After many years of filming and a wave of extremely positive critic reviews, the first episode of HBO's TV adaptation of The Last of Us is now available for viewing. Named When You're Lost in the Darkness, what are your first impressions of the series after watching the first 1 hour and 35 minutes of the show? Has it lived up to the hype? Do you think it's a faithful adaptation of the PS3, PS4, and PS5 game so far?
We will have a full TV review of the first episode of The Last of Us later today, but for now, feel free to place a vote in our poll and share your first thoughts in the comments below. If you need more help finding out Where to Watch The Last of Us TV Show or are interested in a Full Cast List, click the links.
Comments 41
It was way better than I expected.Congratulations for the development team.
It is AMAZING! I cried again even when I already knew what was going to happen ):
The small changes they did actually serves the story very well and I got goosebumps when some of the very same dialogue from the game made its way to the show.
10/10. Best videogame adaptation and another HBO classic.
I really enjoyed the episode and I thought the characters were well acted but obviously it's way too early to give a real opinion. I'm looking forward to seeing more though.
Damn, they nailed it in my opinion. The changes they made still fit the overall narrative. The casting seems spot on too. Can't wait til next Sunday!
The live action video game adaption curse might have just been broken. I was optimistic going in but damn
Amazing. Better than I expected. I love how true to the game they stay, while also adding extra background and scenes. The casting has proven to be great as well.
Very good
My family watched it with me and we all really enjoyed it.
Can't wait for the next episode.
I will watch it with my controller next time, just to feel authentic.
Very, very good. Can't wait to see where it goes.
Well its not my thing really as i didnt enjoy the first game and never played the 2nd but i am glad that the tv series has turned out well for the fans and i'm glad they seem to be enjoying it 👍
Awesome start...looking to really be the best video game adaptation ever. Opening scene was as close to the videogame as it could have, despite been set in a different year. Too bad I can't enjoy fully knowing the plot, but definitely interesting to see where it is going and contrast with the game. Found it hard to believe that the Mandalorian guy is Joel tough, after spending so many hours with the other one
I had very low expectations, but I quite liked the first episode. Even the changes and added scenes didn't bother me at all and never hindered the pacing. I'm pretty interested to see where this goes.
I’m hooked! And I’ve loved getting my non-gamer friends and fam hooked as well
One word: Generic. Nothing I haven't seen before done better. I cannot imagine sticking with the show for long if this is the trend going forward.
It’s the first episode so I won’t get too excited, however they did a great job. I love all the casting except for Ellie, I don’t think she’s bad, but I’m still adjusting to her look versus the video game Ellie. Anyways happy everyone is enjoying the show. I hope they can keep it up.
It's great, unlike other shows that use other media to tell more or less the same story, I feel like this was made by writers that played the games and liked them.
I especially LOVE the scene at the start that takes place in 1969... There is no cure fungal infections, and I'm glad it was brought up in the show, seeing as how the games love to ignore this fact. It has me really hopeful to see if that's a scene they are using to set up a conflict that goes COMPLETELY ignored in the game.
@Constable_What
What conflict are you trying to infer?
@PegasusActual93 I thought it was apparent in my comment, but it's the fact fungal infections are not curable (they're treatable which is an important distinction). This isn't brought up in the games, and a cure is what forms the central conflict in both games.
The game never mentions that, so it ignores a possible conflict where a character knows that you can't cure a fungal infection, or a book or recording stats that there's no cure.
Personally, even if the show doesn't have a conflict arise from this knowledge, the fact that it mentions that "there's no cure" really adds to the hopeless atmosphere, which I really like.
@Constable_What
At the end of the first game Joel mentions that "they couldn't find a cure so they stopped trying" to Ellie. Sure you could just brush that off as Joel lying to Ellie and nothing more, but Joel is also a smart man. He wouldn't tell a lie that didn't have some semblance of truth to it.
@PegasusActual93 I totally, but respectfully disagree; that just doesn't make any logical sense.
If Joel knew there wasn't a cure for fungal infections why would he go through all the trouble of taking Ellie all the way to the Firefly base, when he can tell her that there's no cure, and go on a cute field trip to a library to show her to put her mind at ease?
