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‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Will Have ‘A Lot More Infected,’ Creators Address Complaints About Lack of Action

consoul

Member
I liked Season One and I don't think it needed more action scenes, but it did feel like the threat of infected just wasn't there in the back half. Cordyceps didn't just take a back seat, it missed the bus.
 
I chuckled when Marlene asked Joel how they survived when her team was wiped out, I half expected him to say “eh, we only ran into like 6 people”
Yeah, I thought, like, where were these threats? Most of the threats for Joel and Ellie over that whole year seemed to be finding transportation, with the occasional run in with raiders and the even more rare run in with infected. Maybe Marlene's people distracted all the infected and raiders and gave Joel and Ellie a wide berth.
 

Yoboman

Member
I was fine with less clickers but it was way too little.

They didn't even need big set pieces but if they occasionally had to sneak past some clickers or even just included the final episode clickers set piece that would have been enough.

Essentially the only clickers they ran into after Boston was one trapped in some rubble and the ones buried under ground so were out of sight for ages

They nailed the rest though
 

killatopak

Gold Member
I tought people are haters.
The problem with criticizing stuff nowadays is that it’s getting lumped with the actual haters. I don’t blame the people who think that all of it is from haters. I just want them to realize that just because I don’t personally enjoy ALL of the changes, doesn’t mean I’m a hater. Some changes I do like a lot but praise usually gets ignored for hate.

Legitimate criticism come from a place of love coming from such a game dear to a lot of people hearts. It’s just hard to sift through ones that are real and ones that are manufactured especially since the story and themes are very politically charged.

Pivoting through my own opinion about the lack of infected, it’s not so much as that I want more infected per se. It’s just that a lot of the relationship building, at least in the game with Joel and Ellie, happens through their encounters with the infected. The lack of it in turn means the lack of more personal interactions between the both of them especially when the show does a great job of building up side characters. Maybe even too much which makes the insufficient amount of relationship building between the two pivotal characters much more glaring.

Please note however that my views come from a person who completed both games and that only. I don’t speak for those who have only watched the show and not played the game.
 
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Eiknarf

Member
“Season 2 should have more infected”??

Why?

If this was real life there would be way less infected

Ask yourself: Are infected multiplying? Mating and having babies?

No.

Add to that the groups like Fedra and The Fireflies and WLF and the Serafites, and all the Camps like Tommy’s that go on runs to cleans the area of infected…etc there’s eventually going to be less and less infected. Not more!

The baking-powder-flower that carried the infection 20 years ago is obviously no longer in production. So there shouldn’t be new infected.

The only new infected would be if an infected person changes you (via a bite or a scratch), which is happening less and less frequently 20 years out.

So by Season 2/Part 2, technically there should be less and less infected
 
“Season 2 should have more infected”??

Why?

If this was real life there would be way less infected

Ask yourself: Are infected multiplying? Mating and having babies?

No.

Add to that the groups like Fedra and The Fireflies and WLF and the Serafites, and all the Camps like Tommy’s that go on runs to cleans the area of infected…etc there’s eventually going to be less and less infected. Not more!

The baking-powder-flower that carried the infection 20 years ago is obviously no longer in production. So there shouldn’t be new infected.

The only new infected would be if an infected person changes you (via a bite or a scratch), which is happening less and less frequently 20 years out.

So by Season 2/Part 2, technically there should be less and less infected
More infected on screen....it has nothing to do with their multiplication rate.

Plus....most of these communities that remain only have a few thousand people left. Put that in the context of the population of the US of around 330 million. Not to mention that the land is connected to both Canada and Mexico etc. There's plenty of infected around.
 

mitchman

Gold Member
I think it was perfectly fine to not have too many infected.. I mean why is that necessary all the time in a tv show? would that not get repetitive like here is the obligatory infected fight that does nothing for the plot. The times when infected did show up it was really awesome and impactful. No need to overdo it. But sure, plenty of opportunities for part 2 to have more infected scenes I just hope the core of it continues to be about the characters and not fighting infected.
I'm also fine with less infected. If you want to see TV series with more zombies, there are alternatives. I think this first season is about building the relationship, and it works.
 

mckmas8808

Banned

Nice! I was worried about this, too, but if Craig and Neil think they can make it work, they can make it work. I trust them with this completely.



The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann want to address one element of the fandom discourse that seems to be on their mind of late. "Let's put this thing to rest," Druckmann firmly stated during a virtual press conference that played out over Zoom ahead of the season finale.
Apparently, there's a swath of The Last of Us viewers who assumed the show's star Bella Ramsey would be recast in season 2 and beyond. The belief was based on the fact that season 1 tackled the events of 2013's The Last of Us video game and season 2 will at least start adapting the events of 2020's The Last of Us Part II. (Who knows how many seasons it will take to do the whole thing.) There's a five-year time-jump in between the games, during which Ellie visibly changes from 14 to 19 years old.

