![]() ![]() Though the throughline of Joel and Ellie’s relationship is the heart of the show, it’s the latter format that yields the better episodes, with standout appearances by Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, and Storm Reid. The other is more flashback-driven and guest star-focused, showing us the fall of civilization or the fight for survival from the perspective of different characters. The first is a classic Incredible Hulk or Kung Fu -style pit stop in a new town where Joel and Ellie confront a local problem, with the corollary that almost everywhere they visit is worse off when they depart. While advancing the season’s ongoing road-trip storyline, individual episodes alternate between two formats. Structurally, The Last of Us distinguishes itself from The Walking Dead by means of a more episodic structure. In the bond of surrogate family that grows between them, Joel and Ellie find a semblance of hope and happiness, one that is threatened on a regular basis. For her, it’s normal, but that doesn’t make it easy it only means she acts like it is. Where Joel remembers the world as it was before it fell, Ellie has never known a life that wasn’t wall-to-wall death and misery. That Pascal excels at fostering empathy for his deeply wounded outlaw is no surprise, but Ramsey (age 19, but playing much younger) manages to convey a more complicated cocktail of innocence, weariness, heartbreak, and Bart Simpson brattiness. The real X-factor here - as in the game - is the dynamic between Joel and Ellie, and Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey give The Last of Us a soul worth protecting. The execution, however, is sober and affecting, in that gritty way that constantly assures this is a show for grown-ups. Tonally, it’s not a far cry from early The Walking Dead, and everyday people becoming ruthless killers under pressure is a familiar element of zombie or post-apocalyptic fiction. ![]() Over the course of the nine-episode season, the weary travelers encounter hordes of hideous infected, but also other desperate survivors trying to cope in an uncivilized world. ![]() Smugglers Joel (Pascal) and Tess (Anna Torv, Mindhunter ) are hired by a group of revolutionaries to sneak young Ellie (Ramsey) out of FEDRA-controlled Boston, setting them on a cross-country journey of potentially global import. The uninfected have taken shelter in secluded communities or in fortified city centers run by FEDRA, the fascist remnants of the US government. The series is set 20 years after the invasive fungus Cordyceps infects most of the human population, turning them into zombie-like monsters. The story of The Last of Us translates easily into its new medium, where it remains a hard-hitting adult drama designed to punish its audience for enjoying it, but the very traits that made the source material a standout PlayStation game are already familiar signifiers of HBO dramas. Now, The Last of Us has been adapted into a big-budget HBO series, starring the reliably compelling Pedro Pascal ( The Mandalorian ) and the impressive young Bella Ramsey ( Game of Thrones ).
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