He didn't know, if he did he would have said or done something to try and mend the relationship, and we do see him take steps to do that as well.
It's not a "brush off" to say that Joel lied by saying, "they couldn't find a cure so they stopped trying" because that's exactly what happened. He didn't know, he isn't the type of character to go out of his way to hurt the ones he loves.
You know who probably knew though? Abby's dad.
@Constable_What
Joel would have still gone through all the trouble because:
1. At the start of the journey he saw Ellie as nothing more than a job.
2. They bonded over the journey to the point Joel couldn't have the heart to tell her it's all likely fruitless since Ellie wanted to attempt a cure (plus maybe he wanted to believe there is a cure deep down despite knowing or at least believing it's all BS)
3. Figured they were just going to do some tests, find nothing worthwhile then release her back to him until learning the operation would kill Ellie.
Plus even if scientists are still desperately trying to find a cure the rest of society could still just know deep down inside that there couldn't be a cure. Not to mention only a few people know of Ellie being immune, so survivors at large wouldn't even have that modicum of hope. Joel taking Ellie away would have been the official final nail in the coffin of any cure, so yes Joel would have figured there is an element of truth to that lie. Therefore I deduce either he knew there's no cure or at the very least was a firm believer there isn't one. But hey that's just a theory. A game theory.
@PegasusActual93 Figuring isn't knowing though, and someone knowing has always been the crux of my argument, and why I think the scene at the start of TLOU show is so great.
Joel didn't know, and even if I were to agree with your points above (I don't agree, sorry), they don't seem to even set out to explain that Joel knew a cure was impossible.
He didn't know. Maybe he figured there wasn't a cure if they had to kill Ellie, but TLOU2 kind of contradicts that at the end where Joel is talking to Ellie in the flashback scene after the final confrontation with Abby, where he says he'd do it again. He'd sacrifice the whole world for her, and it's not really a sacrifice to him if he knew it was pointless anyway, right?
Many years of filming? Really?
Finally, a video game adaption that's really good
@uptownsoul idk I’m loving the tendrils thing
@LifeGirl sucks you couldn’t enjoy it but hey that’s how art works
It's pretty good.
I guessed it would be the little old lady next door.
I like the subtle references to twitching. The kid in the classroom with the shiny bracelet, the dodgy soldier.
The Podcast now live, listening to it now, refers to lots of little things to look out for.
I haven't watched it yet and am probably going to wait so I can binge it but after watching the trailer, it highlighted so many moments from the game. In one way it's great they are showing those know the game that they will not stray to far, on the other hand, we already know the story. Watching GoT when everyone was wondering what would happen next but already knowing years before who lived and who died did took the edge off, this could be the same. Not a fan of the idea for replacing the spores but I'm not a film maker so until I've seen the result I'm to going to judge.
I’m waiting to binge it. The final season of Walking Dead comes first for me too, so the binge comes after I finish that, whenever that is. I have a feeling I’ll be warmer to the show than Part 1 as a “remake” though.
Just watched the first episode and I liked it.
Holy *****, that was amazing!
Was honestly surprised. It was really damn good. BUT a pilot can often be deceiving. So we'll see what happens going forward.
I liked it. I thought it did well enough following the game. I'm excited for future episodes.
@Constable_What not arguing about whether or not fungal infections can be cured - but you seem to be focusing on this distinction (that they can only be treated, not cured) and ignoring the fact that Ellie is completely immune.
Obviously, we're not talking actual events here so I don't know if immunity itself is just unfeasible in a real life scenario, but surely if the world was in the sort of state that it's in in TLOU, and you found a kid with immunity, it would be worth looking into, even if only to develop "treatment" rather than a cure? I get that there's a distinction between "cure" and "treatment", but the distinction is pretty meaningless if the effect (fewer fungal zombies) is the same
Feel free to correct me as I could just be talking jibberish and not knowing it it just seems to me that a completely immune human would be a significant thing indeed in a world like TLOU's, regardless of whether the best they can hope for is "treatment"
Also seems to me that the doctors, scientists etc. would know full well the distinction between "treatment" and "cure", but the doers on the front lines might not understand the distinctions quite as well, and the hope for "a cure" is probably a better motivation than the knowledge that there's no such thing, despite the fact that treatment would be just as big of a deal, in a world that has neither
@LifeGirl opinions are our own, of course. But at this point what new have you seen that’s wholly original? Because we’ve seen everything before. And an adaptation most certainly won’t be original.
