The Last of Us Season 1 Review: A Captivating Adaptation That Breathes New Life into the Beloved Game
In 2013, Naughty Dog introduced a new series: The Last of Us. This new series would take the exceptional platforming from Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter, the third-person shooting from Uncharted, and drop players in a post-apocalyptic wasteland with zombies, I mean, Clickers, with two survivors, Joel and Ellie, finding their way out of a military quarantine zone and across the United States in one of the most moving narratives of the PlayStation 3 generation.
Ten years, three remakes, two Uncharted games, and a sequel later, PlayStation Productions and HBO have teamed up to bring the original game’s story to TV screens everywhere. Starring Pedro Pascal (The Adjustment Bureau, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Wonder Woman 1984, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones, His Dark Materials, Catherine Called Birdy, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget) as Joel and Ellie, respectively. The series attempts to adapt the original game's story with new twists on the original story for those who have played the game and bring newcomers to the games.
So, as someone who has completed the game on the PS3, played a bit of The Last of Us Remastered on the PS4, and just got done playing the first two hours of The Last of Us Part 1 on the PS5 (thank you, PlayStation Plus for the game trial!), does this first season of the show provide me with enough of the narrative points that I loved from the game while also providing enough updates to the story to fix some of the problems I had with it?
In short, yes. Not only are the performances by Pascal, Ramsey, and their co-stars enough to make me want to rewatch the season before voting on the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, but how the story adapts parts of the DLC, Left Behind, and hints toward the story threads of Part II, while also fixing some story beats that were weak from the original game is astounding.
The reason why the first season of The Last of Us works so well is that the showrunner, Craig Mazin (known for his work on Scary Movie 3 & 4, Superhero Movie, and Chernobyl), is an unapologetic fan of the games. It's worth noting that when a person loves what they're creating, the end result is usually a labor of love and is better for it. I have mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating.
On that very same note, series creator Neil Druckmann’s involvement helps not only comfort fans of the game to feel like the series isn’t such a cash grab but also enhances some of the story bits, especially in the episode Druckmann directs, “Infected.” As usual, no spoilers. However, I will say that I suspect he was behind some of the universe's background getting fleshed out a bit more in this season.
That said, their writing feels formulaic. While it is not by the numbers, there are points where the show feels more formulaic than the game. For example, there’s a section later in the series where Joel & Ellie are talking to each other about something that needs to happen next, and the gist of their conversation sounds like a list of objectives the player has to finish to progress to the next level. I understand this is an adaptation of the game, but this happens all too often in this nine-episode season. Likewise, some of the new story bits added to the narrative feel dowdily put together, almost as if the writing team ran out of time to incorporate these narrative threads naturally and had to figure out how to fix the problem during production.
Thankfully, this problem does not extend to the performances. Is some of the acting too understated at times? Sure, but they were in the original game. Many of my fondest memories from the games are Joel muttering something under his breath and Ellie responding to it, and that’s replicated here in the massive amount of chemistry Pascal and Ramsey have together. There are times when it feels like their performances and personalities serve to contrast against the brutal wasteland the United States has turned into, where you can’t even trust your neighbor. Quite literally, in some cases.
Likewise, the supporting performances are outstanding. Particular highlights are the ones you’ve likely already heard about: Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman. Beyond the obvious, these two are playing so far outside their traditional types of roles that I appreciated and loved how their performances added a much-needed light note in a show that highlights the depravity of humankind in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Offerman’s performance is as guarded as W. Earl Brown’s is in the games, but with an added wrinkle: he’s given an expansive story that showcases Bill’s (and Offerman’s) sensitive side that isn’t in the games.
On the same side of that coin, Frank, who barely gets a mention in the games, is given the room to develop an entire episode’s worth of story that makes me want to play a version of the game with this storyline added, mainly because of Bartlett’s performance, who makes the added narrative feel natural and provides light in an otherwise grim season.
Whether you’ve played The Last of Us or not, the first season of the HBO show has much to offer for anyone willing to watch it. Do I wish the writing and execution were a bit better? Absolutely. But isn’t that true with any series you know and love?
★★★★
If you'd like to watch The Last of Us season 1, you can watch it with an HBO or Max subscription. If you’d like to play the games, you can play The Last of Us Remastered on PS4, The Last of Us: Left Behind on PS4, the remake of the original game, The Last of Us Part 1 on PS5, The Last of Us Part II on PS5, and on January 18th, 2024, The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PS5.
Until next time!
