The Last of Us Season 2 w/ Sean Michael of Old Neon

The Last of Us Season 2 has come and gone, & to break down what worked, what didn't & what to expect from Season 3, Sean is joined by Sean Michael of Old Neon!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode of Medical Nerds is brought to you by
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(00:44):
Enjoy the music we love without destroying your hearing. What's
up Very multi positive podcast and the multiverse Metal core
Nerds were each episode, I have a guest in the

(01:04):
podcast in your music community, and we talk about the
latest and greatest and entertainment. I mean, how Sean Mott
And today we're talking about The Last of Us Season two.
My co host this week is Sean of Old Neon.
Welcome to the show.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm so excited to talk about.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
It, no problem. Happy to have a fellow Sean who
spells it the same way I do, and to talk
about this show that's based on a very beloved video game.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, I guess depends on who you ask, right, it's
also a very hated video game. It is it is.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
It's hard. We'll probably get into this talk when we
dive deeper in the Last Miss talk, but it's hard
to call it divisive when it won so many game
awards and sold it's one of the highest selling video games.
So and I'll get in that conversation when we talk
about the series as well, because I feel like this,
especially season two, is kind of facing some of the
stuff that Part two also faced, which I lived in

(02:01):
real time. But we'll get to that when the time
comes the return of the show. First sign of listener,
thank you so much for tuning in. The best way
to support the podcast subscribing your favorite pocketing this platform
if you're watching this on YouTube, hit that subscribe button,
hit the thumbs up button, comment let us know what
you thought of the Last of Us Season two. Whether
you're a game player or not game player. I love
hearing the perspectives of both. And if you want to

(02:22):
defict malical nerds, you can follow us on all social
media at metal core Nerds. Now, before we dive deep
into the pop culture talk, we're in a kickoff the show,
like we do every single episode of the Malt Corners.
Song of the Week and the song of the week
this week is from Dark to Vine. This is our
latest single, make Me Disappear.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Ah changing my fame just so much and quick and
mad to You're treading your way.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
You.

Speaker 4 (03:12):
Taste of all your pass and stoics.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
I said.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
That it is not blast an. Why if I'm lost
in my body? My body's in my fish?

Speaker 5 (03:49):
Why I not on my way?

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Guess is a bird?

Speaker 5 (04:01):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (04:12):
My sisters not to tip.

Speaker 1 (04:17):
When Jock show me.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
The tail, were not sing sing? Am I'm telling stories
and I'm silting you my joy can say?

Speaker 5 (04:35):
Or am I bling?

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Or something that I'm that I thought? I can die?

Speaker 5 (04:54):
Am I not a star?

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Right?

Speaker 5 (04:55):
I tell my lie? My Joy I Died or not s.

Speaker 6 (05:00):
Guys, I'm my Shot, I grow a bride, adding.

Speaker 5 (05:13):
Riding, driving fun, SAT.

Speaker 4 (05:41):
Sounds, winning back so.

Speaker 5 (05:48):
Large shot.

Speaker 1 (05:58):
Again. That was dark to bine, but there her latest single,
make Me Disappear. Lots of a ton of music coming out,
especially a summer season. Everyone's ramping up for touring for
the summer in the fall, so there's no sorts of
new music. And you can check out my personal favorites
on the Metal Corners Pullus Spotify playlist. You can find
a directlard of that in the show notes below. Now,
I like to kick off every show with now watching

(06:21):
where my guests and I talked about we've currently been
watching in the last few weeks, whether it's movies, TV,
New old in theaters at home, whatever you've been watching.
So Sean you been watching lately?

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Oh, A bunch of stuff. I've just watched Queen of
the Ring, which was the Mildred, the Mildrid Burke biopic
with There's a Bunch of People in a Tony Storm.
Jim Cornette, Martin Cove from the original Karate Kid was
in it. Tyler Posey is in it. I think the
person that plays Mildred Burke was in Arrow. She was
like the main Oh yeah, no Protagon. So I got

(06:55):
to see that recently finished up rightious Gemstones, which is
a huge one for me having grown up in the
church and kind of like gone away from that. It's
like very funny because I went to like a megachurch too,
so I always find it hysterical when people sort of
poke fun at that. We're watching rehearsal right now, my
partner and I, Oh my god, finished, we have two

(07:17):
episodes left. What else have I been watching? I rewatched Philadelphia,
the Tom Hanks movie, like two nights ago. Okay. It's
just such a powerful thing that I just like to
I love movies like that that just I don't know,
there's something inspiring about it. But it also kind of
like brings to mind how corrupts the sort of like
the sort of people we prop up in society can

(07:38):
be once they have power. And it's such a stark
reminder of like where we are now, even like it
still rings true today, you know, compared to when I
think it was released in like ninety three or something.
So I saw that recently. So just a bunch of
stuff all across the board. I've been replaying Days Gone
because they remastered it. I'm not that you asked about
video games, but I've been doing a little bit.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
I've also been watching a rehearsal. I've seen all of
the second season and the first season. I remember just
feeling so mind blown by what he pulled off in
that first season because by the end, oh, you know,
you don't.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Need about spoilers, but I don't care.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
But it's hard to even explain it. Like, even if
I explained it to you probably won't even understand it.
The basic premise of the first season is that he
takes these small problems from just like normal people, and
he tries to solve them. But he does what he
does in season two, where he like insanely recreates it
one to one. Like the first episode is this guy
who he is in this trivia trivia league, and he

(08:39):
lied to them about having like a bachelor's degree I
think or a master's. Rewind partner told me about that,
and so they recreate the bar, and then he has
actors go meet all of his friends who end up
acting as his friends so they can play out every scenario.
And then it starts as that where It's like each
episode is like a problem he's trying to solve with
a rehearsal, and then and it ends up forming into

(09:02):
this crazy thing by the end where you don't know
what's real and you don't know what's reality, and it's
just like an absolute mind fuck by the end of
season one. Season two is obviously like you don't need
to watch season one, like it's basically the premise, but
this one has a totally like Season two has like
an overarching goal, And I've just found it so incredibly

(09:24):
insane how Nathan Fielder has woven in these what would
seem like they would be the most random things ever.
To get back to this pilot problem. The Evanescent Sully episode,
it's probably the craziest episode of TV I've ever watched
one as it just kept going, I'm like, what is

(09:46):
going on? This is crazy. The finale is almost on
par with that one. The way it kind of ties
together and the journey it goes on with him is
so absurd, And I can't believe he got away with
pretty much calling Paramount plus Nazis that was hysterical.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
I mean, because like, as myself being like a sort
of anti establishment person, Like the fact that he was
able to publicly do that with little to nov course
is like that's like the dream of just being able
to call out giant, multinational corporations on their bullshit and
then nothing comes with it, but hopefully maybe they'll see them.

(10:25):
Who knows.

