From Your Playstation to the Screen: The Last of Us

The Last of Us, based on the video game of the same name, is set 20 years after a fungal infection of the brain decimates the global population, transforming humans into monstrous mutants. The plot revolves around survivors Ellie, a teen who appears to be immune to this strange disease, and Joel, the man tasked with smuggling her out of a quarantined zone and across the country. They trek through the wasteland together in the hopes of curing this world-ending plague.

Gamers will especially enjoy seeing how HBO’s The Last of Us skillfully incorporates the game’s defining mechanics, such as the dreaded flashlight and listening modes as well as the use of third-person perspective. It goes beyond merely the adapted story. The direction and performances of this infectious series reflect the gaming style.

**Spoiler Alert! While I won’t be discussing everything that happens each episode, there may be major spoilers! Read at your own risk!**

Episode One: “When You’re Lost in the Darkness”

The first episode opens with a flashback to a 1968 television show. An epidemiologist explains how fungi are a greater threat to mankind than any virus. He also explains how fungi can take control over the living hosts it infects. While none of this is in the game, it adds a necessary context to those unfamiliar with a fictional apocalyptic situation where there isn’t your traditional zombie virus; in this case, it’s more of a mushroom-like infection spread by spores.

The story jumps to 2003, where Joel and Sarah Miller, his daughter, are getting ready on a Friday morning. We get insight on their routine while Sarah takes her Joel’s watch to fix it for his birthday. A bit of a departure, Sarah cooks with her neighbor after school, and borrows a movie. This extra storyline allows for a deeper look into Sarah’s character as she cooks with the Miller’s elderly neighbor like any sweet child would. The storyline from here on stays around the same, with the addition of the closer look into the next-door neighbor’s home. Joel arrives home from work, Sarah gives him the watch, then she wakes up into the apocalypse with no one else home.

When disaster hits, Sarah walks into the neighbors’ home to inquire about the sirens and whatnot. When she enters, she walks into a massacre. In the game, Sarah and Joel are in their home when an unnamed neighbor intrudes through their glass door. This is where the game and show begin to align perfectly.

The camera sits in the backseat of Joel’s truck as he, Sarah,and Tommy speed through their neighborhood, past Infected citizens, and various burning buildings, and into the city of San Marcos. Chaos ignites around them. The perspective of filming from the backseat is used several times throughout the series, giving the audience the impression that they are along for the ride. If you watch the gameplay of this scene, it’s almost frame for frame. The family drives until they become stuck in traffic, chose to take a shortcut through a field, then crash in the middle of a city. As long-time fans already know, tragedy occurs not long after.

Episode Two: “Infected”

From the beginning, the viewers get a different perspective than the videogame enjoyers.

This episode opens with a flashback to the Cordyceps outbreak in Jakarta, Indonesia. It follows a mycologist as she’s taken from her lunch by government officials and taken to a research facility where she is shown an infected victim’s body. Using a pair forceps, she fishes a tangle of snaking tendrils from the victim’s mouth. In a very tense shot, the official asks her to start progress on a vaccine, and she reveals the only solution to this crisis: “Bomb this city — and everyone in it.” The audience is reminded with this impactful scene that the only defense against the fungi is destruction.

This substantial scene marks a significant departure from the game. On HBO’s The Last of Us podcast, the show’s co-creator, Neil Druckmann, clarifies that the game version is a love letter to Americana. Because of this, “we made the conscious choice to never leave the United States,” he said. Co-creator Craig Mazin explains the reason for the additional storyline in the series further along: “We knew we wanted to give a little bit more of an origin story [to the Cordyceps outbreak]. We wanted to see what it would really be like at the very, very beginning. We wanted to show also that it was global, that this wasn’t just happening in America. This was the world.”

Later in the episode, the show’s sound design is reminiscent of the game’s listening mode as Ellie, Joel, and Tess navigate an invested museum, with everything except the dreaded sound of the Clickers audible. It’s brilliantly executed. The Last of Us, as a stealth game, allows users to switch to listening mode, where Joel and Ellie can use their senses to locate enemies, whether they’re Infected or humans.

Watching the series’ progression is going to be interesting, especially considering the steps Druckmann and Mazin have already taken to adapt this amazing game into an even better story fit for the big screen. I look forward to future episodes!