The Last of Us has one of the most emotional
opening sequences of any video game. In a complete subversion of the game’s marketing
materials, you’re thrust into the shoes of Sarah, the young daughter of Joel, who’s meant
to be this game’s playable protagonist. Over the next 15 to 30 minutes, you get
to see more of Sarah and Joel’s lives, follow as they try to escape
the oncoming apocalyptic danger, swap control over to Joel, and then watch
as Sarah is shot and dies in Joel’s arms. [Joel: “Don’t do this to me, baby.
Don’t do this to me, baby. Come on.”] What strikes me about this scene is the
subtlety of Joel’s reaction. It’s clear that he’s absolutely distraught, and his world
has come crashing down—but there’s no screaming, no inherently visible rage, no dramatic
declarations of revenge. There’s just a man who has lost the most important thing in
his world. And I think it’s this subtlety—this lack of an overly-dramatic performance—that
makes it so much more heartbreaking to me. But it wasn’t always going to be like that. [Troy Baker as Joel: “Don’t do this,
don’t do this, please God no! Oh God no!”] Troy Baker, who portrays Joel in the games,
originally played this scene with a lot more emotion, a decision he later attributed to simply
wanting a more impressive performance. Co-director Neil Druckmann, meanwhile, wanted a more subdued,
real reaction—which is eventually what they got. Almost ten years later, we get a new version
of the performance: this time by Pedro Pascal, in the television adaptation for HBO.
[Joel: “I know, baby. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know,
I know, I know. Tommy, help me!”] Not to overanalyse such a beautifully tragic
moment, but Joel’s little outburst to Tommy is not present in the game, and I suspect it’s the
kind of thing that might have been removed in the effort to make it more subdued. Yet, both
versions work—the game is improved by being restrained, and the TV series is improved
by adding this one minor outburst. To me, neither feels notably better or worse due to
the inclusion or omission of this element. I think that this scene in the episode—and
the preceding 30 minutes—demonstrates an effective way to adapt something: to be willing
to change to fit the medium or the different flow, while still maintaining the core, the heart
of the narrative. And I think it provides the opportunity not only for an interesting
comparison of an adaptation of a video game, but also such a detailed comparison, with
so many specific scenes and moments copied, mirrored, or outright removed—for better,
or, as we might discover, for worse. I think one example of the show actually somewhat
improving the story is right at the beginning with Sarah. On paper, it makes sense for the game to
be more emotional here—you actually enter the shoes of Sarah, after all, as opposed to simply
observing her. But I think the writers probably understood this, and, consequently, we get to
spend the entire day with Sarah before the main events start to kick off, including several
cute character moments with her and Joel. I don’t think this is something that would even
really work in the game—15 minutes of sitting at school, fixing a watch, and baking cookies
probably isn’t the most exciting way to start a game, let alone a 2013 triple-A game from
the developer of Uncharted—but I think this really shows the power of adaptations, and
the types of changes they should be making. One such change is the Boston Quarantine
Zone, after the 20-year time jump. This is a great example of both versions using
their medium well. The game puts a lot of its worldbuilding in the areas around you: looking at
the buildings, listening to random conversations, witnessing soldiers executing civilians.
It’s all content that can be easily ignored, but it exists to help the player understand
the world if that’s what they want to do. The show, meanwhile, is afforded the
opportunity to show alternative perspectives; it’s not limited to a third-person camera only
following Joel. This is evident from the very first shots after the time jump, following a
random young boy stumbling upon the ruins of Boston. The environmental storytelling alone gives
an indication of life after these 20 years, with the raised walls of the Quarantine Zone, military
checkpoints and towers, repurposed traffic lights. Then there are brief scenes following Joel
and other characters that continue to expand the world without really saying much:
the workforce, the economy, security, everyday life, military justice,
communication, smuggling. Even small, seemingly irrelevant details give substance
to this world and its circumstances—like the fact that Joel wants the bag back, reinforcing the
scarcity of resources within the Quarantine Zone. Of course, scenes like this weren’t really
impossible in the game, but they make a lot more sense here—not just because of the medium,
but because of the shift in story direction: instead of simply wanting some guns back,
Joel wants information (and later a vehicle) to track down his brother, Tommy, in Wyoming.
Again, I think this change makes sense too. In the game, Joel decides to track down Tommy at
the behest of Tess; he doesn’t want to look after Ellie, and he barely even wants to see Tommy, but
he ultimately does it because it was Tess’s dying wish. In the series, though, Joel already wants
to head to Wyoming to find Tommy, so it makes sense for him to agree for Ellie to come along
for the ride; Tess’s prompting only serves as an additional push, both as a promise to her and a
way to make up for not being able to protect her. I don’t think the game actively suffers for
its version of events, but I think using the adaptation to change elements like this gives the
story a bit more logic, especially under scrutiny. Another logical change in these opening
episodes—and ultimately repeated throughout the show—is the reduction
of the stealth and action sequences. The escape from Boston is more intense
in the game since it’s played out as an extended stealth sequence—but I don’t think this
makes for very entertaining television so it’s a logical removal. The same can be said about the
skyscraper and museum scenes, which is really the first time our main characters encounter
infected face-to-face since the time jump. In the game, the player encounters around 30
different infected in these scenes—including a dozen in the museum alone—and kills most
(if not all) of them. This makes sense—too few and the game becomes too easy, too many and
it loses its more realistic and grounded nature. Meanwhile, in the museum sequence in the show’s
second episode, the group kill two clickers, and struggle to do so. This makes sense too—if
we see our main characters take out a dozen infected and survive, even if they struggle
to do so, it lowers the stakes later on. That’s not to say that video games shouldn’t
have stakes—I think the fate of almost every secondary character in the game makes it
clear that there are very high stakes here—but in a medium where losing a fight against a clicker
means hitting the ‘Continue’ button to try it all again, the stakes were never going to be as high,
so the series compensates in its own ways, and decreasing the number of infected is one way—what
I find to be an effective way—of doing so. On the other end of the spectrum, the show
actually increases the number of infected in the second episode’s final scene, replacing the
game’s pursuing FEDRA soldiers with an oncoming horde. And while I think FEDRA makes sense in the
game to allow for some variety in enemies, I think it’s also a logical decision to replace them with
infected, for several reasons: it makes a bit more sense than having the military still hanging
around dead Fireflies; it provides a working example of the communication methods of the
infected in the series; and, ultimately, it makes the creatures more terrifying, perhaps making up
for their reduced numbers elsewhere in the season. Following the infected during Tess’s final
moments increases this terror even more and makes her death more heartbreaking.
