We’re both in agreement, I just think Joel stopped caring about humanity the moment Sarah died. He told Ellie, even if there was a cure, he would relocate to a sheep farm and live out the rest of his life in isolation. He’s already turned his back on humanity.

It’s interesting, because I look at what you wrote about how none of this shaped Joel’s decision and I think what you cite actually makes a pretty good case that it does shape his decision, even if it’s not his primary motivation.

I think this is the really daunting thing about doing adaptation work. You’ve got a built-in audience of fans of the original, but you’ve still got to adapt the work to suit the new format. That risks alienating those fans if they disagree with those adaptive choices. You hope that the fans will give you the grace to…

He did single-handedly kill roughly as many people as cordyceps did.

Right?! It’s not like we don’t have three years worth of recent fucking history to draw on here to enlighten us about how humanity would act. I actually thought that was one of unspoken but really resonant parts of the episode. 

It’s not like we have no idea how humanity would react to a vaccine showing up, or what people would do to preserve what power they have.

Now that the season’s done, I can really say that I’m glad that I had no prior knowledge of the game. It seems like knowing the game really well tainted a lot of people’s viewing experience. There were quite frankly a tiring number of pieces analyzing large and small changes from the game. It’s hard for a lot of…

This. Ellie didn’t consent, even if she did tell Joel she wanted to see it through earlier. Without full knowledge of what that means (ie: her death), she cannot make an informed choice or give consent. And like you, I wasn’t nearly confident enough in Marlene’s theory of the “cure” to sacrifice a child for it. (Plus,…

When Marlene gave Joel that speech about how it’s what Ellie would have wanted, I really wanted him to say, ”Why didn’t you ask her?”

Love the symbolic choice of using Ashley for the mother. 

Exactly. In the context of the show, Bill and Frank had the happiest possible ending: dying on their own terms, in their own bed, at an old age, in eachother’s arms, after one last perfect day together.

I brought this up here with House of the Dragon and the discourse around, anyone who thinks gay characters dying = the “bury your gays” trope needs to read The Celluloid Closet or watch the equaling good documentary based on it.

While “bury your gays” exists as far back as works of 18th Century literature, it was coined…

As a queer person, I didn’t read it as a Bury Your Gays at all – they didn’t die because of homophobic brutality or tragedy, they died because they were old and content, it’s really the most beautiful, sweet, and sad episode of TV I’ve seen in a long time.

Frank, in the final stages of cancer

It’s actually “Titanium” in the movie.

Wow. V.I.C.K.I vs. D.A.R.Y.L. is the shared universe we all deserve to see! 

Despite that fact that graphic violence is often considered “Adult content”,  Graphic violence does not inherently make a movie for adults.  Some people just don’t like to watch graphic murders but still want to watch a horror movie.  Yes PG-13 is meant to make sure the teens can go see this without a parent and sure…

Its 2023, maybe its time a woman wants to sleep with an underage robot babysitter!

How has Elizabeth Olsen not sued for likeness payments.

I hope Elizabeth Olsen is collecting royalties from this film...