The Last of Us brings the original game to life in the best possible way

This January, fans of the cult zombie survival video game The Last of Us are revisiting Ellie and Joel’s story on HBO Max, nearly 10 years after the original game’s release.

“Last of us” this name is all too well known to avid gamers. The recently popular video game has been adapted into a TV show on HBO Max featuring stars such as Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Storm Reid, Nicholas Offerman and Merle Dandridge.

The series follows Joel and Ellie as they travel across the post-apocalyptic United States while fighting a virus outbreak caused by a fungal cordyceps infection. The disease is usually airborne, but can also be spread through contact and surfaces and turns those who contract it into zombies.

For a generation of young fans who survived a deadly pandemic and grew up with popular dystopian franchises like The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent, the series offers a surprisingly comforting story for viewers who want to deal with anxiety about our lives. the future of the world. When you watch The Last of Us, you want to immerse yourself in this world despite all its chaos because its well-detailed setting and memorable characters mirror our encounters with our peers as we all experience the often heartbreaking parameters of our near-dystopia. once.

In The Last of Us, Joel (Pedro Pascal) is assigned to deliver Ellie (Bella Ramsey) to an unknown location in exchange for a truck to find his brother. As we follow this narrative, the show goes back to the early days of the outbreak in 2003 to explain its evolution to today, where the show takes place. The series does a lot of the right things and is faithful to the original video game, especially in that it allows viewers to sympathize with the tension and stress that Joel and Ellie are experiencing during the virus outbreak.

TV adaptation a gift for those who willingly played video games almost 10 years ago. But, at the same time, it’s also accessible enough for those who’ve never even heard of the game – those who just opened up HBO Max and decided on a whim to enter a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world.

While this basic formula has been used before—for example, in the award-winning adaptation of the Walking Dead comic book series—The Last of Us is different in that it appeals to different ages. His portrayal of Joel, a world-weary veteran of the apocalypse, may resonate with an older audience impacted by our ongoing pandemic, while his depiction of Ellie, a teenager coming of age in a new reality, may resonate with a younger audience that is growing. . in a confused, confused world. in his portrayal of Joel, a veteran of this apocalypse whose weary disposition can resonate with an older audience hurt by our ongoing global pandemic, and Ellie, a teenager born into this new reality, still trying to figure out its intricacies.

Both the video game and the series depict realistic father-daughter relationship dynamics between the main characters, although they are not actually related. Joel, the father figure, is reserved and has a more pessimistic view of the world, while Ellie, the daughter figure, harbors hope for the future despite her constant frustration with her life and current situation.

From the intimate moments between Joel and Ellie to the fear of a zombie jump, I was instantly transported 10 years back to the time in my life when I wanted to escape. Even now, I still want to be among the survivors of the apocalypse, living in the quarantine zone from the second series or Bill and Frank’s house in Massachusetts from the third series.

Only four episodes of The Last of Us have aired, but it’s safe to say that the show demonstrates the role of television as an arena for learning how we can rebuild a world after global trauma and destruction. Joel and Ellie’s story is especially important in today’s climate as its narrative focuses on the universal themes of love and acceptance at a time when the world is suffering from health and environmental issues.

Ultimately, the idea boils down to a question that comes up constantly throughout The Last of Us, a question we should all be asking ourselves: “What would you do for the people you love?”

Episodes of The Last of Us will continue to air on Sundays at 9:00 pm on HBO Max.

Contact Pritheva Zakaria by phone [email protected]