August 26, 2025 • 60 mins
Fungi have always been the overlooked kingdom of pathogens. While we've obsessed over viral pandemics and bacterial superbugs, few considered how a simple fungal mutation could tear civilization apart. That's the terrifying premise anchoring "The Last of Us" – and what makes it so unnervingly plausible.
At its core, this brilliant adaptation isn't really about the cordyceps infection that transforms humans into mindless, clicking predators. It's about what remains human when everything else is lost. Pedro Pascal delivers a solid performance as Joel, a man hollowed out by grief after losing his daughter in the initial outbreak. When he reluctantly takes on the job of transporting Ellie (a perfectly cast Bella Ramsey) – a teenager mysteriously immune to infection – across a devastated America, neither expects how profoundly they'll change each other.
The show masterfully balances faithful recreation of the game's most iconic moments with meaningful expansions to the story. Episode 3's exploration of Bill and Frank's relationship transforms a minor game character into a love story. The practical effects bringing the infected to life – especially the terrifying Clickers – create genuinely nightmarish moments that honor the game's horror elements while adding new dimensions in live action. Most importantly, the gradual evolution of Joel and Ellie's relationship from reluctant traveling companions to surrogate father and daughter feels earned through shared trauma and genuine connection.
What lingers after watching isn't the apocalyptic setting or zombie-like threats, but the profound question at the heart of the story: In a world where humanity itself might be finished, what makes individual human connections worth fighting for? And when those connections conflict with the greater good, what choice would any of us make? The answer, as Joel discovers, isn't found in heroic sacrifice or logical calculation, but in that primal, irrational force that has always defined us – the capacity to love beyond all reason.
Twitter handles:
Project Geekology: https://twitter.com/pgeekology
Anthony's Twitter: https://twitter.com/odysseyswow
Dakota's Twitter: https://twitter.com/geekritique_dak
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/projectgeekology?igshid=1v0sits7ipq9y
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@projectgeekology
Geekritique (Dakota):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBwciIqOoHwIx_uXtYTSEbA
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to episode 130 of Project Geekology.
And here we are in.
You know, just a nice pristine.
You know year of 2003,.
You know nothing to worry about, actually, psych.
It is 2023 and we got zombiesor we got clickers outside.
We have nothing but the worldto worry about.
(00:22):
Nothing but the world to worryabout.
I am one third of your host.
Actually, there's only two ofus today, so I am one half of
your host Anthony and joining metoday is Rich.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We salute our fallen comrade, Not really.
He's just away on specialbusiness doing extra special
timeline research that I'm surehe'll regale us with on his way
back next week.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yes, yes, and you know I realized that I forgot to
say what we're covering today,but Rich and I are going to be
covering the Last of Us.
We're going to really juststick with the first game in the
first season, you know, becausethere's a you know those are.
I would say those are the morebeloved versions of the ip.
(01:06):
So we're just going to stick tothat, you know.
But before we hop into the lastof us rich, tell us what you
have been up to.
Hey, there, this is anthonyfrom the future.
I'm sorry if the audio is alittle different.
I'm recording just straightfrom the laptop.
I don't have my setup.
But if you are interested injust listening to the meat of
(01:30):
the conversation, go over to 10minutes and 13 seconds, and that
is when the discussion starts.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
I actually just got back from the state capitol, so
that that was fun.
I went down to washington dc,checked out a couple of uh
museums down there, into thelibrary of congress, the
national archives, the air andspace museum.
I accidentally wore a star warsshirt when I walked in there
but then felt like it wasappropriate and uh, we.
Of course this might be a shockto all you guys, but I went to
(01:59):
a baseball game.
It felt mean because it was theonly game of the series the
Mets won against the Nationals,but it was a drubbing uh.
The Mets won like nine to one.
Their starting pitcher wentalmost the entire game and I
happened to sit on the thirdbase side in a giant group of
Met fans, so you just heardresounding let's go, mets chants
(02:22):
.
I actually felt bad for thefans there.
There were a couple of them whowere pretty good natured, but
they were sitting in the middleof the group and it was kind of
crazy.
So that was a pretty good time.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Now, did you go to Washington DC just to see that
game?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I do not.
I would rather not confirm ordeny.
No, I mean we were picking aspot for vacation and yes, I
mean there's a very specificreason why we went those days
right Because the Mets wereplaying the Nationals.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Oh, okay, so you lined up your vacation with that
game so that you could go.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So not only is baseball something that you live
, it's also a place that youvacation to.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well, there's 30 stadiums and we're doing the 30
stadium chase.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
The chase for 30.
Okay, so where have you beenout of all 30?
Like number wise, how many haveyou been to?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
uh, so as a family we've been to seven and then
I've personally been to 10because I have doubles in new
york.
So I have doubles for theyankees and doubles for the Mets
.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Okay, so you've been to a third.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, I mean I haven't really gone out on the
West Coast yet.
That's going to be.
We're going to have to take alook at that one one day.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
All righty, Anything else.
What else did you do inWashington DC?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
We just went around checked out a bunch of statues,
some architecture.
I just went around checked outa bunch of statues, some
architecture, ate a whole bunchwalked a lot.
It was pretty nice, but I'mtelling you, there were a lot of
Met fans walking around theCapitol and nobody was scared.
I'm not sure if it was becauseof all the extra security, but
there were lots of Met fans justroaming around the Capitol.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
They were also chasing the 30.
I think it was the WashingtonDC DC area that I remember
coming down.
So I was up in New York withDakota and I came down with them
.
When they drove down one time,uh with uh, it was like his
brothers and I and his dad and Ithink that we were like in
(04:19):
traffic in the DC area and likethere was ice on the road or
like packed down snow on theroad and we kind of got stuck.
So Dakota and I had to like getout and like push the car, like
rock it a little bit to helpdislodge it.
Dude, that was dude in themiddle of traffic.
That was so annoying, thatsounds insane, it was.
But I mean, we had to.
(04:40):
You know, we had to dosomething.
Dakota's dad was, you know.
Obviously he has to, like youknow, drive the car forward so
we all had to like get out andlike rock the car, to like get
it to move.
But your florida boys in thesnow, well, well, by then dakota
and then the the rest of themwere used to that.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But yeah, I was the florida boy in the snow so, uh,
what did you get up to this lastweek?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
uh, no, honestly, nothing too insane today as of
recording.
I binge watched a whole bunchof the last of us there was.
There's a couple, there's a fewepisodes that I still needed to
watch.
So I would say like fourepisodes and like I just
shotgunned, like binge them forthe whole day today.
But yeah, no, I know that I'mprobably going to remember at
(05:23):
some point that I did something,but I mean, yeah, no, I don't
think, not that I, you know,obviously, like I gamed, oh, I
did mess with you guys or Dakotayesterday when they announced
in the upcoming Overwatch seasonthat there is going to be a
Persona collaboration, so youdon't have to mess with Dakota
(05:45):
with that.
I mean, come on, man, he knowswhat I'm about that Persona life
.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Just maybe one day.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
One of these days.
We're going to get him onPersona One of these days, One
day.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
It might be in the near future or far in advance.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I actually do have a future episode that I would like
to do with you guys and I'mpretty sure it's going to be a
gaming episode and I'm prettysure dakota would be on board
with this but I want to discussthe og battlefront, the star
wars battlefront games oh nice,did you play those?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
yeah, I did.
And then, uh, what was the lastone?
The last one had it was I wasvery thrown off because the
actress who was like the mainvillain I think that you fought
against my um, I, I think it'sedian versio.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yes, the you, so you actually play as her yeah, okay,
she like transitions from theempire over to the, to the, the
rebel alliance she was in theshow the league.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
The league was a show about a bunch of degenerates
who played fantasy footballtogether and the terrible things
they would do to each other,and they named their trophy
after a girl they had a crush onin high school, so they called
it the shiva bowl and she wasshiva.
So I turned the game on andit's like such a such a crazy
thing where I was like whoa,whoa, wait a minute, that's
(07:10):
shiva.
And now it always weirds me outwhen, like I mean with sam
whitworth, I think I've done thesame thing where his face is
actually in the game.
So I I always find it crazywhen we actually have, you know,
not like when they make a movieand then they make the game
after the movie, but when, like,a character is actually just
(07:31):
written for a game and the actorjust you know, well, I, I think
, I, I think.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
For me I was off put when I saw him in the star wars
game, because I had seen him inmedia prior to that, like he was
always casted as like a vampire, you know wasn't he?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I think he had been in Smallville when the game came
out.
I I'm hoping maybe, but he'sdefinitely in Smallville.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
You know, I'm watching through.
I haven't come across him yet,but there might be a possibility
that he's in that.
But yeah, he's definitely.
I've seen him in a handful ofthings, but yeah, no, that, no,
that's interesting.
But yeah, no, I definitely I'veseen him in a handful of things
, but yeah, no, no, that'sinteresting.
But yeah, no.
I would say, overall, for me ithasn't been too insane.
I've been playing overwatch,I've been playing world of
(08:15):
warcraft.
I'm kind of like in a routinewith, like you know, flipping
between both of those games andactually, after we finish up
recording today, I'm going to beheading out and going to be
playing magic the gathering withsome friends nice yeah, just
diving deep into that, thatnerdiness man being away, sadly
(08:37):
I wasn't able to game much.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I did bring the switch one but I ended up.
Not, I've been trying to man,I've been trying to finish out
Breath of the Wild, just gettingevery shrine that I can find.
So I know I can beat Ganon, butI really just I'm not going to
get all the Korok seeds.
It's too much work.
That's kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You're a completionist, you want to go
the full way.
I generally do?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I mean, the only game I haven't been able to complete
I think is Red Dead.
Not 100%, because to complete Ithink is red dead, uh, not come
like not a hundred hundredpercent, because part of it's
like you have to.
Let's say, have you know, acertain amount of headshots on
this mission and I don't reallyplay for those things.
So I'll never get a hundredpercent but I'm pretty close
(09:20):
with like most of the, the peltsand things like that the
legendary animals.
I'm starting to actually pay waymore attention to the birds
this time, so that's been newI'm also, so I kind of feel you
on that there.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
There's certain things in games that I really
just don't care for.
I don't care for racing andgames that aren't racing games.
I don't care for time trials.
The only game that I would saythat I actually really went and
platinum because I love the gameso much, was that first
spider-man game that came out, Ithink back in 2018 is it?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
was it yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
so I actually platinum that game just because
it was like the definitivespider-man experience and I was
like, yeah, I'm a platinum thisI platinum all the spider-man
games.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
I platinum the lego games.
I will not stop with thosegames.
If it's a reasonable platinum,I will probably do it now.
I have also no compunctionsabout going online and, like you
know, oh, you need this video.
Where's the next bag?
Where's the next bag?
Like the hidden backpacks andstuff in spider-man?
Like I had no problems lookingup where they all were, you know
(10:30):
, but it will sit there andplatinum the game if it's
reasonable yeah, yeah, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
So I don't know if you're, if you are ready, but
did you want to hop into themeat of the conversation?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
man, the last of us let's go, let's jump into this
like some quarter steps.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Is it the last of us?
Or you know like how many?
You know how many of their like?
There's just the amount theykeep on coming out with the last
of us games and there's justmore and more people so like who
is the last of us?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
it's very unclear.
I mean and, and also us is sucha nebulous word.
So I mean it could be, you know, two, or obviously it could be
many.
I think this is what happenswhen, uh, you know, we can't use
uh chat, gbt and uh our cellphones to figure out where
people are so, so I I want toknow a little bit about, like
your relationship with the lastof us.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Did you hop into the game before the show or did you
just watch the show?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
So I remember when the game first came out, my
friend got it and he said, oh,this game is really cool, you
should check it out.
And I didn't buy it.
And he came over and I rememberjust being way too afraid when
I was playing it and I thinkthat because I wasn't great at
it, because I was so afraid, Istarted nitpicking certain
(11:48):
gameplay mechanics.
As I'm watching I'm like, ohconvenient, there's always a
plank of wood whenever ellieneeds to swim across somewhere.
Or oh convenient, there arealways ladders everywhere, right
, like I don't know why I wasattacking the game so much, but
I was.
I didn't play it the firstrelease.
I want to say I played it wayafter, when it became a greatest
(12:12):
hit on PlayStation.
I didn't get the remasteredversion.
It's like I got gypped out.
I feel like I got the versionbefore the remastered version.
Just before it I had gotten itwhatever.
Before the remastered version,like just before it, I had
gotten it whatever.
And I think that because I gotit for free from, like the
monthly downloads or something,they didn't let me just get the
upgrade.
