The Incomparable

It’s been ten years since we first had this debate, and now that the non-gaming public can also experience the end of The Last of Us, we get to have this debate again. Long time listener first time caller John Siracusa is our very special guest for the final episode of The Cast of Us Season 1.

Thank you all for your support these last nine weeks, and we’ll see you when Season 2 comes out.

Read the show notes.

Previous Episodes

• March 6, 2023 A Burrito of Horror

  9 S1E8 Review: “When We Are In Need”

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment

  It’s a meaty one this week, folks. Is David actually religious? How have on-screen creeps evolved? Is that really how penicillin works? Is the horse okay? Ben, Tiff, and Brian tuck into a heaping helping of analysis and… Venison. We promise it’s venison.

• February 27, 2023

  8 S1E7 Review: “Left Behind”

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment

  Listen, if you’ve played The Last of Us, then the title “Left Behind” emotionally prepared you for what would happen on Sunday’s episode, but HBO did some narrative and structural magic tricks to heighten the tension. Grab your tissue boxes and a book of puns, because you’ll need them both.

• February 20, 2023 Everybody loved contractors

  7 S1E6 Review: “Kin”

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment

  Ben, Tiff, and Brian celebrate President’s Day by celebrating communism! Jackson, Wyoming is a thriving post-apocalyptic community, but Joel resents how it makes him feel about the people around him. We get a scene lovingly recreated from the video game, some hilarious jokes about contractors, and lots of implications for what a second season of the HBO show would look like. Finally, after the Spoiler Horn at the end of the episode, we address an audience member during a heated debate about The Last of Us Part II.

• February 13, 2023

  6 S1E5 Review: “Endure and Survive”

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment

  We all knew it was coming, but Henry and Sam’s story is just as heartbreaking in the HBO show as it was when we originally played The Last of Us in 2013. Along the way, Kathleen and Perry’s original story gets woven in, and it all leads to an explosive climax. A lot happens this week, but it’s impossible to call this episode bloated. Plus, are you a wimp for using aim assist?

• February 6, 2023 Ellie’s Got a Gun

  5 S1E4 Review: “Please Hold to My Hand”

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment with Merlin Mann

  Special guest Merlin Mann, who is outstanding in his field, joins Ben, Tiff, and Brian in their recap this week. Pedro Pascal was great on SNL, Melanie Lynskey is great in everything, and we don’t know how syphoning works, but we know it works. Plus, a new way of looking at popcorn.

• January 30, 2023 To whomever, but probably Joel

  4 S1E3 Review: “Long, Long Time”

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment

  Remember when Tiff, Ben, and Brian speculated that each episode of The Last of Us would have a flashback to 2003? Well, this episode has one of those. What happens in that flashback may or may not make all three of us cry on the podcast; you’ll have to listen to find out. Break out your Linda Ronstadt songbook and pour yourself a glass of wine.

• January 23, 2023

  3 S1E2 Review: “Infected”

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment

  Ben has some incredible follow up about flour, which leads us right into our Jakarta interlude before jumping right back to Boston. Tiff, Ben, and Brian learn more about the cordyceps than the video game ever taught us, while Joel learns even more about himself and his relationship to Ellie than he ever knew. Plus, prepare your appetite for the Mushroom of the Week!

• January 16, 2023 For people who love guns and emotions.

  2 S1E1 Review: “When You’re Lost in the Darkness”

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment

  It’s 1968, and two epidemiologists discuss viral infections on ABC. It’s 2003, and just two years after 9/11, a zombie outbreak stops the world in its tracks. It’s 2023, and three friends that love video games, TV dramas, and podcasting started a new show recapping HBO’s The Last of Us TV series. Whether you’re here for creepy zombie chase scenes or arguments about a car battery, this TV show is for people who love guns and emotions.

• January 9, 2023 Trailer Analysis and Expectations

  1 Trailer Analysis

  Hosts Ben Rice McCarthy, Brian Hamilton, and Tiff Arment

  In advance of the debut of The Last of Us on HBO, Ben and Brian discuss their histories with the video game and their excitement at the cast and crew of the show before analyzing the first teaser trailer. Finally a Mushroom of the Week is crowned. See you all next week!

  Recorded December 12, 2022