But this “kiss” led to some division, and I understand both sides. On the one
hand, the kiss is more terrifying than simply being ripped apart. It represents
the fungus’s lack of consent and control, as well as its peacefulness before turning
to violence—both elements that will come up later in the series, particularly in episode 8.
On the other hand, this moment does kind of feel like an attempt at making an image that shocks
people. Of course, Tess loses either way—and her final stand in both the game and episode
is heroic—but replacing ‘taking out some FEDRA soldiers before getting shot down’ with
‘gets quietly assaulted before barely igniting a lighter’ is certainly an interesting choice,
and I’m not surprised it was met with opposition. Speaking of a bold choice
being met with opposition… When the first season reviews for The
Last of Us were published before it aired, it was obvious that the third
episode was the critical darling, the best of the best—and this became
overwhelmingly clear after the episode aired, capturing the attention of audiences throughout
the industry. Naturally, this meant it also caught the attention of those outside of its
target audience, who seemingly weren’t thrilled with a mainstream television series taking a
serious, nuanced approach to a gay relationship. Of course, these bad-faith voices being as loud
as they are, it unfortunately prevented some people from being able to share their genuine
thoughts and feedback on the episode—and I’ve seen some understandable criticisms, perhaps
the most logical being that the episode takes too much time away from Joel and Ellie
and doesn’t advance the narrative overall. Wanting more Joel and Ellie makes sense—they’re
great characters played by great actors and seeing more interactions with them at this
early point, particularly after Tess’s death, is an understandable desire—but we still get 30
minutes of scenes between them, divided between the beginning and ending of the episode, so
this isn’t something that bothers me personally. What makes less sense to me, though, is
the idea that the episode doesn’t advance the narrative. Sure, it doesn’t immediately propel
the story towards its direct conclusion, but then, most scenes don’t; if we only wanted moments that
directly advance the story, then the show would probably be like half the length and far less
engaging. It’s okay to take the long way round. But also, I think it ultimately does advance
the narrative, in several ways. Bill and Frank are reflections of Joel and Ellie, even if
it’s not entirely clear at this point in the series—the misanthropic, untrusting man whose
life completely changes and enlightens after meeting someone so full of joy and love. And
Bill’s letter to Joel fuels his feelings of failure, which comes up again later in the
series—particularly episode 6—and serves as part of his inspiration to continue travelling
with Ellie, at least until they find Tommy. And sure, the episode could have just consisted
of Joel and Ellie showing up and finding Bill’s letter, and the story still would have
advanced—Joel would have felt his failure, he would have agreed to continue with Ellie, and
they’d have gotten the truck and supplies from Bill. But, again, that’s not engaging; it’s not as
believable. You can’t just tell the audience that “Bill was a misanthrope until he found someone
worth caring for, and now Joel should do the same”—well, I guess you can, but that sounds like
the least entertaining version of events. Instead, taking the time to tell Bill and Frank’s story
makes the letter believable, it makes Joel’s failures and inspirations believable, and overall,
it’s just a really beautiful, well-told story. If people want to see Bill from the game,
then I understand: W. Earl Brown’s performance is memorable, and that character is great;
personally, I just think it would have been fantastic to see Bella Ramsey and Nick Offerman
interact similar to Ellie and Bill in the game. But the game still exists. That character
hasn’t disappeared: he’s still in the game, and a lot of his personality is still in the
show too—this is especially clear while having lunch with Joel and Tess. But it’s a different
version of events, and I think that’s okay. That’s the beauty of adaptations: you can make
changes that ultimately benefit the story and the medium generally, and in my opinion this is
a great example of that. It’s not a story that was one-hundred percent necessary—the game works
fine without it—but in retrospect it just feels right. If a beautiful story like this requires
a slight detour from the original material, then I think it’s the right thing to do.
I would also take an entire season—or a game—of this post-apocalyptic cottagecore,
please and thank you. I’m not even joking. I would also take a full season of just
Joel and Ellie driving across the United States on a road trip. I’m still not joking.
The first 15 minutes of episode 4 are among my favourite in the entire series. Watching Joel
and Ellie sit and talk, while driving throughout the day or camping at night, is so engaging to
me—in no small part due to their performances, but also the writing, and, perhaps
most stunningly, the cinematography. In the game, this driving scene is great, but it
barely lasts two minutes—which is understandable, since the game always prefers to get the player
back into gameplay, rather than a cutscene. But I like that the episode takes its time with
this sequence, letting us actually see Joel and Ellie in their downtime, especially as they
camp at night—because, logically, they had to do the same in the game too, but, outside of
some concept art, we just never get to see it. Speaking of not seeing things: [head crunch]
This ambush and fight with the hunters in the game is really well done; it shows the brutality
of the world and lets us know that this brutality spreads far beyond Boston. It also shows Joel
and Ellie working together more, really for the first time by themselves besides a brief
sequence between Tess’s death and finding Bill. I really like that the TV episode, then, was able
to take this effective gameplay sequence and turn it into an emotional scene. There’s roughly
an hour of gameplay—mostly traversal, combat, and some small puzzles—that is turned into a
five-minute scene (so kind of the opposite of the car sequences). And I think it makes a lot
of sense here, especially with the changes to the story direction and characterisation.
Ellie shooting the gun for the first time here fuels Joel’s feelings of failure later in the
season. They don’t make their way through the city fighting hunters for over an hour before Ellie
saves Joel’s life, like in the game; no, in the show, all it takes is their first encounter—only
the third attacker—for Joel to need Ellie’s help. And I know that some game fans might take
this as making Joel weaker or more emasculated, but I think it makes him more human. The Last
of Us is pretty grounded for a video game, especially compared to Naughty Dog’s previous
work, but it’s still a video game, so players know there will likely be some disconnect from
reality. The television series evidently wants to bridge that disconnect, and I think decisions
like this—cutting an hour of fighting and puzzles down into five minutes and making the consequences
absolutely dire for our protagonists—are effective at making the world feel more grounded.