So before the series started, Imade a point to definitely play
(12:35):
it through and I think I playedit through twice before I got
to see the show okay, cool.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, so I'm actually with you on that.
I didn't get it when it firstcame out.
I actually never owned a ps3 inthat era.
I was more into the xbox 360.
I really felt like the xbox 360was.
I was in the time where I wasgaming with friends a lot and I
felt like the xbox liveexperience was like the better
(13:01):
online experience.
I think that when it came toconnecting with friends and like
I just felt like their serverswere better, so I hadn't gotten
the ps3.
That was like the oneplaystation that I never got.
I had the one, I had the two, Ihad the four and the five, but
I never got the three.
So it was when I got the four.
(13:22):
When I got PS4, they had aversion that came out for the
PS4, but it wasn't a remasteredversion.
I think it was kind of upscaled.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I think we played the same one because I had an Xbox
360 too, so I think this makessense.
I think I played that versionthat you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Okay, yeah, so I always knew I wanted to play it
because I thought it looked cooland it's a Naughty Dog game.
I like the Naughty Dog gamesthey have Uncharted, they have
Jak and Daxter.
I grew up on those and it justlooks really good.
And it just looked really goodand so when I finally got into
(14:09):
it, I think I played it, maybe2017, maybe 2016, 2017 around.
That time was when I actuallysat down and played it.
My mind was blown, like I wasso drawn into the story I I was
like man, this is a story drivenvideo game like this is like
you're playing through a movieor you're playing through a tv
(14:31):
show.
So I was really blown away and Iabsolutely loved it and so,
yeah, man, like, and then,obviously, when the second one
came out, like I was a day one,like, that was a day one acquire
for me, I went for it because Iwas like, I love this game, the
story is amazing.
I need to get the second one.
You know we'll, we'll keep thesecond one for I think we'll
(14:54):
talk about it, because there'sstill more to be told as far as
the show, because there'sanother season that has to cover
another aspect for the secondgame.
So, but we have a completedfirst season, you know, for the
first game.
So when the show came out, youknow, I was really, I was a
little nervous because I waslike, you know, I really hope
(15:15):
that they do well with this,because this is a game that
means a lot to me and the storyis really good.
And I was pleasantly surprisedthat they kept with pretty much
like All the major story beatsand then they filled in
information that was not in thegames.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, and then even I don't want to do spoiler stuff,
but I will just say that I meanwe can, I mean the Last of Us
Season 1.
What I mean is for there werethings from the first game that
were missing from the firstseason In terms of Interacting
with the environment.
That then is addressed from thefirst season right in terms of
(15:55):
interacting with the environment.
That then is addressed in thesecond season.
So it made my kind of, becausethere was one of the few things
that made me angry was just oneof the environmental changes
that occurs in the first one interms of the spores.
So it was just kind of onething that I thought that was
weird.
They left out of season one,but then I thought they did a
good job of incorporating seasontwo oh okay, yeah, no, no, I
know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I do like that.
The first season of the showdoes a really good job at
explaining the cordyceps and Idid, I like like right, right,
and was just like, oh wow, thisis really cool because you know,
the existence of cordycepsexists and the ones that he was
(16:38):
talking about, the zombie antsthat's a real fungus, it's like
you know.
And in his explanation that it'slike you know, the world got
warmer and so it had to adaptand then it adapted to where it
could, like you know, take overa human's body.
You know or not that it could.
At that point it was like Ithink in the 1960s was that clip
(17:00):
?
He was saying that that's whereit's headed, that it could end
up in that, you know, at thatpoint, and I mean, that's
exactly what happened, that'sexactly what happened.
So I really liked that they hadthose clips that explained
cordyceps and then you know,kind of like where the start of,
of where it happens, and thenadding that whole Jakarta scene
(17:24):
where and then, like the lady islike no, we got to bomb
everybody, or this is going toget out of hand.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I loved the little.
What is it that?
I think it's that, joel, hewasn't on a diet, he's
gluten-free and that's why theyhadn't been getting bread Right
Like that little, becausethey're kind of explaining that
it's kind of in the bread rightand all that kind of stuff and
he's gluten-free, so they getthe gluten-free stuff and that's
(17:49):
not affected.
The cordyceps didn't get intothe flour or whatever.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Right, right, right, like there's like no yeast or
yeah and I thought that that wassuch a little tiny.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
It's just a.
I love that kind of littlebackground stuff that you can
hear that later.
You're like, oh okay, rightyeah it's, it's, it's not in
your face, right?
It's just such a casual littlething like I think his daughter
complains about it or something,and you know he's like, oh,
whatever, you know, and he makesup, you know, he, he defends
(18:25):
himself to an extent and I Ithink that that's just a smart
way of showing us how they mayhave avoided it when everybody
else was exposed to it right,right.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
And then something that that's different between
the game and the show is thetime gap.
So in the game it came out in2013, so the outbreak happens in
2003, and then it jumps up to2013, and then, you know, this
is where the main game happens.
But in the show it jumps up 20years to 2023, which is the year
(19:00):
that it aired.
So I mean, we had a prettymassive, like time skip.
So, like, instead of havinglike a joel in his 40s, we have
a joel in his 50s, so he's alittle older yeah, and I I mean
I think it works.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I mean pedro pascal does a great job.
I mean he was fantastic castingfor joel.
I don't remember if there wasany discussion about other
people doing it.
I can't think of any actors offthe top of my head that I would
have rather had in this role.
I mean, looking back on it now,obviously there's a little
(19:35):
Pedro fatigue.
I love the man, but I'm sick ofhim being.
We talked about this on theFantastic Four episode, but I'm
a huge Last of Us fan.
He's in Last of Us.
I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan.
He's in Game of Thrones.
I'm a huge Marvel fan.
He's in Marvel.
It's like, come on, buddy, Ineed you to be one person.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yeah, maybe take a little bit of a break and let
somebody else, I guess, take thespotlight, yeah, but yeah, I
agree.
What are your thoughts on BellaRamsey?
She was also in Game of Thrones.
There was a bit of a pushbackbecause of you know that she
doesn't look as much like ellie.
(20:14):
I mean, pedro doesn't look toomuch like joel, but he's close
enough, I guess.
But bella, her face I mean youknow very much, so it doesn't
look like ellie you listen.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
I mean, you know, you and I both know why there was
so much backlash, right, it'sjust like people were crushing
on her in the video game andthey were like that's not my
crush, you know, and it's youknow.
There was also, I mean, Iremember, in witcher they
changed, you know, jen'scharacter.
I think looks very differentthe actress in the in the show
(20:47):
than does in the game and itdoesn't really have any impact
on the story at all for me,other than you know that I was
crushing on on her in the videogame, you know, and I was like,
hey, that looks like that looksdifferent than my crush, you
know.
But I take to the internet tobe like this is absurd.
I wasn't that upset about itand in this case you, I know her
(21:11):
as the badass girl from BearIsland.
You know who, or sorry, she's, Ithink it's Bear Island, the
Mormont family.
So she's the last of theMormonts when they're kind of
going to battle against I thinkit's Cersei's army at first, but
then the White Walkers and theyhave like 12 men but she like
very fiercely pledges for them.
(21:32):
So when I saw her being cast Iwas like, well, she plays a
little badass really well, youknow, I mean, you know, I mean,
I think she even goes to battlein the show like she's a pretty
big badass.
So I thought that, in terms of,can the actor handle that type
(21:53):
of like being a badass?
Yeah, I thought that that wasgoing to be the really easy part
.
If anything, I was worriedabout whether she would hit the
emotional beats, because Ihadn't seen her do that before
right, right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So I didn't really get upset when I saw the casting
.
For me it's just like as long asshe looks close enough to the
character but if you get thethat, you have to get that
personality down right, and Ithink that she does a really
good job at getting ellie'spersonality.
So does pedro with joel'spersonality.
(22:29):
Even the actor that portraystos, tommy, does a really good
job at portraying his character.
So, yeah, like, let's talk alittle bit about, like you know,
the beginning of the story.
You know we get where it startsus off, in 2003, in both the
game and the show.
And Joel he's just living hislife out with his brother,
(22:51):
they're contractors, and theoutbreak happens and then we get
something really tragic thathappens to joel.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
That really builds up for what happens throughout the
game, you know, in the showyeah, I think they do a really
good job of kind of setting,sending the in both versions.
They they do a good job ofworld building and, you know,
kind of quickly getting you tounderstand what it was like
before you're going to get flashforward into what it is.
(23:20):
I think that, like, the falloutseries did a really good job of
that too right, because it'sstill kind of our world.
But they have to establish theparameters and I thought that
they did a good job of that withthe 1970s video and the jakarta
stuff.
And then joel's you know hisdaughter and everything and kind
of the tragedy that he goesthrough with her and how he's a
different man.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
You know he's a very he just seems like a regular dad
who's trying to protect his kid.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
You know he doesn't seem like he's a badass, I can't
remember.
Does he display some gun skillsat the beginning?
But either way, it's nothinglike you know, nothing that we
know of him in the future right,right, yeah, no, it's.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
It is both like heartbreaking in both the game
and the tv show you know to seehis daughter being.
You know she gets shot, I guesslike the army's just trying to
like fend them to get away, butI mean it's still sad to see
that she gets shot in that thatwhole process and then she gets
killed.
And so, yeah, like you know, weflash forward and, yeah, joel,
(24:23):
the world is hardened.
You know he's in, he's in aBoston kind of DMZ kind of area.
You know it's everything's kindof locked down.
You have this militaristicgroup that has taken control of
this area and, yeah, I mean Joelhas been hardened by life.
(24:46):
You know, obviously grief did alot and then just going through
dealing with the zombies andthen dealing with raiders and
the fireflies and everything, sothere's just a lot that goes on
in this world that really wouldharden somebody.
So, yeah, no, I really do likefeel for joel.
I understand why he's kind ofyou know, just kind of on edge
(25:11):
and so, yeah, like I reallyenjoy seeing how his character
evolves throughout the show andand the game yeah, I mean, I
think obviously the game is ableto do it a little bit
differently, so that's becauseyou're experiencing it as if
it's you.
You're playing this character.
(25:32):
So in a way the story might bethe same for everybody, but the
experience is different for eachperson.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, and that's.
I think, like you know, hisdaughter dying at the beginning,
you know, is obviously sad, butbecause of the nature of the
way the story is being told, youfeel I mean, as a parent, yeah,
I feel bad for him because Ican, I can sympathize, but I
don't truly know his daughterwell enough to care particularly
(26:01):
.
And I think that when you'replaying as the character, you're
like oh no, that's me.
You know there's a little bitmore.
You know, not, I'm not, I don'thave a dissociative personality
, I'm not like, oh yeah, that'suh, you know, that's my daughter
.
I can't believe she died, youknow, but but you do feel more
of a connection, I think.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yeah, yeah, I do like that.
They expanded her a little bitmore, I guess, to develop a
little bit more of a connection,because you didn't get too much
of her in the game, you know.
But they try to add her alittle bit more and I think that
I think that there are certainaspects that they wanted to
improve upon from the game andthen that's why we got those
(26:40):
clips of, you know, about thescientists talking about the
cordyceps and then the wholejakarta thing, and so I I really
do appreciate those additionsto the show that really, like
adds to the lore, we have Ellie,who you know she's an orphan,
she has no family.
You know she's got these peoplethe Fireflies that they want to
(27:04):
transport her to another groupof scientists within the Firefly
organization.
You know there's differentgroups, there's different sects
of fireflies, and so the one inboston, you know joel, kind of
gets wrapped up into beingsomebody that you know he gets
to the point to where he has todeliver her, and so yeah, like
(27:26):
you know, ellie is just, youknow she's hardened, she's,
she's gone through a really hardtime in of her life too, and so
when you kind of get to knowellie and joel a little bit you
get to realize that they're kindof like they're two sides of
the same coin.
They're very similar.
You know joel sees her as thislittle girl but she's been
(27:48):
hardened.
You know he tries to put somecomparisons.
You know that you know with hisdaughter but she's very
different from his daughter.
She has been kind ofbattle-hearted a little bit in
life.
I mean, she's grown up in likea really crappy world yeah, I
know it's completely different.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
You know I mean we joke about it here.
We live not far from a littleharbor and uh, we, whenever I
think about I'm like you know,zombie apocalypse.
You know I talk to my familyabout it.
You know my wife's like look,you're gonna have to make the
hard choice and you can't takeme with you if you want our son
to live, because I'm gonna beuseless.
And uh, you know, like he's notgonna be the little boy who, uh
(28:29):
, just likes to go to met games.
He's gonna be the little boywho just likes to go to Met
Games.
