True that was a big ask of two 19 yo actresses

Yeah not so great big ask of them that episode.

ep 7: Thirty minutes of filler time of watching teens playing in a shopping mall, no conclusion to Ellie and Riley's predicament at the end of playtime. Probably have to watch another padded episode now on for that. Not enough zombies shown.
The beginning and ending parts of the episode was good. On to ep 8,where I suppose we get to know another person intimately then watch them die soon afterwards.

This is feature, not a defect.

Show the infected when they need to be seen but otherwise focus on the characters. I agree that Ep.7 didn't completely work. I enjoyed it but it doesn't hold a candle to Ep.3.

If they filmed Ep.3 similar to how it went down in the game it would have been an all-action zombie shooting fest. Maybe more in-line with what you want out of the show but I would have hated it and maybe not continued with the show. I'd always take Ep.7 as it was done over more zombies.

Different strokes...

^ 100% agree.

The infected are being employed almost perfectly, established as a credible threat that looms over every situation but not being overused.

that's a great point. the presence of fungus is created mostly from set design combined with sparse but impactful acting...and obviously there's a pretty direct corollary between game architecture and film sets so they had a solid template from the start.

I think I didn't love the episode because:
*To me it was very clear they would kiss, it was too obvious. When I first realized it I thought 'ok they'll kiss in less than 5 minutes', took like another 20 minutes I think.
*Showing the zombie is so stupid because it means you know the attack is coming. I didn't remember the Ellie/Tess comment. Sure, even without seeing the zombie I would be 99,5% certain an attack was coming given the setting and timing of the episode, but it would've kept some tension there. Now it was 100% certain and that just killed that little extra tension that made the episode less exciting. It was 100% certain you knew exactly where this was going, there was 0,0% doubt.
*I also realllllllyyyyyyyyyyy hate the trope in television shows where a major cliffhanger is pushed forward 2 episodes instead of one due to a flashback or whatever. I think I remember Lost & Prison Break both doing it, and I'm certain I've seen it many more times. It's just a bad decision imo. Because of the cliffhanger they are not giving you, you also care less about the flashback, ultimately a episode no one will consider great or even like.

Still love the show and think E8 and E9 will be bangers. I also like the dedication from the writers to focus on characters in a show with a theme like this, where that's never or very rarely the case. Even if this episode was meh, that still gives me faith that this will be probably the GOAT zombie show once it's over and a show that will deserve its place amongst the all-time greats (though probably more top 50 than top 20).

Yeh, it seems like some writers are learning the wrong lessons from shows that release entire seasons at once.

At first that episode pissed me off. But the longer they put off the attack, the more I loved it. It became unbearable trying to figure out when they would get bit! That episode was also designed for cannabis. I'll have to rewatch.

@whether it becomes GOAT zombie show… I am more I hope it satisfies my walking dead fix for a couple of years

Well they made up for the slow pacing - full throttle in episode 8

Bella Ramsey was incredible in that episode.

So the Alec guy Joel supposedly killed was one of the raiders at the hospital?

Back to being very very good

Great episode. And definitely Bella Ramsey’s standout performance so far in the series. ****.

That was awesome

That was the one thing they did better than the game that was pretty much exactly like the game!!

Lordy that was amazing. Knowing they both wouldn't die and still feeling tension and suspense just underscores how great of an episode it was. And props to the actors and casting directors because I wanted to give everyone in that settlement a value meal they looked so gaunt.

Yes - that was the implication. The guys with logs that now have rifles were the hospital raiders.

… unless that is a misdirection (I don’t know, never played the game)

Next one is the final episode of S1? Interesting.

e8-Now we're talking. You don't need killer zombies when have that type of action. It was way over the top compared to other episodes. It's like a different kind of show for one episode. Had to suspend some disbelief about both of our heroes capabilities, but that's okay, considering what we saw hanging in the meat locker, yuck.

Yeah, I will say that Joel's rapid recovery from near-death to superhuman was a bit difficult to take, but not enough to keep this from being a really strong episode.

Hey, you're not allowed to talk about all the miracles that happen most every episode.

Of course, he could recover so quick after a couple shots and even walk 4 miles to the lodge, and of course there is nobody else around with a fire going on and can just take their time walking away.

And a few episodes ago, when it was nearly certain they would be killed/captured whatever, last second zombie apocalypse saved them.

That being said, it's a good show and I look forward to watching each week.

I think I saw there was 8 million viewers last episode.

Pretty sure it was 2 miles... 4 miles round trip

But it was uphill both ways.



Most super feat was the rapid backhand butcher knife pick and swing from Ellie (where she got the assistant guy in the neck)

I kind of like that they didn’t show the red head guy post rage kill… that had to be a mess

The “it’s ok, I believed him” from Joel was so cold hearted - badass scene there