HBO's The Last of Us Podcast

Full disclosure I only engaged w the podcast for season 2 so only rating my experience with that. Primarily disappointed with how much this season seems to be relying on extras (post episode content, this pod) as essential supplementary material to tell the story. Hot take, I guess, but feels like the tv episodes should tell the story on their own without needing input from bonus content. Don’t get me wrong- I’m all for companion content that speaks to how the show was made and what the adaptation process looked like. S2 was a disappointment for me I think first because the revenge/cycle of violence themes just aren’t as interesting as the trauma processing/human connection seeking ones of S1, but also because the story was incompletely delivered on screen with too much reliance on supplemental content used to tell the audience how to feel. S1 stood out because we learned about and connected with characters over cohesively developed arcs or poignantly delivered vignettes without needing writers/directors to tell us what they were trying to evoke with various creative choices.

Love listening to the backstage and background talk. Awesome to hear how they’ve changed from the game and why. Very well done podcast.

I love listening to the show-runners and creators explain why and how certain creative decisions were made…but I hate how sycophantic the host is and how self-aggrandizing the whole tone is. Some of the creative decisions in season 2 did not work for many fans and I wish they’d address those choices with more humility. Anyway….love the content and extra context. Hate the self-congratulatory tone.

The Last of Us is my all time favorite video game. I love that the story at its core was seen worthy of adaptation. Some of the changes made in the show versus what’s in the game are addressed and explained in the podcast which I love. Expanding storylines into beautifully executed episodes in the show has really made me appreciate the world of Joel and Ellie even more. My only wish is that Ashley Johnson was along side Troy baker throughout this podcast! Thank you Neil for everything!