Ryan Shoots First: The Last of Us (S1 Ep1) “When You’re Lost in the Darkness”

The Last of Us was one of the most impactful, emotional and enthralling pieces of entertainment I had ever experienced back in 2013 when it was released on the PlayStation 3. You’ll notice I didn’t just say video games, but all forms of media. The way it felt so personal, the way it reveled in the mundane and the way it ripped your guts out both metaphorically and in the case of the infected, physically. Having played the Uncharted games from developer Naughty Dog I thought I had a general idea what to expect. Oh, it will be like Uncharted but a zombie adventure. But it was so much more, while Uncharted is a globe hopping fast paced adventure, The Last of Us grinded so slow to a halt you may spend a few hours traversing through overgrown cities scavenging for whatever loot you can find just so you can duct tape some scissors to a baseball bat so you don’t have to waste ammo on the next group of enemies you run across. Alive or infected. 

And that’s where The Last of Us shined, it’s brutality was not just in the combat but the way your enemy throughout the game isn’t really the infected, but the people all around this world, raiders, government, freedom fighters or just the other desperate family standing between you and that last vile of medicine you both need to save your families. It’s a case study on the human mind and just what it’s capable of as much as anything else. So naturally whenever a narrative driven game becomes this popular and hits with audiences on this level the inevitable question becomes, can it be adapted into a series or movie? Video game adaptations have always been a nuclear word in Hollywood with a mixed bag of results most of which landing in the flip category. But with the bottom of the barrel being scratched for every last comic book to adapt, studios have turned their eyes back to the world of video games and with many other series in the works, The Last of Us gives a pretty great blueprint to those studios on how to do it right. 

First, let’s get it out of the way, this premiere is almost shot for shot scenes from the game. To the point as soon as some moments began transpiring I was teleported back to 2013 when I experienced them for the first time. I love that while many people played the game there is a much larger audience out there who will appreciate and resonate with this story. It doesn’t need changed for the sake of change. And the way you get that is you let the very person who created the game produce the show. That man is Neil Druckman. With him involved so deeply you could be assured the overall and subtle themes of the series as well as its look and sounds would be ripped straight from the console. As interested as I was in the idea of the game as a series and my belief it could work there was certainly a checklist of things that affirmed my belief it would be great. Neil involved? Check. HBO? Check. Gustavo is doing the music? Check. Frickin’ Pedro Pascal is Joel??? Check. 

So let’s talk about Joel, Joel is not a hero. He’s not gonna save the zombie apocalypse, he barley cares about anyone outside his very small circle. And that’s what makes him such a great character . Without spoiling the game and showing conclusions I’ll just say depicting Joel as the every man zombie slaying hero going around a fallen world helping those in need would be a lie. So when the Mandalorian himself was cast as Joel I knew it would be interesting to see how they play it and also how the viewers react. Joel is cold, distant and while yes Ellie will break that it doesn’t really break for many beyond her. This is not Mando and it was assuring to see Pedro not play him that way, he protects his people but he didn’t survive so long in this world looking out for everyone else. We saw a few glimpses of that in this premiere and I love it. 

Of course you can’t have Joel without Ellie and Bella Ramsey has the fire and spunk Ellie needs when she first meets Joel. Her character will evolve further over time and it will be interesting to see how she handles that as we have such a small sample size of her work but I am confident she will do great. A lot was said about her looks compared to video game Ellie and I don’t get it, she’s short, has dark hair and cusses like a sailor. What more do you want? Then to deep fake the games model onto her? I’ll never get some people’s inability to translate anything related to a preexisting property that doesn’t 100% resemble what they remember . And Bella is like 95% exact. But that’s the internet I guess. 

The Last of Us is a brutal, chilling exploration of humanity and what we are capable of. It cuts like a knife as it transitions from the sweetest wholesome moments that let you think humanity is going to be alright to ripping your heart from your chest in sadness. My hope was the series can capture that feeling and send me back like I’m playing the game for the first time. So far this premiere did that and I can’t wait to have this show trample over my emotions every week. 

Observations 

• Yessss that opening song. 
• I’m the same age as Joel here. Ugh. 
• Nice little nod that Joel has combat experience. 
• I mean. Are we really gonna see this in episode 1. I know we kinda have to but man. 
• Oh hellll na old lady 
• Man the way these scenes are taking me right back to the game. 
• Ugh as soon as the driving scene  started. 
• Joel not stopping to help outside his tribe. Perfect. 
• Another clever way of giving us exposition to the rules with the poster in the clinic. 
• Joel is not Mando. How people react to him will be interesting to see. 
• The way the show focuses on their inventory and checking what supplies they have all the time is a nice nod to the game. 
• Man if girl had an ear to hear what you said she would be offended. 
• Good stuff