The Last of Us: TV's first ingenious foray into world of video games
HBO's new blockbuster TV series could possibly be the most cerebral live-action adaptation of a video game yet.... just two episodes in.
“Save who you can save.”
There’s a simple but concerning truth about video game adaptations over the last couple of decades. They’re… not really good. They pale in comparison to their original counterparts, and this could be said for a vast majority of them. In some cases, sadly, they’re nearly unrecognizable. This whole essay could just be about why this genre has a bad rep and it wouldn’t be enough. The ceiling for these adaptations seemed awfully low.
However, this was the case until the pilot of HBO’s The Last of Us aired in mid-January this year. The long-awaited TV adaptation takes Naughty Dog’s 2013 masterpiece into the world of live-action and its first two episodes have, arguably, delivered quality beyond anything the genre has witnessed so far. Already.
Two episodes into a nine-episode season.
2013: Year of the Infected
The 2013 title was a survival horror/third-person action-adventure game from Naughty Dog, the powerhouse behind the Uncharted franchise. It deals with a cordyceps brain infection across the United States caused by a fungus that turns regular humans into infected, aggressive zombie-like creatures.
The outbreak led to a pandemic which led to the collapse of society as it was known, forcing many — including protagonist Joel Miller — to live a life on the run, forcefully displaced from any sense of home as they previously knew it.
The game, much like the show, opens with Joel losing his daughter after being shot by a soldier when trying to flee an infected zone. This tremendous loss sets the tone for the remainder of Joel’s life and creates a void that is eventually filled by Ellie. Joel and Ellie’s bond is one of the driving forces behind TLOU’s world feeling ‘alive.’ Their chemistry, constant repartee and unflinching love take the game’s storyline to deep, dark places, questioning in the process how far video game narratives can really go.
TLOU is already one of the most cinematic and narrative-heavy gaming titles that could’ve been adapted. It’s a storyline that’s so gruelling and riveting that it transcends its medium. The story is so incredibly well-crafted and deeply grounded in love and emotion despite the backdrop of an extinction-level threat. The emphasis is on the people, it’s always the people. The scale feels personal.
It was no ordinary zombie cover-shooter that was released around the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era, of which there were plenty. TLOU dealt with complex narrative-first and emotional story arcs and executed them to near perfection against the backdrop of the pandemic. The whole storyline was accompanied by a constant undercurrent of love, love in every single decision made by the characters we are invested in.
In fact, the final act of the game, widely regarded as one of the most impactful endings in video game history, is the crowning moment for all the love and pain that Joel and the players/viewers experienced over the course of TLOU’s campaign.
It almost feels alien to appreciate a video game adaptation to an extent such as this. Because there’s a lingering question that accompanies it: What makes this one different?
Getting the band together
It’s not like shows and movies didn’t get casting right before, but it obviously does help that Pedro Pascal is the perfect Joel Miller. He’s a phenomenal actor and possesses the solemnity that current-day Joel does, having been through everything he has since his daughter Sarah’s death. Pascal’s gravitas is a worthy counterpart to Troy Baker’s immense performance in the source material.
Bella Ramsey was more of an unknown quantity heading into the show, at least to those outside the Game of Thrones and British TV circles. She was subjected to meaningless criticism due to a lack of likeness to Ellie from the PlayStation title.
Well, she’s turned in nothing but power-packed and nuanced performances so far, and we’re only two episodes in. Ramsey manages to retain Ellie’s rebellious and fiery attitude and doesn’t look to merely imitate the source material, but deliver a personalized rendition with her commanding on-screen presence. Look no further than her flipping off Marlene and the other Fireflies in episode one to get an idea of just what she brings to the table.
The two leads, it must also be said, appear to have a lovely chemistry off-screen, which is evidently conveyed by their portrayals of Joel and Ellie. But they’re far from the only reasons which make this show so, so good.