Speaker 1 (10:26):
Yeah, the only blowback for this season I've seen is
one of the contestants in the Wings of Voice competition
tried to like call him out for it being a
fake competition. But and this is a little thing I'll
spoil on the finale, but they show the conclusion of
Wings a Voice on the show. Oh so someone does
win the competition and does get to perform on an

(10:48):
HBO show, So it's not what he said. Yeah, I
have a.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Feeling and this is this isn't a spoiler because I'm
I literally haven't seen it, and I'm guessing of you there,
he could fly the whole time, like he got his
pilot license, is my one guess. And then two and
like we just didn't know that, but like that's my guess.
Or two is that everyone that he interacted with the

(11:13):
entire time was fake, because I think that it would
be impossible, especially when he was going through that like
couples issues of that person to have like accepted all
those guests from Starbucks people and not realized that they
were hitting on them, because it just seems like you
would have to be insane to not like see how

(11:34):
telegraph that is. So those are my two guesses. He's
either a pilot or he made the entire season up,
and either of those would be just as funny to me.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
I guess one of your guesses is pretty dead. One great.
Either way, it's funny. So yeah, it's a great finale.
I hope he gets to make just more of the
show whatever he decides to go with, because obviously he
can make anything work. It's it's just I think.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
He's created a real niche for himself. You've been in
like a pretty niche genre of like being able to
be fundamentally who he is and how people enjoy it,
I think, and that I guess that should kind of
be everybody's goal. But he's really nailing it.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Yeah, it's it's great, And I heard it's it's going
to be submitted for Best Comedy Series the Emmys, which
even if he gets nominated, I think that's a win
to have the show get nominated. I kind of hope
he gets he gets pushed as like lead actor.

Speaker 2 (12:34):
I hope.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
I think it'd be pretty great if that ends up happening.
We'll see, We'll see how that goes. Other than that,
I got to see a new Apple TV series early
called Stick stars Owen Wilson, and this is going to
be a massive recommend for anyone out there who has
loved Ted Lasso and Shrinking. It has very much that
kind of vibe, but it's it's by a different team,

(13:00):
but it just has that feeling of like heartfelt but
it's human, it's emotional and if Owen Wilson is a
kind of like failed professional golfer who's kind of stuck
in his life. He's going through a divorce and he's
just stuck. And then he finds this kid who's basically
like a golf prodigy or he thinks could be a
golf prodigy, and he's like, I want to take you

(13:22):
under my wing and kind of like make you the
next big thing. It's the journey of that and this
is I saw it. I was like, oh, Owen Wilson
and Apple TV series, I'm in. I'm gonna watch it anyway.
But as I was watching it, it became and I
watched a lot of TV. I've probably watched like over
thirty series from this year already.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah, it's fucked. It's too much TV, probably, But this
has probably been my biggest surprise of the year, because
there's obviously a lot of shows I've been super excited about.
The Pit was another big surprise for me this year.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, that's in my town. And I still have only
watched the first episode.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
So good, so so good, But this one has been
like I really feel like if if people are missing
that Ted Lasso feeling, they have to watch the show.
And I hope it gets the love I'm hoping it's
going to get, and I hope it continues on because
I think it can be like a really solid kind
of alternative is a bad word, but like a companion
piece to fans who like that kind of show. So

(14:22):
I'm really hoping it continues because I just want to
see more of these characters. Mark Maron is also in it,
which is super bad one because he doesn't act in
a lot, so I feel like when he picks something,
it's for like a very good reason, and he's a
very important character in the series too. It's just very
very good series and that drops in a few weeks
on Appletube Plus, so make sure you check that out
when Stick comes out. I've also been watching Hacks Oh HBO, great, great,

(14:49):
great show, five.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
Or six episodes, but it's one of those things where
if I had more time, I feel like I'd be
obsessed with it.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, it's I've gotten a few friends kind of hooked
into it. After I got hooked into it, pretty much
started watching it because it beat the Bear in a
bunch of categories at the Emmys, and I was like, man,
if they beat the Bear, it has to be like
really good, right, So I just checked it out and
then I like binged through three seasons in like a
matter of days, and now season four is just concluded,

(15:17):
and this season has been a really good season. It's
done a lot of interesting things, and the finale did
something very ballsy, and I am very curious to see
of how it's because it just got renewed for season five,
so we're getting more that's happening, and the show has
a pretty fast turnaround, so I'm sure it's going to

(15:38):
come next year. I'm sure they're already starting to ramp
up production and everything like that to make sure it
comes out next year, and I'm really interested and excited
to see where they go with it. I feel like
they kind of left some stuff on the table for
what happened in season four, and they kind of moved
away from it kind of too quickly in my opinion,
But they do have an option to bring it back

(15:59):
and five. We'll see how it goes. But I kind
of love that show. It's just it's brilliant.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
It's one of those things where you know, life kind
of has been getting in the way for me, but
it's one of those shows that I sincerely hope to
come back. It's it's it's very rare that a comedy
really grabs me. And I know I said the Righteous Gemstones,
but that's kind of like a personal thing for me
because I have such personal grievances against the church. But

(16:26):
Acts is one of those shows that, like I can
tell I'm going to love as soon as I at
the time. So maybe that's something for tonight.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
I would. I would how it's and you'll probably get
sucked in, like if it will get sucked in, sure
for sure, because the dynamic between Deborah and Avar is
so good, and it's it's such a great uses of
like the generational gap of kind of pointing out the
flaws and benefits of both. And I don't think any
show does it as well as as the show does,

(16:54):
So yeah, it definitely definitely give it another go. And
and I like, there's definitely been shows with me where
it's like you start watching and then you stop for
no really other reason than you get caught up with
something else, and then you never.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
Yeah, like it's never liked. This show isn't good. It's
just like, here's the alloted time I have this week.
Do you feel like this as a sort of golden
age or renaissance for television?

Speaker 1 (17:19):
Oh yeah, I've been saying it for the last few years.
I think I think this year in particulars is probably
the best year of TV he's ever seen. And we're
only just getting to June, and like we're halfway through
the year, and I think it's this is the best
year of TV. And I think the last few years
have produced not only episodes of TV that are among

(17:39):
the best ever done, but just some of the series
that are just like absolute all timer series. And I
know that and I think streaming is the reason because
it allows these creatives to kind of have more leeway
and more say in things.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
And you know, I think there were there's a couple
shows where where the showrunners have said in interviews, while
we've pitched us to networks and they said no, and
then Netflix picked us up. I agree with you, actually,
I think it kind of began like that pop started
stirring around the time like the mad Men, Breaking Bad
shows kind of went on AMC. And then since then

(18:16):
everyone's like, okay, well those shows like hit, so like
we've got to ramp it up. And then you've seen
a lot of really powerful television, which I never thought
I would say. When I was a kid, movies ruled
and you it was not like critically acclaimed did not
happen in television. Yeah, it was like just this dead
zone of just schlock that you would watch to kill time.

