The Last of Us HBO

In a vignette that opens the second episode of HBO's post-apocalyptic epic The Last of Us, a professor of mycology is eating lunch in a Jakarta restaurant ...

[The Walking Dead](https://time.com/3506057/why-walking-dead-so-popular-ratings/) franchise, Sweet Tooth, The Rain, [Snowpiercer](https://time.com/5835149/snowpiercer-tnt-review/), The 100, [Y: The Last Man](https://time.com/6095829/y-last-man-fx-hulu-review/). [in consultation](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/02/can-the-last-of-us-break-the-curse-of-bad-video-game-adaptations) with concept artists at the Last of Us’ developer, Naughty Dog—and financed with a massive budget that reportedly topped $100 million for the eight-episode debut season—the series’ backdrops vary widely but share a distinctive patina of post-apocalyptic decay. The very best examples, like HBO’s own [The Leftovers](https://time.com/4803878/the-leftovers-finale-review/) and HBO Max’s [Station Eleven](https://time.com/6180758/hiro-murai-interview-atlanta/), don’t just ask whether the ends of one person’s survival justify the means; they conjure unique visions of spirituality, art, and love influenced by the ordeal of living through the end of the world. The Last of Us is so skillfully, meticulously, and lovingly constructed—to call it TV’s best video-game adaptation would be to damn it with faint praise—that it was tempting to ignore the question that nagged at me throughout each episode: What’s the point? In the form of beautifully rendered, often devastating TV, the effect is less illuminating and more masochistic. A bittersweet vignette that comprises most of the season’s best episode casts Nick Offerman as a misanthropic survivalist who builds a relatively luxurious fortress around himself and then accidentally booby-traps the perfect person (Murray Bartlett) to share it with him. Now that so much of what we see on the big and small screens has a vaguely [unreal](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/solutions/film-television) aspect imparted by the overuse of computerized effects, it’s a particular pleasure to see a video-game adaptation that’s genuinely cinematic, immersing us in the majesty of snow-covered mountains at one moment and the grimy details of an abandoned shopping mall the next. Apolitical survivors by nature, the couple is gearing up for a risky trek to Wyoming, in search of Joel’s idealistic brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), when they become entangled in the machinations of a righteous, militant rebel faction, the Fireflies. [acclaimed](https://time.com/6235588/best-video-games-2022/) [video game franchise](https://time.com/5847508/the-last-of-us-part-ii-review/) and created by the game’s mastermind, Neil Druckmann, and [Chernobyl](https://time.com/5581704/chernobyl-hbo-review/) creator Craig Mazin, the show is by turns gorgeous and harrowing, brutal and warm. Joel has made his way to Boston, where he and his partner Tess (Anna Torv) work as smugglers—a dangerous job in a ruined, walled-off city controlled by a fascist government, FEDRA, that condemns even the pettiest of criminals to public execution. You know the drill: one minute the frequency of ambulance sirens is a cause for mild concern; the next, people are fighting mushroom monsters who used to be their next-door neighbors. And while almost all of the action in The Last of Us takes place halfway around the world from Indonesia, in the United States, the professor’s lethal prescription sets the tone for a story whose characters are constantly forced to choose between protecting themselves and their loved ones, and making existential sacrifices for the good of a plague-ravaged society.

Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann's The Last of US TV series is a faithful adaptation of the beloved video game, but it doesn't feel distinct as an apocalyptic ...

