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The Last Of Us HBO MAX

The Last of Us, Season 1 Finale Review – Look for the Light

The Last of Us, Season 1 Finale Review – Look for the Light

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The season finale of The Last Of Us on HBO Max races to the finish line in an erratic and unsettling way that seems to encapsulate the style of the series as a whole. Feeling like a checklist of plot points that the show runners forgot to cover in the previous 8 episodes, this brisk 44 minute episode did manage to stir up some feelings. We finally return to the flashback opening format, in which we see the birth of Ellie, as her pregnant mother (Ashley Johnson) is chased into a home by an infected woman that bites her while the baby is being born. As origin stories go, it’s not an unsatisfying way to explain Ellie’s immunity. We also finally see where Firefly leader Marlene fits into Ellie’s story, though it’s unclear why the girl was allowed to be taken in by FEDRA at some point, if Marlene was the one entrusted to find the baby a home. Perhaps that’s a story saved for a Season 2 flashback. But satisfaction

The Last of Us, Episode 8 Review – When We Are in Need

The Last of Us, Episode 8 Review – When We Are in Need

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By the end of this episode of The Last of Us I had tears in my eyes, an elevated heart rate and renewed faith in the state of streaming entertainment in 2023. HBO Max can consider their investment in adapting a decade old video game into live action, money well spent. This penultimate installment was definitely a winner. There was something very exciting to me about Ellie and Joel taking shelter in an abandoned home over the last few episodes, which may seem counterintuitive when considering the more colorful sets the series has presented, such as the mall in episode 7. Perhaps it’s the fact that I grew up in the most generic of track housing, so to imagine my own neighborhood turned into a ghost town with battles for survival taking place between suburban backyards added spice to the mundane, but familiar surroundings.  As much as I find Pedro Pascal an enjoyable presence on screen, I feel almost guilty admitting that I was happy to see him once again

The Last of Us, Episode 7 Review – Left Behind

The Last of Us, Episode 7 Review – Left Behind

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Bella Ramsey has proven herself time and again to be the breakout star of The Last Of Us and wisely the show runners dedicated an entire episode to Ellie’s youthful adventures, which disproves the notion that there can be too much of a good thing. It appears a formula has developed for the writers of The Last of Us to create what are sure to be remembered as the strongest installments of the series. Let’s examine the the recipe: First, a self-contained story of two characters enjoying life together amidst the chaos of a world of fungal supremacy, sprinkle in a single appearance by an infected human being, add a dash of same sex attraction, bring to a boil with the impending tragic death of one of the lovers and serve with a side of 80’s pop music. If the preceding analysis reads as cynical, it should be stated that I enjoyed this episode immensely, but the parallels to episode 3 of The Last of Us are hard to ignore.

The Last of Us, Episode 5 Review – Endure and Survive

The Last of Us, Episode 5 Review – Endure and Survive

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The experience of watching The Last Of Us thus far has been a bit frustrating. Some episodes have challenged my expectations in wonderful ways, while others have fallen below the designation of prestige television that has been attached to the HBO Max series. The 5th episode continues the trend of pulling me back from the brink of boredom, by delivering an exciting, complicated story with unexpected twists. My criticisms of the 4th episode were many, but reflecting back after submitting my review, I realized one more element missing from that production. The infected were completely absent from the story. While I have previously admitted to not being put on edge in any way by the fast zombie nature of the fungal antagonists, their absence was certainly felt when the only danger being presented were a few people with guns asking, “Where’s Henry?” Luckily, that’s a question which is answered in great detail during episode 5. When last we left Ellie and Joel, they had been awoken and held at gunpoint

The Last of Us, Episode 4 Review – Please Hold to My Hand

The Last of Us, Episode 4 Review – Please Hold to My Hand

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Coming off the creative achievement of the amazing third episode of The Last Of Us, it was inevitable that the fourth installment of “The Adventures of Joel & Ellie” would have a hard time achieving the same artistic high note of its predecessor. Having established now that the series can detour completely into poignant, self-contained storytelling, would they simply return to tales from the road to en route to rescue Joel’s brother, Tommy? As it turns out, yes. With an opening that does not include one of the compelling flashbacks of the first two episodes, Please Hold to My Hands snaps back from stretching the bounds of its artistic elastic to rely solely on the charm of its two leads in order to maintain audience interest. Did it achieve its goal? Let’s explore. With Ellie acting as navigator for the pair on their way through Kansas City, a seemingly abandoned quarantine zone becomes more than meets the eye. If you feel that this review sounds like little more than an

The Last of Us, Episode 3 Review – Long, Long Time

The Last of Us, Episode 3 Review – Long, Long Time

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Horror television is often looking for a way to surprise the audience. It might be through a well-timed jump scare, a ghastly monster design or unexpected death of a beloved character. Rarely is that surprise achieved by completely shaking up the formula and dropping what equates to a self-contained short film about a love story into the middle of the season. Long, Long Time, Episode 3 of The Last of Us dares to challenge its audience and succeeds in delivering a truly unique viewing experience. Episode 2 of The Last Of Us disappointed me by retracing familiar territory in media with similar themes, failing to generate excitement Little did I know that the showrunners had an ace up their sleeve that would enthrall me and make me realize the potential of this HBO Max series. Recruiting a favorite television performer of mine into the mix didn’t hurt either. My skepticism hit its peak after watching the second episode. I encountered a mumbling survivalist hiding in his basement bunker. This character

The Last of Us, Episode 2 Review – Infected

The Last of Us, Episode 2 Review – Infected

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I must admit that going into episode 2 of The Last Of Us, I was looking forward to gaining a greater understanding of the world in which fungus reigned supreme. Though I had some trepidation as the last time a fungus was featured in a big budget production as part of the live action Super Mario Bros movie in 1993, the results were less than stellar. In that bizarre film, the duo of plumber siblings were constantly being reminded to “trust the fungus”, a sentient goo, that by the film’s end was revealed to be the de-evolved monarch of the mushroom kingdom. Given the praise I heaped upon the first episode of The Last Of Us in my first review, I suppose there was no reason to doubt the power of the entertainment to come, though in the end, episode 2 may ultimately be considered filler, as opposed to a standout in the HBO Max series. Once again the episode, Infected, opens with an expository flashback that acts as its own

The Last of Us, Episode 1 Review – When You’re Lost in the Darkness

The Last of Us, Episode 1 Review – When You’re Lost in the Darkness

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Reviewer Disclaimer: I am not a gamer. Let me rephrase that, I’m not a modern gamer. If anything, I could be classified as a retro gamer in that I still have an original Nintendo Entertainment System hooked up to a tube TV and a stack of game cartridges that  I play regularly. I bought a Playstation 3 in 2012 to use solely as a blu-ray player and when I got adventurous 10 years later and picked up a used copy of Batman Arkham Asylum, I couldn’t get past the first level. As a result, I resigned myself to 20th century video game technology once again. All that is to say, that I definitely have not played The Last Of Us video game or it’s sequel. I’ve heard it praised and debated in the general pop culture, but know very little of it’s plot, other than it is a game that could be classified as a post-apocalyptic, cinematic experience. I thought it was important to set the stage for the reviews