(18:40):
But now it feels like it's sort of the opposite,
Like movies are almost the afterthought in my mind anyway.
And then you have all these like powerfully resonant television
shows that are just crushing your soul week after week,
and it's a special time for that medium for sure.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
Yeah, totally agreed. I'm going to talk about a few
movies before we.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah, let's not have to say it. They're still great now.

Speaker 1 (19:04):
For sure they are. But if I compare where we are,
like probably the top like ten to fifteen shows I've
seen this year, I could probably my top few are
probably locked in, but the rest I could probably interchange
depending on the day and of when you ask me,
because they're all so good and they all live in
this range of like, wow, this is so good. But

(19:26):
then I look at the movies I've watched from this
year and I'm like, yeah, there's been like two or
three that are really fucking good, and the rest are
kind of like fine, too bad, you know. And it
with series. I probably have a few series I would
say that about out of like thirty, like that's crazy.
But I did get to I get to check out
a few horror movies that came out this year on streaming.

(19:49):
I saw Drop, which is the same director Chris Landon
he did Freaky and he did the heavy Death Day movies.
And the basic premise this all happens and basically one
location for most of the movie, and it's this crazy
high rise restaurant and The whole thing is that this
woman is getting air dropped all these messages, and then

(20:10):
she finds out that someone has broken to her home
and she has like follow along these rules so her
kid at home and her sister watching her kid don't
get harmed. And she's on this date and it's a
first date, and it's packed with a lot of style,
and for most of it, I felt pretty gripped. I
think the ending kind of falls into a trophy kind

(20:31):
of horror movie thriller kind of thing, which is fine.
It was not that it was bad. I just don't
think the ending lived up to the rest of the movie.
But definitely worth a watch. I remember when it came out,
a lot of people were surprised by how good it was,
and I could echo that for sure. It was definitely
a solid movie. Not one that I loved, but I
thought it was pretty good, and I did yesterday I
saw FIOULND Destination Bloodlines in theaters.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
Oh it was so good, like people are raving about it.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
Insane good. And I loved the Foundational movies as a kid.
I remember just loving them, and I rewatched all of
them leading up to this to just to I just
wanted it all in my head. The two movies that
are probably most important to watch before Bloodlines is two
and five. Weirdly enough, not even one. Two and five. Obviously,

(21:22):
two has the best opening that has traumatized our whole
generation with log drugs. You can't see a logdruck without
being like, oh God, get away, you can't. You brought
it back to me, pop culture zeitgeist forever. But five
does it in like the way it approaches the opening

(21:44):
premonition is different, completely different from all the other ones,
and the way it connects to this movie and the
franchise as a whole, I think is so smartly written.
And the kills are still just absolutely utterly insane. They
have mastered the It's it's like the Red Herring. There's
always it focuses on something, and it usually focus on

(22:05):
multiple things, and one thing is Red Herring and one
thing is like the anxiety and docing thing that you
know it's gonna end up happening to someone and you're like,
please please, no, please please know, and you're you're like,
what's gonna happen? What shoe is gonna drop?

Speaker 2 (22:15):
First?

Speaker 1 (22:16):
And I love how they handle that, and like, go
see this movie. Like it is so good.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
They really leaned into just like accept it. Like I
think that there was a problem maybe and maybe it's
like a three three four movie problem where like they
were trying to keep it as like a sort of
like a legit mainline horror movie, whereas now they're kind
of leaning into the campiness. That's what I've heard, but
I don't know. I haven't seen it, so you can't.

Speaker 1 (22:44):
It is pretty funny, yeah, and it think it leans
into like the ridiculousness of the premise, which it should
because it is ridiculous. It is like it it's like
absolutely just insane, and I like how they do that.
There is some like how do you want to say?
Serious moments, but it acknowledges the ridiculousness without making it
like goofy or over the top. Like it's just like

(23:06):
just enough. It toes the line in a very very
good way. And also surprisingly does not bring any legacy characters.
It doesn't mention a character from two, but they do
not appear in the movie, like a lot of these
kind of you know, revamped horror movies have done, which good. Yeah,
the screen movies I'm fine with because they're not mading

(23:28):
characters and they kind of hup the pot and it's fine.
This movie has made a lot of money, so I
can definitely see them making another one. And I have
no doubt that the series can take it in an
interesting place because they've proven time and time again that
they cannot be They can do without it being overly
connected and still make it a fun, a good movie,

(23:50):
and then find how to connect it in a bigger
way that I think is really really smart. So I'm
hoping we get more of these. But let's get in
the Last of Us Season two. Now, I know you
just you said you played the game. You played the
game of numerous times. I want to know your journey
with the Last of Us as a franchise entirely. Did
you play the first game when it came out, or

(24:10):
was that one later on and then you got into
the new one when that one came out.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
It's a funny story. I didn't even expect for it
to be something I was terribly interested in. So I'm
not like a big horror person in general. There's a
couple horror movies that I love just because they're great
films aside from the horror aspect of them. But I've
never been like a zombie person. I've never gone out
of my way to see, you know, any any horror

(24:34):
film really. I mean, I've seen the ones that are
like critically acclaimed and kind of garner, whereas it seems
like you probably just will watch a horror movie. Correct
me if I'm wrong. Pretty much, yeah, right on. And
those people are like legion, right, like there are so
many of them and they will just I think that's
probably worth keeping that, you know, that genre afloat after
all these years. It's just so many people love them.

(24:56):
And I was never one of those people. But I
bought as a non gamer, I bought a PS four
to play Grand Theft Auto five, and with the system
it was like the Last of Us system, so you
got the Last of Us remastered with it as like
a download code and probably for the first and again,

(25:16):
I'm not a gamer at this time, like I've given
up all that stuff. I'm an adult now, it's two
thousand whatever, I'm working a real job. Probably twenty fourteen
fifteen when PS four came out, so I got it
with the download code. I played Grand Theft Auto. I'm
having a good time stealing airplanes and you know, just

(25:37):
wrecking into people on the street, getting the cops call
on me. And then one day I was kind of
bored of that, and I was like, well, I got
this free game, Let's give that a try. Let's check
it out. And I played it from beginning to end,
only stopping on Thanksgiving night when I got to the
first bloat Or I had such a bad panic attack,
becaus again, not a horror guy, so I'm not like

(25:59):
okay with like gore and blood and stuff. That's not
something I consume. And when you get into the sort
of gym and you meet that first bloat Or, I
had to shut off the game, and I actually ironically
just started watching Friends because it was on television. Never
seen Friends, was never a Friends person, and that, I
think is what I needed to calm down, just like

(26:22):
a silly TV comic like comedy where nothing really mattered.
And it was the Thanksgiving episode, of course, but I
had to walk away from the game for a good
like for the rest of that night, essentially because I
couldn't handle like the I lived alone in my first
house at the time, and I just like had to
walk away. So I walked away for probably a week