HBO’s The Last of Us is a more than solid adaptation in the sense that it expertly pieces together a new version of a beloved tale in a way that’s almost certain to reach and speak to a larger audience. Were those gurgles and clicks a bit more menacing and accompanied by live-action versions of some of The Last of Us’ more impressive creatures, the show might be successful on that front. Though it probably wasn’t HBO’s intention, its spin on The Last of Us highlights how being able to actually interact with a narrative like this makes it far easier to become invested in it and see past how often it wanders into paternalistic savior territory. It’s almost impressive just how much (and then some) of the first game HBO’s show manages to fit into this first season without feeling overfull. Instead, though, the show settles on being mildly alarming when it could stand to be a bit more horrific, and it’ll be interesting to see whether that shifts if and when HBO decides to move forward with a second season. But in scenes when the show’s trying to recreate some of the game’s more emotionally charged moments, The Last of Us has a way of coming across as somewhat uninspired because of how long we’ve been living with other zombie horror survival shows like AMC’s The Walking Dead. As a game, The Last of Us gave you the time and space to explore its world and really come to appreciate Ellie and Joel as people at whatever pace you wanted or needed to stay interested. But unlike the first Last of Us, which played out as a fairly linear story in the present, HBO’s series is largely built around a number of poignant flashbacks from Joel and other characters’ lives meant to illustrate just what all they’ve lost and how that loss has changed them. Years after the swift and devastating initial outbreak of a lethal mutated fungus that kicks off The Last of Us’ first season, there are still small pockets of uninfected humanity fighting to survive. Many of the show’s most pivotal moments play out similarly to how they did in the game, but details are often reworked to show you things from new perspectives or to provide insight into people’s motivations. [HBO’s The Last of Us](https://hbomax.prf.hn/click/camref:1101lqHRA/[p_id:1011l394533]/pubref:___vg__p_23307186__t_w__d_D/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fplay.hbomax.com%2Fpage%2Furn%3Ahbo%3Apage%3Athe-last-of-us-outpost) is a drastically different experience than playing its video game counterpart. [yet another survival video game](https://www.polygon.com/2013/6/5/4396286/the-last-of-us-review) about brute forcing your way through masses of infected enemies, [The Last of Us](https://www.theverge.com/23329531/the-last-of-us-part-1-review-ps5-remake)’ focus on people’s relationships and how they evolve was a major part of why the Naughty Dog title [remains such a critical darling](https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k84pe/revisiting-the-last-of-us-makes-its-sequel-feel-even-more-disappointing) with a passionate fanbase.

The post-apocalyptic drama series stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) as Joel and Ellie, an unlikely duo traversing an ...

I can no longer look at some characters from the game without recalling their more expansive arcs in the show, and I think that's both a commendation for the show and a benefit to the property as a whole. The show is brought to life by a cast and crew that seems hellbent on living up to its name and their own already-glowing reputations. Ramsey, to their credit, similarly captures Ellie's vulgar defiance and sarcasm in a way that often becomes the comic relief on the show even as, like the game, comic relief is a rare thing to witness. It stands proudly as one of the best video game adaptations ever, and a clear signal that PlayStation is right to pursue a future where its already reputable video games are reborn on TV. But it does feel like a vital expansion of a fictional universe I love so much, and if it's given room to grow and tell the whole story, I could see it reaching the top tier of HBO shows in time. A strictly faithful series would feel limited, and perhaps only best enjoyed by those who have no prior experience with the game, but these additions to the story make The Last of Us feel like it's found the best-case scenario, where the adaptation is both faithful and reimagined in smart ways. Sometimes they're fun alterations made to surprise familiar viewers in an otherwise faithful scene, but the crowning achievements of The Last of Us on HBO come whenever the story pivots to spend extended time with characters who aren't Ellie and Joel. Often, the TV series delivers a scene that is nearly a shot-for-shot replica of the game, from the dialogue to even the cadence of its delivery. Players of a AAA action-adventure game sometimes don't expect or even want a long, slow ramp-up with characters who aren't the focus of the game or serve another gameplay function. The pair sets off on what is initially pitched as a cargo run, with the 14-year-old Ellie being the so-called cargo, and focuses on their relationship, as well as that of others they meet along the way. Was it beneficial to be so faithful, and thus largely predictable, to the millions who have played the game already? The Last of Us on HBO, co-run by Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and the game series' own Neil Druckmann, is a marvelous proof of concept for PlayStation--and really any brand seeking to bring its beloved games to prestige television.

Joel and Ellie's dark odyssey comes to HBO. It's a journey you should take.