He's going to be the little boywho watched his dad have to
take his mom out before theyleft the house and tried to live
amongst the zombies.
So I just think that she'sgoing to be a completely
different person than his actualdaughter because she's grown up
in a completely different timeperiod.
(28:51):
What's really danger and whatyou can do, period, uh, you know
what's really danger and youknow what you can do and how you
can experiment with growing up,all righty.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Yeah, if you hear some, if you hear some thunder
in the background.
Yeah, we got some uh thundergoing on, man it's.
It's kind of crazy.
Right now florida is beingflorida.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Yeah, man, florida is just being, florida was being
florida.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah, man, florida's just being florida man.
So what I was talking about wasthat the show added this whole
section.
They added like that wholesection where they meet this
group in one of the cities thatthey go through and joel ends up
killing the son of the I alwaysforget her name the lady that's
(29:31):
in charge of this group oh yes,I can't remember her name
either for some reason.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, I mean, it's a little.
I think it's a little easier tounderstand in the game because
you're reading, like you'rereading some of the missives and
you're you know, I think you'regetting a little bit more about
the groups and why joel mightbe distrustful of them right,
right, yeah, because the groupthat that is in charge of boston
(29:59):
is they're called fedra and youknow they're a little bit more
of like the remnants of like theold worlds, but not everybody
likes that.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
You know, you have groups like this one that Joel
and Ellie come across, and thenthere's also Raiders and you
also have like cultists.
You know there's just so muchgoing on and so, yeah, like this
is a new group that was addedto the show.
One of the cool things is thatthe lady's name was Kathleen and
(30:30):
this happens in Kansas City.
That the lady's name wasKathleen and this happens in
Kansas City, and so herright-hand man, perry, is played
by Jeffrey Pierce and heactually does the voice of Tommy
in the game.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Yeah, they did that a couple other times, I think,
later in the series.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Yes, I was really happy that they snuck in a good.
Well, they didn't sneak them in, they did sneak in one.
But like you have um later inthe series, you have ashley
johnson that cameos as ellie'smother and she's the voice of
ellie.
You also have Troy Baker whoplays James, and he's in like
(31:13):
that cultist group, troy Bakeris the voice of Joel.
You also get Laura Bailey, whichLaura Bailey doesn't come in
until the second game, but shecameos as one of the Firefly
nurses later in the show.
But it's really cool that theyincorporated all of these
characters that were in the game, that they incorporated their
(31:38):
voice talent into the show.
You also had Merle Dandridge,so the leader of the Fireflies
in Boston is Marlene.
And so she plays a role.
She's the one that does thehandoff of Ellie to Joel, and so
she she's actually the voice inthe game and she actually plays
(32:00):
her character in the show.
So I was.
I thought that that was really,really cool yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I mean, you know, we've also seen, like you know,
in Star Wars, I think, boca tan,uh, the voice actress was able
to be in the show.
So I mean, sometimes it doesn't, you know, sometimes maybe just
for I mean, obviously ashleyjohnson's older than they want
lx to be portrayed in the showand everything, so I'm gonna go
that way.
But to find a spot for them, Ithink is it's a really nice way
(32:30):
of them acknowledging theimportance those people had,
because if the voice actorshadn't been as good as they were
, maybe the game doesn't takeoff the way it does right, right
, no, no, I agree.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
And so, dude, let me tell you one of the episodes
that like and these charactersare in the show, I think it's
sam and henry that they comeacross.
That episode always wrecks me,dude, that episode is really
hard to watch.
Yeah, and I, I can imagine youas a father like that must be a
(33:04):
tough watch, and I'm not afather myself but, like you know
, I have, like, young familymembers and you know just the
interaction, the relationshipthat is built throughout.
You know they have it in thegame and in the show.
They make him younger yeah he'sa little bit older in the game,
(33:26):
but they make him younger in theshow and so, ellie, you know
how it's almost like a youngbrother kind of dynamic with
ellie and sam, and you know samthe, and let me tell you, the
actor that portrayed sam was sogood yeah he was so good and
like he was adorable and he wasreally like.
(33:47):
You know, they made him deaf andso and he, the actual actor
himself, was deaf, and so Ithought that was like a really
interesting dynamic that theyadded.
Yeah, man, that episode isreally really tough because,
yeah, you see that thatfriendship that grows, that
blossoms, that relationship,they, you know, they go through
(34:08):
some.
Especially, they added thatwhole scene with the stand down
between Kathleen and her groupand then, all of a sudden, a
bunch of clickers come out ofnowhere with a bloater.
That scene is so insane thatthey had added that scene
because I thought it was like areally great addition.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
The one scene that I think it was a weird addition is
I'm pretty sure it's thisseason, it's the I mean Tess
gets kissed by the Cordyceps,like the Cordyceps comes out of
her mouth.
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Earlier in the season .
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
That was like, and she just like sits there
horrified and doesn't move.
I was like, all right, I meanyou know definitely something
made for the show, that you knowobviously this is all
make-believe, but there's stillstuff that you're like what, why
doesn't she move?
That's so weird.
She just kind of like acceptshim as her prom date.
But some, some of the scenes arereally true to the game yeah
(35:07):
and you know, I think season two, I think, has a couple of
things that are really I wasreally happy that they.
They got it kind of I'll sayright, and it looks like they're
right they're building.
Obviously I think they'regetting more money a little bit.
So the second season seemed tohave like a kind of more
grandiose set pieces and yeah,yeah, no, of course, of course.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yeah, like, if you have a successful first season,
you're definitely gonna get abigger budget on the second one.
So but yeah, no, no, yeah.
So with sam, you know sam getsinfected during like that whole
like kerfuffle with the walkers,and then you see that sam gets
bit and a dude let me tell youthat.
(35:51):
And then that that interaction,dude, like I like my heart
freaking broke when he wrotedown if you turn into a monster,
are you still you in the inside?
Dude, I was just like you know,like, because there had been
some distance between the lasttime I played the game and when
I watched the show.
(36:12):
So I remember the characters,but I didn't exactly remember
how things went down.
And so when that whole thingwent down, like dude, it it
broke my heart.
Sam turns into a walker, andthen henry being the one to
shoot him and it all happened sofast, you know like it's all
(36:33):
reactionary.
And then the crushing guilt ofwhat happened falling on Henry
and then him turning the gun onhimself.
That episode, like dude, issuch a hard watch because you
grow to like these characters,especially Sam, you know,
because you have, you know,ellie doesn't really have that
many people that are close toher age, but joel has that all
(36:56):
around him.
You know, like he he can kindof he connects a little bit with
henry, even though henry's alittle bit younger, but henry is
still like a father figure tohis brother, whereas joel
becomes a father figure to ellieit's tough, man, you gotta turn
those you.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Once they get infected, you got to they're not
your family anymore.
That's the hard truth in kindof this world and you know.
That's why for such a long timeJoel had no attachments, you
know, because life was waysimpler.
I mean, you got to rememberthat everybody can be your worst
enemy in two seconds, and Ithink the addition of making him
(37:33):
deaf even goes to show that.
Like I mean, think about it,clickers right, being able to
hear them is a defense right.
So you don't have that.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
You know henry has to be extra vigilant for both, you
know right, right, yeah, andand honestly, like on the topic
of clickers, like they nailed,oh yeah so good and like the
interactions and the things thatthey do.
They even like use some of themethods of of like navigating
around them like they do in thegames, like you know, tossing
(38:05):
bottles and stuff.
So, yeah, I thought that thatwas yeah, they did really great.
They did really good with thebloater too.
Just the some of the practicaleffects that they had in this
show were really really good.
I am really really glad when Istart to see more practical
effects.
I understand that cgi is morecost effective, but practicality
(38:27):
looks a lot better sometimes,not all the time.
If you could do it right, thenyeah, but like, if not, then
just go the cgi route.
The walkers look really reallygood, especially the clickers
they added.
So they changed bill a littlebit, bill and frank.
They added like a whole episodeand kind of expanded a little
(38:49):
bit more on them.
What were your thoughts of likethat addition from the game to
the show?
Because I mean, that was prettymuch like a whole episode of
something that we didn't evenhave in the game.
We had Bill.
There was Bill and Frank, but Ithink at the point where you
get to the game I think Frankwas already gone and you don't
(39:10):
know the nature of therelationship in the game I
thought it was really well done.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
I mean, I think it gave us a slice into what normal
life looked like at a certainpoint during the outbreak, you
know, and how the stress of thatworld can impact relationships.
And I think that, if I rememberthe pacing of the season, it
(39:37):
came in a good place where itkind of allowed the audience to
take a breath between the nextseries of events and I guess
like it also allowed them tokind of like travel from it.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
There's like travel time in that period of time.
And then it explained theircharacters and then explained
kind of why Joel went to thisplace, right, you know, because
like if he would have popped upthere and just been like, yeah,
you know, this is my buddy.
You know it's Bill and Frank'splace, but you don't know who
they are.
Right, you know it's Bill andFrank's place, but you don't
(40:12):
know who they are.
Right, you know he's not deadin the game when you meet him,
but he's dead when Joel andEllie get to that point.
You know that Frank gets sick,and so they kind of go out
together.
Essentially.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Yeah, I thought that was really well done.
I mean, I know some peoplecomplained about that episode,
but I thought it added more tothe story so I didn't have any
issue with it and so, yeah,we're kind of like hopping
around, which, I mean, is thenature of our podcast.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
We always hop around, but then, you know, we get
there.
There's that point where joelgets injured in in a scuffle
with some raiders and ellie kindof has to like take care of him
.
That's in the game, you know.
I remember that in the game andthis is where you kind of like
navigate.
Uh, you play as ellie for alittle while and, yeah, you know
(41:03):
we have these cultists, youknow, and then troy baker, which
is kind of facing off againsthis real life counterpart, like
you know, like he voices thecharacter, so like he's facing
off against the character thathe voices.
For what did you think aboutthat interaction?
You know that that how they didthat whole sequence.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
I thought it was really good because I had
forgotten why I should be scared.
I think at first had forgottenwhy I should be scared, I think
at first.
So you know it doesn't.
I don't think it quite hits thesame because I think in that
portion of the game you'repretty freaked out by that point
in the game you know howdangerous everything is around
you.
And now you're not joel, you'reellie.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, a little bit more vulnerable.
They always make the smallercharacters a little bit more
vulnerable.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
So I think that that was really.
I don't think there's any waythey could have kind of made it
the same, but I thought theinteraction was really good and
I thought that the cabin sceneor the lodge scene when it's
burning, I thought that wassuper well done and I actually
thought that bella ramsey cameoff to me as see, this is where
(42:17):
I think her casting works well,because I don't think I was ever
I never was scared of ellie.
Like you know, she starteddoing darker things, but I guess
the character model is alwaysso cheery looking I mean still
has sad face sometimes but justwhen Bella is able to kind of
(42:38):
escape Troy and as she's likegoing crazy on him, there's
something about you know the waythe character is like
unraveling, right, you could seethe actor.
You could see Bella Ramseyunraveling and kind of see the
actor.
You could see bella ramseyunraveling and right kind of
kind of going into madness,right where I don't think there
was ever a time where and I mean, we've seen ellie do some
(42:58):
things, but I don't know.
There it's something about the,the way the hair is poking up
and and the way the blood isspattered and and I don't know.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
There's something to be said she was in true like
fight or flight mode.
And like in that instance, likeshe knew that, like she was,
either she was going to die ifshe either did not get out or if
she didn't fight.
She was at a point where shehad no choice, she had to fight.
You know, and really think Imean obviously there's been a
(43:27):
build up to this point,obviously there's been a
build-up to this point.
But I feel like it's after thiswhere you really feel joel and
ellie lock into that father anddaughter dynamic.
There's always kind of been adynamic building up to it.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
But like you really really feel, because he embraces
her and he calls her baby girlyeah, and I think that the show
was more effective in getting usto see that Ellie's going down
a very dark path.
Because you're killing so manypeople in the game, you have to
kill people, right?
I feel like I play tons ofgames where I kill people, but
(44:07):
if I keep the killing to aminimum, I feel better.
Right, like in Red Dead, Igenerally don't kill random NPCs
.
I don't really rob the trainsunless I'm forced to.
I don't rob the stagecoachesunless I'm forced to.
But, like, if I do somethingand somebody's going to go rat
me out like they're aneyewitness, I'm like, well'm
(44:29):
gonna have to kill them, youknow, and I and I try and I
don't even feel too bad about itas I dump their body on on a on
a campfire, like savagely, tomake sure there's no evidence.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Oh man, so you're taking snitches.
Get stitches to the whole new,new level oh yeah snitches get
roasted oh, no, uh.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
I, if I, if I have to kill somebody in red dead, I'm
going to burn them.
