The Last of Us: Why you should watch the video game-inspired show

Even if you’ve never played or heard of the video game, The Last Us will be a show you want to check out. 

Once upon a time, you could rely on a video game show or movie being bad, cheesy, or both. The original Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter (not the animated one), and Doom are examples of poorly done adaptations. A lot of it had to do with the lack of a good plot. Soon, Resident Evil came along and changed the way this genre of movie was done. It gave the audience a balance of action and a story that was easy and fun to follow.

Speaking of stories, that’s another advancement in video games. A lot of the time, gamers want more than just action and adventure. The better the tale, the easier it is to make it into something more. That’s why Uncharted was turned into a movie and Halo was adapted in a TV show.

It’s understandable that HBO and HBO Max would get into the game (pun intended) and The Last of Us is the perfect project for their streaming platform. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never played the game or heard of it. This is a show you’ll want to keep up with.

The Last of Us story

The Last of Us is going to be a show everyone will talk about. If it’s like the source material, the action, drama, and heartbreak will happen immediately. Seeing it in live action will probably make the origin even more emotional. While the show will likely have a good amount of shocking moments (at least that’s what we’ve seen in the trailer!), the narrative is the driving force.

As the game tells us, Joel goes through a horrific night that ruins his life. Something that would normally break a person. Instead, Joel seems to have gotten physically stronger. However, he cut himself off emotionally. But everyone in the new world may have as well. Seeing the changes and how everyone adapts makes this a fantastic tale. Some of it makes sense. Other times it’s awful how people take advantage of the situation.

Here’s hoping the show successfully brings all of that to the screen and more.

The Last of Us cast

A bad cast can make or break a project. Admittedly, this writer doesn’t know all of the actors on The Last of Us. However, there are four names that have proven to be stars or greats in the making.

Of course there’s Pedro Pascal who’s amazing in everything; most recently in The Mandalorian. Bella Ramsey killed (literally and figuratively) it in Game of Thrones. Storm Reid (Euphoria) is a great actress with so much potential. Lastly, there’s Nick Offerman. You may know him from his iconic role as Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation, but he shows even better range in A League of Their Own on Amazon.

Those four should be more than enough to show that this cast will help make The Last of Us a must-see.

What you should know going in

Don’t go into The Last of Us thinking this will be a zombie filled series. The undead are a secondary part of the game. Sure, they’re the reason that people are scared and the world is in shambles, but they don’t drive the story. The characters do. It’s very much like The Walking Dead. The difference is the two main characters don’t need zombies to survive.

First, there’s Joel. He isn’t like Rick Grimes. Years into the apocalypse, everything he does is self serving. When you see what happened to him, you’ll understand. A tragedy like that could ruin anyone’s life, especially their thoughts towards the world. Does that change as the show progresses? You’ll have to wait and see.

And then there’s Ellie who’s nothing like Carl. Ellie is self reliant, isn’t annoying, and has a sarcastic sense of humor. There are also times throughout the game where she’s saved Joel’s life. It makes sense that Bella Ramsey is bringing her to life in the upcoming show. She was believably gritty in Game of Thrones. Casting her must have been an easy decision.

Hopefully HBO doesn’t Game of Thrones this. What this writer means is mess with what’s already a near flawless story. The Game of Thrones books weren’t finished. Because of that, the creative team had to freestyle a lot of the ending. It didn’t help that a couple of the writers also didn’t take HBO’s advice and take their time. This led to the team taking too much liberty with the show and rushing the ending.

Considering that two of The Last of Us games are out, maybe stopping where the second game concludes is the best course of action. We’ve seen how programs running too long can ruin a show (Dexter is a perfect example). At the very least, delay the season until the rest of the game is out.

Admittedly, this writer is looking too far ahead. The show hasn’t premiered yet. We’ll have to wait and see what HBO does with The Last of Us. Hopefully the show is great and it lives up to its potential.

What do you think, readers? Will you be watching The Last of Us on HBO Max? Let us know in the comments below.