socprof's fediblog

I was a bit surprised that everyone was gushing about The Last of Us, because after the first two episodes, I was underwhelmed.

Side note: I know nothing about the game so I’m watching this with no preconceived ideas.

I will say though that the production designers have done an awesome job with the big bad deadly fungus thing. The look of it, whether on people or buildings, is astonishing.

Here be spoilers.

What I hoped for, though, was an original take on the whole zombie genre. And at first, it didn’t happen. It was same ol’, same ol’. BUT, I had a glimmer of hope when the daughter died because the American industry has a hard time killing children even when it would make sense in the context of that particular movie or show.

But from there, it goes from one cliché to the next:

of course the dad is going to feel guilty about not saving his daughter;

of course here comes another kid to be saved and Joel will be able to get his redemption. Although I was annoyed with killing the kid of color and now the kid who will live (because it’s kinda obvious that she will) is white;

of course the kid has some kind of immunity which makes her special. I mean, obvious, right?

Of course it will fall to Joel to take her to wherever they can figure out her immunity;

of course, at first, they’ll resent each other but I can safely predict that this will go from resentment, to grudging respect, to affection and love;

of course, women have to get outta the way, Marlene first, then Tess has to die so Joel has to contend with the kid.

And boy is that kid annoying. She won’t shut up. She’s a smart a$$. Kids are often portrayed like that, for some reason. It does not make them endearing.

So after two episodes, I was bored counting tired tropes of the genres.

Then came episode 3, which was completely different and way more interesting. Let’s call it the redemption of the prepper. That being said, it’s another trope of the genre: when everything goes to hell, the preppers were right, the government inevitably turns totalitarian, and public health measures never seem justified.

But in this case, episode 3 takes an unexpected turn, with a very emotional ending that is not cheesy.

So I’ll be hanging in there in hope that we get more original writing of the episode 3 kind, and less of the tired clichés of the first two episodes.

Fingers crossed.