You don't bring them to thealligator.
I will do that.
I really don't want to turnthis into how many.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
The Red Dead podcast.
No, I get it.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
But when you're playing as Ellie and you're
playing as Joel, there's nobodyreally in the game that I feel
like you kill and you reallyterribly feel bad about, because
even in the game, when you getto the last, you know when
Joel's about to break her out,right when he figures out what's
going on, you're like I gottaget Ellie right, like that's
(45:24):
what you're thinking as theplayer.
So I'm not.
I'm like, yeah, I got some AKs.
Now you know I'm excited aboutthat.
So, yeah, I'm not.
I'm like, yeah, I got some AKs.
Now, you know, I'm excitedabout that and I don't, I didn't
feel bad about killingeverybody in that facility
Because by that point in thegame I'm so connected to her and
, right right, the show does areally good job.
I think of kind ofdemonstrating how dark both of
(45:49):
them are in a way that I don't.
I think of the nature of youbeing the player.
You don't feel that way right,right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
So when you're experiencing it it's easy to
kind of glaze over stuff, butwhen you're an actual like
observer, you can always pick up, like you know, any subtle
nuances or anything that likejust the very smallest of like,
just detail.
(46:17):
And that's why I say like joeland ellie are very much so two
sides of the same coin, exceptone is a 14 year old girl and
the other is a 36 year old man,or in the show of 56 year old
man.
So it's we're no, he's 46 in inthe in the game, because it's
(46:39):
it's 10 years later, yeah butyeah, I really feel like one of
the biggest things.
So this game takes place in thezombie apocalypse.
You have zombies, clickers,everything going on, but it's
very much so like a backdrop tothis game.
I feel like the biggest thingabout this game is that it's
like found family ellie finds afather figure and joel and joel
(47:05):
almost gets like a second chancein a way with having a daughter
because she's about the sameage as his daughter when she got
killed yeah, and I mean I'vealways argued on both the show
in the game that if thefireflies had just talked to her
beforehand, things would havebeen wildly, wildly different oh
, right, right, yeah, I guessthey didn't want to tell her the
(47:28):
truth of the fact that, likeyou know, she's gonna be killed.
Essentially she's going to bekilled.
Essentially she's going to be aGuinea pig because they need to
figure out, like, why her bloodis immune, like that.
The whole point, pretty muchthe game and the show, is you
playing as Joel and sometimesEllie, you're bringing her to a
group of scientists with a groupcalled the fire flies, because
(47:54):
Ellie is immune to the virus orto the cordyceps, she's been
bitten, she has not been turned,and so you know, essentially
she can be a little, she almostcan kind of be a little reckless
.
I mean not too reckless in thesense that you could still get
killed, but like it doesn'tmatter if she gets bit, because
she's not gonna, unless she'sget she has a jugular torn out.
(48:15):
If she gets bit on the ankle,nowhere serious, I mean she's
not gonna turn yeah, and I meanit's.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
I mean I've always obviously that they need to
structure that way so that shehas a reason to be angry at joel
, you know.
But I won't lie, I've neverthought that joel made the wrong
decision right.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
Well, yeah, I was actually gonna ask you like at
the end of the show and end ofthe game, yeah, you bust in
through the firefly hospitalafter turning her over, after
you know you find out, you knowhe's on his way out, you know he
gets everything he wants.
He's got his car, he's got hissupplies, he's about to head out
, but then he finds out thatellie is going to get killed in
this process and so, yeah, hegoes in guns blazing, you go in
(48:58):
guns blazing.
I like I said I personallydon't think.
Yeah, like I understand, andit's a, it's like a
philosophical conundrum, youknow.
It's like are you going to savethe one, are you going to save
the many?
Speaker 2 (49:09):
right, but the thing is, see there's a moral thing,
yeah, but there's.
There's no guarantee thatthat's even the case right,
right, like there's no guarantee.
Look, I don't want to tell youthat I would easily subscribe to
my son being killed formedicine, right?
But if I knew, if I knew theywere like you know, this is a
(49:32):
thousand percent sure they werekilling her so that they could
possibly like, why didn't yourun some tests, like I mean, you
know it, the I think also, andI mean it's, you know, due to
video games and timing, right?
Speaker 1 (49:48):
yeah, that that was my thought too, in a way like,
why is it she runs?
Did you really have to take allthe blood?
Yeah, like to like figure thisout.
Could you not like, dude, youcan take enough blood from
somebody.
I mean, if they could take bagsof blood off of you to like
donate to people, they could dothe same process, to like figure
out a you know, I guess likefigure out a way to like build
(50:13):
up this immunity or this cure,and it doesn't happen.
It doesn't have to happen allat once.
Like take a bunch of bags, giveher some time to rest, you know
obviously, build up her bloodagain and then just like, do you
know, do it again.
Speaker 2 (50:28):
Maybe look for more people who are immune I think,
if I remember it had somethingto do with them, like needing to
, like, split her brain apart.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
Oh yeah, you're right .
Speaker 2 (50:37):
I think that might have been the case, but I'm sure
that like it's been a while,but I'm sure that they, like you
said could have you know spentsome days analyzing blood,
because yeah you know, ourimmunity and our white cell
blood count is in the blood,right.
So maybe in synthesize rightthere could have been something
like that.
But that's always been a pointof contention I had with the
(50:59):
game and obviously the showfollowed suit because they can't
do anything differently, butthat's always been one thing
that just bugged me.
Speaker 1 (51:06):
It's like if they just ran tests or, you know, if
it was just presented in aslightly different way yeah, I
agree, I think that blood testswould have saved a lot, but then
something that happens at theend of the show and game sets
you up for pretty much theentirety of like the next game
(51:27):
yeah, I mean yeah, and you knowwe'll talk about that another
day, because that's a whole yes,that's yeah yeah, we're, we're
waiting for we.
We got the the last of us,season two.
That pretty much played outlike exactly like the game you
get ellie's point of view andthen you're gonna get the other,
I guess, protagonist point ofview for season three and then
(51:50):
that'll wrap up that whole thing.
But yeah, man, the last of us.
I really do think that they dida really good job on this first
season just portraying thecharacters building the world.
You know it's really important,right?
You know, if you have a gamethat's really story-driven, that
builds the world, you have todo a really good job if you're
(52:12):
going to rehash that.
And then it's okay that theytook some liberties to add to
the lore.
Right, we got some of theseextra scenes that explained a
lot of the background stuff andthe origin, just a lot of this
extra stuff that was added.
I really enjoy that.
Speaker 2 (52:30):
I think it's Naught naughty dog that makes this game
yes, um or or.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
There's a you know, are you?
Speaker 2 (52:36):
talking about the last of us.
Well, yeah, I was thinkingabout another game.
Uh, days gone by, I don't knowif you ever got a chance to play
it basically.
So it's sam witwer.
To reference him again for thesecond time, he's the main
character and it's basically azombie apocalypse.
But it's a guy in a motorcycleand you can upgrade your
motorcycle and stuff like that,and there's hordes and it's
(52:56):
crazy.
And seeing how well this showwas produced, I would almost
hope that at some point, uh, wecould see something like that,
because that game has some crazyset pieces with hordes coming
after you, and I think it wouldbe really cool to see the minds
behind this show dabble there.
Speaker 1 (53:18):
But that'll that probably won't happen so that
that was developed by bendstudio bend, all right so so
yeah, no, not naughty dog,naughty dog games have kind of
similar gameplay, not not somuch jack and daxter, but I
don't know if you see like thesimilarities between uncharted
and the last of us.
I love some of the gunplay isvery similar, although the
(53:41):
difficulty in the last of us istweaked a little bit more
because you know they wantthings to be scarce and then you
have to kind of like buildthings.
And I like that whole dynamicof like building and improving
your weapons.
Speaker 2 (53:54):
You know, like with mix shifts, silencers and
whatnot yeah, no, I really enjoythat part of the game as well.
I mean, I do play it on afairly low difficulty because at
this advanced stage I don'thave time for the anger stress
you know like dude, I meanhonestly at this point, like a
lot of people, if you just wantto enjoy the story you don't
really have to like worry aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (54:14):
Like dude, you know, achievement hunting and trophy
hunting, man, that's a youngman's game.
Yeah, no not all the time.
But you know, I know some olderfolk that actually like to
trophy hunt.
But you know what?
Speaker 2 (54:25):
I mean my son is gonna play.
Nobody's judging my son's aboutto like try to play Ghost of
Tsushima on.
Like you know, he beat the game, so he's into like a new game
plus on like harder difficultyand I was like, all right, man.
Speaker 1 (54:37):
God bless, there's like no UI or anything on that.
Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker 2 (54:41):
I'm like good luck, buddy, good luck.
Speaker 1 (54:46):
Yeah, that's not something I do anymore nice, but
yeah, I mean I think that thatwe're essentially at the point
of the podcast where we can kindof unwind.
Speaker 2 (54:56):
I don't know if you had any more, uh, anything else
you wanted to add or whatnotwell, I guess the only thing I
would add is, I know everybodywas very excited that we got a
last of us 2 video game and wegot the matching show.
But I think there's such wildlydifferent experiences, part,
you know, the first game I, Iyou know didn't want to keep
(55:19):
playing the second game, so I'llleave it there.
Uh, there, you know, I was kindof like, oh, I don't want to do
this and it almost felt like achore, but I kept going anyway
and it'll be interesting to meto see how the fandom reacts.
That's not the game player,because you know the as you
talked about.
You referenced the shift inprotagonist.
(55:41):
I was like, no, but there was,there was nothing to do, right,
if you wanted to finish the game, you had to play as a
protagonist.
And I think that, because it'sa video game, you kind of just
choose to keep going, right,right.
I don't know what happens ifpeople tune into season three
(56:03):
and they get this newprotagonist who they would
presumably dislike well, I mean,I think they kind of set people
up for that a little bittowards the end.
Speaker 1 (56:14):
But yeah, we'll definitely get to that when you
know, we'll cover the last of ustoo and we'll talk about the
seasons, that kind of likeconnect with it and how you know
.
I mean, yeah, the second game,it was definitely controversial
and so it was interesting.
It was like, you know, knowingthat, it's like how are you guys
going to set it up, becausethere's a lot of people who
(56:34):
don't play the games, who don'teven go to watch the games.
Like how are you going to react?
Because, you know, coming infive years later, like you know,
we I knew this happened.
You know a lot of stuffhappened five years later or
earlier.
Speaker 2 (56:48):
So, and that's the other part of it.
Speaker 1 (56:50):
It's the weight, and so that was my thought with the
first game too was like I knewsome of the story beats and I
was like man, I wonder like howpeople are going to react to
this, because to me I enjoy thestory bet of the last of us more
than the walking dead.
But then again I only stoppedat like season four.
I just I couldn't go anyfurther.
But yeah, last thoughts on theLast of Us game and TV show.
Speaker 2 (57:14):
Both highly recommended.
I would do the game first.
It's a different experience.
I'm always a sucker for theoriginal, so I don't think
there's anything they could havedone in the show to get me to
tell you that the show is better, that it's just not going to
happen.
I love the game, but they did areally good job of adapting it
(57:40):
and, uh, I think it's highly.
It's better.
It's definitely better thannaughty dog's other adaptation,
because I did not like thecasting of uncharted, so I
thought they did a much betterjob here right, yeah, no, no, I
agree.
Speaker 1 (57:50):
And then just one last thing before and this just
kind of popped up into my headbefore I I put my two cents
between the game.
Something else that they addedto the show that was originally
dlc to the game was the leftbehind the um, the relationship
between ellie and riley yep andso like that.
(58:11):
You know they made that a wholeepisode and that was pretty much
dlc for the game, so they theyincorporated that story into the
show also yeah, I thought theydid a good job with that too,
because I think it just fleshesout the world a little bit
better no, yeah, no, I agree, Iagree.
And then the minor little sceneson the background that I have
(58:31):
for me this week is the scenewith ellie and joel and they
come across some giraffes.
They had that in the show.
I like it when they add evenlike the minor scenes that are
impactful to the relationship.
It really helps with thatgradual build that they have
between ellie and joel as pseudofather and daughter.
But, yeah, no, I, I agree withyou.
(58:54):
I I definitely agree with youwith the show.
It's a great watch.
The game is a really goodexperience and it is, I would
agree, with playing the game,because you go from becoming a
casual observer to being anactual participant when you play
the game.
So the dynamic is different,the experience is different, but
(59:16):
I do feel like a lot of theemotional impact remains because
you still have those majorstory beats that are important.