(26:42):
or two now that I'm thinking about it, I wanted
to say I started it the next day, but I
don't think I did. And then I got through it again.
I think stopping at the at the very end, when
you have to like go through that tunnel with all
the zombies in it, that took me forever, and not
because at that point I was still afraid of the zombies.
I've seen enough zombies at that point that I wasn't

(27:03):
afraid of them, but I just couldn't get through it
because I wasn't playing Uneasy so like, and I was
not a gamer at the time. I didn't play video games.
So it took me forever to get through that, and
then it took me forever to get through the hospital
shooting scene with the guards, and then finally once I
beat it and kind of got used to the mechanics

(27:24):
a little more than the story was just so affecting
that I immediately started playing it again. And so I
think I played it on easy the second time because
I just wanted to watch the story like that was
the part that really meant the most to me. There
were a lot of games out at the time. I
feel like that did shooting and zombies and that was

(27:45):
kind of the one that hit on a personal level
for whatever reason. I didn't have a kid, so I
don't know why, but I think it's just the camaraderie,
the sort of growth that you witness in those characters
from beginning to end of that game. For a long time,
those were the only two games I owned, and then
you know, I think Wrestling came out that year and

(28:07):
I got that game. I started like watching the sort
of game documentary on YouTube, and then I just got
obsessed with it for a while. I don't know, like
I went from not playing any video games to dicking
around in GTA five to like just being obsessed with
this one video game. And it really was like somewhat
of an awakening for me in video games as well,

(28:28):
because I hadn't realized not playing any game since probably
I don't know two thousand and five, that people were
like making story driven games, because when I had, you know,
what I remember is like, you know, maybe Ockering of
Time was the most story driven, and that was obviously
very beautiful, but it was also very rudimentary graphic wise,
So it was kind of an awakening for me to

(28:50):
like what was happening in video games at the time,
and I fell right back into it as though I
were still in college. And but yeah, the Last of
Us was very much of the game that kind of
gave me in that moment of that first awakening. And
I would watch every little piece of media that came out,
every interview the writers would do, every inside look at

(29:12):
Naughty Dog. I would watch it all. I started playing
the Uncharted games after that because I found out that
they made those as well, and so that began. That
began the sort of love affair, if you will, with
Naughty Dog.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
To this day, Part two is probably my favorite story
I've ever experienced. I just think it's so such an
incredible way to tell story, in such a ballsy way
to tell a story, and it really does break down
the human condition and it takes away the normal archetypes
that are in most stories of hero villain. There's none

(29:45):
of that in the Last of Us, even though it
may start that way. The whole point of Part two
is to prove that you can always be the villain
in someone else's story. It's all about perspective, right, And
I've been listening to the pod, not all of it,
but some of the pot following the series, which has
Neil Truckman, the game creator and obviously show creator, Craig Mason,

(30:07):
who is the guy behind the main drive behind the
show happening, and the Troy Baker Hotsit who voices Joel
in the video game, and they talk about like the changes,
what it was like bringing stuff to screen, everything like that,
and it's just been like a cool like it's just
like you. I just became absurdly obsessed with the Last
of Us in general, and I love Neil Druckman keeps

(30:28):
describing The Last of Us as a story of love.
Both games, everything is it's all about it's all anchored
in love and kind of how sometimes love can bring
out the worst in people. And I love how he
describes it like that because so many people are The
last part two is about revenge, and it's like yes
and no, it's actually really about like how revenge isn't

(30:49):
really the answer, you know, Like revenge really isn't the
plot point. It's again, it's all driven by like an
emotion of love from either Abby or Ellie's perspective, and
I love that. So my story is actually pretty similar.
I got later than even you, but very similar into
like that. As soon as I got into it, I
was like immediately engrossed and like weirdly obsessed with it.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, it's weird how that narrative sort of grabs people,
because I've met a couple of people over the years
who have had a similar response where it kind of
came out of the ether, it grabbed them in a
way that no other story really has, and then they
just kind of spend their days looking at information that
is sort of like adjacent to the actual story itself.

(31:34):
And it was tough for me because I found the
game in twenty fourteen, so I had to wait like years.
I mean, I remember the E three announcement when you know,
when you very first they were showing stills and they
you know, they show us still of a stop sign
and they're kind of slow zooming and it has the
firefly logo and the crowd, just the ruts, and I

(31:54):
remember just how insane just I felt watching that at home,
and I'd like carved out time in my work schedule
because I knew when the PlayStation experience was like being
broadcast on E three, So for those couple of years,
I was only watching that entire event in hopes of
some news regarding the Last of Us, and when it

(32:15):
finally came, I could have exploded, and then of course
we wouldn't get to play the game for a few
more years. But at least there was some knowledge that
it was being produced and there were interviews coming out,
and I think the leaks didn't happen until rate before
it came.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
Out, but yeah, it was like literally ly before.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah, yeah, I think it was like a week or
two if I'm not mistaken, maybe maybe even less, but
even that, Like, I hate to say this, but I
watched them because I'm a psychopath and I just had
been so immersed in that world for so long, and
I kind of had a feeling that what was going
to happen was going to happen, because you know, at
this point, Joel is pushing sixty and how long can

(32:54):
you relieve and live in a world like that. So
I knew that one way or another, like it was
fully expected on end. I'm sure it seems like based
on what happened, what the discourse online was that people
were very upset, But I actually personally thought that was
just the natural place to go with the story.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
It makes sense, and the more they explain it, the
more you're like, oh right, yeah right, Okay, they got it.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah. So there was never a point for me where
I was like, oh, Joel dies, that ruins the game.
I was like, actually, Joel dying not only makes sense,
but it seems like probably the catalyst for the game,
because if Joel doesn't die, and if they just live
happily a Poncher and Jackson, then what are we doing here?
You know, as much as I love to be in
that world and see those characters again, at the end

(33:41):
of the day, if the story doesn't matter, which I
think you could argue, I mean, I'm not in line
with you as far as it being the greatest game.
I think there are massive plot holes, such as like
it seems like most of what happens is circumstantial. You know,
Abbey runs into Joel magically in the entire world, they
just try to run into each other, and then someone
drops a mac like those are the two biggest drivers

(34:03):
of that story, and so there. I mean, I have
issues with the story, but I think as a whole
it is still probably my favorite narrative in video games,
if not slightly edged out by Red Dead two. Like
they're like right neck and neck, but it's still a
special game. I'm still like so happy. I hope they
do a three, but you know, I think that there's

(34:25):
probably more bad news. If there is a three, then
I think there's only one place for it to go.
I don't know if you feel the same way anyway.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
I don't even know what they do with three, Like
I feel like it would be. I don't know if
they tie it back into Ellie trying to like, like
her trying to find purpose with her life now that
there's nothing left in her life and she tries to
make her cure worse something.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, that's where. At the same time, I think if
there is a three, Lie probably dies, you know, yeah,
as like a result of Suny And that's kind of
just the story, you know, that's part three.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
And it's hard too though, because it's like I would
want Abby and Lev to be in it too, Yeah, sure,
because they're like the best part of that game, right, Like, they're.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
By far my favorite character in that entire world.

