I enjoyed the first episode a lot! This has been widely described by the critics as one of the best video game adaptations ever made, and by some as the best. I will say that, based on the first episode, it's already the most compelling one I've ever watched, and I mean by a wide margin.
Narratively, it's basically the opening chapters of the game except with a lot more narrative fill-out in (and a few actual changes) in place of the game's heavier reliance on fights with the infected for game play purposes. The actors are fantastic; especially Bella Ramsey as Ellie, who I think has been wrongly maligned for having a different body shape than the game character. The role of sound is the standout aesthetic feature of the show for me so far.
That said, the question emerges as to whether or not the existence of this show is merited. Are the new narrative additions worthwhile? I tend to think of TV or film adaptations of video games as just marketing gimmicks whose actual purpose is to sell more copies of the games they're based on rather than to have autonomous merit of their own; a motivation that typically yields uninspired results. So I have been admittedly skeptical of the merits of this show existing in the first place from the outset. Or at least I was until I saw the first trailer. I knew from that point that real effort had been put in and that I wanted to give the show a chance. I got HBO just for it! But we still haven't answered the aforementioned question. The answer, based on one episode, is...honestly, at the end of the day, I'd still rather be playing the game. I think overall I preferred the comparative simplicity of the game's opening aesthetically. I'm enjoying the show, but mostly because I enjoyed the game it's based on, in other words. That autonomous merit hasn't yet emerged strongly for me.
That said, the critics have almost universally characterized the first two episodes as the worst in the series and the third as the best -- the one that firmly establishes the merit of the series' own autonomous narrative -- so I'm looking forward to getting there! Based on my experience watching the first episode, I'm absolutely going to press on, no question.
Last edited by Jaicee - on 16 January 2023