But I give a double thumbs upfor the game and a double thumbs
up for the show because they doa good job for both.
And then, yeah, you had theshowrunner and the game director
(59:37):
working close together, so youknow that that's important yeah,
definitely agree, and I givethem high marks for both all
righty well.
Thank you for joining us herefor episode 130 of Project
Geekology and, if you want tocheck us out any further, our
socials they're going to be inthe show notes below and, as
(01:00:00):
always, whether it's juicy orcrunchies, give us a five-star
review and, if it allows you tocomment us your thoughts, we
would love to see and read them.
We do enjoy interacting withour fans, so definitely follow
us on on our socials, because wedo announce when we drop
(01:00:23):
episodes and you know we dointeract whenever you all speak
with us.
So I hope you all have a greatrest of your week, and we don't
know what our next episode isgoing to be, so keep an ear out
for that.
Thank you, bye, the Wolverine.
Welcome to episode 130 of Project Geekology.
And here we are in.
You know, just a nice pristine.
You know year of 2003,.
You know nothing to worry about, actually, psych.
It is 2023 and we got zombiesor we got clickers outside.
We have nothing but the worldto worry about.
(00:22):
Nothing but the world to worryabout.
I am one third of your host.
Actually, there's only two ofus today, so I am one half of
your host Anthony and joining metoday is Rich.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We salute our fallen comrade, Not really.
He's just away on specialbusiness doing extra special
timeline research that I'm surehe'll regale us with on his way
back next week.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yes, yes, and you know I realized that I forgot to
say what we're covering today,but Rich and I are going to be
covering the Last of Us.
We're going to really juststick with the first game in the
first season, you know, becausethere's a you know those are.
I would say those are the morebeloved versions of the ip.
(01:06):
So we're just going to stick tothat, you know.
But before we hop into the lastof us rich, tell us what you
have been up to.
Hey, there, this is anthonyfrom the future.
I'm sorry if the audio is alittle different.
I'm recording just straightfrom the laptop.
I don't have my setup.
But if you are interested injust listening to the meat of
(01:30):
the conversation, go over to 10minutes and 13 seconds, and that
is when the discussion starts.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
I actually just got back from the state capitol, so
that that was fun.
I went down to washington dc,checked out a couple of uh
museums down there, into thelibrary of congress, the
national archives, the air andspace museum.
I accidentally wore a star warsshirt when I walked in there
but then felt like it wasappropriate and uh, we.
Of course this might be a shockto all you guys, but I went to
(01:59):
a baseball game.
It felt mean because it was theonly game of the series the
Mets won against the Nationals,but it was a drubbing uh.
The Mets won like nine to one.
Their starting pitcher wentalmost the entire game and I
happened to sit on the thirdbase side in a giant group of
Met fans, so you just heardresounding let's go, mets chants
(02:22):
.
I actually felt bad for thefans there.
There were a couple of them whowere pretty good natured, but
they were sitting in the middleof the group and it was kind of
crazy.
So that was a pretty good time.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Now, did you go to Washington DC just to see that
game?
Speaker 2 (02:36):
I do not.
I would rather not confirm ordeny.
No, I mean we were picking aspot for vacation and yes, I
mean there's a very specificreason why we went those days
right Because the Mets wereplaying the Nationals.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Oh, okay, so you lined up your vacation with that
game so that you could go.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So not only is baseball something that you live
, it's also a place that youvacation to.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well, there's 30 stadiums and we're doing the 30
stadium chase.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
The chase for 30.
Okay, so where have you beenout of all 30?
Like number wise, how many haveyou been to?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
uh, so as a family we've been to seven and then
I've personally been to 10because I have doubles in new
york.
So I have doubles for theyankees and doubles for the Mets
.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Okay, so you've been to a third.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, I mean I haven't really gone out on the
West Coast yet.
That's going to be.
We're going to have to take alook at that one one day.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
All righty, Anything else.
What else did you do inWashington DC?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
We just went around checked out a bunch of statues,
some architecture.
I just went around checked outa bunch of statues, some
architecture, ate a whole bunchwalked a lot.
It was pretty nice, but I'mtelling you, there were a lot of
Met fans walking around theCapitol and nobody was scared.
I'm not sure if it was becauseof all the extra security, but
there were lots of Met fans justroaming around the Capitol.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
They were also chasing the 30.
I think it was the WashingtonDC DC area that I remember
coming down.
So I was up in New York withDakota and I came down with them
.
When they drove down one time,uh with uh, it was like his
brothers and I and his dad and Ithink that we were like in
(04:19):
traffic in the DC area and likethere was ice on the road or
like packed down snow on theroad and we kind of got stuck.
So Dakota and I had to like getout and like push the car, like
rock it a little bit to helpdislodge it.
Dude, that was dude in themiddle of traffic.
That was so annoying, thatsounds insane, it was.
But I mean, we had to.
(04:40):
You know, we had to dosomething.
Dakota's dad was, you know.
Obviously he has to, like youknow, drive the car forward so
we all had to like get out andlike rock the car, to like get
it to move.
But your florida boys in thesnow, well, well, by then dakota
and then the the rest of themwere used to that.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But yeah, I was the florida boy in the snow so, uh,
what did you get up to this lastweek?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
uh, no, honestly, nothing too insane today as of
recording.
I binge watched a whole bunchof the last of us there was.
There's a couple, there's a fewepisodes that I still needed to
watch.
So I would say like fourepisodes and like I just
shotgunned, like binge them forthe whole day today.
But yeah, no, I know that I'mprobably going to remember at
(05:23):
some point that I did something,but I mean, yeah, no, I don't
think, not that I, you know,obviously, like I gamed, oh, I
did mess with you guys or Dakotayesterday when they announced
in the upcoming Overwatch seasonthat there is going to be a
Persona collaboration, so youdon't have to mess with Dakota
(05:45):
with that.
I mean, come on, man, he knowswhat I'm about that Persona life
.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Just maybe one day.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
One of these days.
We're going to get him onPersona One of these days, One
day.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
It might be in the near future or far in advance.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I actually do have a future episode that I would like
to do with you guys and I'mpretty sure it's going to be a
gaming episode and I'm prettysure dakota would be on board
with this but I want to discussthe og battlefront, the star
wars battlefront games oh nice,did you play those?
Speaker 2 (06:17):
yeah, I did.
And then, uh, what was the lastone?
The last one had it was I wasvery thrown off because the
actress who was like the mainvillain I think that you fought
against my um, I, I think it'sedian versio.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yes, the you, so you actually play as her yeah, okay,
she like transitions from theempire over to the, to the, the
rebel alliance she was in theshow the league.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
The league was a show about a bunch of degenerates
who played fantasy footballtogether and the terrible things
they would do to each other,and they named their trophy
after a girl they had a crush onin high school, so they called
it the shiva bowl and she wasshiva.
So I turned the game on andit's like such a such a crazy
thing where I was like whoa,whoa, wait a minute, that's
(07:10):
shiva.
And now it always weirds me outwhen, like I mean with sam
whitworth, I think I've done thesame thing where his face is
actually in the game.
So I I always find it crazywhen we actually have, you know,
not like when they make a movieand then they make the game
after the movie, but when, like,a character is actually just
(07:31):
written for a game and the actorjust you know, well, I, I think
, I, I think.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
For me I was off put when I saw him in the star wars
game, because I had seen him inmedia prior to that, like he was
always casted as like a vampire, you know wasn't he?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I think he had been in Smallville when the game came
out.
I I'm hoping maybe, but he'sdefinitely in Smallville.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
You know, I'm watching through.
I haven't come across him yet,but there might be a possibility
that he's in that.
But yeah, he's definitely.
I've seen him in a handful ofthings, but yeah, no, that, no,
that's interesting.
But yeah, no, I definitely I'veseen him in a handful of things
, but yeah, no, no, that'sinteresting.
But yeah, no.
I would say, overall, for me ithasn't been too insane.
I've been playing overwatch,I've been playing world of
(08:15):
warcraft.
I'm kind of like in a routinewith, like you know, flipping
between both of those games andactually, after we finish up
recording today, I'm going to beheading out and going to be
playing magic the gathering withsome friends nice yeah, just
diving deep into that, thatnerdiness man being away, sadly
(08:37):
I wasn't able to game much.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
I did bring the switch one but I ended up.
Not, I've been trying to man,I've been trying to finish out
Breath of the Wild, just gettingevery shrine that I can find.
So I know I can beat Ganon, butI really just I'm not going to
get all the Korok seeds.
It's too much work.
That's kind of crazy.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You're a completionist, you want to go
the full way.
I generally do?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
I mean, the only game I haven't been able to complete
I think is Red Dead.
Not 100%, because to complete Ithink is red dead, uh, not come
like not a hundred hundredpercent, because part of it's
like you have to.
Let's say, have you know, acertain amount of headshots on
this mission and I don't reallyplay for those things.
So I'll never get a hundredpercent but I'm pretty close
(09:20):
with like most of the, the peltsand things like that the
legendary animals.
I'm starting to actually pay waymore attention to the birds
this time, so that's been newI'm also, so I kind of feel you
on that there.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
There's certain things in games that I really
just don't care for.
I don't care for racing andgames that aren't racing games.
I don't care for time trials.
The only game that I would saythat I actually really went and
platinum because I love the gameso much, was that first
spider-man game that came out, Ithink back in 2018 is it?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
was it yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
so I actually platinum that game just because
it was like the definitivespider-man experience and I was
like, yeah, I'm a platinum thisI platinum all the spider-man
games.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
I platinum the lego games.
I will not stop with thosegames.
If it's a reasonable platinum,I will probably do it now.
I have also no compunctionsabout going online and, like you
know, oh, you need this video.
Where's the next bag?
Where's the next bag?
Like the hidden backpacks andstuff in spider-man?
Like I had no problems lookingup where they all were, you know
(10:30):
, but it will sit there andplatinum the game if it's
reasonable yeah, yeah, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
So I don't know if you're, if you are ready, but
did you want to hop into themeat of the conversation?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
man, the last of us let's go, let's jump into this
like some quarter steps.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Is it the last of us?
Or you know like how many?
You know how many of their like?
There's just the amount theykeep on coming out with the last
of us games and there's justmore and more people so like who
is the last of us?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
it's very unclear.
I mean and, and also us is sucha nebulous word.
So I mean it could be, you know, two, or obviously it could be
many.
I think this is what happenswhen, uh, you know, we can't use
uh chat, gbt and uh our cellphones to figure out where
people are so, so I I want toknow a little bit about, like
your relationship with the lastof us.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Did you hop into the game before the show or did you
just watch the show?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
So I remember when the game first came out, my
friend got it and he said, oh,this game is really cool, you
should check it out.
And I didn't buy it.
And he came over and I rememberjust being way too afraid when
I was playing it and I thinkthat because I wasn't great at
it, because I was so afraid, Istarted nitpicking certain
(11:48):
gameplay mechanics.
As I'm watching I'm like, ohconvenient, there's always a
plank of wood whenever ellieneeds to swim across somewhere.
Or oh convenient, there arealways ladders everywhere, right
, like I don't know why I wasattacking the game so much, but
I was.
I didn't play it the firstrelease.
I want to say I played it wayafter, when it became a greatest
(12:12):
hit on PlayStation.
I didn't get the remasteredversion.
It's like I got gypped out.
I feel like I got the versionbefore the remastered version.
Just before it I had gotten itwhatever.
Before the remastered version,like just before it, I had
gotten it whatever.
And I think that because I gotit for free from, like the
monthly downloads or something,they didn't let me just get the
upgrade.
So before the series started, Imade a point to definitely play
(12:35):
it through and I think I playedit through twice before I got
to see the show okay, cool.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, so I'm actually with you on that.
I didn't get it when it firstcame out.
I actually never owned a ps3 inthat era.
I was more into the xbox 360.
I really felt like the xbox 360was.
I was in the time where I wasgaming with friends a lot and I
felt like the xbox liveexperience was like the better
(13:01):
online experience.
I think that when it came toconnecting with friends and like
I just felt like their serverswere better, so I hadn't gotten
the ps3.
That was like the oneplaystation that I never got.
I had the one, I had the two, Ihad the four and the five, but
I never got the three.
So it was when I got the four.
(13:22):
When I got PS4, they had aversion that came out for the
PS4, but it wasn't a remasteredversion.
I think it was kind of upscaled.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
I think we played the same one because I had an Xbox
360 too, so I think this makessense.
I think I played that versionthat you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Okay, yeah, so I always knew I wanted to play it
because I thought it looked cooland it's a Naughty Dog game.
I like the Naughty Dog gamesthey have Uncharted, they have
Jak and Daxter.