Speaker 1 (35:11):
So yeah, so it's like I.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
Could see a world in which there's a sort of
uneasy alliance between those three in the next game.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
I could see that too, for sure. That's like the
hard because like they're going off to the firefly, So
maybe there's a weird connection with that, and right, we know.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
This person, we know who the cured person is. I'm
a firefly. We gotta we gotta track this lady down
and get the cure. And maybe if Ellie realizes that
this is her ultimate meaning, you know, then there's some
incentive for her to go along with that plan.

Speaker 5 (35:45):
Right.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
But I kind of transition to the show. So obviously
you really enjoyed the game part two love and obviously
part one? What did you think of season two as
a whole as an adaptation of the Game.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
And I was watching it, I felt like, oh, there's
a lot of pacing issues in this. But then when
I rewatched it to prepare for this, I was like,
you know, I actually enjoyed most of this, And so
I'm somewhat still, having just seen it, mystified by the
finale because there are things that don't logically follow for me.
There's some weird like time jumps and teleportation jumps, and

(36:21):
we're in this world that's supposed to be like ow
to get you super scary. There are soldiers, then there's
a warring faction, and then there are also clickers and
stalkers now, and yet Ellie can seemingly traverse this within
a cut scene, you know, within a quick cut, a
jump cut, and having been you know, worse for wear

(36:42):
than you know, I don't know. There are parts of
that that didn't work for me. I think that the
action was a little bit lacking, which is kind of
part of that, but on the whole, and knowing going
in that we were only getting half a story. Obviously,
I can see fans being upset based on the the ending,

(37:03):
and that makes total sense to me. When you jump
back to Seattle day one, I can see someone who
hasn't played the game being like, what the fuck? Man?
But I knew that was coming, so it didn't hurt
me as much. I do think that there was more too,
and this is kind of my main qualm with the
first series as well, which is there's so much meat

(37:25):
on that bone still that they could have I think,
I don't even want to say stretch. They could have
comfortably added an eighth or ninth episode with Ellie trying
to traverse Seattle. There are scenes in the game that
I think are pivotal that they didn't touch at all,
and I'm sure it was either based on like a
timing or kneeler Craig decided, oh, this isn't this, this

(37:50):
isn't vital enough. But I think part of the fact
that Ellie sort of becomes this evil villain in part
two is is vital. And I think that her only
really like you only kind of seeing that with Nora,
and outside of that, she's more or less her jovial
self the entire run of the series, right up until

(38:12):
she kills Laura. I think that you don't get to
witness that sort of like the scent into madness in
the same way, and I think they could have done
more with that. But other than that, I mean, these
are these problems are big, but they're not earth shattering.
And I think that as a whole, the series did well.

(38:33):
There's only one scene that I was really not happy with.
How about you. Did you like the season? I did.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
I liked it quite a bit, and there has been
things that, like more retroactively thinking about it, I was like, Okay,
I can kind of understand some things, I think, and
this is how I've been trying to look at it
even from the jump, is that the game and the
show are two delight different experiences. Sure, I don't think
anything is going to ever live up to the game

(39:01):
because you can't recreate what a game does like you
are that character, you're immersed in this world. It's hard
to because so many people are like, oh, they rush
through this, and why I can see that from a
certain standpoint. They do still hit all the big narrative beats,
yet they take they take a lot of time to
have these quiet moments that expand the characters. I think

(39:24):
that that they do better in the game.

Speaker 2 (39:27):
But very much so. The game is much more subtle,
which I think.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
Is what makes it better. Yeah, and it's it's I
can understand, Like I think there could have been a
middle ground with with certain things from the show to
the game. And it's hard because a lot of this
stuff feels heavy handed to us, but it's because we
have the knowledge of it so absolutely, you know, you
almost have to think out of it. Like this is

(39:50):
made for people who have never played the game mostly
you know, honestly, they want to appease game fans too,
but like this is made for the general audience of everyone.
And some of the things I'm like, I get why
they kind of revealed some of Babby's stuff. Maybe they
were a little heavy handed with it sometimes, but I
think some of it was kind of needed because revealing
that Abby's dad is the reason she killed Joel isn't

(40:12):
the point of Abby's redemption, you know. So I was
like that, I don't care because I get why they're
doing it, because they're trying to soften the blow when
he gets to the last scene. They're not as mad
as probably we were when we were playing the game
when it goes to the cut scene and everyone's like, wait.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
What, there's no Yeah, that part. I didn't have an issue.
One thing I think we can all agree was heavy
handed is the fact that Jesse said, not once, but twice,
I cannot die staring at like he may as well
looked at the camera and winked. At that point, I
was like, buddy, what are you doing here? At the
end of this episode, You're dying. And even the people

(40:50):
that didn't know that were probably like, it's pretty weird
that he just keeps saying this, but you know, like
it's so that to me is one of the moments
that the most egregious thing that I've felt during the
and this goes back to subtlety. Was Joel and Ellie.
They revealed that tak on the porch. They revealed it early,
and I understand why they did that, no problem with that.

(41:12):
But what I didn't like is the cool thing that
happens in the game is neither of them says I
love you in that moment, because they're both proud and
hurt and it's but it's like hanging in the air
and you know that it is that in the space
with them, neither of them says it, and that's the
last time she ever sees Joel alive, and that is

(41:35):
so important to me as a viewer. And I think
him breaking down and saying I love you in a
way that you don't understand and if you have kids
someday you'll understand. Blah blah blah. I think that kind
of like I really, in my heart of hearts, think
that scene would have been better if it was less,
if he never said it, because it's so important in

(41:56):
the game that he never says it, because you know
they could have, you know they should have, you know
they wanted to, but they just never said it, and
that is that makes the tragedy of this so much
deeper to me than the entire like while we're here,
I'm your dad, and I'm gonna tell you all my
feelings and I'm gonna weep in front of you. I

(42:18):
feel like that kind of undercuts who goal is is
a character is in the written word, but I also
recognize that it's Neil's character. I think I'm almost certain
he wrote that episode, and so it's his right to
change that obviously, if that's what he wants to do.
It just was so much more impactful to me to have,
like than not say it, and to just reel that

(42:39):
moment in where he's kind of like choked up and
I can't remember exactly what he says, but he's just
kind of like yeah, you know, like he just gives
like one word answers and it's like it's so heartbreaking.
And this was heartbreaking too, in a different way. But
I just think I preferred the way that the game
laid that out and had that kind of both like,

(43:01):
you know, there's almost a part of your your like
lizard brain that's like just fucking say that you love
each other and then like Joel can die in peace
and then they just don't give it to you and
it's so powerful, whereas in the game, you know, in
the show, Joel just fills his guts and you know,
maybe that's a maybe that's a dad move because I
think Neil had a child before two came out.