To a lesser extent, Ellie being less accustomed to shooting feels like a step in this
direction too. Making Ellie feel somewhat guilty about shooting someone wouldn’t feel completely
out of place in the game, but it doesn’t quite work with gameplay—if she felt really bad about
killing for the first time, it wouldn’t be likely for her to start stabbing people and jumping on
them to save Joel, for example. But, of course, this gameplay feature doesn’t happen in the
show, so making her feel guilty is logical: it makes the scene more emotional, and her reaction
alone fuels Joel’s feeling of guilt and failure. It also furthers their relationship: in the
game, I think players are more likely to feel close to Ellie based on gameplay alone—not
just by her helping detect or attack enemies, but even through the quieter moments where
you’re just traversing the world, whether it’s an optional conversation, non-optional line of
dialogue, or simply being in this world together. The show doesn’t get that near-instant
connection; it needs to earn it, and I think making her—and consequently Joel—feel
more human through their actions and reactions, which are mostly in service of each
other, is a step towards earning this. But I still think I consider the game a step
ahead in this regard. This first hour or two in Pittsburgh (replaced in the series by Kansas
City) is possibly the most important for Joel and Ellie’s relationship: Joel beginning to
drop hints about his life, Ellie helping him in fights or puzzles, Joel helping her cross
the water, the minor dialogue and optional conversations like Ellie learning to whistle
or reading her pun book or asking about hotels. By the time Ellie saves Joel, I mean
they’re not incredibly close or anything, but they’ve bonded enough that I personally
find myself feeling guilty and annoyed by the Joel immediately treats her. When he
basically thanks her (in his own way), it feels like a weight off my chest—and with
that tension out of the way, the subsequent gameplay sequence helps the two bond even
more, resulting in Joel giving Ellie a gun. In lieu of these extended gameplay
sequences, the episode features shorter, more emotional moments. Instead of Joel being
outwardly annoyed at Ellie’s recklessness before slowly easing up and giving her a gun, he
(relatively quickly) takes accountability for his mistake and apologises before giving her a gun
and teaching her how to use it. Personally, I find that it loses some of these effective bonding
moments, but it’s a logical change, replacing the action with more of an emotional tension, and
allowing them to bond quicker than otherwise. I think the episode’s final scene is a great
example of this: we actually see Joel laugh. Joel has occasional chuckles in the game,
but never like this, so to see him properly laugh here—at one of Ellie’s jokes, no less—just
shows how much softer he is in this adaptation. Taking a step away from Joel and Ellie, I think
both versions really take advantage of their mediums to show the brutality of the hunters. As
it must, the game does it through Joel and Ellie’s perspective: the ambush, dead bodies, gun-mounted
truck, shooting people in the street, not to mention their conversations between each other and
the notes and letters found throughout the city. Meanwhile, the TV series best shows their
brutality in the opening moments of episode 5, in flashbacks set before Joel and Ellie even
set foot in the city—something that the game can’t really do. But it’s not just random
clips to demonstrate how brutal they are; it specifically connects to Henry and Sam’s story,
giving context to these two characters who are now rather important to our main story.
Not only that, but I think the episode juxtaposes the hunters with FEDRA even better;
they’re meant to be the saviours from FEDRA, but it turns out they’re just as oppressive
(if not more so) anyway. This is also the case in the game, but it’s only something we
see weeks, months, or years after the fact, so taking advantage of the show’s ability to
follow different perspectives to show the hunters’ brutality immediately after overtaking FEDRA
is a clever and effective use of the medium. Another great example of a beneficial
change is Henry and Sam. In the game, the brothers are an intentional mirroring of
Joel and Ellie, and it’s an effective choice. But while this is still the case in the show,
I think the small changes to Sam’s character in particular make this mirroring a little more
subtle, which works to its advantage. Sam being five years younger shifts the dynamic, not only
between him and Henry but him and Ellie. Instead of just being friends around the same age, now
Ellie is almost like a big sister, and it allows us to see more of her caring and joyful side.
Sam’s younger age—as well as his leukemia and deafness—gives a sense of quietness and intimacy
to the scenes, and make the character feel more vulnerable, helping the viewer feel attached to
him more quickly, as well as understand Henry’s decisions and sacrifices almost immediately.
Speaking of which, giving Henry more of a backstory with Kathleen adds more logic to their
story—not that the game lacked logic in this regard, but I think it just makes a little more
sense for the story and characters. And connecting Henry’s story with the fall of FEDRA and the
rise of the hunters not only makes both Henry and Kathleen’s stories more interesting, but it
also gives more nuance to the narrative. Knowing that Henry snitched on Kathleen’s brother in order
to save Sam clearly demonstrates his love for him from the very first moment. But it also raises
questions about whether or not one person’s life is more important than another—a question that
will become especially important in episode 9. If there’s one scene from the game that I
think really could have worked in the episode, it’s the quiet stroll through the suburbs just
before the sniper sequence. For some reason, this is often one of the areas that always
pops into my head when I think of The Last of Us. I think it really demonstrates what a lot
of areas across the country likely looked like in the aftermath of the outbreak—and it’s one
of the few times we actually get to hear Joel talk about that time, as well as Henry’s
brief stories of life before the outbreak, and some small, cute moments between Ellie and
Sam, particularly as they play darts and Ellie discovers the truth about ice cream vans. It’s a
small, personal thing—and not an omission that I’m particularly upset or concerned about—but I guess
that’s just another benefit for the game players. [sniper shot]
Interestingly, when I think about the big action sequence at the end of the episode,
it almost feels like a new scene—but, in reality, it actually follows the game pretty closely: a
sniper shoots at the group, Joel sneaks around to the house and kills him, the hunters show up, Joel
causes their truck to crash into a house which catches on fire, a horde of infected show up from
the commotion, Joel protects the group by shooting at the infected, and they all manage to make
it back to the house before escaping the horde. The major differences in the episode include:
a night setting, instead of day; Joel doesn’t really shoot at any of the hunters, besides the
truck, as opposed to fighting them both before and after he gets the sniper; and the horde of
infected attack the hunters, whereas in the game they showed up separately. And, of course, we
have different perspectives in the episode, rather than the first-person view from Joel’s
sniper scope. Being able to follow the group on the ground makes the scene more intense, and
following Ellie’s perspective specifically makes Joel feel more heroic, more like a protector: it’s
nice to see them essentially work together as Joel helps to clear her path, and it reinforces
his proficiency with a gun and, to an extent, her reliance on him to help keep her safe.