I grew up on those and it justlooks really good.
And it just looked really goodand so when I finally got into
(14:09):
it, I think I played it, maybe2017, maybe 2016, 2017 around.
That time was when I actuallysat down and played it.
My mind was blown, like I wasso drawn into the story I I was
like man, this is a story drivenvideo game like this is like
you're playing through a movieor you're playing through a tv
(14:31):
show.
So I was really blown away and Iabsolutely loved it and so,
yeah, man, like, and then,obviously, when the second one
came out, like I was a day one,like, that was a day one acquire
for me, I went for it because Iwas like, I love this game, the
story is amazing.
I need to get the second one.
You know we'll, we'll keep thesecond one for I think we'll
(14:54):
talk about it, because there'sstill more to be told as far as
the show, because there'sanother season that has to cover
another aspect for the secondgame.
So, but we have a completedfirst season, you know, for the
first game.
So when the show came out, youknow, I was really, I was a
little nervous because I waslike, you know, I really hope
(15:15):
that they do well with this,because this is a game that
means a lot to me and the storyis really good.
And I was pleasantly surprisedthat they kept with pretty much
like All the major story beatsand then they filled in
information that was not in thegames.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, and then even I don't want to do spoiler stuff,
but I will just say that I meanwe can, I mean the Last of Us
Season 1.
What I mean is for there werethings from the first game that
were missing from the firstseason In terms of Interacting
with the environment.
That then is addressed from thefirst season right in terms of
(15:55):
interacting with the environment.
That then is addressed in thesecond season.
So it made my kind of, becausethere was one of the few things
that made me angry was just oneof the environmental changes
that occurs in the first one interms of the spores.
So it was just kind of onething that I thought that was
weird.
They left out of season one,but then I thought they did a
good job of incorporating seasontwo oh okay, yeah, no, no, I
know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
I do like that.
The first season of the showdoes a really good job at
explaining the cordyceps and Idid, I like like right, right,
and was just like, oh wow, thisis really cool because you know,
the existence of cordycepsexists and the ones that he was
(16:38):
talking about, the zombie antsthat's a real fungus, it's like
you know.
And in his explanation that it'slike you know, the world got
warmer and so it had to adaptand then it adapted to where it
could, like you know, take overa human's body.
You know or not that it could.
At that point it was like Ithink in the 1960s was that clip
(17:00):
?
He was saying that that's whereit's headed, that it could end
up in that, you know, at thatpoint, and I mean, that's
exactly what happened, that'sexactly what happened.
So I really liked that they hadthose clips that explained
cordyceps and then you know,kind of like where the start of,
of where it happens, and thenadding that whole Jakarta scene
(17:24):
where and then, like the lady islike no, we got to bomb
everybody, or this is going toget out of hand.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I loved the little.
What is it that?
I think it's that, joel, hewasn't on a diet, he's
gluten-free and that's why theyhadn't been getting bread Right
Like that little, becausethey're kind of explaining that
it's kind of in the bread rightand all that kind of stuff and
he's gluten-free, so they getthe gluten-free stuff and that's
(17:49):
not affected.
The cordyceps didn't get intothe flour or whatever.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Right, right, right, like there's like no yeast or
yeah and I thought that that wassuch a little tiny.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
It's just a.
I love that kind of littlebackground stuff that you can
hear that later.
You're like, oh okay, rightyeah it's, it's, it's not in
your face, right?
It's just such a casual littlething like I think his daughter
complains about it or something,and you know he's like, oh,
whatever, you know, and he makesup, you know, he, he defends
(18:25):
himself to an extent and I Ithink that that's just a smart
way of showing us how they mayhave avoided it when everybody
else was exposed to it right,right.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
And then something that that's different between
the game and the show is thetime gap.
So in the game it came out in2013, so the outbreak happens in
2003, and then it jumps up to2013, and then, you know, this
is where the main game happens.
But in the show it jumps up 20years to 2023, which is the year
(19:00):
that it aired.
So I mean, we had a prettymassive, like time skip.
So, like, instead of havinglike a joel in his 40s, we have
a joel in his 50s, so he's alittle older yeah, and I I mean
I think it works.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
I mean pedro pascal does a great job.
I mean he was fantastic castingfor joel.
I don't remember if there wasany discussion about other
people doing it.
I can't think of any actors offthe top of my head that I would
have rather had in this role.
I mean, looking back on it now,obviously there's a little
(19:35):
Pedro fatigue.
I love the man, but I'm sick ofhim being.
We talked about this on theFantastic Four episode, but I'm
a huge Last of Us fan.
He's in Last of Us.
I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan.
He's in Game of Thrones.
I'm a huge Marvel fan.
He's in Marvel.
It's like, come on, buddy, Ineed you to be one person.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yeah, maybe take a little bit of a break and let
somebody else, I guess, take thespotlight, yeah, but yeah, I
agree.
What are your thoughts on BellaRamsey?
She was also in Game of Thrones.
There was a bit of a pushbackbecause of you know that she
doesn't look as much like ellie.
(20:14):
I mean, pedro doesn't look toomuch like joel, but he's close
enough, I guess.
But bella, her face I mean youknow very much, so it doesn't
look like ellie you listen.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
I mean, you know, you and I both know why there was
so much backlash, right, it'sjust like people were crushing
on her in the video game andthey were like that's not my
crush, you know, and it's youknow.
There was also, I mean, Iremember, in witcher they
changed, you know, jen'scharacter.
I think looks very differentthe actress in the in the show
(20:47):
than does in the game and itdoesn't really have any impact
on the story at all for me,other than you know that I was
crushing on on her in the videogame, you know, and I was like,
hey, that looks like that looksdifferent than my crush, you
know.
But I take to the internet tobe like this is absurd.
I wasn't that upset about itand in this case you, I know her
(21:11):
as the badass girl from BearIsland.
You know who, or sorry, she's, Ithink it's Bear Island, the
Mormont family.
So she's the last of theMormonts when they're kind of
going to battle against I thinkit's Cersei's army at first, but
then the White Walkers and theyhave like 12 men but she like
very fiercely pledges for them.
(21:32):
So when I saw her being cast Iwas like, well, she plays a
little badass really well, youknow, I mean, you know, I mean,
I think she even goes to battlein the show like she's a pretty
big badass.
So I thought that, in terms of,can the actor handle that type
(21:53):
of like being a badass?
Yeah, I thought that that wasgoing to be the really easy part
.
If anything, I was worriedabout whether she would hit the
emotional beats, because Ihadn't seen her do that before
right, right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
So I didn't really get upset when I saw the casting
.
For me it's just like as long asshe looks close enough to the
character but if you get thethat, you have to get that
personality down right, and Ithink that she does a really
good job at getting ellie'spersonality.
So does pedro with joel'spersonality.
(22:29):
Even the actor that portraystos, tommy, does a really good
job at portraying his character.
So, yeah, like, let's talk alittle bit about, like you know,
the beginning of the story.
You know we get where it startsus off, in 2003, in both the
game and the show.
And Joel he's just living hislife out with his brother,
(22:51):
they're contractors, and theoutbreak happens and then we get
something really tragic thathappens to joel.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
That really builds up for what happens throughout the
game, you know, in the showyeah, I think they do a really
good job of kind of setting,sending the in both versions.
They they do a good job ofworld building and, you know,
kind of quickly getting you tounderstand what it was like
before you're going to get flashforward into what it is.
(23:20):
I think that, like, the falloutseries did a really good job of
that too right, because it'sstill kind of our world.
But they have to establish theparameters and I thought that
they did a good job of that withthe 1970s video and the jakarta
stuff.
And then joel's you know hisdaughter and everything and kind
of the tragedy that he goesthrough with her and how he's a
different man.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
You know he's a very he just seems like a regular dad
who's trying to protect his kid.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
You know he doesn't seem like he's a badass, I can't
remember.
Does he display some gun skillsat the beginning?
But either way, it's nothinglike you know, nothing that we
know of him in the future right,right, yeah, no, it's.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
It is both like heartbreaking in both the game
and the tv show you know to seehis daughter being.
You know she gets shot, I guesslike the army's just trying to
like fend them to get away, butI mean it's still sad to see
that she gets shot in that thatwhole process and then she gets
killed.
And so, yeah, like you know, weflash forward and, yeah, joel,
(24:23):
the world is hardened.
You know he's in, he's in aBoston kind of DMZ kind of area.
You know it's everything's kindof locked down.
You have this militaristicgroup that has taken control of
this area and, yeah, I mean Joelhas been hardened by life.
(24:46):
You know, obviously grief did alot and then just going through
dealing with the zombies andthen dealing with raiders and
the fireflies and everything, sothere's just a lot that goes on
in this world that really wouldharden somebody.
So, yeah, no, I really do likefeel for joel.
I understand why he's kind ofyou know, just kind of on edge
(25:11):
and so, yeah, like I reallyenjoy seeing how his character
evolves throughout the show andand the game yeah, I mean, I
think obviously the game is ableto do it a little bit
differently, so that's becauseyou're experiencing it as if
it's you.
You're playing this character.
(25:32):
So in a way the story might bethe same for everybody, but the
experience is different for eachperson.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Yeah, and that's.
I think, like you know, hisdaughter dying at the beginning,
you know, is obviously sad, butbecause of the nature of the
way the story is being told, youfeel I mean, as a parent, yeah,
I feel bad for him because Ican, I can sympathize, but I
don't truly know his daughterwell enough to care particularly
(26:01):
.
And I think that when you'replaying as the character, you're
like oh no, that's me.
You know there's a little bitmore.
You know, not, I'm not, I don'thave a dissociative personality
, I'm not like, oh yeah, that'suh, you know, that's my daughter
.
I can't believe she died, youknow, but but you do feel more
of a connection, I think.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yeah, yeah, I do like that.
They expanded her a little bitmore, I guess, to develop a
little bit more of a connection,because you didn't get too much
of her in the game, you know.
But they try to add her alittle bit more and I think that
I think that there are certainaspects that they wanted to
improve upon from the game andthen that's why we got those
(26:40):
clips of, you know, about thescientists talking about the
cordyceps and then the wholejakarta thing, and so I I really
do appreciate those additionsto the show that really, like
adds to the lore, we have Ellie,who you know she's an orphan,
she has no family.
You know she's got these peoplethe Fireflies that they want to
(27:04):
transport her to another groupof scientists within the Firefly
organization.
You know there's differentgroups, there's different sects
of fireflies, and so the one inboston, you know joel, kind of
gets wrapped up into beingsomebody that you know he gets
to the point to where he has todeliver her, and so yeah, like
(27:26):
you know, ellie is just, youknow she's hardened, she's,
she's gone through a really hardtime in of her life too, and so
when you kind of get to knowellie and joel a little bit you
get to realize that they're kindof like they're two sides of
the same coin.
They're very similar.
You know joel sees her as thislittle girl but she's been
(27:48):
hardened.
You know he tries to put somecomparisons.
You know that you know with hisdaughter but she's very
different from his daughter.
She has been kind ofbattle-hearted a little bit in
life.
I mean, she's grown up in likea really crappy world yeah, I
know it's completely different.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
You know I mean we joke about it here.
We live not far from a littleharbor and uh, we, whenever I
think about I'm like you know,zombie apocalypse.
You know I talk to my familyabout it.
You know my wife's like look,you're gonna have to make the
hard choice and you can't takeme with you if you want our son
to live, because I'm gonna beuseless.
And uh, you know, like he's notgonna be the little boy who, uh
(28:29):
, just likes to go to met games.
He's gonna be the little boywho just likes to go to Met
Games.
He's going to be the little boywho watched his dad have to
take his mom out before theyleft the house and tried to live
amongst the zombies.
So I just think that she'sgoing to be a completely
different person than his actualdaughter because she's grown up
in a completely different timeperiod.
(28:51):
What's really danger and whatyou can do, period, uh, you know
what's really danger and youknow what you can do and how you
can experiment with growing up,all righty.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Yeah, if you hear some, if you hear some thunder
in the background.
Yeah, we got some uh thundergoing on, man it's.
It's kind of crazy.
Right now florida is beingflorida.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Yeah, man, florida is just being, florida was being
florida.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Yeah, man, florida's just being florida man.
So what I was talking about wasthat the show added this whole
section.
They added like that wholesection where they meet this
group in one of the cities thatthey go through and joel ends up
killing the son of the I alwaysforget her name the lady that's
(29:31):
in charge of this group oh yes,I can't remember her name
either for some reason.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, I mean, it's a little.