Speaker 1 (43:25):
So yeah, I kind of liked how Pedro's version was
like more outwardly emotional. Sure, and that might be something
kind of like with the time of you know, now
we're kind of dealing with a lot of people our
age are getting better with sharing our emotions and our thoughts.
When we grew up from our parents who were very
against it, you know, mental health wasn't a real thing

(43:45):
that people talked about or even acknowledged or thought was real.
And now we're in a time where it's like everyone
is pretty wary of it. And I think the book
ended line of that episode like destroyed me because especially
no what Ellie does later on, you're like, oh my god,
like and that's what I think I love about The

(44:06):
Last of Us more is that almost every pivotal line
that is said has like four you know, it has
so many different meanings, and some of it's like heartfelt
and great, and then the other half of it is
just innately heartbreaking, and I was like, damn, Like, that's
that's great to hear if bookendedy came from his dad,
you know, Like, and I think the biggest heartbreaking thing

(44:27):
of that line being added into this is that, yes,
Joel succeeded in breaking the cycle of violence from parent
to kid, but he failed at breaking the silent cycle
of violence, just like in an overall like way of life.
Like he you know, him killing the whole hospital to

(44:49):
save her life is you know, a cause to the
effect of him dying and then sending Ellie on this
path of basically no return. You know, it's like he
still failed in that, and that makes that's why it's
like that line felt so heartbreaking to me because it's
it's not just one singular thing like means a multitude
of things at once. And that's something I think I

(45:11):
just love about The Last of Us in general, because
there's so many things that like play towards things in
the future, things in the past, and I think that's
what makes it feel like more human because it's you know,
it's not a black and white scenario. In this world.
Everything lives in the gray, which is life. That's life.
Like nothing in life is really black and white, you
know what I mean, everything kind of lives in that gray,

(45:33):
and that's what I appreciate of it. I can't argue
with anyone they're like, oh, I wish there was more episodes,
because if there was more episodes, I definitely wouldn't have
said no, yeah, you know, And I just.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
Feel like they could have fleshed out that final run
to the for sure I'm a little better, and maybe
added some steaks have them how did you get through
a couple obstacles? I think would have been cool.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
I don't know, and it must have been their decision.
They're like, oh, we can tell the story in seven episodes.
Let's do seven episodes.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
Yeah, who knows. I think that is kind of how
they do it. I also didn't understand her trying to
save the seraphyight. I think that they're in the game.
She's kind of like, yeah, let them kill each other.
This is sick. And so that was kind of because
she's already kind of like pretty far down this path
of vengeance at the time, right she could either save

(46:20):
or not say, and they've already been attacked by the
Seraphytes at that point, so I don't understand at least
like interest in the situation when none of it meets
her goals. It's just sort of this compassionate moment, even
though we've been trying to establish that she's not compassionate
and that she's not willing to face her compassion at
the time. So I feel like there were a couple

(46:43):
of things in that way where the game tried to
sort of absolve Elli of an of not all wrongdoing, certainly,
but you know, even with mel you know, the gunshot
kind of like ricochets and hits her, and it kind
of like, I don't know, I feel like there were
a lot of sort of get out of jail free moment.
It's really in that episode where I'm just like, no,

(47:03):
just let her be bad. She's bad now, that's the point. Obviously,
they cut the dog scene.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
The other the other big I'm fine with cutting the
dog scene.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
I admittedly that would have been rough to see, but
I didn't see that. Yeah. The other thing that I
kind of wish they would have done is I like
that they gave Isaac kind of a backstory.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
I really like that scene.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
I did not so much like that they gave the
scars a backstory, because I thought that what made them
impactful in the game is that you hear a whistle
and then an arrow hits you in the shoulder, and
then that is like and then from then you learn
about them like that, you know, it's just like really
abrupt thing where you're like, oh, there's an entire other

(47:46):
faction of people here that also want to kill me,
And then I would have I just thought that was
such effective storytelling in the game, and I wish they
would have just like let them be a mystery. And
now I understand why they didn't be, because obviously you'll
now have to wait two years for the payoff to
that or however long it's going to take them to
do this season, But it would have been cool, I think,

(48:09):
to just have them be this mysterious faction of somewhat
ghost like creatures that will disemvowel people and then next
year we can kind of get into it with their motivations.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
Yeah, there was something that the finale did that made
me retroactively look differently at those kind of intercut scenes
in the rest of the season, and I feel like,
and this is me knowing like what's coming. So that's
why I kind of appreciated them more. Is there was
so much more, Like even when there was that conversation
with Isaac and they talk about Abby, and there's certain

(48:41):
things you see that are like, oh, we're going to
see the counterpoint of that from Abby's perspective in season three.
And they did such a better job with that in
the finale than they did with all the other scenes
like that throughout the season that I was like, damn
and it I witnessed. A difference is that Craig, Neil
and Haley wrote the finale and Craig wrote most of

(49:04):
the other series. And I know a lot of people
have been kind of shitting on Craig Mason for bastardizing
the characters, which I don't think he's done personally. I
don't think he's totally ruined these characters like some people have.

Speaker 2 (49:15):
But I think the fans, I mean, like the fans
of this game are very sort of like black and white,
and which is funny, and I think that's a real
flaw in the fan base frankly, But yeah, I don't
think that. I don't think anyone what shared this series,
but there are absolutely things I would have done differently

(49:39):
as someone who obsessed over both of these games for
many years. But no, the narrative was not destroyed. It
was not you know, everything that needed to happen still happened.
He got a lot of great emotional moments. It's ridiculous
to suggest that the series was ruined.

Speaker 1 (49:59):
And that's kind of what I've been to say. I'm like,
you cannot like it, but I was like, some people
have just been screaming it's different, so it's bad, and
I'm like, that's not a criticism. Just go play the
game and stop watching the series, like if that's your
real problem. And it like, like I said, I think
there's both of them. Both of them do things better separately.
It's just hard because it's like the Internet poses this

(50:20):
like strange narrative. Because I know the finale was down
on viewership compared to the premiere. It was also a
holiday weekend, but the overall viewership numbers, like average is
higher than season one. So people are like, oh, yeah,
it failed because they killed Joel and they're they're doing
terrible and it's like, actually, this is such a massive hit,

(50:41):
like the series, I don't know what you're even talking and.

Speaker 2 (50:44):
You're trying to use an outlier to describe to justify
your point of view. Yes, and yeah, there are things
I didn't like about the season, but on the whole,
I'm happy with it. I'm so happy that in a
landscape where almost every video game adaptation is total garbage, trash, redundantly,

(51:06):
this is like a shining example of like how to
do something pretty well, you know, like, yeah, even if
it doesn't fire on all cylinders in every episode.

Speaker 1 (51:16):
When the action hit in this mostly when it came
to the affected, it was awesome. Episode two.

