The Last Of Us Creators Made A Pact To Get Matching Tattoos If The Show Was Successful
Matching tattoos: it's the sign of the blood oath that the cast and crew of a movie or TV show must make when they attach themselves to the adaptation of a beloved book, comic book, or video game. The cast of "The Lord of the Rings" did it. Even the cast of the first "Suicide Squad" film did it with the immortal word "SKWAD." (No word yet on whether any of them had their tattoos removed following the abysmal reviews for that movie.) Now, the creators of HBO's runaway hit, "The Last of Us," are also morally obliged to ink themselves with tattoos, or else face the fungal infection of public scrutiny.
"The Last of Us" is one of those shows with its own official podcast, hosted by Troy Baker (who played Pedro Pascal's character, Joel, in the video game) and showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (the latter of whom also co-created the game for Naughty Dog). In the latest podcast episode, breaking down the fifth episode of the show, "Endure and Survive," Druckmann revealed an encounter that he and other crew members had in a restaurant in Canada while location-scouting for the show:
"When we were scouting Edmonton for episode 2, we went to, like, a random restaurant. And there's a bunch of us there, and the waitress comes over and is like, 'Oh, what are you guys here for?' We're like, 'Oh, we're shooting a TV show.' She's like, 'What show?' 'The Last of Us.' 'Oh my God, I love that game!' She pulls her sleeve, and she has a tattoo that says, 'endure and survive.'"
Switchblade tats
Troy Baker added that he already has two "Last of Us" tattoos, whereupon Craig Mazin revealed that he and Neil Druckmann also had their own pact to get inked. "Neil and I made a deal early on in prep," he explained, "and the deal was if the show does well, and we sort of loosely defined 'does well,' then he and I will both get a tattoo of Ellie's switchblade."
As one of the best-reviewed video game adaptations ever, with no end to the watercooler buzz surrounding it, it's safe to say "The Last of Us" is doing well. Per Variety, the premiere was HBO's second-biggest premiere for any show in the last decade, watched by more than 10 million viewers in its first two days of availability. Which means that it's now put-up-or-shut-up time for Mazin and Druckmann to get their switchblade tattoos. The only problem? Druckmann has already made this promise twice before.
"This is the third time I've made this deal," he confessed. "I've made it on 'The Last of Us I,' then 'The Last of Us Part II.' [...] And I've always backed out of it."
This time, however, the pact is "public record," Mazin said, so "it's happening." And we're going to hold them to that.
While we're making pacts, I feel like there's another pact that needs to be made after "The Last of Us" episode 3. And that is: stop using Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" to underscore the tragedy of death. We've seen this same piece of music used to similar effect in high-profile films like Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" and Denis Villeneuve's "Arrival," so when "The Last of Us" uses it to get the viewer's waterworks going as two characters carry out their suicide pact, it's like: alright already. That's enough misery porn. Let's retire that song. And get switchblade tattoos!
New episodes of "The Last of Us" air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max