Kathleen’s presence adds an additional threat too, and it’s great to finally get a confrontation
between her and Henry—improved in no small part by both of the actors here.
[Henry: “He’s just a fucking kid!”] Mind you, this sequence might be
about as tropey as the series gets: the good guys are backed into a corner, the ‘hero’
moves to sacrifice himself to save the others; just as he’s about to be executed, something
in the background takes everyone by surprise: a bigger evil who kills the bad guys, giving a
chance for the good guys to get away. That being said, it’s not like the infected randomly show
up—their underground presence is established in the previous episode, and the truck destroying
the house a couple minutes beforehand gives them reason to show up at that particular
location at that particular time. And this is just about the only action sequence of
this type throughout the whole season—and a beautifully crafted one, at that—so I
think it can (and does) get away with it. Speaking of getting away with it, our group of
heroes manage to escape mostly unharmed—or so it seems. As sad as it is, I think Henry and
Sam’s deaths have to happen in this story, and they have to happen this way. The writers
have even talked about how they had long discussions about possible alternatives,
but ultimately they came back to the game, and that was absolutely the right
call. Changing the events just doesn’t quite get the same point across—a point that
becomes especially clear in this adaptation. Having Sam show his bite to Ellie, and
consequently have Ellie attempt to save him with her blood, just makes the scene so much more
heartbreaking. She doesn’t just lose her friend; she specifically, at least in her mind, fails
to save him—and not only does this makes her survivor’s guilt even worse, but it makes her
mission to save the world even stronger, and it means that she has more emotional investment in
ensuring she sees this mission through to the end. In the next room, meanwhile, Henry’s actions
reflect Joel in two ways. Although the circumstances are vastly different, of course,
and more of a split-second necessity than a calculated decision, Henry chooses to kill his
brother to save the lives of others—a decision that Joel will have to make later in the season.
As a result of this shock, and seemingly without much thought beyond regret and disbelief,
Henry shoots himself in the head—something that Joel also attempted after losing his
daughter 20 years earlier. And—I don’t know, maybe I’m clutching at straws here, but—Henry’s
immediate regret and disbelief at his own actions, of killing the one he loves to save the lives of
others, is similarly reflected by Joel’s decision not to do the same thing in episode 9.
As for the scene itself: they’re both so beautifully tragic. Brandon Scott’s performance
still sticks with me after all these years, and I can still hear Henry’s final words
even if I go years without playing the game. [Henry: “It’s all your fault!”] And
Lamar Johnson absolutely blew me away, throughout the entire episode but definitely
in this scene. [Henry: “What did I do?”] In both versions, Henry’s suicide happens
off-screen or out-of-focus. In the game, we get to see Joel’s reaction, and seeing him
so emotionally caught off-guard—really for the first time since Tess’s death, or perhaps even
Sarah’s—is so impactful. In the episode, we see Ellie’s reaction, and Bella Ramsey’s performance
makes the scene so much sadder and more impactful than it already was—their performance in
this scene alone stuck with me for weeks. It's a beautiful piece of writing—both
times around—and, again, shows the power of knowing when to adapt certain elements almost
identically, and when to change them. It manages to find a balance perfectly. Despite perhaps
not allowing as much emotional attachment to Henry and Sam in the show as in the game, due to
a much more limited screen time, it ends up being possibly more effective, and has a much bigger
impact on Ellie and Joel’s journey overall.
Besides maybe episode 3, I think episode
6 probably features some of the biggest changes in the entire series—yet it also keeps
quite a lot of the original scenes intact. The first notable change is the removal of
the dam—or, at least, as a location that Joel and Ellie interact with. I think this is another
example of adapting to fit the medium. The small ‘puzzle’ (if you can call it that) at the dam
is a quick but effective way for Joel and Ellie to bond a little more, and the high-five at the
end is the cherry on top—they’re clearly closer than they once were, and it’s useful to remind
the audience of this after the brief time jump. A puzzle like that doesn’t really work for the
episode, though, or for this version of Joel, so instead the writers demonstrate Joel and
Ellie’s bond in other ways, namely through dialogue like their conversation about their
interests, and through their shared concern of the added tension in the episode, like Joel’s panic
attacks, the ‘river of death’, and the sniffer dog. I think Joel’s panic attacks in particular
are a fascinating and effective addition, providing more emotional tension and ultimately
supporting his later monologue to Tommy. Speaking of which, I think making Joel and Tommy
even happier to see each other in the series is a beautiful change, and Joel’s reaction to seeing
his brother again might be my favourite line delivery in the entire season. [Joel: “Tommy!”]
I also think changing the topic of their argument from ‘the last 20 years’ to Tommy having a child
is more thematically appropriate, tying into Joel’s loss of Sarah and his fear of losing and
failing Ellie. It also leads to Joel’s monologue, which really feels like what a lot of moments
in the show have been leading up to. It’s so beautifully written and beautifully performed—and,
again, the core of the character remains, but making him more emotionally vulnerable
feels like a great choice for the adaptation, and really adds depth to his relationship
with Ellie in a new and interesting way. Another new and interesting change is the
fact that this episode takes place in Jackson, instead of at the hydroelectric power
plant—possibly one of the biggest visual changes the series makes. For the most part,
I think it really works. The raiders attacking the dam in the game is more intense and
ties into the goal of protecting Ellie, but I think it’s a logical exclusion since
they’re really trying to establish Jackson as a safe community (and I think the idea of protecting
Ellie is emphasised during the monologue anyway). It makes sense to have a truly safe stop right
around the middle of the season—it’s believable that this is where Joel would hand Ellie over
to Tommy. And it also provides an opportunity to tie season 1 in with season 2 physically
and visually, which I think will pay off. However, I think there are some scenes here that
the game just does better—and I think the change in location may have played a role in that. Though
its brief, I find Joel and Ellie’s interaction after the dam ambush particularly important for
their relationship, as well as for pushing Tommy to agree to take Ellie—the episode mostly makes
up for this in other ways, but it’s just something that I’ve always liked. Ellie stealing a horse
and running away in the game feels more emotional than simply sitting in her room in the episode;
it shows how desperate and upset she is, which explains her outburst, whereas I’m not sure this
is truly clear in the episode until her argument with Joel. I also like that we can basically
see her working out Joel’s plan in the game, whereas in the show we’re basically just told
that she eavesdropped without actually seeing it. I also think Ellie running away makes Joel more
emotionally charged, which explains and kind of justifies his anger during their argument even
more. That being said, their argument might be my favourite scene from the whole game, so perhaps
it’s an unfair comparison since it was probably always going to impossible to match in my mind.