Speaker 2 (51:24):
That was a great addition. Nobody's talking about how great
an addition that was.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
Because that was that's That's like, like, looking back on
the season, I'm like, we were at such a high
and episode two. Episode two is probably like one of
the best episodes in the entire series, you.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
Know, actually, because they killed Joel better in the show
than the game.

Speaker 1 (51:41):
I thought it was so brutal, dude. The crawling of
Ellie back to Joel destroyed me. Like I was like,
because I think they took some moments and they made
it like more brutal, not even from like a like
a kind of like ball tieway, but in like an
emotional way. They like made it more emotionally brutal, and
that a ddition. I was like, well, even stabbing him
in the neck, which I saw some people saying like, oh,

(52:03):
that's so lame, and I was like, we.

Speaker 2 (52:05):
Live honestly, like, yeah, he just get in the game,
you just fall.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
We live in a world that so desensitized to violence
that if you just beat him over the head of
the golf club until he died, like people wouldn't believe that.
And it's still like because it's so funny because like
so many people were like, oh my god, they say
they're gonna kill her, kill him in the opening episode.
They made it so obvious. I was like, no, no, no,
I was like, go on YouTube and watch like reactions

(52:33):
to people who have never played the game. They are
like in utter disbelief because for one, most shows sans
like a Game of Thrones and like The Walking Dead
don't kill off main characters. And for two, they don't
kill off Pedro Pascal, who is the biggest star in.

Speaker 2 (52:51):
The world.

Speaker 1 (52:53):
Until that point you know in episode two, right, you know,
like with friends.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Haven't played the game, and they were shocked. They were
they were like utterly shocked by that.

Speaker 1 (53:06):
My friend said, the funniest thing. He's like as he's
laying there like completely his face disfigured, covered in blood,
He's like, I thing I kept thinking, as man, I
wonder how he's gonna get out of this, right.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
My girlfriend's sister told me that she was like, oh,
so now he's gonna be like one legged for the
rest of the series because they believe his leg off.
That's what she thought, because she was like, surely he
won't die. It's impossible. You can't kill the main character.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
Amazing. Yeah, Like I said, it's like they need to
stab him in the neck because it needed to be
and then they need to show him dragging him in
a body bag because they need to make it like
this is final because it's so hard and like the
landscape of everything where everyone comes back to life, you know,
like death isn't this final thing, so they needed to
make it like an exclamation point. And I saw someone

(53:54):
describe something where Abbie like killed her killed him like
she wouldn't infected, like he was the infection in her
life and she had to kill him just like that
as like kind of like a form of symbolism. And
I was like, that's pretty beautiful. I don't know if
they thought it that way, but if someone was able
to like grab that from it, like that's cool. That's
such a cool, like narrative thing. Obviously, this ends in

(54:15):
a mass and clipphanger. There's a big confrontation with Abby
and Elliott the theater, but then it cuts to start
and show Abby that we're going to start over from
day one. No, obviously you know what's coming from the game.
Are you excited for season three knowing what's to come?

Speaker 2 (54:31):
I am so excited because of lev lev Is the
to me, lev is like the center of this narrative,
even though it's not even about like those two, but
so much of what I felt like the heart of
this story is is about and I know it seems
crazy to say this, but it's this is really not
a story about Ellie very much at all. It's a

(54:53):
story about redemption and Abby's willingness to change, and like, yeah,
the fact that she once she kills Joel, she is,
I believe, surprised to realize that that doesn't close that
loop in her mind. She's still having nightmares, that's still
having PTSD, she's still having all the all the bad

(55:16):
results of her father being murdered, even though in her
mind she's like justice was served. But what it turns
out is that justice not only really wasn't served because
justice is never served in the way you think.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
It will be.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
But it really is going to take so much more
from Abby mentally to be able to overcome this loss
and to you know, find family and find truth in
some ways, because lev really is the honesty in Happy's life.

(55:50):
And I think when once, I think everyone that is
kind of mad right now is going to be so
relieved when Levinara show up, because yeah, that's really like
the heart of the story, even though it seems like,
you know, even as even playing it for the first time,
when I went through that battle at first fight with
Abby and Ellie, I would just like let Abby lose

(56:15):
because I it was funny to me to see her
get hacked with a machete. But it's really in like
the reflection of like that relationship and growth that I
kind of won to Abby over time. The first time
through the game, I really didn't. I really wasn't on
board with not only playing half the game as Abby,
but probably playing the more important half of the game

(56:36):
as Abby. The more I mean, for the most part,
Abby scenes in the game are actually better other than
the one flashback to the museum with the fight scenes
with Abby or more intense. Abby's just a bit it
seems crazy to say it, but the Abbey is just
a more well rounded character than Ellie in the second game.
So I'm I'm stoked for Lev to come in. I

(56:59):
hope we get to play his lab in the third
game that for at least some of them line that
would be so sick to me, that would be sick.
But I always play a lab in the little you know,
the many games that you can play. Let's try my home.

Speaker 1 (57:14):
I think Caitlin Deaver is on Noreal as Abby already
and I can't wait to get just like we've only
gotten like two really like major scenes with her to
showcase you know her. She's a great actor. I've loved
her since The Last Man Standing. It was a Tim
Allen show. It's pretty much a modern day home improvement,
but she is one of Tim Allen's daughters. And from that,

(57:34):
she was in this awesome movie Book Smart, which is
kind of like it's it's the easy comparisons, like it's
like a female super Bad, but great, great movie, and
I was so happy when I heard she was cast,
and I'm like, damn. And she brings that intensity that
Abby showcases in the game for sure, And you're right,
the best scenes are in Abby's like the rat King,

(57:57):
and that's gonna you know, they're gonna make that so
insane as that in THEE.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
I'm like nervous about it, frankly, because again, I'm not
a big horror guy. That also terrified me in the
second game I had poss.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
Yeah, you know, you're just like flying Yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
Body horror is not my friend. I don't enjoy looking
at it at all. And that's like a big old
dose of body horror.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Oh yeah, especially when parts start breaking off and stuffy.

Speaker 2 (58:26):
Yeah. So I think that the best is still to come.
I think that people that were disappointed gonna or or actually,
let me rephrase, I think that people that are gleefully
celebrating what they believe to be a catastrophic and to
the series are going to be sorely disappointed when it
revs up next season because I think they're going to

(58:47):
do a great job. I don't even know who they
cast is Leve, but I'm excited to I don't remember,
and excited to see that huge set piece that they're
undoubtedly going to have in the end when they have
the war, Like, we're gonna see all that now, that's
gonna be I can't wait, kind of a last thing
that's gonna be kind of the end coming at the
end of the season, and that's gonna be an incredible

(59:09):
set Yeah, I'm very excited for that.

