Long, Long Time

Just give Offerman the Emmy. Yes, slightly different from the game sure. But, it's expected it would differ from the game. What a great performance. Moving, performance. There's a reason the game is one of the most awarded of all-time, and it's not because of fancy graphics. The story is phenomenal, and they're carrying it tremendously to the TV adaptation.

My one slight gripe is the game had Joel was a bit more angry then in the series. He was much more angry over the events that happened in the past, and took it out on Elle a lot more. But, that's just a minor thing to note. The episode otherwise is brilliant, and I can't wait for the rest of the series.

I can still vividly remember watching this episode for the first time and just started bawling my eyes out because its so tragic. One of the most beautiful hours of television I have ever seen and it's so heartbreaking. I have seen the controversy that this episode is a waste of time but I have never felt or understood that. This episode earns its place in these season, delivering such an emotionally powerful story that offers so much context to this world and humanizes such a bleak world. One of my favorite episodes of television, and possibly this shows best. A deeply powerful episode that will live in my head forever.

Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett's performances were outstanding. Their ability to convey so much humanity, courage, perseverance, and emotion in what could be described as a side quest managed to outshine the main characters. This episode made you forget the tragedy and brutality of the world surrounding them, instead focusing on what could happen when given the chance for happiness-like a small flower blooming in the aftermath of a wildfire. It was a rare, beautifully crafted story that reminded us of the resilience of love and the power of human connection. This episode was perfect, unforgettable, and deeply moving.

Allow me to begin by prefacing my review: I'm a straight male, married with children and religious. That has no bearing on my perception of this episode. I've seen everything from 60's television onwards.

From The Andy Griffith Show, MASH, I Love Lucy, Cheers, Sanford and Son, All in the Family, up to The Sopranos, Prison Break, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Narcos, and everything in between. This single episode affected me more than all of those shows ever could.

It did so by appealing to my heart and showing me who we truly are - we're vulnerable, afraid, lonely, brave, loving, protective, strong and weak all at the same time - we're human! And we're fortunate enough to have witnessed, in my humble opinion, the greatest television episode ever made.

The writing was coherent, nuanced and brilliant, the pace was perfectly maintained from scene to scene, the acting was tender and reciprocated so seamlessly from one actor to the next. And the attention to the most minute details from the choice of song to the symbolism of the strawberries. Every second was shot with purpose and maintained the singular underlying philosophy that regardless of what the world may throw at us we are always striving to find our purpose in the eyes of our loved ones.

I hope people can set aside their differences and marvel at the brilliance that is this artful, heartfelt depiction of the human condition set against a backdrop of despair and danger.

My sincerest gratitude to everyone involved in the making of this episode.

How the the producers of this show make such an episode?

The storyline is beautiful but tense, the characters interesting without being overbearing, and the general mood ( lighting, SFX, music, setting ) is brilliantly chosen.

Bit the main clincher for this being a perfect episode is that in the tiny amount alotted for each episode, it tells a self-contained story. This is so rare. Often, am episode tells a great story for the first 90% of its run time and then finally realised it must finish up and crams all necessary conclusions int the last 10% , thus leaving behind a bad taste in the viewer's mouth.

Not so here. Here, a well rounded, well chosen and certainly perfectly acted-upon story is told in an episode I didn't even know I had missed until I had watched it.

Highly recommended re-watchable material.

Well done.