Some show-only viewers might feel the same about the scene in the episode as I do about the one
in the game, and that’s fair enough—it’s still incredibly impactful, and in no small part due
to Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey’s performances. Perhaps my least favourite change in the
series—and, I don’t know, maybe I’m just looking at it wrong—is when Joel changes his
mind about continuing the journey with Ellie. In the game, after their argument, they fight
a few remaining raiders before riding off in silence. And you can see Joel’s face of sadness
and regret; you can see that he’s thinking about Ellie and about Sarah; and, by the time they make
it to the hill near Jackson, Joel’s already made up his mind. [Joel: “Ellie, get off your horse.”]
In the episode, after their argument, Joel slams the door and goes to his own room.
We can see Joel’s face of sadness and regret, and we can see that he’s thinking about Ellie and
about Sarah—and then they actually just show us that he’s thinking about Sarah. Instead of letting
us come to our own conclusions, the show spells it out to us clearly. And we don’t actually see
that he’s made up his mind until the next morning. I also think that scene—of him making the
decision—is more engaging in the game. He doesn’t really explicitly say what’s happening; he talks
around it instead, asking Tommy about the location of the Fireflies and telling Ellie to get off her
horse without outright saying what he’s doing. In the episode, meanwhile, he lets Ellie decide.
Now, I can appreciate why that decision was made: rather than the two older men making the decision,
I think it’s good to let Ellie have some agency. And, of course, it ties into the finale, where
Joel (again) makes a decision for Ellie despite knowing that he should be letting her decide.
To that end, I can appreciate that, here, he cares for her too much already that he feels the
need to let her go; and in the finale, he cares for her even more, to the point where he lies to
her in order not to lose her—the juxtaposition is fascinating, and if that’s what the writers
were going for, then I can appreciate that. But I personally just think the game handled
it better. Ellie’s decision was never in question—their big argument made it very clear
what her decision was. The conflict was Joel not wanting to go. And perhaps I’m interpreting it
wrong, but her decision almost plays as a quick, comedic moment in the episode —
[Joel: “You deserve a choice. I still think you’d be better off
with Tommy–”] [Ellie: “Let’s go”] — whereas the game plays it as an emotional
crescendo of sorts, essentially the conclusion of this chapter of the game, and the final
step in their father-daughter relationship. I also think that Game Tommy protesting a little
is more in-character: as Joel says in episode 4, Tommy’s a “joiner”. It makes sense that he’s
not incredibly keen to take Joel’s place, particularly with a kid on the way in the TV
show, but I think it makes more sense for him to at least say something, rather than just nod.
But this is minor, and I still think the emotions in Joel and Tommy’s goodbyes and embrace show
their love for each other, which is something I’m glad the series decided to explore more.
[Ellie (TV): “Okay, so if you mess up your fourth down, you give the ball to the other team?”]
[Joel (TV): “Right, it’s called a turnover.”]
[Ellie (TV): “Turnover…”] [Ellie (game): “And if you clear the ten
yards, then you’re back in first down?”] [Joel (game): “First down, that’s right.”]
[Ellie (game): “Man, that’s confusing”] In the game, the university sequence usually takes
at least half an hour—though it’s so big and open that it can easily take over an hour in full. In
the episode, the full sequence takes around seven minutes, preceded by three minutes of travelling,
so about a ten-minute sequence in total. For the most part, I think cutting this
down was a good idea. If viewers want to explore the university, they can do it in
the game (and they should, it’s great). I think seeing more scenes with Joel and Ellie
travelling is a great way to not only show the passage of time but show that they’re bonding
more as the days go on and show that Ellie is getting more lessons on how to use a gun. I
actually would have liked to see more of this—in the game, we gradually get more conversations
between them as they traverse the university, and that bonding makes Joel’s injury
even more disruptive and emotional. But I think the place this sequence suffers the
most is after Joel’s injury. The adaptation of the injury itself is great. I love the drama
of Joel falling off a balcony—and that makes sense in a game where you get shot a bunch—but
the stab is much more realistic and shows how fragile this world and its characters are. But
I think the sequence would have benefited from another minute or so of Ellie helping Joel—not
necessarily protecting him, since that would take away from the final scene and her fear
of ‘not being able to do it without him’, but maybe just helping him get through a
room or two until they reach their horse. It helps to demonstrate how much Ellie already
loves and cares for Joel. And, importantly, it would give an opportunity to show Ellie
struggling to help him to their horse, which would give the final scene even more weight—she’s
clearly not cut out for this. The game shows this: sure, Ellie’s capable, and she’s able to get
Joel to the horse—but it’s not easy for her, and trying to survive without a respondent Joel
by her side isn’t going to be easy for her either. As it stands in the episode,
Ellie helps Joel on the horse, and shoots at (and misses) her pursuers.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with it, but it’s neither helpful nor helpless, and I
think the game balances it a little better. That being said, the tension of the final
scene—Joel falling off his horse—matches the game, even with a tone that’s more sombre than
desperate—and Jessica Mazin’s cover in the credits is one of the most beautiful
things to come out of this series. [Riley: “Come with me for a few hours and
have the best night of your life.”] Episode 7 is an interesting one, both in
terms of its content and the reactions. Critics quite liked it—on average scoring it
around the middle of the season overall—and I wouldn’t say any rational fans hated it, but, like
episode 3, it did draw out some strong negative reactions, currently sitting with the lowest
user score on IMDb by quite some margin. And, again, I do think a sizable portion of the lowest
reviews can be attributed to homophobia—which, as a game fan, I find interesting, since
this is a story we saw told in almost the same way more than nine years prior. But I
think that some of the middle-of-the-road reviews do have some legitimate criticisms
of the episode: namely that, like episode 3, it consists almost entirely of a
flashback and doesn’t immediately advance Joel and Ellie’s story. And
like with episode 3, I disagree. First of all, just like the third episode added
primarily to Joel’s story, the seventh adds so much to Ellie’s, providing context for events and
characterisation throughout the season so far, including this episode, as well as likely
in the second season, at least thematically. Secondly, jumping straight from episode 6
to 8 would remove so much of the tension: seeing Joel almost die at the end of
one episode, only to be back on his feet about halfway through the next, is… fine,
but I like that the extra episode allows more tension here. It makes the previous
episode’s cliffhanger feel more earned. Thirdly, I think the episode thematically makes
sense as well. Episode 6 was about Joel deciding to continue his journey with Ellie despite it
probably being in his own self-interest not to. Episode 7, meanwhile, is about Ellie deciding
to continue her journey with Joel despite it making sense not to. To fully understand both
of their decisions, we need to understand their pasts—we’ve seen Joel’s, so now we need to
see Ellie’s. And, you know, it’s entertaining, well-written, and well-performed, so I’m
not complaining. Bella Ramsey’s reaction to getting bitten is a particular acting
standout for me. [Ellie: “No, no, no, no, no! No!”]
