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.

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.

If you've played the game, you KNOW what's coming just by the episode title. If you haven't played it, then you might have an idea of what's coming thanks to little mentions here and there in previous episodes. Either way, the episode delivers on all fronts as far as I'm concerned.

Storm Reid is SO well cast as Riley (even though she looks nothing like Riley from the game) and really embodies that character so well. Bella Ramsey, again, absolutely kills it as Ellie. Especially with this being an ever-so-slightly younger Ellie age-wise but a lot less world-weary than the Ellie we see with Joel. Speaking of Joel, Pedro gives so much more than one might expect given he's got about 3 minutes of screen time and maybe half a dozen lines. All 3 of them give brilliantly nuanced performances. Just more examples of why both Pedro and Bella deserve ALL the acting awards when it's that time of the year again.

This isn't some made up filler for the show, if you've finished the main story in the game it only makes sense to play the flashback chapter 'Left Behind'. This explores Elle and Riley's friendship throughout the apocalyptic world, a treasure of wholesome connections that don't come into light anymore. A very important part of the game's overall development, happiness in it's heart from a world turned upsidedown.

I'm not saying this is the best episode, far from it. Although i will say it has major relevance to Ellie's journey. It may confuse a lot of people, mainly those who haven't even played the game. It does seem out of place but it's a flashback to how Ellie got infected. It is important, but could it have also worked as a short 20 minute segment? Maybe, although it still doesn't make it unnecessary.

I get it that you need slow paced episodes to have the action-packed ones feel more impactful. But this was just too much and a good foreshadowing of what we can expect of season 2. Again they missed the opportunity to show why Fedra is so evil and focused on emotional coming of age ideas for an hour. TBH what's so bad about Fedra? Like the Captain is mentioning, they are keeping everything together.

You can compare this one to Episode 3. Compared to that though, this episode feels boring and stretched. Ep. 3 featured little action but a lot of meaningful emotion, a well written and completed story arc and a story I had to think about for days. Ep. 7 didn't manage to do any of that.