We waited long and finally got it! The first episode of "The Last of Us" is out! How did it turn out? Did the creators manage to convey the spirit of the game and bring something new to the narrative? Let's figure it out together.

A Few Words About the Game

The Last of Us is a game by Neil Druckmann and the studio Naughty Dog, released in 2013. The game's story tells us about a post-apocalyptic world infected by a virus caused by a dangerously mutated fungus, cordyceps.

The game achieved cult status due to its interesting story, well-written characters voiced by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, and gameplay that is an action-adventure with survival horror elements.

What Was Done Differently?

One of the executive producers and screenwriters of the project is Neil Druckmann himself, so HBO assured us that the series would be as faithful as possible to the spirit of the game. However, we could already see a few small changes in the first episode.

Infection

People no longer get infected through the gas emitted by fungal spores. The first episode shows that it is still possible to become a carrier of the virus through a bite. Other possibilities are still unknown.

Timeframe

According to the game, the global mutation and subsequent pandemic occurred in 2013. The series tells us that the events began in 2003.

Warning: spoilers for episode 1 of the series "The Last of Us" follow below

What is the First Episode About?

Prologue

At the very beginning, the series shows us a fragment from a 1960s talk show. A skeptical host (Josh Brener) asks scientists about viruses. One of the guests (John Hannah) talks about a possible mutation of fungi due to global warming, which, if it happens, would leave humanity no chance of survival. A telling pause hangs in the air.

This short but charming episode is a kind of prologue and prediction. It explains to us the reasons for the tragedy in the future.

In the game, we learn this kind of detail through exploring the world. Since we are deprived of that opportunity in the series, I thought this plot device was very fitting.

The Miller Family

2003.

The first shots introduce us to Sarah Miller (Nico Parker), the daughter of Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), the main character. Sarah is an ordinary teenage girl in the 2000s: she wears a pink t-shirt, has posters on her wall, and in the next room, her father, a veteran of "Desert Storm" and a builder, Joel, who coincidentally has his birthday today, has overslept again.

The series gives a little more time to Sarah herself and the daily life of the Miller family. We meet their neighbors, the nice elderly Adler couple who love raisin cookies, see Sarah at her school desk, and watch Joel's favorite action movie on DVD – none of this, of course, was in the game. But for the series, it is very important to evoke empathy for the characters in the viewer, and it does this very well.

HBO has repeatedly shown how much attention they pay to details (the series "Chernobyl" is a vivid example). Your eyes catch on the push-button phone in its very familiar case, the TV that stood in my room during my school years, the design of Sarah's t-shirt, which has exactly the same print as Sarah's from the game but a different color and style, making it a bright part of its time.

Here, I want to especially highlight the acting of Nico Parker. In her short screen time, she evokes sympathy, and the image of a teenager who seems to take more care of her father than the other way around turned out very well for her.

How Did the Epidemic Start?

The series authors and the director of the first episode, Craig Mazin, managed to convey the tension that the game once evoked. Some scenes are copied identically, while being organically woven into the new narrative.

Sarah, having fallen asleep watching a movie with Joel, unexpectedly wakes up in her room. Her father is not there. The girl hears the news and looks in on the neighbors. She sees the old woman, who just hours ago was sitting in a wheelchair, devouring her daughter-in-law.

The appearance of the infected here is slightly different from the game. Something like antennae protrudes from their mouths (which personally reminded me somehow of "The Food Block"). Sarah, horrified, gets out of the house, where she meets Joel and his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna). They get into the car and leave the area.

After a gripping episode where the heroes try to break through a blockade, they are caught by a soldier who is ordered to shoot Joel and Sarah. Tommy shoots the soldier, but it's too late – he has already mortally wounded Sarah. The daughter dies in Joel's arms.

What Happened 20 Years Later?

In the first shot of 2023, we see a girl of about eight (Marlie Grace Becker) in large, memorable sneakers. She reaches a checkpoint in post-apocalyptic Boston, where she is met by soldiers.