I think it's a little easier tounderstand in the game because
you're reading, like you'rereading some of the missives and
you're you know, I think you'regetting a little bit more about
the groups and why joel mightbe distrustful of them right,
right, yeah, because the groupthat that is in charge of boston
(29:59):
is they're called fedra and youknow they're a little bit more
of like the remnants of like theold worlds, but not everybody
likes that.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
You know, you have groups like this one that Joel
and Ellie come across, and thenthere's also Raiders and you
also have like cultists.
You know there's just so muchgoing on and so, yeah, like this
is a new group that was addedto the show.
One of the cool things is thatthe lady's name was Kathleen and
(30:30):
this happens in Kansas City.
That the lady's name wasKathleen and this happens in
Kansas City, and so herright-hand man, perry, is played
by Jeffrey Pierce and heactually does the voice of Tommy
in the game.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Yeah, they did that a couple other times, I think,
later in the series.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
Yes, I was really happy that they snuck in a good.
Well, they didn't sneak them in, they did sneak in one.
But like you have um later inthe series, you have ashley
johnson that cameos as ellie'smother and she's the voice of
ellie.
You also have Troy Baker whoplays James, and he's in like
(31:13):
that cultist group, troy Bakeris the voice of Joel.
You also get Laura Bailey, whichLaura Bailey doesn't come in
until the second game, but shecameos as one of the Firefly
nurses later in the show.
But it's really cool that theyincorporated all of these
characters that were in the game, that they incorporated their
(31:38):
voice talent into the show.
You also had Merle Dandridge,so the leader of the Fireflies
in Boston is Marlene.
And so she plays a role.
She's the one that does thehandoff of Ellie to Joel, and so
she she's actually the voice inthe game and she actually plays
(32:00):
her character in the show.
So I was.
I thought that that was really,really cool yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I mean, you know, we've also seen, like you know,
in Star Wars, I think, boca tan,uh, the voice actress was able
to be in the show.
So I mean, sometimes it doesn't, you know, sometimes maybe just
for I mean, obviously ashleyjohnson's older than they want
lx to be portrayed in the showand everything, so I'm gonna go
that way.
But to find a spot for them, Ithink is it's a really nice way
(32:30):
of them acknowledging theimportance those people had,
because if the voice actorshadn't been as good as they were
, maybe the game doesn't takeoff the way it does right, right
, no, no, I agree.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
And so, dude, let me tell you one of the episodes
that like and these charactersare in the show, I think it's
sam and henry that they comeacross.
That episode always wrecks me,dude, that episode is really
hard to watch.
Yeah, and I, I can imagine youas a father like that must be a
(33:04):
tough watch, and I'm not afather myself but, like you know
, I have, like, young familymembers and you know just the
interaction, the relationshipthat is built throughout.
You know they have it in thegame and in the show.
They make him younger yeah he'sa little bit older in the game,
(33:26):
but they make him younger in theshow and so, ellie, you know
how it's almost like a youngbrother kind of dynamic with
ellie and sam, and you know samthe, and let me tell you, the
actor that portrayed sam was sogood yeah he was so good and
like he was adorable and he wasreally like.
(33:47):
You know, they made him deaf andso and he, the actual actor
himself, was deaf, and so Ithought that was like a really
interesting dynamic that theyadded.
Yeah, man, that episode isreally really tough because,
yeah, you see that thatfriendship that grows, that
blossoms, that relationship,they, you know, they go through
(34:08):
some.
Especially, they added thatwhole scene with the stand down
between Kathleen and her groupand then, all of a sudden, a
bunch of clickers come out ofnowhere with a bloater.
That scene is so insane thatthey had added that scene
because I thought it was like areally great addition.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
The one scene that I think it was a weird addition is
I'm pretty sure it's thisseason, it's the I mean Tess
gets kissed by the Cordyceps,like the Cordyceps comes out of
her mouth.
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
Earlier in the season .
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
That was like, and she just like sits there
horrified and doesn't move.
I was like, all right, I meanyou know definitely something
made for the show, that you knowobviously this is all
make-believe, but there's stillstuff that you're like what, why
doesn't she move?
That's so weird.
She just kind of like acceptshim as her prom date.
But some, some of the scenes arereally true to the game yeah
(35:07):
and you know, I think season two, I think, has a couple of
things that are really I wasreally happy that they.
They got it kind of I'll sayright, and it looks like they're
right they're building.
Obviously I think they'regetting more money a little bit.
So the second season seemed tohave like a kind of more
grandiose set pieces and yeah,yeah, no, of course, of course.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yeah, like, if you have a successful first season,
you're definitely gonna get abigger budget on the second one.
So but yeah, no, no, yeah.
So with sam, you know sam getsinfected during like that whole
like kerfuffle with the walkers,and then you see that sam gets
bit and a dude let me tell youthat.
(35:51):
And then that that interaction,dude, like I like my heart
freaking broke when he wrotedown if you turn into a monster,
are you still you in the inside?
Dude, I was just like you know,like, because there had been
some distance between the lasttime I played the game and when
I watched the show.
(36:12):
So I remember the characters,but I didn't exactly remember
how things went down.
And so when that whole thingwent down, like dude, it it
broke my heart.
Sam turns into a walker, andthen henry being the one to
shoot him and it all happened sofast, you know like it's all
(36:33):
reactionary.
And then the crushing guilt ofwhat happened falling on Henry
and then him turning the gun onhimself.
That episode, like dude, issuch a hard watch because you
grow to like these characters,especially Sam, you know,
because you have, you know,ellie doesn't really have that
many people that are close toher age, but joel has that all
(36:56):
around him.
You know, like he he can kindof he connects a little bit with
henry, even though henry's alittle bit younger, but henry is
still like a father figure tohis brother, whereas joel
becomes a father figure to ellieit's tough, man, you gotta turn
those you.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Once they get infected, you got to they're not
your family anymore.
That's the hard truth in kindof this world and you know.
That's why for such a long timeJoel had no attachments, you
know, because life was waysimpler.
I mean, you got to rememberthat everybody can be your worst
enemy in two seconds, and Ithink the addition of making him
(37:33):
deaf even goes to show that.
Like I mean, think about it,clickers right, being able to
hear them is a defense right.
So you don't have that.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
You know henry has to be extra vigilant for both, you
know right, right, yeah, andand honestly, like on the topic
of clickers, like they nailed,oh yeah so good and like the
interactions and the things thatthey do.
They even like use some of themethods of of like navigating
around them like they do in thegames, like you know, tossing
(38:05):
bottles and stuff.
So, yeah, I thought that thatwas yeah, they did really great.
They did really good with thebloater too.
Just the some of the practicaleffects that they had in this
show were really really good.
I am really really glad when Istart to see more practical
effects.
I understand that cgi is morecost effective, but practicality
(38:27):
looks a lot better sometimes,not all the time.
If you could do it right, thenyeah, but like, if not, then
just go the cgi route.
The walkers look really reallygood, especially the clickers
they added.
So they changed bill a littlebit, bill and frank.
They added like a whole episodeand kind of expanded a little
(38:49):
bit more on them.
What were your thoughts of likethat addition from the game to
the show?
Because I mean, that was prettymuch like a whole episode of
something that we didn't evenhave in the game.
We had Bill.
There was Bill and Frank, but Ithink at the point where you
get to the game I think Frankwas already gone and you don't
(39:10):
know the nature of therelationship in the game I
thought it was really well done.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
I mean, I think it gave us a slice into what normal
life looked like at a certainpoint during the outbreak, you
know, and how the stress of thatworld can impact relationships.
And I think that, if I rememberthe pacing of the season, it
(39:37):
came in a good place where itkind of allowed the audience to
take a breath between the nextseries of events and I guess
like it also allowed them tokind of like travel from it.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
There's like travel time in that period of time.
And then it explained theircharacters and then explained
kind of why Joel went to thisplace, right, you know, because
like if he would have popped upthere and just been like, yeah,
you know, this is my buddy.
You know it's Bill and Frank'splace, but you don't know who
they are.
Right, you know it's Bill andFrank's place, but you don't
(40:12):
know who they are.
Right, you know he's not deadin the game when you meet him,
but he's dead when Joel andEllie get to that point.
You know that Frank gets sick,and so they kind of go out
together.
Essentially.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
Yeah, I thought that was really well done.
I mean, I know some peoplecomplained about that episode,
but I thought it added more tothe story so I didn't have any
issue with it and so, yeah,we're kind of like hopping
around, which, I mean, is thenature of our podcast.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
We always hop around, but then, you know, we get
there.
There's that point where joelgets injured in in a scuffle
with some raiders and ellie kindof has to like take care of him
.
That's in the game, you know.
I remember that in the game andthis is where you kind of like
navigate.
Uh, you play as ellie for alittle while and, yeah, you know
(41:03):
we have these cultists, youknow, and then troy baker, which
is kind of facing off againsthis real life counterpart, like
you know, like he voices thecharacter, so like he's facing
off against the character thathe voices.
For what did you think aboutthat interaction?
You know that that how they didthat whole sequence.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
I thought it was really good because I had
forgotten why I should be scared.
I think at first had forgottenwhy I should be scared, I think
at first.
So you know it doesn't.
I don't think it quite hits thesame because I think in that
portion of the game you'repretty freaked out by that point
in the game you know howdangerous everything is around
you.
And now you're not joel, you'reellie.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, a little bit more vulnerable.
They always make the smallercharacters a little bit more
vulnerable.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
So I think that that was really.
I don't think there's any waythey could have kind of made it
the same, but I thought theinteraction was really good and
I thought that the cabin sceneor the lodge scene when it's
burning, I thought that wassuper well done and I actually
thought that bella ramsey cameoff to me as see, this is where
(42:17):
I think her casting works well,because I don't think I was ever
I never was scared of ellie.
Like you know, she starteddoing darker things, but I guess
the character model is alwaysso cheery looking I mean still
has sad face sometimes but justwhen Bella is able to kind of
(42:38):
escape Troy and as she's likegoing crazy on him, there's
something about you know the waythe character is like
unraveling, right, you could seethe actor.
You could see Bella Ramseyunraveling and kind of see the
actor.
You could see bella ramseyunraveling and right kind of
kind of going into madness,right where I don't think there
was ever a time where and I mean, we've seen ellie do some
(42:58):
things, but I don't know.
There it's something about the,the way the hair is poking up
and and the way the blood isspattered and and I don't know.
Speaker 1 (43:07):
There's something to be said she was in true like
fight or flight mode.
And like in that instance, likeshe knew that, like she was,
either she was going to die ifshe either did not get out or if
she didn't fight.
She was at a point where shehad no choice, she had to fight.
You know, and really think Imean obviously there's been a
(43:27):
build up to this point,obviously there's been a
build-up to this point.
But I feel like it's after thiswhere you really feel joel and
ellie lock into that father anddaughter dynamic.
There's always kind of been adynamic building up to it.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
But like you really really feel, because he embraces
her and he calls her baby girlyeah, and I think that the show
was more effective in getting usto see that Ellie's going down
a very dark path.
Because you're killing so manypeople in the game, you have to
kill people, right?
I feel like I play tons ofgames where I kill people, but
(44:07):
if I keep the killing to aminimum, I feel better.
Right, like in Red Dead, Igenerally don't kill random NPCs
.
I don't really rob the trainsunless I'm forced to.
I don't rob the stagecoachesunless I'm forced to.
But, like, if I do somethingand somebody's going to go rat
me out like they're aneyewitness, I'm like, well'm
(44:29):
gonna have to kill them, youknow, and I and I try and I
don't even feel too bad about itas I dump their body on on a on
a campfire, like savagely, tomake sure there's no evidence.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Oh man, so you're taking snitches.
Get stitches to the whole new,new level oh yeah snitches get
roasted oh, no, uh.
Speaker 2 (44:46):
I, if I, if I have to kill somebody in red dead, I'm
going to burn them.
You don't bring them to thealligator.
I will do that.
I really don't want to turnthis into how many.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
The Red Dead podcast.
No, I get it.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
But when you're playing as Ellie and you're
playing as Joel, there's nobodyreally in the game that I feel
like you kill and you reallyterribly feel bad about, because
even in the game, when you getto the last, you know when
Joel's about to break her out,right when he figures out what's
going on, you're like I gottaget Ellie right, like that's
(45:24):
what you're thinking as theplayer.
So I'm not.
I'm like, yeah, I got some AKs.
Now you know I'm excited aboutthat.
So, yeah, I'm not.
I'm like, yeah, I got some AKs.
Now, you know, I'm excitedabout that and I don't, I didn't
feel bad about killingeverybody in that facility
Because by that point in thegame I'm so connected to her and
, right right, the show does areally good job.
I think of kind ofdemonstrating how dark both of
(45:49):
them are in a way that I don't.