It's beautifully written and the casting is flawless, with Pascal, Ramsey and their co-stars adding layers of emotional depth and unsettling moral grayness to every moment. [Parks and Recreation](/culture/entertainment/4-tv-series-to-watch-on-peacock-after-yellowstone/) actor [Nick Offerman](/culture/entertainment/nick-offerman-joins-cast-for-hbo-adaptation-of-the-last-of-us-video-game/) anchoring an installment that proves to be the season's most uplifting and haunting. His charismatic performance anchors a story that sticks extremely closely to one of the game's late chapters. The infected are used sparingly but stick closely to their game appearances and ooze danger in each encounter. These are typically followed by reminders that they're trapped in a hellish world, but you'll definitely join in the first time they laugh together. Pascal adds layers of world-weariness to his performance as we return to a hardened Joel, who's done whatever it took to survive over the years. You might need to lie down for a bit after watching this one. Jumping forward 20 years, we're introduced to a world where survivors live in authoritarian quarantine zones run by the harsh remnants of the US military. This tale kicks off with Joel as society crumbles in the terrifying early days of the outbreak, deftly setting up his emotional stakes in an opening that mirrors the game closely. Ramsey's performance unfolds more gradually, displaying more dramatic color as we learn more about Ellie and her sense of wonder becomes apparent. [The Last of Us](/tech/gaming/the-last-of-us-part-1-is-a-expensive-way-to-revisit-naughty-dog-masterpiece/) stands tall among the best written video games of all time. Grumpy smuggler Joel must escort defiant teen Ellie across the US, for slightly spoilery reasons.

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey head up the cast of HBO's post-pandemic adaptation.

It feels at times like it wants to let the story breathe and expand and become something else, but also as if it’s afraid of alienating the kinds of viewers Druckmann nods to in the quote above—as if it knows it has to check off a list of expected story beats and that it can’t stray too far from what certain viewers expect. You can always play it if you just want that experience again, or, hell, watch one of those YouTube videos that just compiles all the cutscenes into a “movie.” Shouldn’t the purpose of an adaptation be, in some part, to adapt, to tailor for a different medium and to, perhaps, find new emotional notes, new thematic resonances, new life in a familiar story? What I ultimately find most fascinating about the existence of The Last of Us as a TV show is this tension at its core, this seemingly endless battle between types of media. The way the show dares to diverge from the game to alter our sense of their relationship is frankly exciting, and gives the entire series a very different (and better) thematic shape than it would otherwise have. In the game, of course, you play as Sarah, exploring the house a bit as signs of impending doom—a news broadcast, an explosion in the distance—continue to mount. In the game, Frank was the longtime partner of Bill, a curmudgeonly survivalist (played in the show by Nick Offerman), but before Joel and Ellie arrive, Frank has killed himself and left a rather bitter suicide note. Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones) as Joel and Bella Ramsey (Catherine Called Birdy, also Game of Thrones) as Ellie capably head up a uniformly excellent cast, and the high-stakes tension, desperation, and struggle to find something worth fighting for in a deadly world that typified the game are all effectively recreated here. First, let’s talk about the types of changes that feel more necessary in taking The Last of Us and turning it into television. If you’ve played the game, you may recall that very early on, Joel and his smuggling partner Tess brutally torture a jerk named Robert who sold them out on a deal, breaking his bones to get information out of him and ultimately executing him. The headband is comfortable to wear, will produce stereo sound, and is capable of noise-canceling. But the fact that a playthrough of The Last of Us takes about 15 hours has always made me associate it more with prestige TV than with movies. And now, the game that always felt like a product of the same pop culture era that gave us prestige TV such as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones has become prestige TV.

Rending the gameplay out of a game that's fleshed out by televisual tropes, the series ends up as mostly just the latter. by Pat Brown. January 10, 2023.

The underwhelming confrontations with the zombies may be one crucial aspect of why this adaptation fails to accomplish the dramatic heights that the game did. The result is a series that not only often runs like a compilation of extended versions of the game’s cutscenes, but is also almost assertively middlebrow. Take the fifth episode, in which Joel and Ellie confront a cult of personality led by would-be authoritarian Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) in Kansas City. In the second episode of the season, after the initial job to hand Ellie over to the Fireflies on the outskirts of Boston goes belly-up, he resolves to help her find her way to a medical facility in Utah. Many stretches of the game that staged memorable battles with hordes of zombies—like Elie and Joel’s run-in with Joel’s smuggling contact, Bill (Nick Offerman), outside of Boston—are reconceptualized in the terms of prestige television. The journey there becomes a tour of the various mini-dystopias that have sprung up in the two decades since society collapsed.

