The Last of Us HBO

In a vignette that opens the second episode of HBO's post-apocalyptic epic The Last of Us, a professor of mycology is eating lunch in a Jakarta restaurant ...

[The Walking Dead](https://time.com/3506057/why-walking-dead-so-popular-ratings/) franchise, Sweet Tooth, The Rain, [Snowpiercer](https://time.com/5835149/snowpiercer-tnt-review/), The 100, [Y: The Last Man](https://time.com/6095829/y-last-man-fx-hulu-review/). [in consultation](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/02/can-the-last-of-us-break-the-curse-of-bad-video-game-adaptations) with concept artists at the Last of Us’ developer, Naughty Dog—and financed with a massive budget that reportedly topped $100 million for the eight-episode debut season—the series’ backdrops vary widely but share a distinctive patina of post-apocalyptic decay. The very best examples, like HBO’s own [The Leftovers](https://time.com/4803878/the-leftovers-finale-review/) and HBO Max’s [Station Eleven](https://time.com/6180758/hiro-murai-interview-atlanta/), don’t just ask whether the ends of one person’s survival justify the means; they conjure unique visions of spirituality, art, and love influenced by the ordeal of living through the end of the world. The Last of Us is so skillfully, meticulously, and lovingly constructed—to call it TV’s best video-game adaptation would be to damn it with faint praise—that it was tempting to ignore the question that nagged at me throughout each episode: What’s the point? In the form of beautifully rendered, often devastating TV, the effect is less illuminating and more masochistic. A bittersweet vignette that comprises most of the season’s best episode casts Nick Offerman as a misanthropic survivalist who builds a relatively luxurious fortress around himself and then accidentally booby-traps the perfect person (Murray Bartlett) to share it with him. Now that so much of what we see on the big and small screens has a vaguely [unreal](https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/solutions/film-television) aspect imparted by the overuse of computerized effects, it’s a particular pleasure to see a video-game adaptation that’s genuinely cinematic, immersing us in the majesty of snow-covered mountains at one moment and the grimy details of an abandoned shopping mall the next. Apolitical survivors by nature, the couple is gearing up for a risky trek to Wyoming, in search of Joel’s idealistic brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), when they become entangled in the machinations of a righteous, militant rebel faction, the Fireflies. [acclaimed](https://time.com/6235588/best-video-games-2022/) [video game franchise](https://time.com/5847508/the-last-of-us-part-ii-review/) and created by the game’s mastermind, Neil Druckmann, and [Chernobyl](https://time.com/5581704/chernobyl-hbo-review/) creator Craig Mazin, the show is by turns gorgeous and harrowing, brutal and warm. Joel has made his way to Boston, where he and his partner Tess (Anna Torv) work as smugglers—a dangerous job in a ruined, walled-off city controlled by a fascist government, FEDRA, that condemns even the pettiest of criminals to public execution. You know the drill: one minute the frequency of ambulance sirens is a cause for mild concern; the next, people are fighting mushroom monsters who used to be their next-door neighbors. And while almost all of the action in The Last of Us takes place halfway around the world from Indonesia, in the United States, the professor’s lethal prescription sets the tone for a story whose characters are constantly forced to choose between protecting themselves and their loved ones, and making existential sacrifices for the good of a plague-ravaged society.

The post-apocalyptic drama series stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) as Joel and Ellie, an unlikely duo traversing an ...

I can no longer look at some characters from the game without recalling their more expansive arcs in the show, and I think that's both a commendation for the show and a benefit to the property as a whole. The show is brought to life by a cast and crew that seems hellbent on living up to its name and their own already-glowing reputations. Ramsey, to their credit, similarly captures Ellie's vulgar defiance and sarcasm in a way that often becomes the comic relief on the show even as, like the game, comic relief is a rare thing to witness. It stands proudly as one of the best video game adaptations ever, and a clear signal that PlayStation is right to pursue a future where its already reputable video games are reborn on TV. But it does feel like a vital expansion of a fictional universe I love so much, and if it's given room to grow and tell the whole story, I could see it reaching the top tier of HBO shows in time. A strictly faithful series would feel limited, and perhaps only best enjoyed by those who have no prior experience with the game, but these additions to the story make The Last of Us feel like it's found the best-case scenario, where the adaptation is both faithful and reimagined in smart ways. Sometimes they're fun alterations made to surprise familiar viewers in an otherwise faithful scene, but the crowning achievements of The Last of Us on HBO come whenever the story pivots to spend extended time with characters who aren't Ellie and Joel. Often, the TV series delivers a scene that is nearly a shot-for-shot replica of the game, from the dialogue to even the cadence of its delivery. Players of a AAA action-adventure game sometimes don't expect or even want a long, slow ramp-up with characters who aren't the focus of the game or serve another gameplay function. The pair sets off on what is initially pitched as a cargo run, with the 14-year-old Ellie being the so-called cargo, and focuses on their relationship, as well as that of others they meet along the way. Was it beneficial to be so faithful, and thus largely predictable, to the millions who have played the game already? The Last of Us on HBO, co-run by Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and the game series' own Neil Druckmann, is a marvelous proof of concept for PlayStation--and really any brand seeking to bring its beloved games to prestige television.