A Skeptical Review of HBO's 'The Last of Us' - Season 1

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- The Last of Us: Part II - Forgiving The Unforgivable - Luke Stephens

- The Last of Us | The Ultimate Commentary - Luke Stephens

Joel and Ellie, a pair connected through the harshness of the world they live in, are forced to endure brutal circumstances and ruthless killers on a trek across a post-outbreak America.

Winner of a combined 500+ Game of the Year awards, The Last of Us series is critically renowned for its emotional storytelling, unforgettable characters, and suspenseful action-adventure gameplay.

Decades after the Cordyceps infection ravaged America, ruthless factions and Infected present a constant threat to survivors. Rugged smuggler Joel is tasked with escorting teenager Ellie to safety. Although Joel is traumatized by his past, their brutal cross-country journey gives him “something to fight for.”

5 years later, Joel and Ellie settle in Jackson, Wyoming. When a harrowing incident rattles their community, Ellie embarks on a relentless journey for justice and closure. The dangers she encounters aren’t her only obstacles; she also must grapple with the repercussions of her actions.

Play The Last of Us Part I, now available on PlayStation 5 and in development for PC. Continue your journey with The Last of Us Part II, available on PS4 and backwards compatible for PS5.
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[VaultOfTheFuture]

My biggest issue is that neither Joel or Ellie threw a brick at anyone. I was so hyped for a brick cameo

[sammiebi]

I think they set it in 2003 so we see Joel & Ellie’s journey in 2023, the year we are in now. I think this is to draw comparisons to our lives and feel more invested in the story overall, just as they tried with the game to make outbreak day in 2013, the time the game came out.

[nicolerusso]

I feel like a lot of people are misunderstanding Ellie being quiet and distant in the finale. She’s not just being “moody” or worried about what’ll happen when they get to the hospital. She’s still traumatized about what happened with David and what she did after; hence her reference to “time heals all wounds” when she says she knows why Joel told her about Sarah and his attempt on his life.

[tishyo]

For Tess's death, QZ people chasing three random people all the way out there would not make sense whatsoever. I personally found that odd in the game as well. So it makes sense they changed into infected. As David says in the 8th episode, cordiceps is just trying to progress themselves and ensure its future in the world. And it does everything to do so. But when cordiceps does not need to be aggressive, why would it be aggressive? Especially after realizing Tess was already its part? The reason Tess was not attacked is because the fungus figures out Tess was already infected and because Tess did not defend herself.

Also, I felt Sam being deaf adds a lot. He's a lot more vulnerable now. In the game, Sam keeps his infection hidden, but in the show they wanted Ellie to try to save him and for that Sam needs to write that to Ellie. In the show, if Sam could talk, I personally feel it would not make sense if he just told Ellie about his infection and not Henry. Its probably just me.

[AWTH]

Action scenes were a complete second thought for this show, like the truck stop crash in episode 4, was way more visceral and horrifying in the game. That may seem like a dumb entertainment detail but it impacts how the journey feels. It felt like much more of a breeze for Joel and Ellie to get to the fireflies in the show than it did in the game.

[nathandayfilms]

According to Mazin, the reason for the Kiss scene with Tess’ death was to show that the fungus isn’t just this evil, violent force. Since she was infected and just about to turn, it was showing the fungus embracing her into the fold. It was a little weird at first but I wasn’t too put off by it

[oldcdog]

At the beginning of episode 2, we find out there were 14 workers missing from the flour factory, not “1 or 2”. And if you stick around and the watch the commentary after the episodes, it may help to answer some of the questions you had about why certain things were changed.

[neonspartan]

There were so few infected that by the end of the show you forgot what they were trying to find a cure for

[dclegg]

Joel working his way through the firefly hospital felt like a mass shooting. His cold expression throughout and the muted audio really made it feel super cold blooded. I think that was a strong change from the game

[jarrahkron]

14:57 see I really had a problem with the way they depicted Joel's PTSD in relation to the flashlight being shone at him. In the game, you're also haunted by imagery of flashlights or spotlights to signify the most traumatic incident of Joel's past. But in the show they're either far, far too overt with it (like the end of episode 1) or they don't include it at all (like the flashlights following Joel as he's carrying Ellie from the firefly hospital, which just doesn't happen in the show).

[Nato]

I don't mind what's been added. I actually love it. Seeing how the rest of the world was affected was inriguing and captivating. It's not just them.
One thing i would have loved is an interaction between Joel and the Doctor, a few lines of dialogue, show the doctor as a good guy who believe he's doing the right thing... before he pick up the scalpel.

[alt]

They really needed just a couple more episodes to flesh things out a bit more. It almost feels rushed now that season ones over.

[nurri]

i agree with the (minor) pacing issue and yeah, 1 or 2 more episodes in the season being a better fit. we could've gotten one whole episode of just joel&ellie navigating through the wasteland and fighting infected. the only real (and extremely well done) reference to that part of gameplay was joels 'little' ludonarrative rampage through the hospital. also there is a weird divide between the 8th and 9th episode. that final episode could've also benefited from a little slower pacing / slightly longer runtime, i think.

[dubdayz]

It was explained why it’s tendrils and not spores, because we would honestly have no chance against spores irl. It wouldn’t be a “mask up guys” type of situation in certain areas. It would be everywhere and we would’ve lost the day they started popping up.

[sopebarrofficial]

I think it was pretty good and has a lot of great potential but I’d argue it didn’t feel as dangerous and suspenseful as it should’ve been. Part of the reason why the slow and emotional scenes work in the game is because they’re moments where humanity shines amidst the survival and action. Not saying we needed all of the action scenes, but maybe the upside down shootout could’ve still happened and it could’ve been solved without Bill. We could still have the truck chasing Joel and Ellie around before they hid in the hotel and meet the brothers. Make the raiders and hunters more vicious and violent, have them throw Molotov cocktails at Joel and Ellie so that their escape feels less anticlimactic and make Joel’s stabbing feel a lot less accidental and awkward. Have the crew run into infected in the sewers, which sets up that awesome war with the horde at the end. I think having more infected and a more dangerous world could help make the emotional scenes stand out more and have a bigger impact.

[samnicholson]

My theory is that they set it in 2003 simply so the 20 years later bit would hit in 2023. I think this links heavily to our recent experience with the pandemic and the opening scene, they use it to get the audience to feel this massive sense of dread in the opening episodes.

[errhka]

My only criticisms of the show is regarding the pacing - I think it could have used 1 or 2 episodes in the middle with Joel and Ellie alone and problem solving their way through infected. It would have addressed the 'lack of infected' issues many folks have and slowed down the searing pace this season was moving at. That being said - I still think they did an excellent job and some of the additions they made elevated the content from what it was in the game. I don't envy the writers trying to wrangle that Part 2 plot into 2 seasons, but I'm excited to see what they do.

[xemeria]

9:30 As far as i know, they changed it because Craig Mazin thought it would be more emotional if the characters wouldn't wear masks all the time, because you can see their facial expressions better.

[alexandremota]

The producers already explained why they changed the spores. They didn't want to make Joel use a mask all the time. Pedro Pascal already does that in Mandalorian.

[LukeStephensTV]

What do you think of the new 4k widescreen video format? Let me know so I can decide if we should keep it!!