HBO's The Last Of Us Drops The Ball With One Of The Game's Strongest Reveals
This post contains spoilers for "The Last of Us" episode 8.
On the surface, "The Last of Us" doesn't sound so different from any other zombie story from the last 20 years. Shows and movies set in the zombie apocalypse and focus on character development and relationships rather than strictly on zombie horror are a dime a dozen. And yet, the game's strong character writing, its rather small scale and intimate story, and its unique portrayal of scientifically sound (relatively speaking) zombies based on a real-life fungal infection far outweigh the possible redundancies of the concept, resulting in one of the best video games of the past decade.
Even before the HBO show was announced, it was often said that "The Last of Us" was the ideal game for a live-action remake because the game itself was already rather cinematic and relatively light on gameplay. Still, the fact that the game takes around 15 hours to play helps immerse you into its world and makes you invested in the characters. Joel and Ellie don't become who the players care about during cutscenes alone, but through smaller moments scattered across the gameplay.
Sure, the cutscenes feel quite cinematic, but trying to solve a puzzle level where you have to transport Ellie across water using a makeshift raft because she can't swim, all while Ellie tells jokes and talks to you — that's when the characters come alive. So, when "The Last of Us" TV show condenses the game into rather short chapters, it feels like dropping the ball.
The importance of chewing your food
So far, "The Last of Us" has been a rather faithful recreation of the award-winning video games, at times feeling like you're watching live-action recreations of walkthrough videos. Entire scenes, lines of dialogue, and even specific shots are translated verbatim, but the show also isn't afraid to go off-script, which is where it really shines.
Entire episodes are devoted to side stories that weren't part of the main game, like the episode that adapted the "Left Behind" DLC with Ellie and Riley's story, or the Bill and Frank episode which gave us one of the single best episodes of TV in years. Likewise, the show often looks away from Ellie and Joel's story to add context to the story and its world, particularly with the use of flashbacks that show how different people reacted and adapted to the Cordyceps outbreak.
As good as this is for making the world of "The Last of Us" come alive and feel lived-in, it does mean the show is biting off more than it can chew. A nine-episode season based on a game that is around twice as long means condensing and rushing past things, even before you add more to the story. So far, the first season has felt even more formulaic than the game, with each episode following the same pattern of Joel and Ellie reaching a new setting, meeting someone, then seeing that person die as soon as things go wrong. Really, the only people they've met who haven't died are Tommy and Maria.
The Last of Us: CliffsNotes Edition
"The Last of Us" episode 8 adapts one of the most anticipated moments from the games: the Lakeside Resort chapter. This is one of the longer chapters, and a rather important one, because it strengthens the bond between Joel and Ellie, and the choices going into the final chapter. It is also the first time in the game that you play as Ellie in addition to Joel, as you navigate the hellscape of the resort led by cannibals.
In the show, however, the story feels rather rushed. We only really get to know two characters, David and James — and James mostly because he is played by Troy Baker, who played Joel in the original game. There are only a few glimpses of the rest of the resort community. By focusing on hitting every major plot point, the show forgets about what makes those points memorable in the first place.
The horror of the Lakeside Resort is not just the reveal of the cannibalism, but the slow dread that builds up throughout the chapter, as we buy into David's calm generosity and kindness and slowly start to see the darkness lurking within. The show's version, while still surprising and well-made, doesn't make the resort feel any different than when Joel and Ellie were ambushed by Kathleen earlier in the season.
The "Last of Us" video game is essentially a road trip, so a lot of the bonding between Joel and Ellie happens through small conversations and one-liners scattered throughout the story. In the show, what we get is more of a CliffsNotes version of the story: like a biopic that condenses a whole life into convenient chapters that jump from one big moment into the rest, while forgetting about the significance of those smaller moments.