"We lose." "We'll be back." I love the interviewer's last quote, partly because it portrays obvious fear and reticence at the idea posed by the scientist, but mostly because it doubles and seems like a blithe optimism that humanity can overcome this, that there's always a return from a great obstacle.
@@Evin07 not sure if we should even be discussing this under this video, cause its spoilers for the show as of now, but no. Joel acted because he loved Ellie. When Marlene said what's up, Joel said to just find someone else. He wasn't against the prospect of a child dying in an unsure attempt of saving humanity, but instead he was against ELLIE dying. Even if his actions can be debated whether they were justified or not, he did what he did for a selfish reason.
Even if you aren't familiar with the original games, this show is just as eerie, and easily stands on its own. The writing, acting, editing and direction are all solid across the board.
I love that the person chosen to give us all the foreboding and scary future to us is none other than the happy-go-lucky Johnathan from the Mummy. It reminds me when The Newsroom cast Toby from the Office to give us the grim future of climate change.
@@alexanderwindh4830 Lol, +1. Wasnt going to watch it despite Pascal. Almost dismissed it thinking it was another cliche trash. Then saw a retro thumbnail somewhere & decided to give it a go. Good watch so far. This scene sold for me. I am s sucker for psy horror.
I was skeptical of this as I generally am of any video game or comic book adaptation but I decided to watch it for two reasons. First HBO has an excellent record with limited series. Secondly, that it was from the same people that did Chernobyl. As you stated the prologue hooked me and the wonderful character of Joel's daughter pulled me the rest of the way in.
I think what makes it even more terrifying is that the first scientist felt like the more rationale one while the second scientist felt a little dismissive at first. You realize after 2 min, however, that the second scientist is probably right. That was eerie.
Molecular biologist here. This is also a real fear within the scientific community. It’s a rather new realization, but very much real. There’s a good chance that climate change will cause fungi to become more pathogenic to humans. And considering how resilient, prolific, and adaptive they are…yeah, we might get clapped
@@curryinahurry3730 yes. For one thing, fungal infections are more common than most people know. According to my quick super-scientific google search, about 150 million people get severely sick with fungal infections every year, and about 1.7 million die from fungal infections, and that rate is increasing. We’re also seeing fungal diseases spreading to new areas that we haven’t seen them in before.
What scares me is the thought that perhaps the people infected by cordyceps fungus might also be hallucinating as if under the effects of a psychedelic fungus like psilocybin.
From my completely novice understanding of the science of them, that IS what cordyceps do to ants. The ants aren't dead when they get infected, they even fight their own colony. For me, the most chilling thing is that ants figured out the best way to deal with the infection is exile. Based on our recent response to COVID-19, If cordyceps ever evolves and jumps species to humans? We are so beyond f@$ked!
Well, to be fair, even though you may not be dead, if the fungus has hijacked your consciousness in such a way by flooding it with mind-altering chemicals that you’re effectively oblivious to what’s happening, YOU MAY AS WELL EFFECTIVELY BE DEAD (in fact, that could be a horrifying fate WORSE than death). Wouldn’t it be FUCKED if the whole reason’s that Ellie is immune is because her mother turned out to be a massive hippie (or was somehow impervious to the effects of LSD and psilocybin and unknowingly passed this trait down hereditarily to Ellie)?
One thing that differs in The Last of Us from reality is that cordyceps doesn't use hallucinogens (that's psilocybin, a wholly different fungus). Instead cordyceps cells infiltrate the peripheral nervous system and muscles to pupeteer them while leaving the brain intact. Which is actually more horrifying - I don't know what goes through an ant's mind, but imagine being trapped and fully aware while a foreign entity completely controls your every movement.
Cordyceps in real life does not infect the brains of ants to enact control; in fact it leaves them almost fully intact, instead invading the muscular system of the ant. It’s likely that the humans in the show are still mostly aware of themselves, if not perceiving the world as though drugged, all while unable to exert control over their fungus-enveloped body.
