For most of its first season, the series follows Joel as he attempts to safely smuggle a 14-year-old girl named Ellie (Ramsey) across a dangerous, zombie-ridden version of America.
At the center of its story is Joel Miller (Pascal), a gruff, grief-stricken middle-aged man whose brutal survival skills have made him a reliable smuggler in The Last of Us’ dystopian world. The new HBO series is primarily set in a post-apocalyptic world that has become overrun with fungi-covered, zombie-like humans. Liane Hentscher/HBOĪs those who have played The Last of Us will likely be the first to tell you, its story is not necessarily groundbreaking. In fact, many of the series’ best moments aren’t just the ones that were created specifically for it, but also directly diverge from the canon of the first two Last of Us games. Fortunately, HBO’s The Last of Us adds enough to its source material’s story to ultimately justify its existence. On the other hand, watching stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey act out iconic scenes line-for-line that were already performed quite well by Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker is an experience that not only invites unfair comparisons between the series and its video game predecessor but also raises questions about the necessity of the show’s creation.Īfter all, if a TV show is going to simply recreate many of the scenes, lines of dialogue, and even music cues found in its source material, as The Last of Us does, then what’s the point in even making it? In this case, that question is particularly worth asking, given how effective the original Last of Us remains nearly a decade after its release. On the one hand, it’s undeniably refreshing to see a video game adaptation that is genuinely confident in the strength of its source material. For those who are familiar with the property, though, watching the HBO series’ 9-episode first season may be an unexpectedly odd experience.
This fact won’t occur to any viewers who aren’t familiar with Naughty Dog’s original Last of Us games. The new HBO series, which comes from Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin and Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann, not only sticks close to the story told in its 2013 source material, but it often replicates entire scenes from that game. The Last of Us is the most faithful video game adaptation that has ever been produced. A strict adherence to its source material that can render it dramatically inert
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