Raachel2008

Just rewatched it with my SO, who hadn’t seen the episode yet. His first reaction after it was over was “why these dumb kids didn’t take the horses?”. And then he went on with a long list of things that Jackson could have done to improve their defenses, form barbed wire to trenches, to actually building a brick/rock wall during these five years (that we know). In fact that was his main problem and he was adamant that the Jackson folks would be able to make their own mortar. As for the show as whole he was like “so now Ellie will avenge Joel? Should I care about these new people?”.

That's a good take on why it bothered so many people. They didn't change and for me this was plain obvious, specially because Ellie did - I mean Bella looks the same, but Ellie's different, the hair a little different, her posture, the way she carries herself, even the voice is more adult. Fantastic acting too.

I simply don't understand why we are even discussing about the audience. None of us have any idea. We can assume a good part is people who played the game. Some probably checked and stayed becaue of Pedro Pascal or Bella,or both. We can assume some just like 'zombies' shows, etc. But it is impossible to know. And it is such a futile debate, really. What I think we can debate is the timing. Should they have waited? It is better to rip the virtual band-aid and be done with that? Personally, I think they should have waited a couple of episodes, and make the bonds between Ellie and the others stronger - more scenes with Tommy and Maria, Dina. Ellie and Joel were such at the core of the show, they dominated the screen time, and even when they were not together on screen, it loomed over the show. If they are going to "replace" it by whatever relationships come next, and since Ellie is the center, they should have built it, IMO. Not only that, but Ellie is not your normal child/teen. She was raised in a military orphanage/academy. We can safely assume that Joel was the first parent she ever had, and differently than kids who grow up with a family, even a disfunctional one, she only learned how the a daughter, so to speak, when she was 14. Last but not least, we don't know what happened in the last five years. People make it sound like Ellie has been like this since the day they had that talk approaching Jackson at the end of season 1, but for all we know it could have been that things just went really downhill six months ago - the way Joel that to the terapist, it did look like something that was somewhat recente. Someone upthread mentioned not watching week to week anymore. I would love to know, once the season is over, if and how viewership habits changed from people watchinh live to people watching days later or even binge watching 2-3 episodes and then other 2. Or even just waiting until the season is over and going through the entire season.

I couldn't disagree more. Bella is a fantastic actress and gave it all. I think the real question there is if ELLIE herself is enough to carry the show.

She didn't hate him, she loved him. She didn't act like his enemy she acted like a TEEN, a teen who felt betrayed. Had Joel lived that would have passed.

My biggest pet peeve about this whole story is that no one with a two connecting brain cells can think the doctor/Fireflies’ plan of cutting Ellie’s brain was smart. In fact, it was the dumbest idea ever at that point. When Ellie put her blood on Sam’s bite back in season 1, she had the right insight: something in her blood may prevent other people from getting infected. It didn’t work but her reasoning was in the right direction. Then she is basically kidnapped by some dumb rebels and taken to a neurosurgeon who decides in less than a day - because Joel wasn’t out for even 24 hours - to open her head. No testing her blood, no studying her cells, no transfusing her blood, examining her saliva - no nothing. For me that’s the dumbest plot in the series because it makes no sense. You don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and all that. For me it just validated what Joel did and anyone - anyone - should see how wrong the Fireflies and the doctor were. BTW that doctor was what? 25? 30 when the cordyceps took over? Really what was his experience? And what really pissed me off is that this was never mentioned in the right way, it is not only that Joel didn’t want to see Ellie dead, but that what the Fireflies wanted made no sense. But I guess it would be too easy for things to be clear and Ellie understand how fucked up the surgery was. Which leads me to Abby who I already detest (even though the actress is good). I understand that as a daughter she is furious and she wants vengeance, but I don’t understand why her friends would follow her for five years to avenge her dead dad when they could have been, you know, trying to rebuild their group and fight the militia. I knew Joel was going to die, but I was expecting in episode 5 not now. That was brutal. I’m curious to see how the audience will react and the ratings/popularity will go. Joel and Ellie’s relationship was the core of the series. ETA: edited because I can't spell.

They were all very busy and Abbot said he was using too much blood and that other people could die/were going to die in the time he took to save Leah. But Abbot did it in a way that didn't undermine Robby and I think that was the point.

That’s Noah’s Emmy right there. Dana, I fucking love you. The moment she gave up primary to help Robby. Obviously David is not the shooter. Ten bucks the cops will arrest McKay for destroying her ankle monitor. I’m sorry but I really can’t with Santos. I would be willing to give her a huge pass for doing something she shouldn’t have done because it is a drastic situation and all that, but her glee and name calling Whittaker can’t be excused. Fuck the writers for having Abbot validating her that way.

I bet the will show up comforting someone.

I meant that 3 months would be enough time for Langdon go to rehab - if they want to keep the character - and for Robby to get the help *Robby* needs. He is suffering from PTSD and I don’t see he getting better after this MS.

I like the idea of a night shift and I would love to see some of the folks we got to know this episode, like Abbot, Chen, Ellis. They can mix and match next season and IMO the ideal timeframe would be 3 months from now - enough time for they recover as a team from the experience of a mass shooting, enough time for some new traumas settle in. It would be enough time for Robby to get the help he really needed If they decide to keep Langdon, it would work for a rehab stint. It would also mean that Javadi and Whitaker are no so green anymore.

I think the point of Langdon coming back for this major disaster is to "remember" Robby what a fine doctor he (Langdon) is. Robby was pissed off and uterly betrayed by Langdon and didn't care at all that he did he things he did (when Langdon said a junkie couldn't do what he does). I think the idea there is for Robbie to remember that just firing Langdon won't help anyone and that he is a doctor worth "saving" - sending him to rehab etc. Just reporting what they said: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/the-pitt-episode-12-exclusive-awards-insider https://variety.com/2025/artisans/news/the-pitt-production-design-episode-12-mass-shooting-1236339828/ By "we" you mean...?

They said males under 13 were getting 0+ too like the woman + 55 - why? Ok, ia that for my untrained eye that seemed really tailored to MS, but of course it serves for a lot of situations. This is a very interesting Variety article about how they build this episode and they say some stuff was created by the show (like the snap bracelets that apparently are not a thing in real life?). But they also say they have 109 patients from the mass shooting in episodes 22 and 13 and I’m sure I heard Javadi’s mom saying she was taking victim #148 up to surgery.

He also had no way of knowing two hours pior when he sent Langdon home, when he had already worked 9 hours. I’m not saying Robby shouldn’t care, but the pros outweighs the cons there. Forgot to say: Mel deciding to donate blood initiated a domino effect that helped a lot of people. Abbot, you badass.

The fact that there are such detailed protocols for that kind of “event” shows fucked up things are and how “common” mass shootings became. Robby being all pissed at a Langdon - I get it but really, man? When a pair of extra capable used to trauma/ER hands could mean the difference between death and life for some of these people? I didn’t like the scene with Javadi’s mom, you would think a clever woman like her would adapt and not be all pissed off because she didn’t have the right tools. Triage Asian guy is like the most nonchalant person ever. No serious reporter/journalist would ever do that. Ever. I want to be surprised and incel kid not be the shooter, but I feel like the show will go the easiest route - and there were so many anvils. Someone mentioned Driscoll being the shooter, I don’t think so. The man hit Dana, is a coward and a jerk, but I don’t see him getting a gun and going to a (mostly) young people festival and shoot a bunch of people. iI expect that at the end that of this they will show a long take of dead faces in the morgue and people recovering with whatever injuries they had - amputated limbs, colostomy bags, etc, because the message is clear: “this is what happens whiteout gun control”.