As an adaptation, I think it does a really good job. The
game is a particularly great example of using gameplay features in a different
manner than their original intention, but in a way that advances the story in an
effective way: particularly with throwing bricks at the car (instead of enemies) and
shooting water guns (instead of real guns) at your friend (instead of enemies). But
these are specifically suited to the game, not for passive entertainment like television, so
they’re logical omissions. Instead, they kept some of the less gameplay-focused elements, like the
carousel, joke book, photo booth, and arcade—and adapted them to fit the story and medium.
Another logical change is the infected: in the game, it makes sense that it would be
a horde that finally got to Ellie and Riley, whereas in the show, it only took one infected.
Not only is this more realistic and more dramatic, but it also shows that a single creature can
destroy an entire life in this world—something that comes up several times throughout the series,
both in terms of infected and living humans. And, of course, in case the reason behind
the flashback episode wasn’t already clear: it’s Riley’s final monologue that pushes Ellie
to stay and protect Joel, giving more weight to the present-day storyline and ultimately to the
rest of the season—especially the next episode. [David: “Everything happens for a reason.”]
If there’s one thing that I think the show doesn’t do right—at least
from the perspective of someone intimately familiar with the game—it’s that
we never really get a chance to trust David. In both versions of this sequence, Ellie takes
David’s gun, and they start a fire. In the game, their fireside chat is interrupted by a horde of
infected, from which David helps to defend Ellie, most notably when he shoots a clicker
with a gun he had hidden on him. Sure, the gun could be interpreted as an untrustworthy
act from David—he kept a gun hidden from her, after all—but personally, I interpret it
as him specifically keeping a gun on him to protect himself instead of using it to threaten
Ellie when he easily could have. This is only strengthened by the gameplay sequence where
they help to protect each other—it wouldn’t be too difficult for David to betray Ellie here
and escape, but instead he continues to help her. When David finally reveals that it was
his group who attacked Joel and Ellie, then, it feels like a proper betrayal—like he’s
intentionally kept this information hidden from us the whole time. Ellie clearly feels the same
way, judging by the fact that she’s fully put her gun down and is warming herself up in this moment.
In the episode, meanwhile, this information almost feels like an inevitability—it’s not even that
the opening scene reveals that David is a bad guy, because it doesn’t really, but it’s just that
we never even get an opportunity to warm up to him. His conversation with Ellie is a step in that
direction, but we don’t see her get as comfortable around him: she’s still basically pointing the
gun at him by the time he reveals the information. I think Ellie’s reaction is the key to this too,
actually. Even if the player doesn’t personally feel betrayed—even if they were already a
few steps ahead and could tell that David was inevitably going to be a bad guy in the
game—seeing Ellie’s reaction, seeing her get comfortable before the information is revealed,
adds more tension that, in my opinion, is simply missing from the episode. But I don’t know, maybe
viewers unfamiliar with the game feel otherwise. That being said, there are some things that I
think the episode does actually improve, or at least effectively adapt in its own way, like when
Ellie leads David’s group away from Joel: I enjoy the gameplay sequence of escaping and fighting,
but on television I think it’s more logical that she would actually get caught pretty quickly here.
Ellie’s discovery that David’s group are cannibals is also done with a little more subtlety in the
episode. The game reveals this by showing a man cutting a dead body into pieces, and a full arm
dropping to the floor; the episode reveals it by just having Ellie notice an ear in the corner
of the room. It’s still obvious—it’s not really trying not to be—but it feels more subtle. Mind
you, it’s also afforded the opportunity to be more subtle by showing perspectives of David’s group,
where you can tell that something is going on, which isn’t really something the game can
do, so it makes sense in both instances. As for things that weren’t really changed,
I love the adaptation of Joel’s recovery, and of Ellie in the cell. Both of these are pretty
similar to their original game versions and that’s great—there’s no reason to change them. They
were mostly cutscenes in the game anyway, so they already work as passive entertainment.
I will say, though, that I really like the addition of David’s speech about having a
violent heart, and his reaction to Ellie fighting back. [David (TV): “You little cunt.”]
[David (game): “It’s gonna be alright.”] I always seem to forget how genuinely terrifying this fight
with David is. (These are my notes from this part of the game.) David’s ability to hide where you
can’t see him is so scary, and it really feels like the tables are turned on you for once.
