Too many changes (contains spoilers)
Just finished the season and while I quite like the inclusion of the parents side/angle I'm loathing how much they have reduced Ellie to almost nothing.
Ellie should be the leader. Keeping the others in check when they need to be. She fought for them when even she didn't have any strength left. She is the one that always takes the risk. More than anything that's missing is Ellie's mixed bag of emotions. The way she struggles with killing the soldiers and yet has resolve to do it for love, to save her friends. She has none of that in the TV series. Instead Homer is taking the lead and has none of his goofy messing about charm. The dynamic of Ellie/Homer is totally missing. He with his quick thinking and mischievous ideas and Ellie with the practical to temper him down and really make a solid plan that can work. Also. Where is there sibling type relationship??? Argh
The iconic and massively character developing bridge scene was utterly lacking. Where was the tanker?? All of Ellie's planning and ideas. Using a ute full of hay was a total cop out. Also missing was the pivotal moment for Robyn when she shot the soldiers. That part of the book was so important for laying out the future character development for Robyn.
I love the books. I grew up reading them and re-reading them and even reading them as an adult a few times. And while I will most likely continue to watch the series - it's inly because I love the source material so much. But if it gets any worse....
I read John Marsden has been involved in some of the changes and that just makes me sad. For him to have had a part in taking Ellie from such a strong multi layered character to nothing. Super sad
Just sad
Also. What someone else said about no night time. It really jolts you out of the "created reality" of them sneaking around in the shadows.
Book 2 - The dead of the night
Book 4 - Darkness be my friend
Book 6 - The night is for hunting
Book 7 - The other side of dawn
Not only do the titles refer to night and darkness and the cover it provides them. It also refers to the creeping emotional darkness that the characters feel as they grow and develop and have to mark hard choices during the war. Well none of the character development is there so I guess I shouldn't complained that they are just running around in full light all the time and the notion of darkness is absent from the visuals, the action and the characters. Sigh
Ok enough ranting