The Biggest Flaw of The Last of Us Adaptation | Video Essay

The Last of Us is the best video game adaptation of all time full stop if you're thinking about the video game curse you can also come to the conclusion that this show breaks it this show is a great adaptation not only did they understand what makes the original game so great but they also managed to expand on the elements that made it so great the characters that are in the show are the characters that are in the game but we just get more from them it's truly a magnificent work of adaptation and I don't want anything in this essay to sound like I'm trying to take away from that specifically here's my thinking this is the greatest video game adaptation of all time however that's only one way of looking at it the last of us is also an HBO show if I'm comparing it to the likes of succession the wire station 11 True Detective or Craig Mason's previous project Chernobyl the discussion becomes a bit more complicated on the one hand it's a miracle that the show stays so loyal to the video game on the other hand I think the show has flaws that take it one step down from that upper echelon of HBO dramas this video is about the missteps that the show takes make no mistake though the show was mostly a positive experience for me even though I won't cover everything that I liked about the show I still think it's worth watching even for fans who have already played the game obviously spoilers for the first season of The Last of Us and the video game no spoilers for the second season or The Last of Us Part Two the Video Game the most glaring flaw in the show is the disjointed nature of the episodes the original game focuses on Joel and Ellie's Journey from Boston to Salt Lake City every event in the game is from the perspective of either Joel or Ellie not taking into account the beginning with Sarah this Roots the narrative in the experience of these two characters it's also very indicative of the medium of video games the player has to be controlling one of the protagonists so it makes sense that everything is from that point of view a luxury that a non-interactive medium like the show can't rely on in the original the characters that Jill and Ellie meets on their Journey are a representation of what could happen to them in this harsh world this is death is an indication to the player that major characters can die easily in this world bill is a grizzled Hermit who is so intent on Survival that he doesn't stop to ask why he still wants to survive Henry and Sam are a similar Duo to Joe lanelli and their death shows that this could also happen to Joel and Ellie if they are not careful enough characters exist in the adaptation for the same purpose however these characters have also been expanded so the messaging has changed a bit the show understands the point of these characters deeply just like in the game test dying is a reminder that this could very well happen to Joel as well if he isn't careful enough it's also a great way for Joel to take up the mission of delivering Ellie to the fireflies if it wasn't for Tessa's final wish of delivering Ellie Jill would simply be too cynical to check up the mission the circumstances for her death are similar but the narrative purpose of the character doesn't change the real change from The Source material occurs in the third episode shell and Ellie stumbled into Bill and Frank's town and we get an episode just about Bill and Frank and I gotta say I really like the third episode it works as an almost self-contained narrative about two men finally being able to live their lives after the world has essentially ended they find comfort in each other and and the episode comes to a beautiful conclusion as the two decide that they don't actually want to live without each other it's the expansion that I wanted from the show as I noted in my predictions video essay we also get to see the good times from the relationship not just the bad times which is so important in the game bill is a reminder of what happens to those who choose to survive without letting their guard down you will eventually become a Hermit whose only reason for survival is to see the next day the adaptation Bill realizes this and conveys it to Joe there needs to be strong men to protect those who are incapable of protecting themselves the key difference between the game and the adaptation is that bill actually tells this to Joel in the form of a note because he has already died the game Bill stays bitter and survives the game although we never see him after that point the adaptation Bill gets to live his life till his death and pass on his personal philosophy about survival Joe this aspect Works a bit better in the game in my opinion as the messaging isn't as blunt as it is in the show but I also really enjoyed the episode so I guess I'm a bit mixed on this expansion I have a lot more to say about this but we'll loop back to it the next expansion in the show happens in the fourth and fifth episode The nameless Bandits of Pittsburgh are now a group of Raiders in Kansas who actually have a named leader a lot has been said about Kathleen in the past weeks I think the character is interesting on paper but I also did feel like there wasn't enough time to expand on her character it's interesting to get a villain like her as it isn't very common I think she reminds me a bit of Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series who also hides her sadism under a mask of politeness Kathleen is very aware of the inherent flaws in her revenge she wants to punish Henry for reading out her brother Michael even though Henry only did this to save his brother Sam she comments on this and even mentions that Michael didn't want her to seek revenge but apart from that it