Speaker 1 (59:11):
I think that'll be a great counterpoint to the season's
like Battle of Jackson will be like the Wolf and
seraphit war. I think that's gonna be perfectly teed up
in this season too, where it's I like that they
chose to be ballsy and to split it in perspectives
like the game, because I understand it can be kind
of frustrating, especially for people who haven't played the game,
to like look at this and be getting getting like

(59:33):
a part of the pieces, because if you view the
Wolf and Serified stuff from just like a casual fans perspective,
you're like, wait, so wait, what's up all that stuff?
But it's kind of like lost in a way where
they give you pieces of things and they kind of
as things go along, it all gets kind of coming
together which I like stories like that. I like not
knowing everything and not everything needs to be explained, but

(59:55):
I felt like it was a good way to be
like a soft introduction into what's happening, and then we'll
get the full picture next season. And they saw in
the finale they did have that crazy scaffolding Skybridge part two,
so they're definitely going to do that in season three,
which is a must.

Speaker 2 (01:00:12):
And I'm that's going to be insane as well because
I also hate heights, so that'll be great. Did you
when they announced that it was going to be two seasons?

Speaker 1 (01:00:20):
Is this what you expected or not it's going to
be three seasons?

Speaker 2 (01:00:24):
Oh? Yeah, I just heard that they were talking about
fourth seasons. But when they announced originally that it was
going to be two seasons, did you expect it to
go this way?

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
Yeah, because there's so much story they couldn't. There's no
way they could. Like people are already complaining they crammed
too much in in one thing, Like there's.

Speaker 2 (01:00:39):
That's one criticism. I think that they could have split
that last episode into.

Speaker 1 (01:00:43):
Two, oh for sure. But like I as soon as
they said, like a season two is happening, I was like,
they can't cover part two in the season. It's impossible, impossible.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
I think they tried to make Bella Ramses Ellie be
more of a Badass's a badass in the very beginning,
so like that is going to have to throw it down.

Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
For shore, And I think that's a trained soldier.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
Right soldier. And you know, people complain about the muscles thing,
but I think the muscles thing, it's not I think
I know that the muscles thing was the result of
her passion. You know, like she was so obsessed with
finding and killing Joel that she just would not stop training.
And so like that is the character. And obviously I

(01:01:31):
don't expect and we've already seen an Abby in the show,
so she's not like muscle bound, but like we need
to see that level of obsession from her in other ways.
And I think one of the ways we're going to
have to see that is I think they're going to
have to do the scene, you know, that long extend
scene where they get attacked by Seraphyites and the truck

(01:01:53):
breaks down and then they have to go through the
home depot. Like we need to see all that. We
need to see Ellie Abby be physically dominant in those moments,
and I think that will I think that'll bring that
point home pretty well, because like, part of the part
of the reason she looks like she does in the
game physically is obsession, and we don't necessarily see that

(01:02:15):
in the game simply because Caitlin dever Deaver doesn't have
insane muscles. So I look forward to seeing that in
other ways, seeing that her obsession come to life just
in battle, her ability to you know, take down. I mean,
that's one amazing thing kind of that Abby can do
in the game, is she can just beat the fuck
out of a clicker with her bare hands. You don't,

(01:02:38):
you don't even question it. Yeah, we're gonna have to.
I think we're going to have to see that a little.

Speaker 1 (01:02:43):
More for sure. I do think they set it up
a little in this season and in that conversation the
finale with Isaac of him basically saying that Abby was
meant to be she like she is, she is smart
and capable of she was going to be a leader.
And I think if they showcase that in a way
that it was kind of explained in that scene, I
think that'll totally qualm anyone's worries and it can be

(01:03:05):
a thing where she obsessed over just being the best
soldier possible, and that she like, you know, maybe that
was her emission. She did want to be the leader,
and then she finds Yara and Lev and that becomes
the priority because she realizes that people are more important
than this war that really doesn't in the grand same
things doesn't really matter, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:03:22):
Yeah, I look forward to it. I think season three
is going to be the definitive season. And even though
I think, you know, I think most people right now
I feel like it's season one, I think Season three
will be the kind of season that everybody talks about
for years to come. So I'm excited for that.

Speaker 1 (01:03:38):
Yeah, I think I'm totally agreed to there. I have
high hopes for it, and.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
I'm not even like someone who's like sipping the well.
Neil told me this was a good story to tea,
so I believe him. It was more like I didn't
like Gabby at first. It took a couple of play
throughs for me to sort of feel that story resonating.
But I just feel like I'm so ready for, you know,
for this to just crush it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:04):
And I think at first I felt that way playing
the game, I was like, what why am I playing as?

Speaker 2 (01:04:09):
What the fuck?

Speaker 1 (01:04:10):
And then the more you get into it, You're like,
oh wow, this is actually like such an incredible story.
Like I think that's why I've been so obsessed with
the story in general, is because it does such an
insane whiplash perspective shift that you would never expect, especially
in a video game of all places, to like totally
flip flip it everything on its head and you're like,

(01:04:31):
oh wow. And the more you get through it, the
more it becomes apparent like, oh, okay, I get it now.
And I think it's mostly because of the point where
it's where you see Abby falling into this or you
see Ellie falling into this like descent of madness and violence.
Is that Abby's already done that and she's now on
the other end realizing, like what you said, it changes nothing,

(01:04:52):
and her kind of trying to break that cycle of
violence by helping Levi and Yara, and you know, it's
that's that's what so beautiful and so like special to
me is that it's just like what a crazy narrative
choice to do and then and then not not even
just to do it but then nail it with an
actual compelling good story at the end. You know, it's
like that's bravo for for me and Halien company.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
Adamy not only has a point, but you know she's right,
and like you're going to have to live with the
fact that she's right. Yeah. So yeah, pretty entertaining.

Speaker 1 (01:05:26):
Great great story, Sean, Thank you so much for joining
me talking last talking ton of stuff with me anytime. Man,
you were a pleasure to talk with.

Speaker 2 (01:05:35):
I never get to talk about the last of Us
with very many people, so it's just wonderful for me
just to you know, all my nerds, all my nerd shit,
if you will, kind of keep in a box, because
I don't know a ton of guys that like the
nerd ship like I do. So it was a real
thank you so much for just giving me a place
to put that stuff for today.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
Oh, no problem, I'm happy to be able to have
done that. Before you get out here, please let people
know where they can find you, where they can find
the band. Well you guys have going on.

Speaker 2 (01:06:05):
Well, if you're a metalcore listener, you're going to be
very disappointed because I in fact playing a pop punk band,
which is not going to be your thing. But if
you are a pop punk listener and you happen to
be listening to this for our hot Last of Us takes,
that's great because if I got news for you, I
just made an EP with some guys from the Wonder

(01:06:27):
Years and put it out and it's Old Me On
music everywhere the band is called Old Me On, And
just check it out and leave us very if you
hate it, leave us like a very reasonable and respectful take.
Just like all the haters of the Last of Us two.

Speaker 1 (01:06:46):
I hope to see some of those we'll see. That
would be quite insane if if that ends up happening,
But yeah, I'll make sure and link everything down below
the next time. See you, lear nerds.