

a zombie outbreak, and I'm going to turn into a zombie.

23:57

The dog's just like, what the fuck? None of this

23:59

is, I'm not grasping any of this. Who'd be the funniest

24:01

person you could see, like, be a zombie? Like, he

24:03

was getting attacked by a horde and you're just like, is

24:05

that fucking Pipple? Dude,

24:07

I think that's fucking Pipple. He

24:11

becomes the fucking hive mind leader? Oh,

24:13

shit. I don't think of that. Yo,

24:16

those zombies are gonna be raven bro. There's

24:18

so much shit that like we've seen it

24:20

in some of like the promotional material But

24:22

it's some fucking weird shit. It's not the

24:24

heaven bro. I'm so this is what this

24:26

episode did for me. I am now locked

24:29

in Whereas I probably haven't been locked in

24:31

with this show since mid -season one where

24:33

it really hit a point in season one

24:35

You know, I was still enjoying it, but

24:37

I wasn't looking forward to it week to

24:39

week I can't wait for the rest of

24:41

this season and the fact that it's seven

24:43

episodes It's going to be an episode shorter

24:45

than season one I imagine it's gonna be

24:47

fucking epic dude like they're gonna they're gonna

24:49

give us some of these moments from the

24:51

game It looks like they're not going to

24:53

be changing a lot Especially when it comes

24:56

to the structure and and like you said

24:58

some of the freaky stuff that they do

25:00

get into and some of the stuff that

25:02

doesn't even involve Zombies is what I'm really

25:04

excited for and a lot of people including

25:06

us didn't think that they were going to

25:08

go this route But it looks like that's

25:10

where they're headed and I've never been more

25:12

excited for an episode of The Last of

25:14

Us since maybe the episode one premiere. And

25:16

old tug was for Pedro Pascal to die. Well,

25:22

he's got a million fucking projects coming up. We'll

25:24

see him. And you know they're going to

25:26

load this fucking show with flashbacks, bro. We're going

25:28

to get a flashback every episode of them

25:30

doing some shit. We're

25:32

watching movies and coloring books, whatever fathers

25:34

and daughters do. So what would you say?

25:36

You think this is the best episode

25:39

of the series? Yeah, I think so. It's,

25:41

like you said, just... It really is

25:43

crazy because you could really break it up

25:45

into two episodes and to have like

25:47

the battle episode and the Joel episode. But

25:49

the combined is very ambitious and I

25:51

think it really worked. That's a fun dilemma.

25:53

Would you rather have two, nine episodes

25:55

or one, ten episodes? Right.

25:58

Yeah. I think I'm going with the

26:00

one, ten. Yeah. And especially if

26:02

the rest of the season really supplements this

26:04

moment, because it kind of reminds me of

26:06

Severance going so big early in the season,

26:08

giving us these big moments with the lore.

26:10

and some of these ideas that we've had

26:12

that they were going to tackle. And obviously

26:14

it's not, you know, the different shows, but

26:17

I think it's similar in that they go

26:19

so big in episode two, which is like,

26:21

is this a high that we're all going

26:23

to come down from and never quite get

26:25

there? Yeah, I think that's something, normal progression,

26:27

a lot of, especially in like shows where

26:29

come out swinging is usually a reset moment

26:31

where you kind of regather your thoughts and

26:33

kind of... move forward towards the next thing

26:36

so i wouldn't be surprised if the next

26:38

two episodes are just a little bit not

26:40

saying it'll be bad but just a little

26:42

bit slower and right character focused yeah that

26:44

work in the in the full scope of

26:46

the season will look back on those episodes

26:48

and think. Necessary necessary steps

26:50

to get to some of the bigger

26:52

and more epic episodes at the end

26:54

of the season and it's not even

26:56

you know going this big with the

26:59

battle without any spoilers is something i

27:01

wasn't expecting. this season, maybe next

27:03

season. So a lot of the, you know,

27:05

the cool moments coming up necessarily

27:07

like you got to drain your budget.

27:09

It's more so the, you know, character stuff

27:11

and how some of these elements are

27:13

going to be portrayed and how they come

27:15

off. Are they going to be realistic

27:17

and gritty or cheesy? Yeah, like I said,

27:19

I can't wait for for episode three.

27:21

I can't wait for the rest of this

27:23

fucking season. I can't wait for Jeffrey

27:25

Wright to pop out. Oh, hell yeah, bro.

27:27

Because he was so underused in the

27:29

game, and it looks like they're going to

27:31

rectify that. Because even in that one shot

27:33

in the trailer, when he's looking down

27:35

at that motherfucker, he's got handcuffed or tied

27:37

up, he looks scary. And he's, you

27:39

know, he's fucking Jeffrey Wright, man. Come on,

27:41

HBO legend. Alright guys, that does it for

27:43

our review of the Last of Us

27:45

season 2, episode 2 through the valley we

27:47

will be back next week for episode

27:49

3. Catching back up, somebody said we're about

27:51

to witness the most epic crash out of

27:53

the 21st century. Yo, that's why Bella

27:55

Ramsey, I think that she's going to win

27:58

over some non -believers for the rest of

28:00

this season. It's sad Joel never saw a

28:02

playoff pistons win. No, Joel

28:05

the Pope. Yeah. They

28:07

never saw that make the playoff. No,

28:10

in that world, they're fucking... dynasty.

28:14

No, in that world, they were probably just

28:16

about to win in the fucking zombie.

28:18

Yeah, yeah. 2003, right? Who was the

28:20

running back? That That was nice. Curtis Martin. He

28:22

was patient zero. Might have still been on the Patriots.

28:24

I know, I think over three we had him.

28:27

No, yeah, you guys did have him. He was nice

28:29

at 04 to 1 ,700 yards. Yeah, one

28:31

of the rushing title that year. They need to know

28:33

about Curtis Martin.