John Hannah is criminally underrated. I grew up with him from The Mummy Movies but Spartacus Blood and Sand is where I became a Die Hard fan of John Hannah.
Honestly, the cold open of the second episode gave me absolute chills. When the professor is asked what they should do and she says "Bomb." Damn, that got me.
Even more depressing, when she says, she wants to be with her family, making clear, she didn't mean "Let's get out and bomb." but "Bomb this city - with us and our loved ones in it. For us it's already too late, but perhaps there's at least a little hope for mankind.".
Yeaaaaahhhhh… That part FUCKED ME UP as well (especially when you realize that she was asking to go spend whatever remaining precious moments she had left with her family in the event they followed through on what was essentially her recommendation for SELF-ANNIHILATION).
You know a zombie apocalypse piece of fiction is fucked when it's the scientist going for the nuclear option and the military guy staring in abject horror
Yup, it’s also a subversion of the trope, where the military guy is the one who resorts to a violent way of resolving the issue while the scientist tries to figure out a peaceful way. If she thought it through and bombing is the only solution she came up with, it kinda tells you how incredibly hopeless the situation was once it spread.
That opening scene made me more tense than anything else in the episode, and that's not even a disservice to how great the horror is later. I'm really glad you're covering it!
I was very confused when the intro started given that I'm quite familiar with the game. But when it was over I was floored by how effective it was at building tension. And then the rest of the episode just built on that tension more and more. I'm so happy with how this show has turned out and I cannot wait to see the rest of it.
This opening scene established just what we could expect from the show. From the moment John Hannah's dialogue begins, he commanded the scene. It was intelligent and nuanced, while at the same time ominous and foretelling of what could become of the world should this scenario happen. Once he finishes and the host asks about the outcome with a slight tremble in his voice, Hannah's reply of "We lose," felt like the world was then living on borrowed time.
Lol , you know that the fungi exist in real life and indeed , if the temperature get warmer , it "COULD" mutate ( that is the part we are not sure about)... But , once again , the fungi exist in real life
In a “post-covid” world, that opening with an expert giving a well-informed warning only to be dismissed or laughed off genuinely reignited the anxiety I felt in February/March of 2020. Post-covid in quotes because it’s obviously still an ongoing issue.
I love that this scene explains the fungus but also explains Ellie, saying “what if for instance, the world were to get warmer, then there is a reason to evolve” and yet this line while teasing the zombies, it also teases Ellie, she was born into this crazy world, humans had to find a way to combat this threat to their survival, and so there is Ellie, naturally immune to the spores
It is actually not how natural selection/evolution works. If you put a seed in freezing soil it won't adapt to it. The adaptation comes by random chance, which makes the now adapted species multiply easier, leaving more offspring.
But that fails to explain why there are so insanely few people that are immune. Ellie is the only one we know about while there are an unspecified number of other kids that were experimented on. The main issue is that we have no idea how her immunity works.
@@Da1337Man evolution isnt something that happens very fast. the fact that in 6 years an immune person was born is wild, evolution is something that usually takes millions of years
Dude I literally never get chills or get scared by movies and stuff anymore. But the one thing that actually sent a chill through me was this exact scene. And it was exactly as you said “something so absolutely absurd that we can laugh off, has now been grounded in reality”. I love it when the makers of a show get that right. Actual thriller material because it doesn’t just seem entirely fictional, like “ah the big purple alien is coming to kill us” it actually has real plausibility in the real world. No dig on the marvel movies, they have their place but I just think we’re lacking just natural, gritty, raw material like the last of us provides. It doesn’t feel like a “copy, paste” of some other show that you see on Netflix all the time. It’s there to take you on an emotional rollercoaster no matter how high or low, nailing that shock factor without feeling forced, and leaving you genuinely speechless.
