#IT'S GONNA BE SO FUCKING JUICY I CAN'TTTTT

[writeywritey]

ok ok ok I have to rant specifically about how PERFECTLY they adapted and changed Joel for the tv show

because in my opinion, his characterisation has changed the most and it’s absolutely geared towards character development we don’t see in the game

in the first game, after the prologue and beyond, Joel does not change. the text and subtext makes it explicitly clear through his involvement with hunters, to the breakdown of his relationship with Tommy, that he has always been violent and cruel when it comes to his own survival. his humanity died with Sarah; it does not return with Ellie. to save himself the pain/grief of losing Ellie, he (potentially; arguably maybe not) dooms humanity.

Ellie changes. Ellie grows up; the first game is her bildungsroman.

but in the game, we’re POV Joel. we don’t want him to change; we dig in the trenches with him and by the end of the game, we’re gonna save his kid no matter what it means- fuck the fireflies.

this is a fantastic choice for the game, but it would not work for a tv show.

we don’t want to watch an already-formed character lead in tv shows. we want to watch them change.

Joel in the tv show, Joel right now, is not completely hardened. he’s not a murder machine who would torture Robert over guns and watch Tess blow his brains out and say nothing about it. hell, Tess of the tv show doesn’t seem like she would do that, either. neither of them are framed as the untouchable trafficker badasses they are in the game.

Joel in the tv show wants to get to his brother. Joel has PTSD. Joel is, despite the alluded-to argument, still motivated by interpersonal connection, and love.

anyone who has played the game knows what happens next- knows the amount of people Joel loses over the course of crossing the country. and instead of being an already-hardened, stoic, untouchable badass who just takes the losses on the chin, over and over again, Joel is going to hurt. Joel is going to feel every single one.

and then he’s going to deliver Ellie to the fireflies. they’re going to succeed. and they’re going to try and take her away from him.

and that is going to be the moment he becomes Joel from the game.

‘the world has already taken one of my daughters away from me; this is the one thing I cannot let be. you cannot have her.’