One of the most cinematic games of all time is Sony and Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us," which launched in 2013 and became an instant critical and commercial hit ...

In many ways, it's a perfect story for where we are in 2023, picking up the pieces of the last few years and finding what's important to us again. I wanted a little more building, and the show rushes the final two episodes in a way that made me wonder if that's where most of the compression happened when it lost a chapter from the initial ten episodes that Mazin said would happen back in July 2021. In terms of storytelling and design, the show will be very familiar to gamers, almost too much at times. After a chilling prologue in which an expert on a talk show offers his belief that the world-ending pandemic will be fungal and not viral, "The Last of Us" opens properly in 2003, hours before society's collapse. [Pedro Pascal](/cast-and-crew/pedro-pascal)), an Austin-based contractor, and his brother Tommy ( [Gabriel Luna](/cast-and-crew/gabriel-luna)). It's a fascinating deconstruction of the game that leans on character and storytelling instead of action, and it does so in a way that's confidently grounded.

A review of the HBO series The Last of Us, based on the video game and starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.

But the series reminds us why postapocalyptic stories continue to invade our psyches: They remind us of the value of being alive and how terrifying it would be to stand among the few who still are. Like the dystopian prestige dramas The Leftovers and Station Eleven, The Last of Us is driven less by raw plot than by its study of relationships. Even if The Last of Us treads familiar ground, it is still a gripping and ambitious work that seems fated to become the premium cable network’s next Twitter-trending hit. The other lies in translating the inherently interactive experience of a game into something that feels unique to television. [reportedly exceeding](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/02/can-the-last-of-us-break-the-curse-of-bad-video-game-adaptations) each of the first five seasons of Game of Thrones, The Last of Us is punctuated by intense action sequences and elaborately rendered practical and visual effects. The nine-episode first season, which debuts on Sunday night, focuses on Joel (Pedro Pascal), a man who lost his daughter when the pandemic began in 2003, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a teenager whose immunity to the fungus could be instrumental in finding a cure in 2023.

Writer Craig Mazin, Pedro Pascal and the rest of the cast reveal how the TV series expands the universe of the game while maintaining its powerful emotional ...

[in a companion podcast](https://listen.hbo.com/the-last-of-us-podcast?c=SMTUzoX5QN_06l-iR1z0HA&h=51504b5794522e818) that'll go behind the scenes of the show, HBO said Monday, with podcast episodes dropping each Sunday. "Ellie is aware that there's something up with this guy -- there's more to him, he's not just a grumpy asshole for the sake of it," the actor said. "It's amazing to step into an adaptation of a beloved source material that has such an emotional human story at the center of it, to make it all the more painful. "He desires what his brother has at the beginning, which is family -- to plant a seed and watch it grow," Luna told me over video chat. [Mazin](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0563301/) applied that same curiosity to [a real-life disaster](/science/chernobyl-miniseries-by-hbo-and-sky-prompts-searches-on-nuclear-explosion-fission/) when he created [2019's acclaimed HBO miniseries Chernobyl](/culture/entertainment/hbo-chernobyl-miniseries-was-bleak-grotesque-and-absolutely-necessary/). "I absolutely did revisit the preparation. [HBO TV series The Last of Us](/culture/entertainment/the-last-of-us-review-the-greatest-video-game-adaptation-ever-made/) isn't the Clickers, Bloaters or any of the other horrors of [the legendary Sony PlayStation game](/tech/gaming/the-last-of-us-part-1-is-a-expensive-way-to-revisit-naughty-dog-masterpiece/) the series is based on. "Practically speaking, it didn't change much other than giving us a slightly different palette of props, set design and car choice. It's something, unfortunately, so many of us can relate to," Pascal told me on Zoom. Because the game took place the year it came out, Mazin and Druckmann agreed that the chronological repositioning made sense since it didn't fundamentally change the story. I thought it might be interesting to just say, 'Hey, look, in this parallel universe, this is happening right now.' So it was really just about helping people connect a little bit more," Mazin said. [HBO Max](https://hbomax.prf.hn/click/camref:1011lqSFd/pubref:cn-___COM_CLICK_ID___-dtp___OPTOUT___/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hbomax.com%2F).