The Reel Rejects - THE LAST OF US Episode 3 - Review & Breakdown | HBO | "Long Long Time"

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

SO DIFFERENT FROM THE GAME! Thanks to G-Fuel, Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! We React To Season 1 Ep 3 of TLOU giving our Breakdown, Ending Explained, Easter Eggs, & Spoiler Review. The episode features Nick Offerman, Joel & Ellie (Pedro Pascal & Bella Ramsey), Bill & Frank Death, Tess Anna Torv, Murray Bartlett, scene differences from the game vs series, Neil Druckmann & MORE!  Fundraiser For Annie Wersching Family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/for-annies-boys-freddie-ozzie-and-archie  #TheLastOfUs #thelastofushbo #TheLastOfUsEpisode2 #EndingExplained #Episode1 #TrailerBreakdown #TheLastOfUsBreakdown #endingexplained #TLOUEpisode1 #TheLastOfUsEndingExplained #EpisodeBreakdown #HBO #EasterEggs #LastOfUs #Theories #TLOU #Joel #Ellie #Clickers #Sarah #Bill #Frank #NickOfferman    - Become A Super Sexy Reject For Full-Length T.V. & Movie Reactions!  https://www.patreon.com/thereelrejects  - Support The Channel By Checking Out Our Bomb A** Merch:  http://shopzeroedition.com/collections/reel-rejects-merch --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-reel-rejects/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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that did not feel like an hour in 15 minutes that's crazy this show is so well-paced oh yeah oh my goodness that worked for me on every level yeah every level my eyes were just kind of watering up like every 10 minutes of that shit uh yeah they they it I'd be very curious to hear the conversation surrounding this one but all we can do is talk from our hearts here And, yeah, I mean, like, knowing the game, it definitely, there's so much different, right? Way different. I mean, way different. Yeah, like you, and it sets up, as fans at the game, it's an interesting viewing experience because, like, you're like, all right, well.

So what happens, like, the briefest version that we can tell you in the game is, like, they're looking for the battery and then running into traps and stuff. And Bill is just like a hardened asshole. He is just the biggest asshole in the world. world and but they need to go through like all kinds like they skip there's all like sneaking in what it was thinking to a school in that they do go to school at some point at some point they go through a school yes but they have to like go through all this crazy hoops and stuff and running over it's it's it's it's it's narly fun gameplay and everything and bill's awesome and bill and ellie do knock it along oh that's my favorite part is bill and ellie and that's probably if as a gamer

fan i'm like that's probably the one part of them like oh i would have loved to have seen ellie and bill and that's what i was going to say yeah and and then eventually they come come across you hear there's like a falling out with him and frank and then they come across when they're looking for a battery they went into a house and they see that frank is hung up yeah yeah and so frank's already dead you see bill get him i'm alexa was like what what are you talking about um yeah so you see frank's uh dead so you never meet frank in the game and they allude to a history that there was possibly something more to them than just you know buddies uh but it was very like macho the way how uh bill comes across right and so imagine what you saw bill like

if you haven't played the game what you saw bill like at the beginning of this episode and he's like a more senile a more rageful version of that more emotionally resistant version of that just like an older version so watching this i was like okay well i'm expecting them to when it does like the three-year jump like all right now we're watching when things are falling apart for them basically yes and i you know you do set up an expectation knowing the game that they will they'll have a falling out he's probably going to leave and and then you know maybe bill's going to morph into that like bitter old man yes and then after and after a while i'm like i don't think it's going down that path you know like i don't think they're going to do that and and even with the drink i was like okay maybe frank

picked up on that and switched the bottles around or something like i kept expecting bill to to live still because i'm like there's still so much with bill and and the battery and we're going went on a mission and everything and they didn't do that and yet it didn't leave me upset it didn't leave me angry or like why did you rob us of that i can imagine i have no idea obviously have no idea what people think of this episode yet um but i can imagine that there will be a that is really bummed out by that and for me i found myself like no this is i thought what they decided to do for this show and this narrative it it made it more emotional and poignant and gave bill a thorough character arc and even when you land on the letter uh by the end which you know