I don’t think the show was ever going to be able to match this terror, at least to me,
because you’re no longer in Ellie’s shoes; you’re essentially a bystander, a viewer. Instead,
they made the character appear more terrifying by showing the perspective of his group, and how he
treats them. And then the fight itself is more terrifying just due to David’s dialogue. On paper,
it almost reads like a cliché comic book or horror movie character or something, but Scott Shepherd
just makes it work—it’s absolutely believable, and completely terrifying. And Bella Ramsey absolutely
kills it (and him) in David’s death scene. I love that (especially in the game)
it basically looks like we’re going to have a heroic moment where Joel saves
Ellie—but then it just doesn’t happen: Ellie saves herself. I think it
says a lot about Ellie’s strength, especially after everything she’s overcome so far
throughout their journey, and really reminds us that she is capable. The scenes themselves,
though, end up being somewhat different. In both versions, Ellie overpowers David and
kills him, then continues attacking his dead body. In the game, Joel arrives and pulls her
off to snap her out of it, finally calling her “Baby girl” and reassuring her with words
that we’re not able to hear, before leaving. In the episode, Ellie stops herself and is clearly
traumatised, and then removes herself from the building, where she is grabbed by Joel, who calls
her “Baby girl” and reassures her before leaving. I’m in two minds about this.
On the one hand, I like that the episode puts more power in Ellie’s hands—obviously she
saves herself in both versions, but in the episode she saves herself emotionally as well, removing
herself from the building. On the other hand, the game version is just so beautiful and emotional,
and the words flow so naturally; there’s something so beautiful and tragic about not being able
to hear what Joel is saying to Ellie, because we don’t need to hear it: their faces say
it all. It also feeds into the fact that, while Ellie capable of protecting herself, perhaps
it’s good that she has someone like Joel to keep her in check emotionally—something that I suspect
will become more relevant in future seasons. But I suppose I can also justify both versions to
myself. In the game, we already know that Ellie is capable of protecting herself—we’ve just seen
her take out (or at least evade) at least like 25 men with guns; we don’t need evidence of her being
able to save herself physically—so it makes sense for Joel to help save her emotionally. In the
show, though, Ellie has really only just killed two people for the first time—like, we know that
she is probably capable, but she’s only really just taken this action—so allowing her to save
herself and remove herself from the situation here is basically just an alternative of those gameplay
sequences. It’s evidence of her capability in a way that the game provides elsewhere.
At the end of the day, I’m glad that both versions exist—they’re both beautiful in their
own ways. That’s the power of adaptations! Another great benefit afforded by adaptations
is the ability to add useful contextual scenes; this is especially true for The Last of Us, since
the game follows Joel and Ellie at all times. In addition to previous episodes,
of course—like with Bill and Frank, Kathleen and Perry, and David and James—I’m
particularly referring to the three cold opens. Episode 1, set in 1968, gives useful context
for the series in a real-world setting, and sets the tone for the series in the
opening minutes. Episode 2, set in 2003, shows us some of the origins of the fungus,
and reinforces why it’s so terrifying from a modern scientific standpoint. Both are
chilling, in their writing and performances. And episode 9, of course, set around 2008
or 2009, shows Ellie’s birth, possibly most importantly giving context to Marlene’s
relationship with Ellie but also showing us the likely reason that she is immune, and perhaps
even some context behind her fiery spirit. [Anna: “You fuckin’ tell ‘em, Ellie.”]
Also, you know, how beautiful to have Ashley Johnson, the original mother of
Ellie, play Anna, the real mother of Ellie? Everything that follows in the next 15
minutes of the episode, in my opinion, is perfect. Ellie feeling distant is really
well-written and well-performed—I like that she isn’t really rude or dismissive, just
distracted. She doesn’t act annoyed at Joel, because at this point she has no reason to;
she’s just got other things on her mind. And it’s conveyed really well in both the episode and
the game—I especially love this use of a standard gameplay feature to reinforce her preoccupation.
I also think the giraffe scene is just perfect in the game, so adapting it
almost identically felt necessary. I probably would have been annoyed if it wasn’t.
And a fairly logical change is the scene where Ellie gives Joel the photograph of him and
Sarah. It makes sense in the game because it took advantage of a gameplay tool—looking
at artefacts—in a more story-focused way. And by comparing it to when Tommy tried to
give him the photo earlier in the game, it shows us that Joel is now finally more willing
to share his emotions and talk about Sarah. In the episode, I think this is
still effectively demonstrated, but it’s done so through Joel and Ellie’s
conversation, particularly Joel’s confession about the gunshot that impacted his hearing.
[Joel: “I was the guy who shot and missed.”] It shows that he’s more willing to share
his emotions and talk about Sarah and does so in a way that shows how close he is to Ellie,
particularly in that he feels that she saved him, in a way. And for me, to an extent, Joel’s
story almost feels like the show’s equivalent of the tunnel sequence from the game.
Weird take, I know. Let me explain. In the game, there’s a sequence in a subway tunnel
in Salt Lake City, where the player is forced to fight or evade a small horde of infected,
including several clickers and bloaters. I understand the disappointment brought upon by its
omission, but I think it’s a logical one. I mean, perhaps they could have sneaked past
or killed one or two infected, but, I don’t know, narratively and emotionally it
didn’t really fit at this point in the episode. In the game, the tunnels sequence is basically one
big ‘finale’ fight with the infected before the hospital sequence. The difference with the show
is that we haven’t really gotten infected fights, because it doesn’t quite fit the more grounded
version of this story in this medium—we already had one big infected sequence in episode 5 and
Joel and Ellie were lucky enough to escape that; if they’d have done it again here, I can
see why it may have felt repetitious. In the show, meanwhile, infected sequences (and
a lot of the fight scenes in general) have been replaced by mental and emotional challenges for
the characters: they’ve had to overcome their own emotions more than a giant sporous creature.
To that end, the logical ‘finale’ sequence for these mental and emotional challenges would be
the biggest of all, at least for Joel: talking about what happened after Sarah died. Personally,
I think it helps that it’s beautifully written, and beautifully acted. Obviously Pedro Pascal
nails it—his delivery is perfect—but Bella Ramsey is also so perfect: Ellie’s reaction shows
the weight of what Joel has just said to her. She doesn’t really know what to say in response, and
Bella’s performance shows that. And as silly as it is, I think Joel admitting that he wants to
hear Ellie’s puns now, really drives home that, unlike his dismissal of the book in episode
4, he’s fully on board with her now. Another sequence that was significantly
trimmed in the show is the hospital sequence, particularly Joel fighting his way to the
operating room. In the game, this tends to take players around 10 to 20 minutes (or shorter
if they’re experienced, longer if they’re not); but in the episode, it takes about three minutes.
