(This is so late because writing and posting from the hospital, rehab, and now my parents’ house has been super difficult! I am sorry! Please send well wishes to Mama Megs; she is finally HOME! YAY! I am working hard to find a balance between at-home nursing duties for Mama and being a normal human being! We are slowly getting there!)
This episode continued on the path of just getting worse minute by minute. I am using the minimal notes I scribbled (so minimal) and re-watching for this post.
Okay, episode four, and away we goooo –
Seattle 2018 VERY COOL! Some backstory and context we are lacking!
JOSH PECK!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!?!?!
(No, but seriously, what is he doing here?)
This scene played extremely well. I actually loved it the first AND second time. It gave context to the WLFs and, more importantly, to Issac. It showed how ruthless Issac is and how Fedra operated in the quarantine zone, which caused the WLFs to rise and overthrow them. It also mentions the Seraphites as ‘religious crap’ which lays the foundations for the civil war we will walk into (which is not at all used later in the season btw).
(Also, the truck was a subtle nod to one of the ones you find downtown, which I LOVE)
And I PRAY this soldier in the back that Issac spared is my beloved Danny. What a FANTASTIC backstory it would be for him! And it would add to him being Issac’s right-hand man! Let’s hope!
Hi, um, Ellie crawls through that hole on day three to get to the Michael Jordan safe. Once again, I am enraged by this for no reason. Ellie is the playable character in the game so she should be the one exploring and looting these places because it’s how you bond with her and see her using her skills. Giving Dina this screen time only furthers the problem of Dina becoming the main character as Ellie follows.
🤬 I stg stop it rn, Ellie is smart and capable. She even SAYS it to herself. 🤬
Dina holding the little box perfectly off-screen also enrages me for no reason. I understand the need to hold off the reveal, but I also dislike them teasing it more than is necessary. I also have issues with them spoon-feeding the audience that Dina must CONFIRM the pregnancy via a test. It’s the apocalypse. We don’t have time for this, nor the tools. 24-year-old pregnancy tests randomly lying around a quarantine zone that experienced a civil uprising and a civil war? Nah, bro.
Great shot!
This means we are going by days and the writers will clearly mark the timeline in the show of what day it is and when things are happening, right?! RIGHT?!?!?!? (And confirmation Ellie has a rifle!)
So not only is Ellie dumb as rocks again here by causing commotion opening the tank, she doesn’t even get the single shotgun shell that EVERYONE knows is there in the game, and they completely changed her dialogue about space for this easter egg. Cool. Right on. Love it. Onwards.
They see the TV station and Ellie’s ‘Fuck yeah, let’s go!’ is probably the moment I knew my Ellie was not going to make an appearance in this adaptation. I am literally Dina, looking at the writers of this show.
I have no idea why, once again, they wrote Ellie to be so dumb. The excuse being her ceaseless need for revenge. It was shown in the game perfectly fine, and she was not written for Dina to talk down to and lead through Seattle. They were partners & equals. Here, Dina is once again the rational leader.
And right when I think I’m out, they pull me back in. God damnit. This is nearly a shot for shot recreation, which I created a short for comparison. The lines at the end changed, which I actually appreciated. Very good moment from the show.
(Also yay, Shimmer is safe! Living her best life! Good for her!)🐎
I liked this scene. Added some depth to Issac, though right now I am not sure what that means. Gave us a glimpse of the conflict looming over all of Seattle, though again absolutely zero context, which is weird, but hopefully we get more soonish.
More than anything, I PRAY it showed us DANNY MY BELOVED, HELLO I LOVE YOU BB! WATCH OUT FOR OWEN. HE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND! 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Fantastic shot. Amazing recreation. Felt like I was in the game for a moment.
‘The group in the woods, they did this.” – massive leap for dumb Ellie to make by seeing the symbol exactly one time in the woods and then deciding they did this and have a connection to Seattle and these dead bodies. But okay, you are right, Ellie and I support you. Let’s go, smart Ellie!
Literally, everyone knows to put a trap mine by that door. Please, this could’ve been avoided.
This scene played well once they entered. The tension was amazing and felt like the game (with no trap mines to save us). Music also very on point for this entire sequence.
Dina and Ellie’s first (human) kills!
Tunnels here we come!🏃
Fantastic entrance to the tunnels. Fantastic build-up of tension. When you see the realization on Dina’s face that it’s an entire horde and not just a few spare infected – excellent acting.
I loved everything about the sequence in the train cars. I was squirming in my seat both times I watched. Still think Ellie is shown to be a bit too incompetent/incapable, and Dina continues to be the leader with Ellie in tow, even in this sequence, which is a frustrating feeling to leave with after loving a scene.
Literally, the trauma. Iykyk
I really like this change a lot. Because of the lack of gas masks, it felt that this was a great way to show Ellie being selfless and potentially sacrificing herself for Dina, as well as showing Dina proof of her immunity.
‘A lot of times I wish this wasn’t true.” – Oh my dear sweet Ellie, why did they do this to you? Look how they massacred my boi 😭😭😭😭
Very emotional scene. It worked – until it absolutely did not. Then it took a nosedive into trash fire lunacy. This scene is probably the turning point for me where there was no recovering from what the writers decided to do with Ellie’s characterization in this show. The emotional impacts from the game changed completely with Dina’s pregnancy reveal. It changed the implications of how they will move forward in Seattle and beyond.
I am baffled that somehow they created something WORSE than the boat scene (#iykyk) when showing genuine love, affection, and connection between these characters. Again, in the game, Dina was never confused about her choice to follow Ellie to Seattle, and she was never confused about her identity. Presenting her character arc in the show this way lessened Ellie’s character greatly. Ellie is also never confused about why she is in Seattle, and she makes that clear to Dina by calling her a burden.
This shows Ellie as incompetent, confused, lost, and suddenly her motivation is muddled by her reaction because she she is showing hesitation in moving forward. this makes ellie’s emotional journey completely different and her motivations perplexing.
Yeah, I have ‘context’ for this line now. Yeah, it’s actually still terrible. All this does is present Ellie as confused.
this ends with ellie AND dina looking to the the explosion the distance with hesitation, unsure of what to do, and unsure of how to continue. You are never presented with this confusion in the game. there is ONE reason ellie is in seattle. there is one thing on her mind. there is one thing motivating her and she continues on that path at great cost to her, and everyone around her – including abby and crew. but there is never confusion in this choice to continue on the path. nothing stops ellie. and messing with her motivation, her choices and more than anything her abilities and competency has completely change her character for me.
let’s hope it’s get better (spoiler alert it doesn’t)
episode 5 soon, I swear 😉
Josh Vallejo Content 