t-feier

Sigh, what am I gonna say? I really wanted to like the show, mostly because of the amazing chemistry between the two main actors and the great atmosphere it often manages to create. However I feel like the show had several issues and those caused massive - and predictable - problems in the end. Even though you've probably already seen it I'll try to keep it spoiler-free.

My main problem with the finale is that it felt extremely rushed and hollow. Watching the show I was always worried that all the time spent on fan service and long flashbacks would cause problems in the end - and it did. Climax and ending of the entire show are basically crammed into 15 minutes and felt highly compressed.

The last episode rushes through several important plot points and a lot of character development was communicated through a few unsubtle lines of dialogue. Quite a shame considering that I loved how the show was developing the relationship between Joel and Ellie up to this point.

This doesnt ruin the show but I cant help but wonder why the creators paced things the way they did.

The Swarm is definitely not a good show. Horrific acting, laughable dialogue and amateurish writing make watching it downright painful at times. On top of that it might be the worst adaption of a book I've ever seen on screen. Still, you might be able to enjoy it if you've got a soft spot for bad European television.

Among all the issues that plague the show, poorly written dialogue und bad acting are probably the main offenders. A lot of the scenes are just actors who cant be bothered to act reading stilted and boring dialogue thats chock-full of exposition. Were definitely in B-Movie territory here and the few good performances we see aren't enough to save the show. The creators also did a bad job at adapting the source material. Pointless stuff is added, important characters removed and nobody could be bothered to properly update the 20 year old technical aspects from the original book. It basically feels like a bunch of semi talented individuals got together to burn film subsidies without any passion or creativity. Yes, it's that bad.

Yet you might be able to enjoy the show if you want something to make fun of while digesting your Sunday dinner. There's a tradition in Germany to watch a mediocre crime drama called "Tatort" every Sunday just to hang out with friends and make fun of bad TV. The Swarm is hitting that exact same spot. Sounds good? Then cozy up, grab a bag of chips and gently doze off while watching a global desaster you couldn't care less about.

So I finally buckled and watched "The Last of Us". It's a pretty good show, sometimes even great, yet it's just not the "Must watch" people make it out to be.

I think the positives of the show are pretty well known by now and theres little to argue here. The main acctors have good chemistry, set pieces are great and it's beautifully shot. Since everybody is already raving about the positives I won't go into too much detail here and focus on the issues I had with the show.

One thing that was bugging me was the pacing and writing. Way too much is communicated via flashback or quasi stand-alone episodes. Thats really making the whole thing feel rather disjointed and caused huge problems in the end. It definitely felt like the show was running out of time and a lot of important plot points didn't get the attention they deserved. The actual finale of the show as well as the ending or epilogue felt extremely rushed and therefore hollow. No clue why they paced the show like this. My best bet is that they were trying to cram some extra fan service in.

But the biggest issue is that the show keeps repeating the same pattern of getting ones hopes up and ruining everything with a gut-punch twist. That might be effective if you do it once or twice but it gets old quickly. I stopped caring after a few episodes because I always felt like I was just watching the prelude to yet another catastrophe. Weirdly everything else is by the numbers and the show never really managed to surprise me. Raiders, cannibals, monsters - we've seen it all before and the show isnt really doing anything new with those tropes.

So despite the amazing chemistry between the two main actors and great production value I felt like watching just another zombie horror show after a while. If those arent right up your alley you can calmly skip "The Last of Us".