Sorry this took so long!! I had to pick up hbo to finish the last three episodes. I am not usually a fan of scary shows but the acting in this kept me coming back and forking out money for yet another streaming service. Joel asked Marlene if she had told Ellie she would die in surgery. Marlene confirmed she did not so she wouldn't be afraid. I think everyone assumes Ellie would have let them do the surgery. If the answer from Marlene had been yes Ellie was told she would die, I think Joel would be more solidly in the wrong. Knowing that Ellie was not given a choice puts me on team Joel. This could be skewed from being a parent or that Joel is Pedro Pascal.
> Are we supposed to think Marlene is right? Are we supposed to think Joel is right? Both? Neither?
I think we're supposed to recognize that both of them have fantastic arguments for what they think is right, but neither is clear cut because people are going to die (to your Trolley point). You can't really feel good about either choice and that makes it fun to talk about.
In the pod, Druckman said something like they polled play testers on if Joel did the right thing or not and childless folks were 50/50 and parents were 100% on Joel's side.
As a childless Utilitarian, I would side with Marlene as long as Ellie was aware of the risks. I think Ellie would have wanted to sacrifice herself.
> It seems as though Ellie will figure out that Joel has been lying to her fairly quickly
When I finished the game I figured she wasn't quite sure or she believed him. Everyone involved with the game though says "oh, yeah, she knows he's lying" haha. So is her "okay" more of "okay, I can't trust you" or "okay, I love you, so I'm gonna let this slide" or "okay, how much of this is he lying about" etc. ? We shall see in Part 2.
BTW, I'd also avoid the last official podcast. There are a couple very minor Part 2 spoilers but you're smart and if you think about it a lot you might figure out something more.
I think I’d be in the camp that preferred this to be a one and done story. Leaving the ambiguous ending kinda suits me fine. You really hate to see them be put in harms way continually and if not ride off into the sunset, just leave the rest to the imagination. I’m not a huge apocalyptic story fan but in seeing a lot of this, it was really good television. Nice job covering it Jen.
Sorry this took so long!! I had to pick up hbo to finish the last three episodes. I am not usually a fan of scary shows but the acting in this kept me coming back and forking out money for yet another streaming service. Joel asked Marlene if she had told Ellie she would die in surgery. Marlene confirmed she did not so she wouldn't be afraid. I think everyone assumes Ellie would have let them do the surgery. If the answer from Marlene had been yes Ellie was told she would die, I think Joel would be more solidly in the wrong. Knowing that Ellie was not given a choice puts me on team Joel. This could be skewed from being a parent or that Joel is Pedro Pascal.
> Are we supposed to think Marlene is right? Are we supposed to think Joel is right? Both? Neither?
I think we're supposed to recognize that both of them have fantastic arguments for what they think is right, but neither is clear cut because people are going to die (to your Trolley point). You can't really feel good about either choice and that makes it fun to talk about.
In the pod, Druckman said something like they polled play testers on if Joel did the right thing or not and childless folks were 50/50 and parents were 100% on Joel's side.
As a childless Utilitarian, I would side with Marlene as long as Ellie was aware of the risks. I think Ellie would have wanted to sacrifice herself.
> It seems as though Ellie will figure out that Joel has been lying to her fairly quickly
When I finished the game I figured she wasn't quite sure or she believed him. Everyone involved with the game though says "oh, yeah, she knows he's lying" haha. So is her "okay" more of "okay, I can't trust you" or "okay, I love you, so I'm gonna let this slide" or "okay, how much of this is he lying about" etc. ? We shall see in Part 2.
BTW, I'd also avoid the last official podcast. There are a couple very minor Part 2 spoilers but you're smart and if you think about it a lot you might figure out something more.
I think I’d be in the camp that preferred this to be a one and done story. Leaving the ambiguous ending kinda suits me fine. You really hate to see them be put in harms way continually and if not ride off into the sunset, just leave the rest to the imagination. I’m not a huge apocalyptic story fan but in seeing a lot of this, it was really good television. Nice job covering it Jen.