like in the game dead bottom dead people are always leaving letters and so the combination even frank left the letter yeah in the game yeah um yeah so yeah the the but having the but i like that when you finally get this letter it's it's a very like emotional moment and and uh i i just thought it was it was like this beautiful story of this couple in the in the apocalypse like i wanted it i've had a short story in mind that kind of was like the last five minutes of their story a short film in mind it was like a zombie story so watching it take place and he never got infected but how they just grew together and watching a man watching bill this man change over time into a person who learned to let people and learn to care and even leaving a letter for like Joel at the end that was so that was so

open and welcoming and supportive and you can have whatever you want was like I I think this is perfect for the story they're choosing to tell them and how it motivates how it motivates Joel to you know when he's reading the letter like okay i got to apply whatever bill learned and i got to adopt this for ellie right now absolutely so yeah like they do they skip over a bunch do they completely change and eliminate a bunch oh yeah they do but emotionally to me that's that's that's what makes made this game so resonant it's not so much you like clickers and all that it's like it's really fun you know the game plays and all that it's like of course that's a big part of the game but what's made it so strong this the game experience is this this heart this sadness yet this

bittersweet and melancholic expressions that's what has made the last of a story so beautiful and why it's resonated for so long so while i miss well sure i can miss like watching gameplay stuff come to life i think they replaced it with stuff that is so much more powerful for this live action in visual medium, and I went up on a tangent. Sorry, Andrew. All right, well, I got so much to say now. No, but, no, no, I agree with a lot of what you said. Absolutely, look, there might be some gamers.

And look, I'd say, like, from a gamer perspective, there was definitely a subversion of expectations, for sure, in this episode. Like, when you see, like, the three years later and you see them start arguing, like, ah, here it comes, the destruction of their relationship and what happens, because, again, really quickly to, like, Greg allude to in the game, basically what happened is Bill is so set in his ways

he's so like you know he just he's like basically a home or he doesn't want to leave doesn't want to do anything and Frank wants to explore and do other things and that's kind of why he leaves him and so that's a big part of the falling out of the relationship and he gets infected and that's why he hangs himself so

you know the we start to see a little bit of that but again we get that subversion of expectations but it didn't bother the only thing that again I wouldn't say bothered I would just I know I use this toward a lot but I was just saddened by that we didn't get to see Bill and Ellie but you know what I get that in the game so it's more of like a wish yeah exactly but again I get that in the game so it's not that in the world but because it's so again like I've said in the first two episodes I don't mind if

you make changes as long as it's done in a satisfying way and it moves the plot forward an interesting way and I thought they did that really well in this episode like the chemistry between Nick Offerman and I apologize for not knowing the actor's name of Plains Frank they're phenomenal to get like that are incredible like watching that whole thing and i love the way too like in the first two episodes what how we watched uh the prologue at the beginning just explaining you know how the cordyceps disease you know kind of uh just giving the backstory of that which was done brilliantly i love i call it like uh is it murray bartlett is that his name right uh yep yeah murray bartlett uh him and nick offman they were great together but i know we talked about in the first

two episodes the prologs which again explained the cordyceps infection the backstory fantastic and we get the mid log if you will here in this episode, which, again, I love linear storytelling when it's done right, and in this episode, it was done beautifully. And I love watching that relationship.

And even though, again, it's totally different from the game, when I replay the game now, I'm going to have this whole backstory of Frank. And again, even though there's some changes here and there, I'm going to have a backstory of their relationship now of, like, how they met, and the bond that they formed with each other.