Something I really liked about this scene is that as someone who played the game back when it came out, this felt like it added more context to the infection. Also back in 2013, we hadn’t really dealt with something similar to this, but this scene just made everything begin to feel all too personal
This scene has become my favourite of any series, it’s haunting, funny, succinct and manages to perfectly sum up what’s going to happen in such an interesting way. It’s well acted and I could watch it over and over. I love it.
3:04 I dont know if that was intentional, but for a very brief moment he looks directly into the camera before saying "what if it gets slightly warmer". That directly connects it to us the audience through some 4 wall breaking. Its subtle but its there.
Well, he WAS in a talk show. So, he looked into the talk show camera, which happened to be our camera. And that slight smile and twinkle in his eye....chilling.
@@merrimcarthur7198 true, also I think they intentionally didnt have them look into the camera prior (except the host). I would have to watch it again but he usually was talking to the live audience and only there was looking into the camera. But yeah, definitely chilling.
Let's face it, did we even prepare that the term "pandemic" would be so familiar 4 years ago. Lets say this show as released pre-COVID and maybe all we can think of is - oh boy lets hope that doesn't happen! With a smile in our face. Now that COVID took so many lives, this scene made it WAY more eerie then it should've been 🤣
Knowing what we do after COVID, we know that half of the population in the US would start stuffing raw flour into their faces out of spite because nobody is going to tell them what to do.
@@100nitrog2 This. I always think how I don't want to experience another pandemic in the states. People always preaching that we need to protect our veterans, so much talk about protecting our kids, etc. and when we actually needed to work together, we got more apart then ever before. It was sad seeing non-believers telling others that Covid is real before they past. I seriously am not looking forward to any other pandemic or endemic in the states.
I guess you are not one of those who watched movie "contagion" roght before covid when covid paandemic copied the movie up to half of the movie. Now imagine you live in covid and up until now everything was same as the movie and you just wonder if it will continue as the other half if the movie.
@@JoseMendoza-rr4mp I don’t know man. I’d say the US was definitely the worse, but if you follow European politics, you’ll realize that many of them are also idiots, or more are idiots than Americans care to realize
All of what he said is feasible. That’s the scary part. The fact that the entire show is so far from reality, and yet so close at the same time is the true fear factor that it has, and for me that’s always what the scariest part of the game was.
Ibu ratna Scientist : there is no medicine there is no vaccine . Army General : So what we should do madam? Ibu Ratna scientist : Bomb.. Bomb the whole city and all people inside it. Army General : 👁️👄👁️ *Surprise Pikachu face*
John Hannah should be nominated for his brilliant performance in this opening scene. I know it's just one scene but a handful of actors have won awards for roles just as small.
This scene is my favourite so far , how the casualness slowly dies down as the epidemiologist continues his idea and shows the crowd slowly start to take interest and understand what he’s really saying. Wether this could happen in our world (at the most probably only making fungal infections worse rather then fully controlling its human host) it’s still chilling.
So glad you did this one. Big fan of the game and the show is shaping up to be amazing. The scariest part of this game was how realistic it is. Out of all the zombie stories that have been told The Last of Us was one that truly struck me as frightening when I first played it. Good stuff.
Honestly, I never have nightmares. But after watching the first episode of the Last of Us, I did have a nightmare. My imagination is quite vivid so I went all over the place in my dreams and because the scenario is relatively 'plausible', and it was filmed in this grounded, tense way, I was just stuck in this horrific dream that it happened here where I live and to me. Very scary. But it shows how well the series is made!
In this scene he mentioned warmth and in the next scene one of the first city in trouble mentioned was Jakarta. As an Indonesian I know that Jakarta is hot, humid, and full of pollution and trash problems. So amazed with the details they put in the show.
It is actually not how natural selection/evolution works. If you put a seed in freezing soil it won't adapt to it. The adaptation comes by random chance, which makes the now adapted species multiply easier, leaving more offspring.