Mazin and Druckmann are adamantly against the idea of recasting Ramsey in season 2. When asked about Ramsey in relation to the games' time-jump, they pointed out that Ramsey is in fact 19 years old now, the same age of Ellie in Part II, which also means she will be even older by the time cameras start rolling on season 2.

"One of the things about the casting process that's tough is that we invite people to join us on this process, and we know everything [about the secrets of the production] and nobody else knows anything except what they know, which is the game," Mazin explained. "We know what we're gonna do in terms of costume and makeup and hair, but more importantly, we also know the spirit and soul of the actor."

When Ramsey joined the production at age 17, Mazin remembered some fans complaining about how she didn't look like the character from the games. "I'm like, 'It doesn't matter. Watch! Just watch what happens.' And now they know," he said. "I think there is still this constant drumbeat of anxiety. All I can say to people is, I have so much anxiety myself about doing a good job on this. Just know I am also very anxious. If you're anxious about something, I'm probably anxious about it, which means we're talking about it and thinking about it."

Mazin also confirmed season 2 "will be different" from Part II. "It will be different just as this season was different [from the first game]," he continued. "Sometimes it will be different radically, and sometimes it will be [barely] different at all. But it's going to be different and it will be its own thing. It won't be exactly like the game. It will be the show that Neil and I want to make. But we are making it with Bella."

Druckmann also spoke up on the matter. "When we made the game, I felt we were incredibly lucky. It was like lightning in the bottle that we found Ashley Johnson and I can't imagine that version of Ellie being anybody else," he said of the actress who originated the role. "And then somehow we got lightning in the bottle again with Bella."

"The only way we would ever, ever consider re-casting Bella is if she said, 'I don't want to work with you guys anymore,'" he added. "And even then, we're not sure we would grant her that. We might still force her to come back to season 2."


Thank God Church GIF by Pose FX
 
The violence isn't about action. It's about the dangerous world Ellie could help heal. It raises stakes.

Do they even get that? Or was it budget and they're being polite?

The show was inert most of the time.
It’s not necessarily about action. They have to establish that the world threat is constantly looming in the background though. That looming threat itself magically vanished halfway through the season, which brings into question lines like Marlene’s about her team and how Joel was able to get to her through all of the infected, like others here have pointed out.

From an outside perspective, the show made it seem like it was pointless to have Ellie heal the world because only a few areas were actually dangerous. In the show’s lore the infected die after a few months, and the rest were just humans being assholes. Ellie’s immunity can’t heal stupidity, so it made the stakes look lower and justified Joel’s actions more.
 

ByWatterson

Member
It’s not necessarily about action. They have to establish that the world threat is constantly looming in the background though. That looming threat itself magically vanished halfway through the season, which brings into question lines like Marlene’s about her team and how Joel was able to get to her through all of the infected, like others here have pointed out.

From an outside perspective, the show made it seem like it was pointless to have Ellie heal the world because only a few areas were actually dangerous. In the show’s lore the infected die after a few months, and the rest were just humans being assholes. Ellie’s immunity can’t heal stupidity, so it made the stakes look lower and justified Joel’s actions more.

I mean that's basically what I mean. Looming, sure, but it at least needs to be visible.

So auto-liked, I guess!
 
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ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
" we couldn’t necessarily find significance for quite a bit of it, or [there was] concern that it would be repetitive. After all, you’re not playing it, you’re watching it"

They didn't want to spend a lot of money on the series, now they are making such a lie. Imagine that the same team make the God of War movie like this:



Although it is a series known for its story, it became a phenomenon on the twitter with its gameplay videos, especially with the part 2.

But I think the biggest problem is that they copied the series almost exactly. I watched the comparison videos of most of the scenes and found it odd that they didn't offer anything new, except the acting of course, to a person who played the game (plus the brokeback story). I would like them to expand on the story a little more in the second season, at least a little more risk can be taken in the dialogues.

I'm going to start watching the final episode now, but I'm not excited because I know exactly what's going to happen, word for word.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
Needs to be as gritty, nasty and mean spirited as the game otherwise there's no point.

100% agreed! And I believe they'll deliver too.

" we couldn’t necessarily find significance for quite a bit of it, or [there was] concern that it would be repetitive. After all, you’re not playing it, you’re watching it"

They didn't want to spend a lot of money on the series, now they are making such a lie. Imagine that the same team make the God of War movie like this:



Although it is a series known for its story, it became a phenomenon on the twitter with its gameplay videos, especially with the part 2.

But I think the biggest problem is that they copied the series almost exactly. I watched the comparison videos of most of the scenes and found it odd that they didn't offer anything new, except the acting of course, to a person who played the game (plus the brokeback story). I would like them to expand on the story a little more in the second season, at least a little more risk can be taken in the dialogues.

I'm going to start watching the final episode now, but I'm not excited because I know exactly what's going to happen, word for word.


The fact that they kept most of it the same as the game is "THE" reason why the show is so good. It's the source material. Too many changes would lead it to being bad like most things based off of video games.
 