And I really love to. You mentioned it at the beginning. Like, we did get to, see that hardened bill at the beginning like you know just how we how like he's very untrustworthy he doesn't want anyone touching his stuff like don't touch the piano don't touch them that's my mom that's bill like for for people have never played the game that's bill right there do a t i mean not as he as he as he gets in the game not as as seen out of the game he's like way louder it's like and we got to get props to w earl brown in the game he's awesome in the game i love him

as as bill in the game um but nick offerman freaking In this episode, it was so, again, I just, I love the emotional balance that these two brought with each other, him and Murray Bartlett. They were just so good together. I mean, I was so emotionally invested. But I love the they chose to do this whole, the whole montage of spending time with these characters. Like, if you would have told me before this episode, there's going to be barely any infected in this episode. There's going to be barely any action in this episode. It's going to be more of a Bill and Frank centric episode. I'm like, all right, I'm curious. to see how that's going to play out i don't know if that's going to work but seeing the way it was executed i mean it was flawlessly done and also we'd be remiss to mention to i love the stuff at the beginning the character moments we got with ellie and joel yeah it was great i love how it's bookended by ellie and joel like the beginning you're with them and then at the very end you get this

experience and yeah when they check back in i'm like i i really you know i know i've been loving the show but this was the first episode out of the three that was so much more different than the game yes not not emotionally not thematically um story wise but yeah but story wise and seeing like a whole bunch you just don't get in the game it seems just so like most of this is not in the game right yeah and and and then when you do check back when then ellie and joel i like That's when I was like, I know I love, I love this show. Like, it really hit me in like a very different way of, yeah, this is something truly special. And I also really love that they were able to include test back into it as well.

Like just showing that. Yeah, I forgot all about that. But no, just getting tests back. The makeup on tests. Yeah, it was so good because I'm like, wait a minute. Does this actors look like how she does in 2023 or 2013? Yeah, no, for sure. That was great.

That was, I mean, I love that they had that communication between Frank and Tesson. It makes sense. Like, even though we live in a post-apar, or they live in a post-apocalyptic world, Frank wants to have a semblance of normalcy, you know, because they do live in a house where they do feel a little bit normal, but it's still a post-apocalyptic world. So, hey, let's have some friends over. Let's feel a little bit normal in this crazy, psychotic post-apocalyptic world. I love that.

That was a really good touch. And we did get alluded to that in the video game. Again, obviously, for those of you who've played the game, you already know this, but for those of you who don't, Bill and Joel, they know each other. They smuggled together. They work together and tests as well. So it's nice to actually see that history form out a little bit. And, again, now you have a little bit of that history formed out on television for you

when you didn't in the game. So, again, stuff that gets expanded upon, just really smart decision-making. I mean, I love this show so, but it's so good. Yeah. this was in some ways you know it there's a there's an element of of it that because it just hit me i know because that's the thing is you know when you like test die i'm so i'm so used to like i've seen sarah die so many times in the video game that i got my like yeah sure i i get like emotional watching it but i'm not like wow i am taking a back or like test dying i'm

just it's like i'm like oh wow they're really doing this i'm really feeling this and and like oh look at the change. I'm like, I'm so, I'm like absorbed in a lot of different thoughts. Yeah. Because I know the game so well. But this was such a different experience. And I, and I, and I was like taking aback when I was like, oh, Bill's going to

die before he even meets Ellie. Yeah. That's surprising. Like, because he doesn't even die in the game. No, no. He doesn't. Yeah. No. It was interesting. And it was, it was an interesting choice. And I'm just, I am in awe of, of the experience that this particular episode brought.

that it shine a different light. And I'm very curious to see if this episode does get like a significant amount of backlash for such a drastic change. But I'm telling you, someone who's played that game and really remembers the experiences with Bill and the back and forth with Joel and and Ellie especially. This did not bother me whatsoever. We do miss out on some good game levels. that were pretty awesome. There was some scary stuff. Yeah, for sure.

