FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF SEASON ONE @ https://www.msbreviews.com/tv-reviews/the-last-of-us-season-1-review *Based on the full first season handed to press* "The Last of Us is the first live-action videogame adaptation able to finally break the frustrating curse, reaching the so-desired unprecedented level of excellence. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann construct a complex character study driven by fascinating protagonists, Joel and Ellie, exploring the grief, traumas, and tragedies of their lives through unimaginable moral dilemmas, emotionally heavy conversations, and devastating moments. Save for rare exceptions, the episodic narrative formula is remarkably efficient, offering a panoply of intriguing characters and outstanding performances - Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey clearly stand out from the rest. A more intimate, grounded version of a post-apocalyptic world that doesn't lack gory, violent action/horror sequences. Gustavo Santaolalla's score couldn't be a better fit. If I was already excited to venture into the video game, now I can't wait for that day to come." Rating: A-

No spoilers here. I went into this show cautiously optimistic, after seeing the trailers. I, like so many others, have been burned by horrid video game adaptations ***cough*** "_Halo_" ***cough***. I was incredibly surprised by the first episode. LOVED IT! While yes, the pacing was a bit slower than the game's first few moments, I felt like it was appropriate to set the stage for everything to come later. TLOU is one of my favorite games on the planet, and I am really hard to please when it comes to media. I am the definition of nit-picky when it comes to writing, production, and character development, especially with pre-existing and beloved material. I can say honestly, and without reservation that if the creators put as much attention to detail and fan-oriented storytelling into the later episodes of this season, this could easily be one of the best adaptations of a game, out there. I really can't wait to see what they do with it.

Why do series feel the need to be woke? I had invested quite a lot of faith in this series until episode 3, which I call 'Gays of our lives". An entire episode about the lives of two beardy, gay blokes, that has next to nothing to do with the overriding story and feels like virtue signalling. I don't mind gay people. I've known a few over the years but what's the need for this? I wasted 20 or so minutes, till I realised this was going to take up the majority of the episode, at which point, I stopped watching. In short, I don't need to be lectured, reformed or informed about alternative life styles. If I did, I'd attend a meeting, join a forum, whatever. And that's the underlying point really. I come to entertainment to be entertained, not lectured. I'm out.

It takes it's cues from the controversial second game... where the characters were reshaped to fit the new meh narrative of the meh pro-censorship left. And because of that you have yet another film staring Strong Female Lead, only this time STL is a little girl that knows more and can survive better than the man that is tasked with protecting her who actually survived the end of the world. You really don't need to know the rest it goes just like they all do, narrative above plot, message above characters, "diversity and dinosaurs" The bottom line is that you've seen this before.

**Had the potential to be great. But it is just mediocre HBO stuff and sometimes really bad.** I can't say that the show is bad in general. But it is far from living up to its potential. And episode 3 has show us that it can really suck (no pun intended) at times. I am going to loosely address some reasons for why I think this show is disappointing and not as good as it could be: - Bad casting of main characters, unnecessary type-switching. Though I think that most of the actors are good, a lot of them and especially the main characters are not matching their counterparts from the game and the game (at least TLOU, Part I) just nailed it. The actors are good, but the casting choices still are just bad. Especially Ellie is just miscast all the way. - Bad chemistry between the characters. There is no matching chemistry between the actors of Joel & Tess or Joel & Ellie. - Pointless deviations from the original story (see episode 3). Those deviations don't add anything good to the story, they are just annoying distraction at best and derailment at worst. - Sometimes just stupid, boring or pointless. There is more examples than just the bigger part of episode 3 for that. - Mediocre storytelling. When it sticks to the main plot, it's not bad. But it's not really good either. After episode 3 I decided to take a break from watching the show and before I would continue to watch, I will wait till the whole season has aired and the reviews came in. If according to the non-shill and non-cheerleader reviews the show will give us more crap in the direction of episode 3, I'm out for good.