As a massive fan of TLOU games, I was very excited for this, though the casting choices made me scratch my head based on appearances alone. However, most of the cast have proven themselves very capable thus far.

Bella Ramsey and Nico Parker, who play Ellie and Sarah respectively, despite not looking anything like the original characters, absolutely knocked it out of the park and nailed the roles. Bella's performance makes me hopeful for the rest of the series.

The main outlier and main concern of mine so far is, surprisingly, Pedro Pascal. Pedro's performance as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones was fantastic, and he quickly became one of my favourite characters. However, his performance as Joel seems to be a little lacklustre, or perhaps miscast.

Joel Miller is a very nuanced character; an extremely vulnerable and broken man who developed a stoic/hardened/detatched/bitter front after his tragic loss. I am not feeling that level of depth from Pedro's performance... so far he just seems a little reserved and aggressive.

*That* opening scene in TLOU game made me extremely emotional to the point of tears in every playthrough. The TV version felt underwhelming by comparison, outside of Nico's incredible performance.

I'm excited to watch the rest of this series, but I do hope Pedro leans more into the role of Joel as the show progresses. Also to the reviewers insulting gamers for their passion for video games, please try to develop a prefrontal cortex at some point in your lives.