doesn't seem like a big part of her character Arc what really irks me is that she just becomes a stereotypical villain in the end she monologues when she could just as easily kill Henry even worse she has the crew dead to rights again but once again chooses to monologue rather than to actually take revenge it just seemed like a really clumsy choice for a show that had been so good so far I really like the expansion of Henry and Sam we get a lot more about the reason that the Raiders are going after them their deaths deliver the same message as they do in the game if Jill and Ellie are not careful enough this could happen to them as well I also really like how Ellie tries to save Sam in this version so 5 episodes in I've been enjoying the expansions of the characters apart from Kathleen becoming a bond villain in the end however this is also the moment that I found what would be the TV show's weakest elements The Narrative at this point had become extremely repetitive Joel and Ellie go to a new place meet new people frozen allies alike and the newly introduced characters all die off and jolinelli move forward in their journey I am aware that this is also how it goes in the game but there's a difference as we just get much more from these characters in the adaptation in the game we get glimpses of the characters but we don't actually get to know them the narrative is always about Joel and Ellie and these minor characters are there as representations on how Joel and Ellie's Journey might end the game is all about Joel and Ellie and how they experience these events the show isn't like that it's about those other side characters as well the bill and Frank episode as much as I love it halts the progression of the show on its own it's not a problem we can continue the journey after this one beautiful episode but episode 5 all of the sudden grants to a screeching halt to also explain Henry and Sam's backstory the fourth and fifth episodes really aren't about Joel andelli they're about Henry Sam and Kathleen this also wouldn't be an issue if the show was longer but halfway in three of the five episodes have focused more on Side characters rather than the main duo in the forefronts that is not to say that these plot lines aren't compelling apart from the non-chronological storytelling in the fourth and fifth episodes I really like how they expanded on Henry and Sam's backstories it just seems like the story at this point isn't about Joel and Ellie as much as it is about the world that they inhabit the pacing of the journey suffers a lot from this fortunately the sixth episode is all about Joel and Ellie the duo has faced all sorts of hardships and their bond becomes stronger even though Joel has his doubts about being able to complete the journey this episode is also really cool because it gives further context to the past that Joel and Tommy have gone through that use of that because of me that's a horrible Joel in person I'm so sorry speech from the game is expanded to a longer chatter about the horrific things that they have done in the past to survive this episode also has my favorite scene in which Tommy realizes that Jackson is communist the sixth episode ends with Joel getting stabbed what surprised me about the seventh episode is that they actually didn't try to trick the audience into thinking that Joel died like the game does the seventh episode expands a lot on Ellie's character as we get much more about her time in the federal school and this is where it feels like the story comes to a screeching halt once again the episode is extremely important so that we understand Ellie's past but then again it doesn't push the narrative forwards once again this would work if the show had more time in the presence but so far this is the fourth episode that isn't as concerned about the journey as it is about the characters and the world that they inhabit there are now two episodes that are almost completely independent out of a 9 episode run adding episodes four and five and how little those were about Joel and Ellie and we see that four episodes of The Nine episodes aren't really concerned with the present journey and just a quick reminder once again I am aware that this episode's events are also in the game as DLC the adaptation is beautifully faithful to the source material in this sense it's just that this particular Side Track often happens after the players have finished the game it's also just an indication that since we aren't literally controlling these characters we don't actually start to bond with them the same way that we do when playing a video game anyway back to the points the eighth episode introduces a new villain in the form of David I really like how they expanded upon this character he's not as mustache twirling as he is in the game it's also a really cool expansion that David controls his people by using religion he has created an illusion of a caring Christian leader in this group which he also uses to his Advantage he for example shows care for Ellie pretending to do so because of religious altruism however his real motivations are much much more sinister some of you may already be throwing your eyebrows over this as I just said that Kathleen isn't fleshed out enough even though she gets two episodes and David only gets one I think David works better as we get a clear way that he leaves his flock he monologues just before trying to kill Ellie just like Kathleen but then again we also know the reason he does this he wants Ellie alive for a more disturbing purpose let's say does it make sense that he still tries to do this while the steakhouse is on fire no that once again feels like it crosses a boundary into a bit of clumsy writing but then again I guess I can also see that he really doesn't