And it's fun when you're teamed up with him. Yeah, and it was so poetic, too, seeing the whole Romeo and Juliet suicide at the end. I mean, so poetic. And too, I love the, just a little reference, too, from the game where Joel crumples up the note. That's basically when Bill found the note that Joel gave him that said Frank wrote a note,

very similar to what Bill did there. And it was very similar. And then Bill crumpled up the note and said the F. F-U-Frank, and, yeah, it was just, it was a nice little touch. There were some, so many awesome touches, and then they included some really cool moments of music from Gustavo Santo, Laia. I hope I said that right this time, guys. I love the spaceship line.

Oh, yes, yes, we flipped out over the, yeah, we won't, we won't go into that, people. We don't want to spoil, because we've been accused of spoiling a lot already. Most of the second game, they're flying in a spaceship. Yes, all right, Greg spoiled it, guys. They go to Mars and Jupiter and, you know. Neptune. And when they get to Mars, they meet Doug Quaid, Arnold Schwarzenegger's character from Tol Rico.

I'm in control of these edits. Whatever. I only keep the things that it's like, if we're saying something that's going to happen, you know, like that's only because it happens in the episode. You guys have already watched the episode. We're not going to talk about things that happen in the future. We're not going to spoil things for you guys who have not played the video games. Don't worry.

Like, we wouldn't do that to you. Only Greg. But no, and yeah, this was a great episode. Someone might be like, they got excited at this. I didn't even play the games. I'm like, well, what is, what is us getting excited tell you? Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. But, I mean, yeah, okay, we got excited.

I'm sorry. What information do you have to go off? He got excited. He's spoiled it. They go zipping around fighting aliens and going to Star Wars. What's going on? But to your point, I really am curious what from the game, because I know from the non-casual fan, I know this episode is going to be very, like, is going to fare well.

for sure. I am curious from the gamers perspective because you and I are hardcore fans of this, as you all know, and we really enjoyed this episode and didn't mind the changes. Yeah, it was a little bit sad, and then we, because I love me some Bill and Ellie. I got to tell you, if you have not played the games, just go watch the cutscenes of Bill and Ellie. That is damn entertaining to watch. They're damn good. W.R. O. Brown and Ashley Johnson have some damn good lines together and chemistry together. But again, the way it's done here, I get it. I get it. I get why they made the changes, and it didn't bother me. And I still have that version of the game.

So it is what it is. You know what? Would it have been cool if they did that? Sure. But with what we got here, with the quality of what we got here with the relationship of these two and how damn emotionally invested I was, it didn't bother me. Like, if you would have told me this before the episode and I hadn't seen a thing, I would have said, what? But after having viewed it and the immersive, incredible experience we just got, it doesn't bother me. But I'm curious to see what other, what other, you know, hardcore gamers that love this, that love the video game think.

I'm really curious. I mean, I think that when it comes to this particular tale that they told, it felt like they told a romance or like a romance during the apocalypse. Yeah. And when they first kissed and you see like they're both crying, like that's the first moment where I'm. was like, wow, this is really affecting me because these are like two, man, I'm just like thinking back on it. I'm getting like, I'm getting emotional again. Yeah. And because they're, there's such, they're so lonely.

Like, and that's the quality that I was capturing is this, this lonesome experience. And I loved seeing how Bill first took such joy in the isolation. Like, this is everything I wanted. I hate people. And now I get to have this all to myself. then you see over time it does grow weary and he grows he he grows solemn yeah and he and then when they find each other you know good thing frank's gaydar was activated oh no and and and uh and when they kiss and then the way they're connecting to you're like they found intimacy and you know

they found something that could be special and they could survive together and to find love in a situation where finding love seems impossible right like even for tests and joel like it's interesting to juxtapose them together because I didn't really register how many years yeah like wow look they didn't even have gray hair when they first knew each other and and then Joel's so

hardened and so afraid of connection yeah which understandably so but he's so afraid and so opposed to it that nothing can even bring him to tears about tests yeah and I'm like but damn you guys have been like together for a long

