This “extensive deepening of the plan” might surprise you only if you didn’t follow the buzz around this episode among reviewers on social media. Because if you’ve watched it, you know that this episode has been talked about since the beginning as one of the weirdest. At the same time, this is the strongest example so far of how the creators used the series format to fill in the gaps in the game’s plot, in this case even at the cost of a fairly significant change in fate. one minor character compared to the original.
The double role of the opening passage
As in previous episodes, the beginning of the episode is built around further exploration of the history of the apocalypse – again, this exploration is quite frightening (it concerns how the military dealt with the evacuation of civilians in the early days), but its influence is somewhat weakened by the fact that this passage somewhat obsessively grafted into the conversation between Chol and Ellie during their journey.
At the same time, this passage serves as a way for us to observe the convergence of the two characters, which begins with a very mature and intelligent statement of responsibility for the events of the previous episode, by the standards of a fourteen-year-old girl. . A certain maturity of Ellie is also shown in the next scene, where she “plays with a knife” and the viewer prepares, as in the scene “Ellie activated”, that this is definitely not a timid and harmless girl.
Like from another series
But the vast majority of the eighty-minute episode is devoted to a completely different pair of characters. While we’ve also been able to see Bill the Prepper in relatively comparable form in the game, we’ve only heard second-hand about his partner Frank. However, the creators of the series decided to build almost the entire third episode on the fate of this couple, and this is a very sweeping, self-sufficient story, which, not only in its content and design, but also, perhaps, in its music, seems to be something completely different.
Rival “zombie” series The Walking Dead recently drew some pretty harsh criticism for trying to dedicate multiple episodes to completely different stories. If, on the other hand, this episode of TLOU is marked by reviewers and viewers as one of the best, it must be primarily due to the extraordinary qualities of its story, based on the excellent acting of the said couple. There will probably be those who will call this whole episode some kind of “awakening propaganda”, but in that case they will completely miss the honesty and integrity of this story. It is because of these exceptional qualities that the point of the entire sequence is so strong and effective.
Why is everyone crying? It was a happy episode! #telastofus pic.twitter.com/7cD2bV7WrN
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) January 30, 2023
Perfect Connection
Bill and Frank’s story was so strong that I was relieved when the episode returned to Joel and Ellie near the end. Their confrontation with the situation in Bill’s house is played very convincingly, with many pleasant nuances. An even bigger bombshell explodes when the makers discover a direct connection between the previous couple’s storyline and the current one – this is the moment Pedro Pascal in particular puts on some great acting and we get a rare opportunity to see how Joel is actually feeling underneath all of this. the rough surface of his personality and behavior.
At the same time, the relationship dynamics between Joel and Ellie begin to flow much better: this relationship is still more human and natural than with animated characters in a video game, thanks to the nature of the living environment. It made me realize for the first time that while it might not be an exact replica of “Joel and Ellie from the video game”, it’s possible that in some ways Pedro and Bella not only catches up but surpasses that template. So I’m more and more looking forward to episode 4 next week because, according to the trailer, it will be more or less about the wanderings of the central couple, including the famously rough scene with Joel’s lesson on how to be wary of strangers.
Source :Indian TV
