So, I finished The Last Of Us recently, and it’s been on my mind for a while. As I’ve stated in my thoughts on The Last Of Us Part II when that game came out, I’m a huge fan of this property. I play the games regularly, I’ve looked into every behind-the-scenes footage, read the graphic novel they released around the time the DLC came out, so on and so forth. You get the idea. Naturally, I was cautiously optimistic about the HBO adaptation from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and game director Neil Druckmann, and to my surprise, as much as I’m happy to see people loving it as much as they do, I was slightly underwhelmed.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think this is a good show overall. However, I’ve come to realize that in terms of how it approaches adaptation, this season lacks what appealed to me the most about the experience of the game. And that is time. What I love so much about the game are the characters, and being able to spend time with them, not doing anything important, just wandering about, listening to their banter, their feelings, essentially all the “boring” stuff that happens in between the big action beats or plot developments.
The show does have its fair share of downtime where we just get to see Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) spend time with each other, but to me, it was never quite enough in order to make the big emotional beats land, especially with the same power in which they occur in the game. When Joel comes to comfort Ellie after she slaughters the cannibal leader, cradling her face, calling her “baby girl,” I didn’t feel it. I didn’t think the show fully earned that. Again, especially not to the degree of which the game earns that moment.
I think a big part of why is actually a lot more simple that one would expect. I don’t think 9 episodes was enough to tell the story in the manner that Mazin and co wanted to tell it. It doesn’t help that aside from adapting the plot of the game, they are adding additional material and context, most of which I actually did enjoy seeing, especially the bit in Indonesia. And the now iconic 3rd episode is also a highlight, but ultimately, these stories took time away from what ultimately should have been the focus, which is Joel and Ellie’s journey. I was reminded of Damon Lindelof’s Watchmen, another show I was underwhelmed by, and felt like its scope was too broad and scattered to have any impact with the time it had, even thought individual episodes and moments were great.
Had this been a 13 episode season, I think that would have helped things greatly. Because as is, it feels like I’m watching someone speed play through the game, and skipping over all the parts I find more compelling so it can reach the next plot development. And if we’re being totally honest, the actual plot of The Last Of Us is nothing to write home about. It’s a fairly by-the-numbers “tough guy paired with a young girl” narrative that is seemingly as old as storytelling itself, it’s a classic formula for a reason, but the formula is not the sole reason these stories work so well.
The show does do a number of things that I would otherwise consider smart adaptation choices. Most importantly, it focused less on action, and more on suspense and horror. The zombies are tense, and the clickers are very creepy, though I wouldn’t have bothered to include the bloaters. As amusing as it was to see them, once they show up, it’s like I was slapped in the face with the recollection that, right, this is based on a video game where there are different levels of baddies. In the show, it felt less menacing and more silly.
Honestly, I think even watching a compilation of all the cutscenes from the video game would be a more emotionally fulfilling than watching this show. I swear, that’s not necessarily a knock on the show so much as it is highlighting just how good the game is, and how engaging all the performers are on there. The actors here do terrific work, but it feels like they’re acting through a checklist. Alright, we gotta hit this beat, this beat, say this line, skip this whole sequence, and finish off here. A lot of what works about the show works as individual pieces, sequences you can watch almost entirely without context, and they would be just as effective. I loved seeing episode 7 adapt the Left Behind DLC, Storm Reid does a pitch perfect job as Riley.
By the time it was over, I just wasn’t having any strong feelings about anything, which is not how it should be considering how it ends. If all these alterations and changes were being made, why have so much of the show stick so rigidly to the game’s flow of things. I don’t mind if they completely retooled it if it meant we would get a more emotionally satisfying experience. I was also left wondering why they didn’t milk that surgery room confrontation given how important it will be for setting up season 2. Speaking of, with all that having been said, I am still very much looking forward to season 2 of the show, not just because it has a plot that is more dynamic and interesting than the first game, but also I’m just so excited at the prospect of how people will react considering how so many gamers did not take its choices well. I’m sure people will be totally chill about it when the new season premieres. *evil laugh*
The first season of The Last Of Us is currently available to stream on HBO Max.