time and he can't even say to to like they couldn't even establish a title between each other like that's too much for them and i like that nuance between he couldn't even say that's my girlfriend because he can't even call her that you know yeah he didn't really give it a like a position of the relationship yeah label yeah we're not facebook official so i can't see yeah yeah yeah but no but what i what also i loved about bill in this episode as well is he it did you know it wasn't just a character arc it was an emotional arc as well and those are my favorite kind of arcs when you can combine the two because that's where you get something really powerful and Nick Offerman, I mean, damn, damn, yeah, no, when I heard Nick Offerman was going to be, I was like, I could see him as Bill, I could see him as Bill. And then we saw the trail, I was like, okay, he looks like Bill. He looks like Bill. I was like I heard Nick Offerman. I was like perfect. Yeah. That was the first one I heard, I was like, perfect. I didn't say perfect, but I said, I could see him. I can see him as Bill. I can see him as Bill. But then when we saw the trailer and,

the first look he looks like bill i mean i haven't heard any line but he looks like bill and when i watched this episode i was like all right he's bill yeah he's bill well the one they had to really sell you on too was frank uh because i mean they're both new characters uh you know gamer non gamer uh if you're not if you didn't play the game it's it's like the brand new he's brand both are brand new characters but like for gamer fans especially it was like all right let's get to know frank and uh i liked how i do love that they actually really heavily leaned into the romance between them and they found ways of finding keeping it very masculine but keeping it also soft at the right times you know what I mean not to say that

masculinity should not encompass being soft you know so it was they found like wonderful nuance and ways to complement each other and you see why they were a perfect match yeah why they were a good yin and yang absolutely and also two last thing I want to mention I love that we got to see Ellie get her first infection kill in terms of, I believe it was a stalker that we saw her kill? What was the stalker? I believe it was a stocker. I think a fully formed one yet. What stage

is stage two? Runner, stalker, clicker. So there's runner, runner, stalker, clicker. Shambler, if you're in a spoiler, you can edit that. And then the B word, we won't say. And then

there's the RK word we won't say. Sorry, but I don't know how to not spoil this. I thought what were the, whatever the one, in the, in the game when they, which game were we talking about? In the first game, when they're, they made change it, but when he's like in the hotel underground trying to turn on like the elevator,

he's trying to turn on the elevator or something, not the elevator, he's trying to turn something on, Joel. It's, that those are stockers. But, like, you see how in here this, like I can tell there's stalkers by what I call, What I call by their Mohawk in the eye. When one eye is blind like that, that means they're close to clicker stage.

That's a stalker. Okay. I guess I've never noticed with the stalkers that their eye, that they have one normal functioning eye. I think I've, I don't think I've ever noticed it. Oh, yeah, for sure. What game you've been playing? I'm too busy scared. What game you've been playing?

I'm trying to get a good luck of the stockers. He was playing Silent Hill. He wasn't playing last of us. I'm not taking in the designs of everything. Because I'm so focused on surviving in the moment that I'm not taking into designs. Yeah. I think you just taught me. I think I just realized I've never taken in the designs of the creatures because I'm always like, just kill them.

Hey, Paul from Heavy Spoilers, you're not the only one who can edgimicate. See, buddy? Yeah, man. But you are great. I do enjoy your channel, dude. Yeah, okay. Guys, this episode was so good. This is amazing.

This show is so good. And you see, like, the one that's more fresh in my mind is Last of Us, too, because it's the one I more recently played. But, like, one thing that I mentioned this when I, I think we were in the reaction of Paul's video, Harry's Polo's video? It was when you break perspective, when you see that, when you see Ellie snatch the gun. Like, that happens in the game, but you don't see that happen. All righty, guys. Well, thanks for being here.

What did you think about this episode of The Last of Us? Thanks to G-E-feel for sponsoring this video. And also, yeah. Leave a like, subscribe, keep looking out for John Tara's reaction coming later this week.