Doctor Reacts To 'The Last Of Us' Medical Scenes

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The Last Of Us is the biggest new show on television after a stellar run with it's 2 games, The Last of Us Part 1 and 2 on Playstation. As a big fan of the games I was so pumped to watch the show, but it didn't take long for my medical eye to catch some glaring errors. I know how much care and love Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have put into this project, but I still have to be a stickler about things such as how cordyceps fungus actually works, the recovery time needed from traumatic wounds, and so much more. I actually broke this video down into 4 sections of medical review: the truth about cordycepps, Joel's superhuman abilities, laughable first aid, and general medical info gone wrong. I know my critiques may annoy some devoted fans, but rest assured I'm a big fan too and just want this to be done right! Follow the light.

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Executive Producer: Doctor Mike
Production Director and Editor: Dan Owens
Managing Editor and Producer: Sam Bowers
Editor and Designer: Caroline Weigum
Editor: Juan Carlos Zuniga

* Select photos/videos provided by Getty Images *

** The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional **

[ryanartward]

My dad (a doctor) told me after watching the last episode that Ellie would never needed to die to get the cure. If the cordyceps chemical signals were the source, then all they would really need is a blood sample. And even if it was nessasary to do brain surgery, they could do that by only taking a micro amount of brain tissue without killing the patient. If she is really the only hope for the human race, then you gotta keep her alive and healthy if there is any more need for tests.

[gilwags]

Joel was running on that Penicillin and fatherly love for all of his fights in episode 8😂

[courtneypollard]

Consent and lack of any sort of previous non-life threatening tests is exactly why I will defend Joel’s decision until the end of freaking time. They didn’t fully inform Ellie, didn’t allow her to make a decision, and didn’t allow her any closure with Joel. They stripped her of any human rights and that’s the worst crime in my opinion. Plus just the ridiculously massive jump to the conclusion that they HAVE to kill her just… god, it’s awful. Everything about how the Fireflies went about this boils my blood.

[DrewD]

The fact that the fireflies didn't try anything with her blood and the plasma is what baffled me too. To jump straight to the brain being the only place to go was nuts when really the infection is all over her body

[marykatezehr]

When I watched Joel pull out the shard of the baseball bat, I immediately was like, "No! Joel, don't do that! You're gonna bleed out! What's Dr. Mike gonna say?!"

[septicember]

in the game I (and I assume most players) are given the impression that Joel was laid up with that wound in his abdomen for a couple weeks at least (because it goes from fall to middle of winter), and that's why he had recovered enough to help Ellie, even though he was clearly still struggling and healing. Joel put all his point in Vitality and Strength lmao

[davidmartins]

Just to add something that I noticed while watching, Ellie's mom also used the same knife that went through the infected's neck to cut the umbilical cord, exposing Ellie potentially.

[jeffkeys]

Fun Fact: Ellie's mom is the actor who Ellie is actually modeled after in the game. It was a way of paying homage to the OG.

[gsnbr]

This confirms what I thought the first time I finished the game. The fireflies have no idea what they were doing and Joel did the right thing on saving Ellie.

[franimariee]

“My guys hemoglobin hasn’t recovered. HE’S STILL ANEMIC.” 😂😂 lost it at that part.

[SilverCheetah]

In online discourse, someone pointed out that the doctors are probably medical students from 2003, or actual doctors but maybe not in the right field and with knowledge only from 2003. Also MatPat of Game Theory proposed a very logical explanation for Ellies immunity. In the game at least, its seems they are going a different direction in the show.

[itz..hailie]

The bat scene bothered me a lot because in the video game he landed on a pole that was attached to the ground so he HAD to pull himself off of it but in the show he was just stabbed so he had no reason to pull it out, but as for all the happened after it about his recover time and being able to keep going your not taking in to account his 'Ellie senses'

[haleem]

You make excellent points! Why did they immediately jump to brain surgery? If she’s the only immune person, why dispose of her so quickly?

[gab.lab.martins]

They inserted Ellie’s birth yes to show why she’s immune, but also because Ashley Johnson played Ellie in the game, and they wanted to include her in the show. I love that. Apparently Ashley was chatting with the producer, Bella walked in the room, Ashley’s face lit up, and she said “that’s Ellie!!”
One of the reasons why the show works so well is because there’s a real bond between everyone involved. The chemistry between the actors isn’t faked, they’re real friends, and that’s partially credit to the producers who created a family-like environment. Having the original actors included in the show is a beautiful thing – even if Troy Baker went from “I must protect Ellie at all costs” to “I must kill Ellie at all costs” 😂

[anthonyvalentino]

I get that Joel fully recovered very quickly after getting stabbed but that’s an angry father hyped on adrenaline. Nothing is stopping him

[RealTalkAlexV]

“My guys hemoglobin hasn’t recovered, he’s still anemic” 😂😂😂 thanks for that one Dr Mike ❤

[GriffinAAN]

My problem with the trolley problem in this is that the doctors don't even know that sacrificing Ellie will 100% save everyone. They were willing to sacrifice one person over a hypothesis rather than run tests to get to a conclusive theory/fact. It's a medical shame haha

[christinaify]

Showing Ellie's birth and how she became immune verified a fan theory. It's true that in the game, we have no idea. Marlene is hinted to know more than she's telling us but that's par for the course. I personally think Marlene kept the information to herself because if it got out, combined with the authoritarian systems in place, it could lead to some pretty horrendous experimentation. Think wards of pregnant women being purposely infected, babies being experimented on, etc. Could it have lead to a cure? Maybe. Would it have been worth the cost? Maybe not.

[Khomuna]

About their Cordyceps knowledge, 20 years dealing with (and probably dissecting) infected must've given people some knowledge about how the fungus spreads, since it controls people's minds it's not crazy to propose that it grows inside the brain. In episode 1 they even had a chart with the total infection times based on where the victims were bit, they also developed the scanners after the apocalypse so they surely had the tech to study Cordyceps in depth.

About the surgery, they were probably going to split open Ellie's brain to try and get her "strand" of Cordyceps out, killing her in the process, which is a huge mistake since they only have 1 immune person to work with and didn't try anything else before that.

About the fungus not realizing Ellie is immune, the dog in episode 6 could detect infected people, it was suspicious of Ellie at first but failed to identify her infection, meanwhile the scanners can detect her infection, so I guess for infected she doesn't look, smell or sound like one of them, but once the fungus reaches her bloodstream "it realizes" she's been infected already and doesn't progress.

[sarah]

Some fun facts. Ellie's Mom in the series is played by Ashley Johnson who is the Voice actor who played Ellie in the game. Very fitting that she gave birth to her in the series poetically. Also James (The person who assists David in the series with their cannibalistic practices) is played by Troy Baker who is Joel's actor in the game. I'm glad they decided to include the main 2 voice actors from the game in a different role in the series.