This was a very well done episode for sure, even if it was an unexpected departure from the game.

From a narrative perspective it seems like a strange choice for the third episode of a new series. It was essentially a bottle episode. Ultimately it didn’t do much to move the story forward. The cynic in me has some thoughts as to why this was done, but either way, I really enjoyed it and I’m glad it was done.

Yep. Was checking out an HBO LoU post on Facebook this morning... DudeBros and Game Fanboys on Social Media are Losing their shit over this ep.

I went to The Last of Us official Facebook and while there was a ton of positive feedback from last night's episode, there was also a lot of hate comments.

I was curious what the IMDb score would end up at, and while it's down to 8.4 it does seem to be either bots or non-US viewers ragging on it.

I didn't realize till after I watched the ep that Frank is played Murray Bartlet who played the Hotel manager in Season 1 of White Lotus.

Twitter

I also thought he was very good in "Welcome to Chippendales", he's one of the main characters.

I noticed it was rated lower this morning when I looked. Ridiculous

Just finished watching this. What an incredible episode. I cried, I laughed, I felt gutted. Both actors were just great.
I also liked how they didn't go the way of the video game in introducing Bill, this flowed so much better storywise.

It did two big things - it logically gave Ellie and Joel a vehicle, weapons and supplies for their journey and, by establishing that Joel and Tess were friends with Frank and Bill over the years, that Bill's final words to Joel provided him the direction and motivation to save Ellie that he lost when Tess died. I thought it was brilliantly tied together to the main story while also giving us another look at how this event has affected other people besides our stars.

It occurred to me that Bill and Frank are like the polar opposite to Lost's Nikki and Paulo.

I agree this was a great episode,

I love the little things that tie back to past events. Joel mentioned in the bunker that if the code wasn’t reset for a few weeks it would play the 80s playlist over the radio which I assume is why the radio kicked on at the end of the premiere.

An award winning episode

How ‘The Last of Us’ Revived Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Long Long Time,’ Which Is Now Up 4,900% in Spotify Streams

More young people need to discover her amazing voice, especially considering her condition,

When I first heard the song starting I thought, man, I hope this does for Ronstadt what Stranger Things did for Kate Bush.

HBO Max should start advertising the great documentary, Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, on the main page of the app.

edit: I do see it on the "Trending This Week" section.

Ah, I bought that a while back but haven’t watched it.

it had to be done intentionally by the writers, and it's kind of funny, but someone went back to the first episode and pointed out the ways that Joel and Sarah avoided flour in the premiere.

They were out of pancake mix for breakfast (Joel mentioned that as one of the products than contained the fungus), Sarah turned down cookies from the neighbors because they were raisin, and Joel forgot to bring home a cake.

yeah, nice touches I wouldn't have caught if you hadn't have pointed out. I feel this show will be a fun rewatch to catch things like this and the radio kicking on mentioned above.

Watched this last night and agreed it was very well done. Great performances by both Offerman and Sinclair - not sure Bill and Frank could have been cast any differently and had the same level of impact. One of the better episodes of television I've watched in a while.

Also bonus points for including the early Fleetwood Mac blues rock number ‘I’m Coming Home to Stay’ in the montage.

There was also his mention of being on Atkins. However that was likely a lie to avoid the biscuits or whatever he was offered from the neighbour.

Man, that hit like the first 10 minutes of Up; I was not prepared for that.
I think I'd put it up there with Lost "The Constant", Heroes "Company Man", and dare I say Breaking Bad "Ozymandias"

So, I know it's early, but is this the best Video Game adaption period?

Yes, but that doesn't tell the whole story, as that's a really low bar to clear. Like Best Nickleback Album.