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ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
show is so good
I'm in the minority that doesn't think so. I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not that great, especially if you played the game. I can't play a game for a second time too. It was said in the previews that there were a lot of divergences from the game, so I started watching it, but it wasn't much different from watching a "all cutscenes" video.

Too many changes would lead it to being bad like most things based off of video games.
I don't think that's why gaming movies are bad, games usually have bad stories anyway. The Last of Us is one of the rare games with a good story.
 

Tripolygon

Banned
" we couldn’t necessarily find significance for quite a bit of it, or [there was] concern that it would be repetitive. After all, you’re not playing it, you’re watching it"

They didn't want to spend a lot of money on the series, now they are making such a lie. Imagine that the same team make the God of War movie like this:
It falls among some of the most expensive TV productions HBO has ever done. 10M per episode. Based on the quality of the production it is money well spent because it is now one of the most watched HBO series ever.
 

Raven117

Gold Member
As Neil said, the infected are plot devices that have to drive the characters or the story forward in major ways, and that's what they were there for throughout Season 1 of the show. Giving them screentime just for the sake of having a random action setpiece wouldn't make any sense, and I'm grateful that they didn't.
And I totally agree.

Action is not what gives TLOU depth...
 

skneogaf

Member
The infected just lie on the floor in the city, poor choices that made the TV show way worse than it needed to be.
 

Zimmy68

Member
I can easily see them doing another Joel and Ellie season with life in Wyoming. It would be sort of "outbreak of the week" like Walking Dead.
You don't want to waste Pedro's Joel for basically one episode.
Then season 3 would introduce Abby.
 

Dorohedoro

Member
I can easily see them doing another Joel and Ellie season with life in Wyoming. It would be sort of "outbreak of the week" like Walking Dead.
You don't want to waste Pedro's Joel for basically one episode.
Then season 3 would introduce Abby.
Doubt it, they said they weren't interested in filler and are diving straight into part 2. Doesn't necessarily mean he only gets one episode though. Then there's the flashbacks too of course.
 

kyliethicc

Member
Good. They need to establish Abby much better prior to what she does.
Nah. The mystery of who she is and want shes wants is great. Its where it is for a reason.

And the timing of the golf game needs to be later in the narrative.
The inciting incident of the story literally has to be at the beginning.


All they're saying is they can cover the entire story over like 2 seasons, maybe like 16-18 episodes. With the cliffhanger end of season 2 being her line in the theater: "And you wasted it." Credits. Find out what happens next season.

Not to mention that production wise, by keeping Abby's half of the story to season 3, it allows them to not have to cast certain characters until season 3 (Lev, Yara, Isaac, etc.) This helps with budget contraints.
 

FunkMiller

Member
Nah. The mystery of who she is and want shes wants is great. Its where it is for a reason.


The inciting incident of the story literally has to be at the beginning.


All they're saying is they can cover the entire story over like 2 seasons, maybe like 16-18 episodes. With the cliffhanger end of season 2 being her line in the theater: "And you wasted it." Credits. Find out what happens next season.

Not to mention that production wise, by keeping Abby's half of the story to season 3, it allows them to not have to cast certain characters until season 3 (Lev, Yara, Isaac, etc.) This helps with budget contraints.

Fair play. I just think a lot of the anger over what she does would have been muted if the game had spent more time with her, prior to the golf game. As it stands, the player is primed to despise her... which isn't great when you're required to play as her for many hours. They should have built more empathy for her.
 

MirageMew2

Member
I certainly wouldn’t call what we got a “healthy dose” of anything. If anything the show was very front-loaded in both lore and horror, before dialing it down to focus on the characters. Nine episodes was concise but definitely didn’t feel like enough. The show plays out like a NG+ easy mode speedrun.
 

consoul

Member
They need to establish Abby much better prior to what she does. And the timing of the golf game needs to be later in the narrative.
I don't know about that. Having Abby be an unknown quantity at the start is what makes the later reveal work.
 

ByWatterson

Member
I would say the show suffered from a lack of episodes. It really needed two more. The pacing just wasn't the best.

That said, it was pretty bizarre that after KC, Joel and Ellie ran into 0 infected. The show didn't do a good enough job establishing why a vaccine was so badly needed.

It needed the same number, but two they had shouldn't have been in there.

Bill/Frank and the Left Behind stuff are just NOT worthy of full episodes.
 

Spyxos

Member
If you only watch the series, you wonder why they even want to defeat the virus. The 2-3 scattered zombies are no real danger.

Joel is here also just a mass murderer who kills people who have already given up. This was shown much better in the game

And why is not mentioned in the series that before Ellie the operation was not successfully performed on many people? The game is for me a 10/10 the series maybe only a strong 7.
 
For those that are not aware. They already confirmed the last of us part 2 will have more than one season. I see them covering it in 2 seasons . 3 seasons will be overkill. I'm certain Joel is going to get his head smashed in the first few minutes of the third season . They going to do what they did with Glenn meeting the bat. Cliffhanger on season 2 finale and season 3 you will see the scene
 
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