# The Last of Us - tv show discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, hbomax-wb-dc\ **Created:** [January 16, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314 "2023-01-16T16:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/302 "2023-03-06T20:46:39Z")
Well, yes, but see the aforementioned comments on their culinary fortitude. These people would probably serve half-baked bread if they got the chance. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/303 "2023-03-06T20:47:05Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I’m pretty sure it was raw. What you should be complaining about was them just dumping raw meat into an already-cooking soup/stew. No wonder these people are starving; they don’t know even the most basic things about food! That really bothered me. I don’t care if it’s beef, venison, soylent-green-is-people, season the damn meat and sear it first, then add all the other stuff that makes it stew! I know everyone is starving to death but let’s have some minimal standards please. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/304 "2023-03-06T21:21:41Z")
It appeared the only thing they had for a soup base was large cans of tomatoes, so they were basically eating bowls of chunky spaghetti sauce. Good episode, but it felt a bit rushed and carried less of a dramatic impact compared to the game, where the game was a major pivot with the player taking control of Ellie for combat, and it being the game’s major mid-play boss battle. I was really hoping we’d get to see stealth-Ellie silently laying waste with a bow. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/305 "2023-03-06T21:33:47Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > It appeared the only thing they had for a soup base was large cans of tomatoes, so they were basically eating bowls of chunky spaghetti sauce. Later on, they served the meat. (IIRC) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/306 "2023-03-06T22:29:21Z")
Joel popping right up after taking two health packs was the most “video game” thing yet. ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/307 "2023-03-06T22:39:00Z")
While I’m very much enjoying this adaptation, I’m still a little disappointed that we’ve not yet seen Joel recover from a shotgun blast to the face by wrapping a bandage round his arm. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/308 "2023-03-07T00:35:25Z")
We chalked it up to “leveling up” by killing all the dudes… ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/309 "2023-03-07T00:54:16Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > I don’t care if it’s beef, venison, soylent-green-is-people, season the damn meat and sear it first, then add all the other stuff that makes it stew! I know everyone is starving to death but let’s have some minimal standards please. Seriously. There was a grill _right there_! ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/310 "2023-03-07T00:58:04Z")
I’m not a hunter/fisher and I’d probably die the first week of a zombie apocalypse, but how incompetent was Camp Cannibal? All those dudes with guns and ammo can’t get _any_ big game? Wouldn’t wildlife be flourishing without us getting in their way? Aren’t they in a resort next to water where they can FISH? It’s been 20 fucking years and while I know there was some moving from Pittsburgh, etc, they don’t have even the meagerest of gardens? Native peoples survived on these same lands for thousands of years with less tech than these fucking morons had. Gah. I did like the episode, though ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/311 "2023-03-07T00:59:53Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I’m not a hunter/fisher and I’d probably die the first week of a zombie apocalypse, but how incompetent was Camp Cannibal? All those dudes with guns and ammo can’t get _any_ big game? Seriously, most of the world is gone and the fungus does not seem to affect animals, there should be food a plenty. Joel and Ellie drove past a herd of wild Bison earlier in the season. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/312 "2023-03-07T04:50:30Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Seriously, most of the world is gone and the fungus does not seem to affect animals, there should be food a plenty. They couldn’t even bag a deer until Ellie shot one. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/314 "2023-03-07T11:54:15Z")
I thought this was one of the weaker episodes. It felt too rushed and really at no point did it feel as “morally ambiguous” as I think it was supposed to. It’s a solid show, but definitely feels a bit “The Walking Dead-lite”. Better than the worst of TWD but not really as good as the best. And at times, it just kind of feels like it’s just checking off hitting the major beats of any bleak post-apocalyptic zombie story. I wonder if anyone will need to make a horrible choice in the finale? The show could be longer so as to spend more time building out the world and the story. With characters coming into the show and dying or otherwise departing in a single episode, In many ways LoU feels less like a single cohesive story as it does a anthology of “monster of the week” episodes set in zombieland. Or, dare I say it, levels and boss battles in a video game. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/315 "2023-03-07T12:04:09Z")
Having played the game a few years ago, I remember\* the video game sequences, but only deep in. I do remember the “room on fire” sequence from the last episode, but only remembered it when it happened. Are they on pace to finish the first game at the end of the next episode? I think they are not. I have memories of quite a few things to still occur after the most recent episode. \*except the prequel story of Ellie, which I believe was the DLC. First DLC to ever get an adaptation? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/316 "2023-03-07T13:24:05Z")
You think the pedophile cannibal episode was supposed to feel morally ambiguous? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/317 "2023-03-07T15:53:52Z")
When it opens, you learn that the man Joel killed was one of their members and a father and whatnot. But it’s pretty clear right from the beginning that there’s something creepy about that group. Being cannibals might not necessarily mean they are evil. Just desperate in a Donner Party / Uruguayan rugby team sort of way. I believe in the game, you aren’t really supposed to be sure what his motivations are with Elle or whether Joel is going to survive. Like there has to be something so the audience doesn’t feel like Joel and Ellie should literally kill every person they see on sight. I feel like it could have been spread over a couple episodes. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/318 "2023-03-07T16:08:12Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Being cannibals might not necessarily mean they are evil. Just desperate in a Donner Party / Uruguayan rugby team sort of way. Sorry, but in this instance that just doesn’t work. Human should be the rarest kind of meat in this world, no one is resorting to cannibalism out of necessity. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/319 "2023-03-07T16:12:47Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Sorry, but in this instance that just doesn’t work. Human should be the rarest kind of meat in this world, no one is resorting to cannibalism out of necessity. Plus, at the end of the episode, we see they already have three more people hung up in the butcher shop. You don’t go planning that far ahead if it’s ‘desperation cannibalism’. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/320 "2023-03-07T16:14:37Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Sorry, but in this instance that just doesn’t work. Human should be the rarest kind of meat in this world, no one is resorting to cannibalism out of necessity. Depends on the specifics. Cannibalism of people who died from other causes (like the Uruguayan rugby team from _Alive_, or them eating the girl’s dad who Joel killed) might be morally ambiguous. Killing people specifically to eat them, as it appears the Silver Lake folks were doing, has no ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/321 "2023-03-07T18:33:56Z")
I don’t have a good enough feel yet for how many survivors are roaming the countryside to venture an opinion on the availability of wild game. Are there one million left? Fifty million? If the bison population has recovered, it kinda indicates that there aren’t very many left. I don’t remember _The Walking Dead_ even addressing the issue. But as a point of reference, I think historians have pegged the native population before the European invasion at less than 10 million. An interesting notion that I will reflect upon going forward. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/322 "2023-03-07T19:14:29Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > I think historians have pegged the native population before the European invasion at less than 10 million. The Aztecs by themselves probably had around six million. Obviously with no written record keeping, all figures are estimates, but the consensus of the majority of anthropologists and historical demographers ranges between 40 and 50 million in the Americas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314.md?page=17)