The Last of Us Season 1 Review

The Last of Us is an action-drama tv series created by HBO starring Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. The show is an adaptation of the popular video game series of the same name originally released on the PS3 in 2013. The series has been praised by audiences and fans of the game for its great storytelling, visual effects, and performances from its star-studded cast. Before I go any further, I would like to offer a spoiler warning as I intend to talk about the show and the game’s narrative in great detail. 

Illustration by Quincey McElroy

The story follows Joel Miller as he is tasked with escorting a young girl through a post-apocalyptic America in hopes of finding a cure for the cordyceps infection. While the cordyceps pose the most significant threat along their journey, the obstacles that they encounter the most are the human settlements that happen to be in their way. The game has the player character fighting many more infected creatures, mostly for gameplay purposes. While the infected appear for a little bit in the show, I think it helps highlight the theme of the story. The theme ties back to the ending of episode one when Joel’s daughter is killed at the start of the outbreak. Twenty years after this event, we find a change in Joel’s character where he has become emotionally closed off and morally absent. His closest connection is with Tess, which he treats as a cold business relationship rather than a partnership. Once Ellie is introduced into his life and the two go through many traumatic experiences together, they start to form a bond, leading to the emotional wall  Joel has built for himself starting to crumble down. 

The performances of Joel and Ellie and captured perfectly by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. After finishing the series, I’m starting to believe that I liked Bella’s performance as Ellie better than Ashley Johnson, who did the voice and motion capture in the game. Not to say that one performance is better than the other, but I’m just saying that I preferred Bella’s based on some very key moments in the story. Ellie’s character is bratty, optimistic, energetic, friendly, and innocent. I felt that Bella didn’t do a better job embodying those characteristics, and I liked how she acted in some key moments. 

The first moment is when Joel, Tess, and Ellie are sneaking out of the city and are caught by one of the city guards. Joel tackles him, and Ellie watches as Joel beats the guard to death which doesn’t happen in the game. The camera focuses on Ellie’s reaction as she watches it unfold with an expression  I interpreted as someone being exposed to violence for the first time. A simple moment happens when the two of them get jumped in Kansas City, and Ellie stabs someone who was about to get the jump on Joel. In the game, Ellie shoots the assailant and says the famous line, “I really shot the hell out of that guy huh?” which doesn’t happen in the show. Ellie stabs the man, but he is still alive, and Joel instructs Ellie to leave the room so she won’t have to watch. Instead of saying the line from the game, Ellie stands without a word. The next key moment is when Henry commits suicide right in front of her when she lets out this tiny scream followed by a wide-eyed stare. 

The next and final moment I thought was well performed by Bella was when she kills David, the cannibal. The scene plays out the same in the game, but I remember in the game, when David tells Ellie what he’s gonna do to her, Ellie continues making the same struggling grunting noises she was already making, whereas Bella lets out a blood-curdling scream. When Ellie finally manages to grab the hatchet and kill David, Bella continues the same level of scream, whereas Ashley continues the same grunting sounds. I think the difference between the two performances in these very short moments elicits very different results, in my opinion, because Ashley’s version is more reminiscent of a movie character fending off her attacker, whereas Bella’s felt more grounded and real, especially for a character her age. 

Other standout performances come from Nick Offerman as Bill and Murray Bartlett as Frank in the best episode in the series, episode 3 titled Long, Long Time. This episode can be considered sort of a bottle episode since it focuses on the Bill and Frank character but still serves a purpose in the overall narrative. The story is a big departure story-wise from the game, which was a huge risk but thank god they made it. The episode is a love story between Frank and Bill which beautifully shows how, even in this dark world, there is still a chance at finding love and living a fulfilling life. I’ve heard the argument that the episode serves no purpose in the overall narrative, and I would argue the opposite. The episode serves as the catalyst for Joel’s emotional journey because Bill writes him the letter after he passes, telling him about how he understood the world the same way as Joel, but once he found Frank, his worldview changed. Bill implores Joel to try and do the same with Tess, not knowing she will pass before Joel reads the letter. 

The reputation that video game adaptations have rightfully earned is generally terrible. It is due to many different reasons, but I think it boils down to bad writing and bad direction from the filmmakers. The HBO showrunners were placed in a fortunate position by being able to adapt material that was already well-written and well-directed. I’d even say that they outdid the original material. It can be seen with the stellar performances, visual effects, writing, and direction. The first season is streaming on HBO MAX, and the second season has already been green-lit. It might be a few years before we get to see the second season, but it will be well worth the wait.