want to go back to his constituents and tell them that he was outsmarted by a little girl the cannibalism is also done very well in this episode we get hints that something isn't right here but it takes a while for the episode to reveal what is actually going on I especially like the scene in which the group eats and it's just a cacophony of silverware scratching the plates it feels incredibly Eerie even though the viewer might not understand what is happening at this point it's also very telling that David's plate is stacked while everyone else is feeding on scraps the ninth episode is without a doubt my favorite one of the bunch the episode was so good that it made me question my opinions about the prior episodes Not only was Ashley Johnson seen with baby Ellie beautiful but they also gave a reason as to why Ellie is immune I didn't think this information was required but the scene was so beautiful that I kinda didn't feel like it needed to be nitpicked this episode also feels the closest to the game there isn't all that much that was changed the duo doesn't fight against infected and Ellie doesn't almost drown but otherwise it's the same as it is in the game at this point I also realized how little the infected mattered in the adaptation the last time that they were a prominent element in the journey timeline was in Kansas when Sam turned which was four episodes ago this isn't a problem per se I like that the show is about its characters not about the infected but then again it also did feel like the show kind of forgets about their existence the show goes out of its way to establish rules for the infected for example they spread by tendrils rather than spores they are connected by a hive mind why bring these elements up if you're not gonna do anything with them I don't really understand furthermore the clicker slash infected acting in the show was so great that I naturally wanted to see more of it but that's just me talking as someone who enjoyed those scenes I think it's overall smart that they focused more on the characters that inhabit the world rather than the infected the Revelation that Jill tried to take his own life at the beginning of the pandemic was an expansion to his character and I feel like Pedro Pascal played the scene perfectly it also really fits in with the narrative like they added something and it really works the hospital scene hits just as well as it does in the video game it's unbelievable that Joel can Massacre an entire Hospital worth of fireflies without a bulletproof vest but hey maybe he's channeling his inner Doom guy he's fueled by rage it's kind of wild how fast the ending comes this is the shortest episode of the season and they don't really spend that much time fleshing out the bond between Joel and Ellie this kind of just cemented my feelings about the show not really being about Joel and Ellie but about the world that surrounds them on their Journey as the previous episodes hadn't built up the bond between them the ending kind of fell flat for me that is not to say that there isn't bonding between Jill and Ellie in this adaptation it exists in short scenes in most of the episodes but I think my view was heavily affected by the Side Tracks that the narrative goes on as well I've described the larger beats of the narrative to explain why the show feels disjointed in my opinion while also noting the good expansions that the show has I think the majority of my issues with the storytelling stem from me being familiar with The Narrative of the video game I don't know if anyone who hasn't played the game has the same and problems here there's also the fact that episodic storytelling relies on starts and stops it just feels like a majority of the episodes start with an introduction to a new character only to see said character die in the end of course this is cool on the thematic side like it's like death is following Joel and Ellie or something like that if you want to get pretentious about it but looking at the show's pacing this form of Storytelling does become a bit repetitive after a while and I didn't feel like it was a problem in the video game the bill and Frank episode is beautiful and works really well even if I were to watch it without the backdrop of the frame story it just becomes problematic when the show does this too many times in a season that is only 9 episodes I originally thought that this was only due to me watching the show week to week but the problem persisted even when I binged the show from the first episode to the eighth episode right before the finale was released I made the decision with this essay to deliberately keep to one topic I had written an essay leading up to the finale that was like 12 pages but decided to scrap it to focus more on the one key flaw that I had with the show if there's enough interest in a nitpicky essay that is much longer than this I might produce that too tell me in the comments if you want to see that I guess I would also like to write an essay in the future speculating about the events of the second season and how the second game might be adapted anyway that's all for me uh I would love to hear what you thought about the adaptation down in the comments so yeah that's my thoughts like the video and subscribe for more content like this and I'll see you in the next one [Music]

Channel: CriticalCoffee

Views: 72,760

Keywords: CriticalCoffee, Criticalcoffee, Critical Coffee, hbos the last of us, the last of us, bella ramsey, pedro pascal, episode 9 of the last of us, the last of us video essay, commentary, cordyceps, laura bailey, the last of us giraffe, ashley johnson, the last of us season 2, review, video essay

Id: Lz-7iqSJdDw

Length: 17min 44sec (1064 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 13 2023