It was 2014 when the first adaptation of The Last of Us was announced. Screen Gems, the studio behind all the Resident Evil movies and dozens of other horror movies, was set to bring The Last of Us to the big screen. Of course, this never happened. Instead, the movie ended up being a TV show that landed on HBO, and the rest is great storytelling.
The first season of HBO’s The Last of Us is GameSpot’s best TV show of 2023. Not only did it change the proverbial game by becoming the best live-action adaptation of a popular video game, but it expanded the world in interesting ways. And made us fall in love with new versions of Joel and Ellie.
Played perfectly by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay, respectively, this new live-action version of Ellie and Joel are an emotionally powerful duo. When you add in the characters that have been heavily developed for the show — for example, Bill, Frank, Sam, Henry, and Riley — the show is packed with incredible characters from everyone involved.
The Last Of Us Episode 8 Breakdown: Ellie goes to war with David and the cannibals
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Episode 3, in particular, stands out as one of the best episodes of television in years. It’s what’s most explored in the notes and shredded paper in the game — the relationship between Bill and Frank — and makes it one of the most endearing and tender stories on modern television. In a world as dark as the one depicted in The Last of Us, it was refreshing to see such a healthy love story blossom and flourish in the apocalypse. The two characters were able to live their lives as they pleased, enjoying the quiet and peaceful embrace of their home, while the world around them fell apart.
However, it’s not just one episode that makes The Last of Us our show of the year. Instead, it’s a series that seemingly did everything it could to appeal to fans of the series while struggling to embrace those who knew nothing about the world. It used its pilot episode to subtly introduce viewers to the terrifying situation at hand, and spent subsequent episodes faithfully recreating many aspects of the original game, while providing just enough of a twist to keep us going. Keep away from too much comfort.
Now, looking ahead, we’re not sure what to expect. Will Season 2 jump right into the second game or tell some of the stories that surely happened in the years between the two games? Whatever happens, we hope to nail it like we did in season 1.