Now, I think this makes sense. It’s beautifully portrayed in the show: it’s not an epic rescue
sequence where a father saves his daughter from the evil people trying to kill her; it’s a
sad and brutal scene where a man is reduced to murdering people for his own personal reasons.
I think that’s a great way to adapt that scene, and I couldn’t really say what else could have
been included here. But players can go 20 to 30 minutes or more between leaving Marlene and
seeing her again, and viewers only get about six minutes—so I think it makes sense that players
might feel like there’s something else missing. One thing that I do think is missing is Joel
carrying Ellie out of the hospital. To me, the whole point of this sequence in the game
is to mirror Joel running with Sarah in the opening—only this time, he successfully saves
his ‘daughter’ from the soldiers. Now, of course, it doesn’t quite make sense to have dozens of
soldiers shooting at Joel as he runs, because a) they would kill him, b) based on the sequence
before, there’s not many (if any) soldiers left, and c) I don’t think Joel can run while
carrying another person, considering how the show continues to emphasise his aging body.
But I think the scene still would have worked with Joel walking out of the hospital with Ellie
in his arms. In the first episode, Joel runs with his daughter away from infected, someone else has
to step in to save them from the creature, and Joel ultimately loses his daughter anyway. But in
the final episode, Joel no longer needs to run, he doesn’t need anyone to save him from any pursuers,
and he’s not losing his daughter this time. I just think the sequence is so well done in
the game, and I personally think it’s something that viewers miss out on by only watching
the show—but, again, it’s an adaptation, not a copy or even a remake, so if that
scene is only for the game, then that’s okay. Ultimately, the heart of the episode is still
intact, so even if I think it does feel a little short (especially for a season finale), it’s
still true to the nature of the narrative. And I think that’s proven by the final
scene—possibly the most important—which is almost identical to the game. Besides the
great writing and performances, of course, the reason it works so well is that
the preceding scenes still feel true to the source material and the narrative,
and that’s probably what matters most. And I think that’s kind of the gist of
how I feel about the series in general. The first time I watched it, I felt that we
didn’t quite get enough time with Joel and Ellie to really justify some of the heavier emotional
beats—particularly their argument in episode 6, reunion in episode 8, and maybe even Joel’s
revelation in episode 9. But on subsequent viewings, with a little more distance
since my last playthrough of the game, I felt that maybe this wasn’t quite the case: there really was quite some time centred on their
relationship, especially in quieter moments, and those emotional beats did feel at least
a little more earned than I remembered. I think all the different perspectives—beautifully
written, performed, and filmed—add so much to the overall world and I thoroughly appreciate them
for that. And I don’t think they actually take away from Joel and Ellie’s journey at all; for
the most part, I think they actually add to it. But coming from someone who is pretty intimately
familiar with the game, its story, its characters, its production, and even most of its
individual lines of dialogue, I think that the show maybe doesn’t quite make up for the
time that’s lost in following those perspectives. Like, I love episode 3 and I would never want
to remove it—if anything I want more of Bill and Frank—but the game scenes with Bill still
actively add to Joel and Ellie’s relationship, and there’s not a huge amount put in its place
in the episode. Same with my comments about Ellie not really building trust for David in episode
8: we lose gameplay and consequently we lose a bit of the narrative; I don’t think there’s
a lot I would change, but perhaps there’s something that could have been added. Do I think
I know what to put in its place? Definitely not, I’m far less talented than every single person
who works on this show. But the point of this video isn’t to criticise their work or rewrite
the show; it’s just to give my perspective. Like, I know that some viewers were somewhat upset
by the lack of infected in the second half of the series, and I think it’s understandable—there
are only two infected in the last four episodes, and both are in flashbacks—but I also think it’s
an understandable omission, ultimately not really a big deal, and something that is certainly
going to be addressed in season 2 anyway. And I think the lack of infected actually says
something about the nature of the world of The Last of Us: when the world falls apart, it’s not
just the monsters who are monsters—the people are arguably worse. And ultimately, in a weird kind
of roundabout way, I think that proves that, at its heart, the television adaptation is
still true to the nature of the narrative and its characters, and I think it’s an
incredible addition to this franchise. Every element of it is phenomenal—writing, acting,
music, editing, production design, costumes, makeup, prosthetics, visual effects—and
I think it’s a testament to the medium of video games that such an incredible television
production can be the product of something that was on the PlayStation 3, in itself inspired
by games dating much further back than that. But I also think it’s a testament to video
games that such a video game exists in the first place—I know a lot of people will (and
already have) looked at the series and were impressed by what video games are capable of,
suspecting that we’ve somehow been gatekeeping these stories. The truth is, we weren’t—we’ve been
yelling about the incredible narratives of video games for decades. It’s kind of annoying that it
took a television adaptation for people to notice and listen, but at least they finally know.
And while they’re here, they should check out all the other incredible narrative-focused video
games, because there are plenty out there—The Last of Us is great, but it’s definitely not the only
one, and some would argue it’s far from the best. Personally, though, I’d definitely rank it
up there with the best. Over ten years after its release, it still has some of the best
performances in any video game, some of the most interesting characters to encounter, and
some of the most mature and nuanced writing, despite a relatively simple story concept
overall. It just feels so real, like we’re really following these people across the United
States, albeit in the post-apocalypse, and I think it will forever be one of my favourite games.
So, was the television adaptation worth it? Yes, I think so—if only to bring more people to the game,
and to the medium of games; to allow us to see new perspectives and story ideas almost ten years on;
to give us a new way to experience this narrative. Do I think it’s better than the game? Well, in
some ways, yeah, I think it’s an improvement; but in other ways, I think it proves that
video games are really an equally effective and sometimes even superior storytelling
medium—and I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it’s–
[Ellie: “Swear to me.” Swear to me that everything that
you said [in this video] is true.”] [Joel: “I swear.”] [Ellie: “Okay.”]