Gabriel Luna’s Tommy Miller practically sounds like Jeffery Pierce’s iteration from the games and he’s seamlessly slotted into the lore of the show so far. Elsewhere, Tess — who was at the heart of a shocking moment at the end of episode two — has been commendably portrayed by Anna Torv, while sitcom veteran Nick Offerman is set to play Bill in the upcoming episodes.
A narrative and a cast so strong needs to be wielded even more cautiously while adapting it, lest the creative team risk denting one of the most iconic gaming titles in history. Thankfully, this is not the case as the two minds behind the show — Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin — already appear to be on course to deliver one of the most genre-defining game adaptations to date.
Druckmann was the creative director and writer for both Last of Us games, so his involvement in the project is a given. He was instrumental in the making of the 2013 release that went on to become one of console gaming’s most iconic titles. However, what personally stood out to me as part of the visual appeal of the two episodes was Mazin’s influence on the project.
Enter Craig Mazin: Chernobyl man’s masterful influence
Mazin was the creative force behind HBO’s multiple award-winning miniseries, Chernobyl, which continues to be held in extremely high regard universally. The American showrunner displayed a level of mastery over his craft that was nearly unimaginable, taking up a human disaster so colossal and cataclysmic yet making it feel as personal as possible.
Mazin’s world in Chernobyl was haunting and the doom and despair could be felt in the air. His utilisation of perspectives of specific individuals during the nuclear disaster, for instance, provided different microcosmic experiences of the true horrors faced by the victims. Mazin managed to do this with the help of several facets of filmmaking. The claustrophobic cinematography, the haunting score, and the purposeful editing are all in sync to create this despair-laden surrounding.
His incredible approach to conveying exposition using different tools was also on full display in Chernobyl. The scene depicting the first time Valery Legasov caught a whiff of what might’ve actually happened was simply brilliant because the viewers witnessed first-hand his unadulterated reaction, before going into a room full of people. It’s up close and personal because the narrative currently runs through Legasov, making him a vessel via which the viewers can experience the impact of a nuclear power plant meltdown.
His reaction is then followed by an explanation of the suspected blast (exposition for the viewers). However, since we’ve already seen the devastation it has caused via Legasov, this exposition feels far more valuable than a mere background narration or the like.
This moment serves as an important point as there is an uncannily similar scene in TLOU which has a similar (if not worse) impact. Episode two of the show, titled ‘Infected,’ starts off with an original cold-open focused on Ibu Ratna, a Mycology professor in Jakarta, Indonesia, two days before the initial breakout day in 2003.
She initially identifies a test sample of cordyceps before entering a sealed room to examine the body of an infected patient. The viewers are then shown the horrified reaction of Ratna, someone who’s spent a lifetime studying fungi when she very quickly grasps the reality of the situation.
The professor then goes on to deliver a spine-chilling response to queries regarding a potential vaccine saying there ‘is no cure’ for this disease and that the only way out is by bombing cities at once.
These sequences share a lot in common. Visually, in both scenes, we are constantly fixed on Legasov and Ratna, with others either out of focus or missing from the shot. The shots are framed from their perspectives and, given they’re both professors, their expositional breaking down of the situation adds immense credibility as well as heightens the daylight-horror feel.
The score is dim and fills the air with a similar tense atmosphere, and both of them set the tone for episodes and possibly their seasons from a narrative standpoint. It’s just brilliant dramatizing of such dark events, making it more suitable for this medium.
The cold open from TLOU’s pilot also deserves a mention as it does an excellent job of establishing a grim and dreadful tone for the remainder of the episode’s 80-minute runtime. The original contribution from Mazin adds a layer of depth to the reality that humanity is set to be faced with in the not-too-distant future. From a technical standpoint, this cold open also employs many similar tools to the two scenes compared above, and also ends with a frightening prophecy of sorts — ‘we lose’ (should there be a fungi outbreak).