In just a couple of shots, the series wins me over as a fan of the game. The lovingly recreated urban landscapes, where a once-civilized city is destroyed and its buildings are completely overgrown.

We are made to understand that the girl is infected. They inject her with some kind of medicine; the next time we see her dead body still in those same sneakers is when Joel is burning the bodies of the infected.

In this short episode, the viewer understands – humanity has not found a cure for this virus in 20 years.

Joel in the series is not only a smuggler but also a handyman. He survives in the new world as best he can. He lost contact with his brother Tommy three weeks ago and now intends to go beyond the wall to find him. For this, he needs a car battery.

Here, the series introduces Tess (Anna Torv), Joel's partner. Together they try to solve the battery problem, which leads them to the lair of the terrorist group "The Fireflies".

"The Fireflies"

The Fireflies are canonical – they are still an extremist group that has long opposed the Agency, the militaristic organization ruling Boston. The Fireflies suffer defeat time and again.

In one of the rooms, we see a girl on a chain. She introduces herself as Veronica. The resistance leader Marlene (Merle Dandridge) visits the girl. The woman tells her that she knows her real name – Ellie (Bella Ramsey), and also tells her that the girl is special, and it is because of this specialness that Ellie is important to the Fireflies, and today they will leave Boston.

The Meeting of Joel and Ellie

In the Fireflies' lair, Marlene, wounded after an attack, asks Joel and Tess for help – to deliver Ellie to their headquarters beyond the wall. In return, she promises any supplies they ask for.

After this episode, we see a very touching scene that is visually almost shot-for-shot copied from the game, but with plot additions. Joel and Ellie come to their apartment. Ellie finds a reference book of music hits, inside which lies a piece of paper with a code. The resourceful girl almost immediately understands that, according to the code, if a song from the 80s is playing on the radio, it means things are bad.

The main characters of "The Last of Us" make it beyond the wall, not without problems. During the escape, Tess finds out that Ellie is infected. It turns out the girl was bitten by an infected person three weeks ago, but she is still alive. The heroes decide to leave the investigation until a safe place and leave.

The Final Scene

The episode ends with a shot where, on the aforementioned radio, we hear the song Depeche Mode – I’m taking a ride with my best friends. The scene looks like an ironic prediction, because despite the optimistic title, it’s from the 80s...

Impressions

The first episode makes a good impression. It is gripping and intriguing. The creators paid a lot of attention to the music – the same instruments are used as in the game's soundtrack, which is not surprising, since the composer of the original game, two-time Academy Award winner for Best Original Score Gustavo Santaolalla, also joined the HBO project.

The writers of the show "The Last of Us" changed Joel's motivation, making Pedro Pascal's character more sentimental, which evokes greater empathy.

The casting of actress Bella Ramsey as Ellie was subjected to harsh criticism, primarily due to the lack of physical resemblance. In-game Ellie has soft facial features. Partly because of this, you believe that despite the girl's combative nature, she definitely needs protection. Bella Ramsey's facial features are coarser; moreover, the actress has already established an image of a combative, independent character thanks to another HBO studio project – "Game of Thrones" (Lyanna Mormont).

But it seems to me that Bella is doing a very good job; the young British actress even manages to imitate an American accent (although in the phrase I’m actually outside an inner Englishman slipped out). Perhaps her Ellie will turn out slightly different, but no less charming and interesting.

Tess, played by Anna Torv, is delightful. She is charming, dangerous, yet intelligent and resourceful.

As a big fan of the game, I am looking forward to the further development of the plot. Perhaps the hardest thing when it comes to an adaptation, and especially a video game adaptation where your viewer has not only read about the events in the source material but literally already seen these events, is to find that very balance between following the canon of the original and introducing something new to avoid being derivative. And, judging by the first episode, the series "The Last of Us" from HBO is doing an excellent job with this.