I think of the nature of youbeing the player.
You don't feel that way right,right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
So when you're experiencing it it's easy to
kind of glaze over stuff, butwhen you're an actual like
observer, you can always pick up, like you know, any subtle
nuances or anything that likejust the very smallest of like,
just detail.
(46:17):
And that's why I say like joeland ellie are very much so two
sides of the same coin, exceptone is a 14 year old girl and
the other is a 36 year old man,or in the show of 56 year old
man.
So it's we're no, he's 46 in inthe in the game, because it's
(46:39):
it's 10 years later, yeah butyeah, I really feel like one of
the biggest things.
So this game takes place in thezombie apocalypse.
You have zombies, clickers,everything going on, but it's
very much so like a backdrop tothis game.
I feel like the biggest thingabout this game is that it's
like found family ellie finds afather figure and joel and joel
(47:05):
almost gets like a second chancein a way with having a daughter
because she's about the sameage as his daughter when she got
killed yeah, and I mean I'vealways argued on both the show
in the game that if thefireflies had just talked to her
beforehand, things would havebeen wildly, wildly different oh
, right, right, yeah, I guessthey didn't want to tell her the
(47:28):
truth of the fact that, likeyou know, she's gonna be killed.
Essentially she's going to bekilled.
Essentially she's going to be aGuinea pig because they need to
figure out, like, why her bloodis immune, like that.
The whole point, pretty muchthe game and the show, is you
playing as Joel and sometimesEllie, you're bringing her to a
group of scientists with a groupcalled the fire flies, because
(47:54):
Ellie is immune to the virus orto the cordyceps, she's been
bitten, she has not been turned,and so you know, essentially
she can be a little, she almostcan kind of be a little reckless
.
I mean not too reckless in thesense that you could still get
killed, but like it doesn'tmatter if she gets bit, because
she's not gonna, unless she'sget she has a jugular torn out.
(48:15):
If she gets bit on the ankle,nowhere serious, I mean she's
not gonna turn yeah, and I meanit's.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
I mean I've always obviously that they need to
structure that way so that shehas a reason to be angry at joel
, you know.
But I won't lie, I've neverthought that joel made the wrong
decision right.
Speaker 1 (48:35):
Well, yeah, I was actually gonna ask you like at
the end of the show and end ofthe game, yeah, you bust in
through the firefly hospitalafter turning her over, after
you know you find out, you knowhe's on his way out, you know he
gets everything he wants.
He's got his car, he's got hissupplies, he's about to head out
, but then he finds out thatellie is going to get killed in
this process and so, yeah, hegoes in guns blazing, you go in
(48:58):
guns blazing.
I like I said I personallydon't think.
Yeah, like I understand, andit's a, it's like a
philosophical conundrum, youknow.
It's like are you going to savethe one, are you going to save
the many?
Speaker 2 (49:09):
right, but the thing is, see there's a moral thing,
yeah, but there's.
There's no guarantee thatthat's even the case right,
right, like there's no guarantee.
Look, I don't want to tell youthat I would easily subscribe to
my son being killed formedicine, right?
But if I knew, if I knew theywere like you know, this is a
(49:32):
thousand percent sure they werekilling her so that they could
possibly like, why didn't yourun some tests, like I mean, you
know it, the I think also, andI mean it's, you know, due to
video games and timing, right?
Speaker 1 (49:48):
yeah, that that was my thought too, in a way like,
why is it she runs?
Did you really have to take allthe blood?
Yeah, like to like figure thisout.
Could you not like, dude, youcan take enough blood from
somebody.
I mean, if they could take bagsof blood off of you to like
donate to people, they could dothe same process, to like figure
out a you know, I guess likefigure out a way to like build
(50:13):
up this immunity or this cure,and it doesn't happen.
It doesn't have to happen allat once.
Like take a bunch of bags, giveher some time to rest, you know
obviously, build up her bloodagain and then just like, do you
know, do it again.
Speaker 2 (50:28):
Maybe look for more people who are immune I think,
if I remember it had somethingto do with them, like needing to
, like, split her brain apart.
Speaker 1 (50:36):
Oh yeah, you're right .
Speaker 2 (50:37):
I think that might have been the case, but I'm sure
that like it's been a while,but I'm sure that they, like you
said could have you know spentsome days analyzing blood,
because yeah you know, ourimmunity and our white cell
blood count is in the blood,right.
So maybe in synthesize rightthere could have been something
like that.
But that's always been a pointof contention I had with the
(50:59):
game and obviously the showfollowed suit because they can't
do anything differently, butthat's always been one thing
that just bugged me.
Speaker 1 (51:06):
It's like if they just ran tests or, you know, if
it was just presented in aslightly different way yeah, I
agree, I think that blood testswould have saved a lot, but then
something that happens at theend of the show and game sets
you up for pretty much theentirety of like the next game
(51:27):
yeah, I mean yeah, and you knowwe'll talk about that another
day, because that's a whole yes,that's yeah yeah, we're, we're
waiting for we.
We got the the last of us,season two.
That pretty much played outlike exactly like the game you
get ellie's point of view andthen you're gonna get the other,
I guess, protagonist point ofview for season three and then
(51:50):
that'll wrap up that whole thing.
But yeah, man, the last of us.
I really do think that they dida really good job on this first
season just portraying thecharacters building the world.
You know it's really important,right?
You know, if you have a gamethat's really story-driven, that
builds the world, you have todo a really good job if you're
(52:12):
going to rehash that.
And then it's okay that theytook some liberties to add to
the lore.
Right, we got some of theseextra scenes that explained a
lot of the background stuff andthe origin, just a lot of this
extra stuff that was added.
I really enjoy that.
Speaker 2 (52:30):
I think it's Naught naughty dog that makes this game
yes, um or or.
Speaker 1 (52:35):
There's a you know, are you?
Speaker 2 (52:36):
talking about the last of us.
Well, yeah, I was thinkingabout another game.
Uh, days gone by, I don't knowif you ever got a chance to play
it basically.
So it's sam witwer.
To reference him again for thesecond time, he's the main
character and it's basically azombie apocalypse.
But it's a guy in a motorcycleand you can upgrade your
motorcycle and stuff like that,and there's hordes and it's
(52:56):
crazy.
And seeing how well this showwas produced, I would almost
hope that at some point, uh, wecould see something like that,
because that game has some crazyset pieces with hordes coming
after you, and I think it wouldbe really cool to see the minds
behind this show dabble there.
Speaker 1 (53:18):
But that'll that probably won't happen so that
that was developed by bendstudio bend, all right so so
yeah, no, not naughty dog,naughty dog games have kind of
similar gameplay, not not somuch jack and daxter, but I
don't know if you see like thesimilarities between uncharted
and the last of us.
I love some of the gunplay isvery similar, although the
(53:41):
difficulty in the last of us istweaked a little bit more
because you know they wantthings to be scarce and then you
have to kind of like buildthings.
And I like that whole dynamicof like building and improving
your weapons.
Speaker 2 (53:54):
You know, like with mix shifts, silencers and
whatnot yeah, no, I really enjoythat part of the game as well.
I mean, I do play it on afairly low difficulty because at
this advanced stage I don'thave time for the anger stress
you know like dude, I meanhonestly at this point, like a
lot of people, if you just wantto enjoy the story you don't
really have to like worry aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (54:14):
Like dude, you know, achievement hunting and trophy
hunting, man, that's a youngman's game.
Yeah, no not all the time.
But you know, I know some olderfolk that actually like to
trophy hunt.
But you know what?
Speaker 2 (54:25):
I mean my son is gonna play.
Nobody's judging my son's aboutto like try to play Ghost of
Tsushima on.
Like you know, he beat the game, so he's into like a new game
plus on like harder difficultyand I was like, all right, man.
Speaker 1 (54:37):
God bless, there's like no UI or anything on that.
Yeah, that's tough.
Speaker 2 (54:41):
I'm like good luck, buddy, good luck.
Speaker 1 (54:46):
Yeah, that's not something I do anymore nice, but
yeah, I mean I think that thatwe're essentially at the point
of the podcast where we can kindof unwind.
Speaker 2 (54:56):
I don't know if you had any more, uh, anything else
you wanted to add or whatnotwell, I guess the only thing I
would add is, I know everybodywas very excited that we got a
last of us 2 video game and wegot the matching show.
But I think there's such wildlydifferent experiences, part,
you know, the first game I, Iyou know didn't want to keep
(55:19):
playing the second game, so I'llleave it there.
Uh, there, you know, I was kindof like, oh, I don't want to do
this and it almost felt like achore, but I kept going anyway
and it'll be interesting to meto see how the fandom reacts.
That's not the game player,because you know the as you
talked about.
You referenced the shift inprotagonist.
(55:41):
I was like, no, but there was,there was nothing to do, right,
if you wanted to finish the game, you had to play as a
protagonist.
And I think that, because it'sa video game, you kind of just
choose to keep going, right,right.
I don't know what happens ifpeople tune into season three
(56:03):
and they get this newprotagonist who they would
presumably dislike well, I mean,I think they kind of set people
up for that a little bittowards the end.
Speaker 1 (56:14):
But yeah, we'll definitely get to that when you
know, we'll cover the last of ustoo and we'll talk about the
seasons, that kind of likeconnect with it and how you know
.
I mean, yeah, the second game,it was definitely controversial
and so it was interesting.
It was like, you know, knowingthat, it's like how are you guys
going to set it up, becausethere's a lot of people who
(56:34):
don't play the games, who don'teven go to watch the games.
Like how are you going to react?
Because, you know, coming infive years later, like you know,
we I knew this happened.
You know a lot of stuffhappened five years later or
earlier.
Speaker 2 (56:48):
So, and that's the other part of it.
Speaker 1 (56:50):
It's the weight, and so that was my thought with the
first game too was like I knewsome of the story beats and I
was like man, I wonder like howpeople are going to react to
this, because to me I enjoy thestory bet of the last of us more
than the walking dead.
But then again I only stoppedat like season four.
I just I couldn't go anyfurther.
But yeah, last thoughts on theLast of Us game and TV show.
Speaker 2 (57:14):
Both highly recommended.
I would do the game first.
It's a different experience.
I'm always a sucker for theoriginal, so I don't think
there's anything they could havedone in the show to get me to
tell you that the show is better, that it's just not going to
happen.
I love the game, but they did areally good job of adapting it
(57:40):
and, uh, I think it's highly.
It's better.
It's definitely better thannaughty dog's other adaptation,
because I did not like thecasting of uncharted, so I
thought they did a much betterjob here right, yeah, no, no, I
agree.
Speaker 1 (57:50):
And then just one last thing before and this just
kind of popped up into my headbefore I I put my two cents
between the game.
Something else that they addedto the show that was originally
dlc to the game was the leftbehind the um, the relationship
between ellie and riley yep andso like that.
(58:11):
You know they made that a wholeepisode and that was pretty much
dlc for the game, so they theyincorporated that story into the
show also yeah, I thought theydid a good job with that too,
because I think it just fleshesout the world a little bit
better no, yeah, no, I agree, Iagree.
And then the minor little sceneson the background that I have
(58:31):
for me this week is the scenewith ellie and joel and they
come across some giraffes.
They had that in the show.
I like it when they add evenlike the minor scenes that are
impactful to the relationship.
It really helps with thatgradual build that they have
between ellie and joel as pseudofather and daughter.
But, yeah, no, I, I agree withyou.
(58:54):
I I definitely agree with youwith the show.
It's a great watch.
The game is a really goodexperience and it is, I would
agree, with playing the game,because you go from becoming a
casual observer to being anactual participant when you play
the game.
So the dynamic is different,the experience is different, but
(59:16):
I do feel like a lot of theemotional impact remains because
you still have those majorstory beats that are important.
But I give a double thumbs upfor the game and a double thumbs
up for the show because they doa good job for both.
And then, yeah, you had theshowrunner and the game director
(59:37):
working close together, so youknow that that's important yeah,
definitely agree, and I givethem high marks for both all
righty well.
Thank you for joining us herefor episode 130 of Project
Geekology and, if you want tocheck us out any further, our
socials they're going to be inthe show notes below and, as
(01:00:00):
always, whether it's juicy orcrunchies, give us a five-star
review and, if it allows you tocomment us your thoughts, we
would love to see and read them.
We do enjoy interacting withour fans, so definitely follow
us on on our socials, because wedo announce when we drop
(01:00:23):
episodes and you know we dointeract whenever you all speak
with us.
So I hope you all have a greatrest of your week, and we don't
know what our next episode isgoing to be, so keep an ear out
for that.
Thank you, bye, the Wolverine.
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