Loved it
The way they built a connection between Joel and his daughter so quickly was impressive. Aside from that some good production value already too
I thought that was absolutely awesome, so enjoyable. The part with Sarah gets me every time, no matter how many times I have seen it in the game
@danlk1ng I'm not ignoring that Ellie is immune at all, but even if one person is immune it doesn't immediately translate to a cure or even treatment for cordycepts does it? Being immune doesn't matter at all when a cure is not something that could be synthesized during the height of human discovery and medical technology, and treatments for just as nonexistent. Keep in mind they talk about a vaccine too, which is not possible.
And suddenly...Abby's dad can a cure it or even treat it, with only a few months of knowing someone is immune, when everyone else pre-apocolypse couldn't? He definitely knew it wasn't possible to cure, maybe he thought he could treat it? Would he distinguish the two? Or would he lie about it for a slim chance? The game doesn't really address that either.
That's not even the crux of my argument though, here's why I think the story stating a cure isn't possible is significant and demonstrates better storytelling than the game:
It's not going to paint Joel as someone who deprived humanity a chance to start over with a cure. He's still a killer, but almost everyone is in the TLOU, they all just justify it somehow. Instead of the audience focusing on the cure as a source of hope, they now have to focus on the relationships the characters make to pull each other out of the dark times they face, and that's why people love TLOU right? Not the overarching narrative, but the character relationships.
Ellie being immune is what kicks off the whole core narrative, so it is significant, I've never downplayed that, but the game DOES ignore the fact that fungal infections aren't curable, and show informs the audience of this fact immediately.
Even if the show follows the exact same story beats as the game, this recontextualizes a lot of the motivations the characters have. ESPECIALLY the characters that would know this fact. Like Abby's dad, who is portrayed like a saint (probably due to Abby's perspective on him during her flashbacks, I think she is delusional and only remembers the good parts) because someone that can throw their ethics and what they know for a fact away for something that isn't even a chance isn't a saint.
So when that time comes around, and we see Abby's perspective on her father, we won't just be forced to have her perspective. We will have had the knowledge that he was trying to do the impossible at the cost of someone else's daughter, knowing he wouldn't be able to do the same to his, and can see him not as a righteous man, but as hopeful and kind, but and naive, arrogant, and deluded.
This could have helped the characterization of Abby's crew too. Because they were all in it for the cure, and if it was stated there wasn't any, they'd be poor fools that were lied to by a desperate man being misled to their deaths, instead of the utterly unlikable pieces of garbage they ended up being. There could have been a clear parallel between Joel's lie to Ellie and his people, and Abby's dad's lie to Abby and his people. But the game was really afraid to do that clearly for some reason.
TL;DR: the fact that the game ignores a cure being impossible takes the focus away from what matters about the TLOU and its world: the people that come together to pick their lives up.
The show focusing less on the cure, by stating there isn't any immediately will force the audience to examine the characters rather than the overarching narrative.
As someone who hasn't played the game before, I thought it was very well written. The introduction with the tv show introduced the premise well and you could relate to it having been through COVID. The scene with the dying daughter was heartbreaking and impactful. The government agency trying to quarantine the fungus reminded me of efforts made by governments during COVID. There were a few cheesy elements: the zombie people with the fungus coming out of their mouth looked a bit B-grade, and the graffiti written on the wall looked like something out of a computer game, and the hunt for the truck battery seemed like an obvious macguffin or sidequest from a game. But other than that it was entertaining.
@LifeGirl found the one vote for terrible. always 1 person who cant help but hate on last of us cuz its popular to do so
Its excellent, But then again so is the source material.
Really enjoyed it. Kinda wishing I didn't know how the whole thing plays out, must be a great experience to watch without having played the game.
Had my doubts about Pedro Pascal playing Joel, but think he's doing a great job.
Finding it hard to adjust to Ellie, but maybe she'll grow on me as the series continues. I did find myself wishing that the actors for Sarah and Ellie were switched, I thought Sarah was superb!
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