Hive-minded Infected
From a pure storyline perspective, the noteworthy change — from the spores of the infected to tendrils — could potentially be a masterful one. Mazin and Druckmann elucidated that in this rendition, the infected work a bit like a hive mind and can communicate with other infected even if they’re miles away. They can be alerted to the presence of someone else should they step on a tendril even if they are physically far apart.
This fascinating change, in a way, makes them an even more formidable force compared to the source material. It makes a compelling weapon for the creative team to play around with to make clicker sequences more riveting as a moment’s notice could be enough for the leads to be swarmed with hoards of infected.
On the other hand, the change also aligns the infected further with the overarching theme of the show — something that the writers have referred to time and again — love. If you’ve played the game, you would be aware that only love dictates the actions of key individuals that have terrifying repercussions.
Mazin alluded to this hive mind in HBO’s TLOU podcast, saying “the fungus loves, too!,” when breaking down the infamous zombie kiss shot in episode two. They suggested that the infected who walked up to Tess was welcoming a recently-bitten individual into their hive-mind structure.
Scaling between mediums + Perspective
In a survival horror such as TLOU, there is an unimaginable amount of potential to utilize perspective to create a sense of tension, and the creative team have already begun to employ it.
‘Infected’ gave the viewers a first run-in with the clickers and it was as riveting as it was the first time I encountered one in the game in a dark room, if not more. One of the highlights from the episode was an anxious moment which saw Joel trying to reload his revolver quietly with a clicker nearly breathing down his neck.
The frame, which initially gives the viewers a peak at the clicker nearby, pans closer onto Joel and puts the viewer in the vantage point of a terrified 56-year-old with a claustrophobic shot. Joel can’t hear or see the clicker either in that moment since he doesn’t have the super-hearing game mechanic, giving this sequence an immensely tense layer in live action.
The original game was littered with moments where the players are asked to take a moment to take in the sights of an overgrown Boston or an abandoned museum.
Taking time to acquaint oneself with a new open world is fundamentally a part of gaming itself, given how much more of an immersive medium it is compared to film. However, the creative team manage to retain that sense of calm and serenity of looking over a scenic view between action-packed set-pieces and clicker chases. This highlights once again how true this rendition is to the original, not just visually but also in terms of the experience.
Movies and shows based on zombie events are a dime a dozen, so to stand out from the rest a sequence really does require a conviction in its narrative and an ability to keep the viewers captive. The amount of time spent on character development and reaction shots — such as the scene with Joel and Tess interrogating Ellie in ‘Infected’ — keeps the audience invested in the characters’ personal motivations.
Another pertinent factor here is scaling the game for the new medium. It would seem hardly realistic to have a 56-year-old Joel running around taking down an endless barrage of infected with an assault rifle and baseball bats.
We’ve only faced two real threats from clickers right up until the last few minutes of the second episode so far but the encounters were satisfying because the stakes for them were set up properly.
It is important to understand what made the title so successful in its 2013 iteration and determine what made it work in that medium to truly be able to translate the same fear into another medium. This is something the show has excelled at so far.
These are just a few interesting facets that highlight the immense amount of substance beneath the surface in HBO’s TLOU. It suggests that the first two episodes haven’t just been flashes of lightning in a pan. Instead, they’re a part of what appears to be the first video game adaptation that could potentially break the glass ceiling that’s always loomed over this genre.
The nature of the original story was too compatible for an on-screen adaptation for it to be left alone, so it’s hardly surprising that we finally have a live-action version. That being said, what has definitely been a surprise is the product they’ve delivered so far.
The gripping performances, the immaculate set design/VFX work, Mazin’s evident influence… we could go on and on. Every imaginable facet of the two episodes aired so far, simply put, in simpatico. And with season two already confirmed, things appear all the more promising for the future of this genre of entertainment.
This level of cinematic nous and craft has simply never been witnessed in any video game adaptation to date.
It’s about time.
Thank you for your time!
— Sai Teja