Alriiiiiiiiiiiiiight wow. I thought episode 2 was good. The museum scene was great, as it was in the game. The clicker's designs and the way they were presented were so well done and gave me a big ol' nerdrection.
Episode 3, though. I was expecting a ton of humor, distrust, action and gore, but we got one of the most beautiful love stories I can remember watching on a TV show. Offerman and Bartlett (who totally stole the show in S1 of The White Lotus) absolutely crushed this episode. To watch a doomsday prepper like Bill turn into such a tender, caring man and find love at the end of the world was super touching. The scene where they eat the strawberries and they're so giddy was so sweet. The symbolism of trading a gun for a packet of seeds was pretty cool too.
They completely threw me for a loop with the Bill/Frank background. Joel/Ellie get what they need and kind of end up in the same place post-Bill as they do in the game, and I think they did a masterful job of getting us there a different way with the show. Fantastic episode. I'm glad to see they've done both video game scenes and original scenes so well, and they're not relying on some big action piece in each episode to keep the audience mindlessly entertained. They're letting the story and the world breathe, and I think it'll be better for it in the long run.