I loved the beginning of the show! It reminds of the sense of impending danger. It reminds me of the beginning of I Am Legend, World War Z, and kinda similarly Godzilla (2014)😂 regardless of your feelings of those movies the opening scenes/credits were great
World War Z could have been the one, if they followed the book. The intrigue, the politics, etc. But the movie totally butchered the source material, making it a mindless zombie fiasco. It certainly hope that some studios will pick up World War Z and make it a TV series
I mean the book is from the pov of so many different people it would have been hard to adapt that. World War Z is one of my favorite books and it was disappointing as a direct comparison but the movie on its own is still pretty enjoyable
The poor fungi doesn't realize when it 'wins' it loses...eventually. If there are no more humans to spread...it dies. Dumb fungi, not thinking things through.
It can be a very real threat. Cordyceps has thousands of species, of which each has evolved to take over a particularly specific insect species. It just takes a certain ideal condition for it to evolve to infect mammals and that just might be the start of a very horrible outcome.
As someone who's had debilitating stress & anxiety for over 10yrs & who has regular panic attacks, who's super passionate about climate change & saving the life on the planet from human destruction, this opening actually sent me into an anxiety attack. I will never understand how many different ways we can predict our own downfall & extinction, but still walk right into it... ⌛️☠️
@@AbdulSami-tb3yc the cordyceps that the show and Games are about is real, It actually does "Zombify" insects controlling them and making them spread the Infection and Sprout Shit outta there head, BBC did a Documentary on it 10 years ago ect. In real life IF and a colossal IF it ever made the species jump to humans (which would be so astronomical of a jump not just cause of human temperature and How complex our brains are) it Would prob result in a real world Last of Us situation where we are all likely fucked. That's what makes The games and this show so terrifying that this parasitic fungus does actually exist and does this shit to insects, I wouldn't be to worried tho the chances of it making that massive of a species jump in our lifetime is So astronomical
“The scariest scene isn’t what you think” - all about the scene that scared me the most and is one of many reasons TLOU is more horrifying to me than any T-virus, Walking Dead, b movie zombie movie premise ever was.
After what happened in the pandemic, it was very chilling to hear this speech. We basically lived in our own apocalypse for two and a half years after all.
i just love how its similar to the quote "when there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth" but for this one its "when there are no more gardens in hell, the plants will walk the earth"
That’s so true. We were all casual about the prospect of a pandemic before. But now, we know it’s a real possibility. How we’ll do when the next one comes around, who knows 😅. It might not be “better”.
This scene and the one with the scientist telling the military to bomb their city are some of the best scenes of the entire show, and how any other show too. Hit really hard.
So episode 1 ended where I stopped playing the game a year ago. Now, after watching it , i resumed my game , cause I just can't wait for the next episode :D
Finally! I was wondering why more people weren't talking about that opening scene. That shit scared the fuck outta me. Even the infected themselves paled in comparison to that opening dialogue. 😱
Did John Hannah so dirty with that thumbnail omg ha Great video, absolutely love this scene & the way they broke it down in the podcast. Really happy they didnt just go with the ant clip.
@@EntertainTheElk agree, it's a very "well actually......." expression which just sums up the scene. I also loved the "we lose" - "we'll be back" contrast.
It’s so reminiscent of the opening scene of George Romeros Dawn of the Dead, with panicked news room scrambling to make sense of chaos of the outbreak unfolding around
My family always complain when I talk about how unrealistic certain stuff is in fictional worlds, "it's fiction, let it go" and they of course have a point. But in this fictional universe, even though the cordyceps infection is exaggerated the fact that they did their damn best to try and make it seem logical to the average audience member matters a lot to me.
This scene was perfect, so far my favorite part of the show and i'd dare say from The Last Of US overall. I don't think something will top the horror this provoked in me, and what fascinates me the most is that it is just a concept. To me that's true horror at it's most beautiful form, fuel to our imagination, so it can paint our minds with dreadful possibilities.
