# 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:** 22
**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 16, 2023, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/423 "2023-03-16T05:27:04Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > They could have had Joel escape his escorts somehow, cut off the power in the building somehow (because he’s a badass) so the operation can’t proceed, then somehow find Ellie (because he’s a badass) and snatch her away in the confusion and darkness. And then the two would ride out of town on a spirited giraffe. That would’ve been so badass! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/424 "2023-03-16T09:51:15Z")
Regarding the surgical aspect of things, the IMDb trivia section for the second game includes the following: > [@](#): > > If you pay attention to the news reel audio during the opening credits of The Last of Us (2013), the anchor states that vaccine trials were unsuccessful. This is because, especially in 2013, vaccines for fungal diseases in humans are improbable science, only just having meager breakthroughs in the 2020s. This foreshadows the Fireflies’ shady motivations in developing a vaccine from a sample of Ellie’s brain with significantly limited technology, and completely justifies Joel’s actions in the ending of the first game. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/425 "2023-03-16T15:16:24Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > It was a bit over the top. They could have had Joel escape his escorts somehow, cut off the power in the building somehow (because he’s a badass) so the operation can’t proceed, then somehow find Ellie (because he’s a badass) and snatch her away in the confusion and darkness. And then the two would ride out of town on a spirited giraffe. I know stealth is an option in the game, I wonder if it was possible to do that last level stealthily without slaughtering the entire hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/426 "2023-03-16T16:04:37Z")
That feels like that was written as justification of the backlash surrounding the _significant event_ that happens in part 2. The creators of the game have stated multiple times that their intent is that the cure is possible in-game, that the possible cure is what drives the moral dilemmas that are core to the experience, and that there is no subtext otherwise. From a story perspective, I think we are meant to understand the difference between the failed 2013 vaccine trials and the current date solution is not that the tech has improved because it hasn’t, but that the doctors have whatever is in Ellie’s brain that makes her unique. Her MacGuffin. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/427 "2023-03-16T21:07:36Z")
What are the odds that the doctor is a skilled brain surgeon and an expert in Mycology? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/428 "2023-03-16T21:32:01Z")
Also, Ellie is apparently the only person they have ever known of that is immune. Wouldn’t you want to do some testing once you have her before you irrevocable kill her? “Darn, didn’t work…can you guys go find another immune person for our next test?” ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/429 "2023-03-16T21:43:43Z")
Did we ever get a timeline of how long she was held captive by the Fireflies in Boston? I assume they did some blood testing there too. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/430 "2023-03-16T21:57:43Z")
Good point. Maybe they already did all the testing they needed to know the next step was to remove her head. ---
**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 16, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/431 "2023-03-16T22:36:32Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Did we ever get a timeline of how long she was held captive by the Fireflies in Boston? I assume they did some blood testing there too. In Ep 1 when Tess saw the positive test for cordyceps, Ellie said her wound was 3 weeks old. So yes, theoretically they had time for some tests, assuming they had access to a lab. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/432 "2023-03-16T23:07:01Z")
Speaking of Doctors, when Joel murdered the doc I immediately said, I wonder just how many surgeons are left in the world. He wasn’t thinking at all, but wow that was short sighted. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/433 "2023-03-17T00:16:55Z")
I think the guy who grabbed a tiny scalpel and threatened the guy who just slaughtered an entire garrison might have been the one not thinking. ---
**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 17, 2023, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/434 "2023-03-17T01:00:17Z")
I’d have to watch again, but I believe that Marlene gets test results in ep1 and that’s why they want to move her. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/435 "2023-03-17T01:01:30Z")
You really have to assume the whole cure thing is real for the show to work, otherwise its just a lame Rambo sequel. ---
**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 17, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/436 "2023-03-17T01:26:47Z")
I think there’s a happy middle ground. I can accept that in universe, it is scientifically possible to develop a vaccine, and the “chemical messenger” can only be found in Ellie’s brain. But there are several challenges to develop the vaccine given the facilities and resources, and to distribute it in a post-apocalyptic world. So Joel isn’t 100% justified - there’s a chance the vaccine would have worked. But he isn’t 100% in the wrong - he would have been trading her life for only a slim chance of success. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2023, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/437 "2023-03-17T01:33:43Z")
Yeah it’s still just a trolley problem. Kill one person to save potentially millions. The question is, at what percent chance does it work are you okay with killing Ellie. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/438 "2023-03-20T01:56:24Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > The question is, at what percent chance does it work are you okay with killing Ellie. I think given the way that Joel has grown attached to Ellie, and given the way he saw his own daughter die twenty years earlier, I think the answer is “no chance.” Her life is not worth sacrificing any more. Plus that hospital looked pretty sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/439 "2023-03-20T02:00:13Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > Plus that hospital looked pretty sketch. You can say that again, again. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/440 "2023-03-20T10:51:15Z")
Just finished the series. A couple of things, about the titles. 1. I kept calling out Winterfell! The Wall! Kings Landing! Braavos! Every episode. I’m guessing it was the same production people. 2. And I kept thinking “Hurdy Gurdy Mushroom Man” should have been the theme song. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/441 "2023-03-20T11:28:46Z")
They said “vaccine” in the episode, but u think what they were really trying to recreate was the chemical messenger that tells cordyceps not to attack. Presumably, if they could identify that messenger, they could manufacture it and everyone could have it. Though if that’s the case, then they should be able to find that chemical messenger in any infected person. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2023, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314/442 "2023-03-20T14:37:01Z")
> **minor thoughts** > > I don’t see where there is a dilemma here. There was zero chance that Joel was going to actually _kill_ her, that’s not how American serialized television works. In the first 15 minutes of Episode 1 (E1) he loses the person he loves the most, his 15yo (or so) daughter. At the end of E1, he gets another ‘daughter’ to care for. There’s not a chance in hell that Joel is going to murder her (she may die, yes, but not at his hand) of course not, he’s on a redemption arc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-of-us-tv-show-discussion/978314.md?page=23)