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Episode 8: Apocalyptic Bingo!
Spoilers... duh.
I
don't need the podcast to break down this one. Congratulations to
everyone that had cannibalism on your apocalyptic bingo cards! Game
players knew we would get here but it was a shocking awakening for
TV-only viewers. Episode 8 was an uncomfortable episode to watch, but
don't worry Joel is back so we're good.
I will have to admit that the show got the pacing and tension-building right in this episode (a top critique of mine for past episodes). This episode had a solid reveal going from a "something's not right here" to "oh sh!t!" in a slow, dreadful series of events. It is unfortunate it had to feature a miraculous recovery by Joel that required viewers to suspend disbelief yet again in a show that does nothing but expect viewers to suspend disbelief.
Also I am not sure if this is what the show was going
for, but in an episode starting out with bible reading isn't it cliche
our savior Joel rises from the dead. Anyone that thought Joel was ever
in any danger (or Ellie for that matter) has never played a video game
with side quests.
I do want to harp on the "sense of
danger". As uncomfortable as this episode was to watch it was more from
the creep factor than it was from any sense that something bad would
happen to our main characters Joel and Ellie. Like a video game its
just a case of finishing the side quest to get on with the main story.
Can we dispense with the cannibalism as well please? It is uncomfortable to watch and detracted from an otherwise great tension builder of the creepy preacher targeting a young girl. We could have gotten all of the drama of this episode without taking the cannibalism.
Anyways, Joel is back to a full healthbar so on to new adventures.