Madison Kwiecinski – Editor-in-Chief 

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

Thrilling, intense, and suspenseful, HBO’s “The Last of Us” has been all of this and more throughout the five episodes that have been released so far. 

“The Last of Us” is being created as an adaptation to the original PS4 game which came first, which largely explains the extreme level of suspense that accompanies each episode. Due to the original game being largely stealth-based, the producers have opted to emphasize this through many quiet or silent scenes, where the characters could potentially be in imminent danger but all the viewer can do is wait and see. 

Thus far, every episode that has been released has done an excellent job of furthering either the characters or the overall story in a big way. “The Last of Us” is also unique in the zombie genre itself, as this disease spawned from a bacteria in the food source that mutated due to climate change allowing it the ability to harm humans rather than the typical zombie virus. 

Due to the unique nature of how the virus began, the zombies in this show took some real artistic talent, and it is worth drawing attention to. Ellie, the young girl Joel is now finally resigned to helping cross the country asks him at one point how he figured the virus began, to which he responded that it was probably a staple ingredient, such as the flower that caused it. 

There are different species and levels of zombies, the blind scary ones being referred to as ‘clickers’ and several other horrifying or much more dormant ones being seen throughout the series. They also all have incredibly unique and artistic features, being covered in tiny mushrooms and fungi all over. 

Joel begins this series incredibly solemn and grumpy but is clearly showing some growth as he begins to find Ellie humorous and is seen enjoying bits of her humor throughout the series. He, however, is untrusting while Ellie is typically ready for the next adventure, sometimes not being as cautious as Joel would like. 

Ellie is determined to crack Joel and make him open up, while also learning how to cope in a world that seems to be even more horrific than she probably would have figured, though it is difficult for the audience to tell so far how much this has phased her. 

To put it frankly and in the language, Ellie so often uses to describe Joel, they are both assholes to each other at the beginning of the series, in the kind of way that just makes it all that more enjoyable to watch a relationship grow for the viewer. 

I think it is especially important to note the third episode of this series, which is a very unique and extremely well-done episode. While it does tie into the series and is very beneficial to the plot in the long term, this episode could be viewed almost entirely on its own and be just enjoyable to watch because rather than centering around our typically two characters, it is about the story of Bill and Frank. 

Episode three, “Long Long Time” is artfully done, beginning in an incredibly suspenseful manner where even the viewer is not sure who to trust or who holds what motives. The story advances to become a beautifully tragic love story that can only be fully appreciated by viewing it yourself. 

Bill is played by Nick Offerman, perhaps best known for his role as Ron Swanson on “Parks and Recreation” played by Bill. 

On a final note, I would like to mention a few of the things I think the producers of “The Last of Us” are doing an incredible job with regarding adapting this show from a video game specifically. Bill and Frank’s story, for example, is something you could explore only briefly by playing the game and if left entirely up to your imagination other than that. Instead, adapting this into a TV show gave them a chance to advance two other characters’ stories entirely separately from Joel and Ellie in an intriguing and more cinematic way and then tie the story back together, making for a more dynamic plot. 

Also, this show does not feel like a videogame where it is linear with a one hundred percent pre-determined story, but it does do a very good job paying homage to its origin for those who want to find the video game easter eggs. For example, in the game, Ellie discovers a joke book and reads lines of it to Joel, something the producers have worked into the show as a way to advance Joel and Ellie’s relationship. 

Overall, I hope I did not overly spoil this story for anyone interested, and that you give “The Last of Us” a try because it is one of the most interesting and, so far, well-developed pieces of post-apocalyptic media I have seen in a while.