In my idle time I caught myself several thinking back about this exchange as it was a real thing someone had said in the real world. And I had to tell myself “no that’s just a scene in that show it’s not real”. But then there was still a little voice somewhere thinking “is it though? It seemed so plausible”.
And the scientist was almost right. The only thing that kept cordycepts from wiping us out in the games was the fact that its infestation robbed its victims of their intelligence and humanity, leaving unthinking rabid-like animals that couldn't muster more thought than "see it, eat it." Imagine if the infestation, rather than triggering endless hunger, rage and aggression, instead triggered the parts of the brain that dealt with love, family, and left intelligence intact. You'd be facing a human opponent with all its intelligence and abilities to use technology, that loved the fungus the way parents love their children, or even regarded it as a sort of physical God.
Fun fact: the real world Cordyceps is actually being _killed_ by global warming. In fact, the particular strain featured in the series (C. Sinensis) is classified as endangered by the IUCN.
we should be doing all we can to isolate oncogenic and tumor suppressor genes of interest and do all that we can to accelerate their growth in a medium. We should witness the next stage of humanity. Do you not agree b#tt s&x fan1?
"Fun" fact: with the rise of covid infections in India and the unprepared health infrastructure there. There was a rise in Black Fungus infections, since there was no treatments available as the health infrastructure was mostly worried about covid infections. The people infected either died or horribly disfigured as the fungus destroyed parts of their body.
Craig Mazin made it his MO in Chernobyl to take horrifyingly relevant topics today and apply them to his themes to make already horrifying scenarios to be far more relatable to the audience of today. In Chernobyl that theme was "What is the cost of lies" at a time when Trump was President and the term "fake news" was so widespread.
Except there were many misrepresentations in the series Chernobyl, he’s either an ideologically driven Globalist Marxist, a paid shill, or utterly clueless.
Hmmm...... I wouldn't say 100% but there is definitely some truth behind it. Remember evolution takes millions of years. So if cordyceps word to evolve to this point, our grandkids grandkids grandkids wouldn't live long enough to see it.
Unfortunately, cordyceps failed to wipe out the ant population. Rabies is probably more scarier than cordyceps. In fact, I drink crushed cordyceps everyday.
Thandie Newton’s daughter, who played Sam, was very good. She must’ve been 17 or 18 filming this, as IMDB shows her to have just turned 19, in December. With only four credits since 2019, she really gave an excellent performance, snd was very convincing in that opening 30 minutes. She’s headed for superstardom.
Ironically erywah in avatar the way of the water is also a fungi but a good one that restricts the Navi technology development. I guess if the navi go bad they will be destroyed along with the newcomers humans
Honestly love this scene and can see how this is easily the most grounded and chilling scene in the whole show. It’s eerie to think it might as well be a possibility and that it’s something anyone could ever assume. Like the possibility of an asteroid hitting earth but it’s probable. Same idea.
"What if, for instance, the world were to get slightly warmer." What a chilling line for the audience. It is raising a hypothetical reason for catastrophy, except it is not a hypothetical reason at all.
It was brilliantly done. I'm enjoying the show and it not only fills the void the Walking Dead left, but it takes it back to grittier roots where it felt like the stakes were high.
It was a good scene. But let’s be real. The Cordyceps mushrooms we have now target bullet ants. And they do all the stuff that guy said. But they haven’t wiped them out 😂 the ratio of bullet ants vs cordycep infected bullet ant is probably a billion to one in favour of the uninfected 🤷♂️
It isn't. Evolution happens over the course of millions of years and this particular fungus evolved only to target certain species of ants. It's a cool concept though.
A little insight to fix your small misconception, cordyceps does NOT use hallucinogens - it doesn't attack the ants' brain at all. Several recent studies show that fungus is not concentrated in brain, but rather between muscle tissues all over the body. That way they control the body of the animal but not the mind. In a way, ants are still "in there" while being controlled. So to answer Sam's question from E5 - Yes, it's probably still you in there.
