Review Detail

This was a really interesting watch for a few reasons. It includes quite a bit of "side" material, outside of Joel and Ellie, and it is non-linear, which semi-mimics the flow of the original series. It was very slightly confusing bouncing around but you did a great job keeping things in order.

A few parts I loved:
* Including the Jakarta scene at the beginning was good, really set the dread tone right away.
* Sarah's backstory helped her feel real and then moving her death to Joel's dream sequence "Twenty Years Later" was a clever way keep her memory present in his Boston life.
* I loved seeing Bill's story interspersed throughout the first half of the show.
* Ending the episode as Ellie and Joel drive away from Bill's was a very emotional finish.
* Starting episode two with Ellie's birth was a great bit of backstory explaining why immunity is so rare.
* Making the entire Kansas City thing into a flashback was interesting too, it fits with your out-of-order timeline pretty well.
* Cutting back to Ellie's mom after the cult escape was a good bookend, considering Marlene shows up with the fireflies right after.

Overall I really liked what you did with the story and how you treated the characters. This is a more artsy retelling than a chronological one, which makes it feel very unique!

Great work!