Daniel Sipanovic ’25
Contributor
The Last of Us follows the recent trend of video games becoming TV shows. Based off the video game by Naughty Dog, The Last of Us shows the resilience of humankind and our struggle for survival in a hostile world.
The Last of Us is about a man named Joel and a girl named Ellie, following them across America after 20 years of a fungal outbreak. These Cordyceps take control of the host’s brain and force them to infect other humans. Ellie is immune to this infection and there is a chance that she is the key to a cure. Joel and Ellie journey across America to try to reach Seattle while encountering Cordyceps and other dangers.
The show excels at representing the video game and diving deeper into the story and depths of the world. When making an adaptation, the world needs to be expanded upon and shown in ways the video game cannot do justice. Unlike many before it, this show succeeds in this. It mainly accomplishes this with the characters, showing the true colours of these people and how they react to hardship. This allows new viewers as well as those who are long-time fans of the game to enjoy the show.
One of the main parts of the Last of Us is the Cordyceps and the horror of these creatures. The series outdoes itself in showing the horror of these creatures. They are not on screen every time the writers have a chance, building suspense and fear. However, when they finally appear onscreen, it is terrifying. The makeup and the effects used on the Cordyceps are impressively lifelike and petrify the audience at every turn.
The acting choices for this show were superb. There is a variety of well-known actors and unknown actors. Pedro Pascal and Nick Offerman offered the much-needed star-power prior for the release of this show, while Lamar Johnson and Anna Torv are not as well-known but are still breathtaking in their performance. The show finds a good balance, keeping a lower budget by not using as many big-name actors and it still has recognizable names to draw viewers in.
I personally greatly enjoy the Last of Us and am excited for the second season.
9.5/10
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