Left Behind

Anyone saying this is boring or a filler episode obviously has never experienced the source material and clearly has not interest in character development. If you're just here for the clickers, that cool I guess, but TLOU isn't about the clickers, it's about Ellie.

The show runners did a great job bringing the game to the screen in thos episode. Granted, it was a slow paced episode filled with teen drama, but guess what? You're watching a show about a teen in the aftermath of a fungal pandemic.

This episode was a masterful recreation of the originalaterial and the show runners should be proud.

To begin with, I had never been one of the Bella-haters with their "she looks nothing like the Ellie from the game" or "she seems like a different character" but she still had to prove (to me I mean) she was worthy of the part, at first she did it great at crafting an incredible and believable chemistry with the Joel character and now she's made very evident she's an amazing actress, with subtle performances that contribute to create the "childishness" of Ellie and raging and furious states where she demonstrates all the pain and suffering her character went through, overall she's made Ellie a multilayered character different from the one in the game but really believable.

This chapter on the other hand was good, not incredible, mostly a filler but it served as an Ellie back-story and it had a great atmosphere, an enjoyable episode that makes us understand why Ellie is so attached to Joel and won't abandon him as much as don't want to be abandoned by him.

Left Behind adapts the iconic dlc storyline incredibly well. Continuing that impressive balance of faithfulness and originality whilst depicting some of the most tender and heartwarming moments of the story so far which makes it all the more heartbreaking when these innocent moments are interrupted by the monsters of this world.

As with Bill and Frank's episode earlier on in the season, it may not drive the narrative forward on action alone but this definitely isn't 'filler' and is absolutely necessary to the story it's telling and has been integrated into the overarching story at the best possible place.

Bella Ramsey is perfect as usual with Ellie's optimism and fear of being alone still present and intact. Storm Reid absolutely shines as Riley with a confidence and soulfulness that matches the characters life experiences and her chemistry with Bella is instantaneous and so engaging to watch.

Liza Johnson's direction is amazing, the show has consistently been really impressive from a technical and visual standpoint but this one in particular is just absolutely gorgeous to look at from beginning to end and the mall set is insane in its scope and detail.

During this episode we get a glimpse of Ellie's life before Joel. There were (and still are) many unanswered questions about her past so I think it was important to know a little bit more about her.

On this episode she finds herself with an intricate and difficult problem that concerns her survival and that of Joel. This conundrum triggers a memory from her past, a key part of her development as a person, said memory will allow the viewer to observe an oasis of fun, noise and party in the middle of the apocalypses, were, for a few moments, Ellie stops being a survivor to be what she is first and foremost: a teenager.

Like all of teenagers, she doesn't know exactly how to communicate what she wants and it's impossible not to relate to that feeling, that of a lost kid in the search of love and meaning.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Left Behind", an 8th episode accurately told the story of LTOU only expansion it ever had - called "Left Behind". Despite of being slow its an important episode that establishes the key moment in Ellies life - no spoilers. Yet again as it was in previous episodes creators tweeked things here and there.

Overall, "Left Behind" is an important episode. At its core it shows kids being kids, and how cruel the world is. Acting was good as usual, set design is superb and pacing was actually better then i thought it will be. All in all not the best episode, but important for building a character and its choices one makes later.