The Last Of Us – The HBO TV Series Is Awesome!

SPOILER WARNING

I’m hooked on the new HBO TV series “The Last Of Us”

When I first learned about the video game being made into a television series in August, I was excited to watch it. I’ve played The Last Of Us and The Last Of Us 2 games on the Playstation and I love the storyline and gameplay. And to find out that it will now be made into a TV Series was epic news to me and I couldn’t wait to see how it would turn out.

It aired last week and I wanted to wait till I had at least watched two episodes of the show before making an opinion. I’ll be honest when I say that episode one hooked me immediately. That opening was perfect and true to the game.

If you haven’t played the game, I’m gonna guess that the first episode really didn’t make a whole lot of sense to you but I’m pretty sure it did answer questions a lot of gamers who played the game had on what Joel’s daughter was like and how she ended up dying. At least it did for me.

If you haven’t played the game, I’d suggest playing the game first because you’ll catch on to a lot of the storyline plots that will probably make a whole lot more sense. It seems they’ve really covered the first game “The Last Of Us Part One” in the first two episodes so far.

I wonder if they’ll hold off on “The Last Of Us Part Two” storyline for Season Two. That would be awesome don’t you think? HBO hasn’t confirmed a second season yet though, let’s keep our fingers crossed. It would only make sense in my opinion to air season one based on part one of the game and then season two based on part 2 of the game.

Is this what it feels like for the people who read the book of a TV show or movie based on the book? You know the ones who go, “I like the book better.” right? But in this case, it’s a gamer who watches the TV show based on the game. So far I like both the Game and the TV series equally.

The best video game adaptation I’ve seen to date.

I had a hunch that HBO, Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin, and game director Neil Druckmann would work together to produce a strong adaptation of The Last of Us as a high-budget TV show, and it turns out that’s exactly what happened.

A lot of times when Hollywood tries to remake a game title into either a movie or TV Series the thing usually bombs either at the box office or in the TV Ratings. Thankfully this is not the case for TLOU. The show knocked it out of the park on the very first episode in my opinion. The best video game adaptation I’ve seen to date.

Based on the mega-hit PlayStation game, about a man and a teenage girl travelling through the US during a zombie apocalypse, this HBO show starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey is a remarkable achievement.

Stephen Kelly

The cast is well-chosen. Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey playing Ellie is a perfect fit. I can’t wait to see Nick Offerman who will be playing Bill in 3 episodes comes into the story. OK, I like Nick Offerman, get over it. What can I say, he’s a funny guy.

The realism is so sweet

They introduced the Clickers in episode two already. I was surprised that they went right to them without forcing us through scene after scene of runners chasing the characters of the show. The clickers in the game were terrifying and the TV show brought out that same intense feeling I got from trying to avoid them in the game.

The special effects and makeup they put together on the show are perfect. Everything falls into the look and feel of the Game. If they can make the Runners and Clickers look so good, I wonder what they’ll do when one of the Bloaters or Shamblers has to make an appearance. Should be interesting don’t you think?

The sets are perfectly aligned with the game

Production designer, John Piano, and his team spent months scouting locations and building sets and infrastructure from the ground up. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cast and crew were quarantined for two weeks after entering Canada.

You’d almost think that the production team on this show was from the TV Show “The Walking Dead” because they really seem to know how to make a place look completely destructed and overgrown with nature. Maybe they got some tips from them.

Conclusion…

If you haven’t played the game, you should. It’s not only an awesome game, but you’ll probably be able to grasp the storyline a wee bit better I think. You may be able to enjoy it without playing the game, but I think you’ll enjoy it a lot more if you did.

The storyline is on par with the game up to this point (Episode 2) and it seems that they are headed in the same direction as the game. Getting Ellie to their destination is their main goal now after Tess (played by Anna Torv) makes Joel promise to get Ellie to the State House where the latter will be reunited with the Fireflies.

Are you watching the TV Series? Have you played the game? How do you like the way the TV Series is going so far? Post your answers in the comments below.