Back in 2013, The Last of Us video game jaw-droppingly awed us with its gripping story and captivating adventure filled with top-notch action gameplay. Now, 10 years later, we again find ourselves witnessing the same spell bounding story that has taken to the big screens!
When the game was first launched in 2013, it proved to be a commercially-hit video game title and sold out like hotcakes. Then, in 2014, its first-ever video game adaptation was planned into a movie. Unfortunately, it was not materialized due to conflicts between the game writer and the studio over its development strategy.
Now, after a long time in years, The Last of Us video game finally got its television show!
Release Date
The Last of Us TV series is a weekly TV Series show and its first episode aired on 15th January 2023.
About The Last of Us (TV Series)
The Last of Us is an American drama television show. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where an infectious virus outbreak has ravaged the world and laid destruction to everything in its wake.
Created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, this upcoming TV series will air on HBO exclusively. It is planned to be released in a total of 9 episodes. Its first season has already been filmed in Alberta, Canada, starting in June 2020 and ending in July 2021.
Neil Druckmann also happens to be the mastermind behind The Last of Us video game on which this television show is based.
Story Plot
The Last of Us TV series features the same captivating plot as originally featured in the 2013 super-hit game with the same name. It is a faithful video game adaptation and sticks to the original plot majority of the time.
The story takes place 20 years after the cordyceps fungus virus outbreak decimated most of human civilization. The protagonist is a middle-aged hardened survivor man named Joel who is constantly haunted by his tragic past.
Joel is a smuggler and works in collaboration with his co-partner, Tess. He is hired by a rebel militia group to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old teenage girl with a dangerous secret and quirky personality.
The mismatched duo sets out on a perilous journey and ventures through the hostile United States. Against all the terrible odds, horrifying zombies, and deadly clickers, the two are thrust together on a breathtaking road-trip journey across America.
A Zombie-Killing TV Series?
No. Even though it is based on an action-adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic world brimming with the “infected”, the theme of the television series is slightly different.
What starts as a small job quickly turns into a brutal and emotionally distressing journey in The Last of Us. Amidst the utter chaos and mayhem, Joel and Ellie must depend on each other for their ultimate survival!
Despite the fact that there are some gruesome encounters with the living-dead zombies and so-called clickers, it largely focuses on the relationship between the two main protagonists: Joel and Ellie.
The Last of Us Cast and Characters
More often than not, when it comes to selecting the cast and characters, video game adaptations fail miserably. This is inevitably reflected in their movie/television ratings.
However, The Last of Us television show is one of the rare exceptions to this trend! Through rigorous examination of several candidates, the producers of the show have managed to pick out the most refined character cast.
Let’s have a look at the major character roles in the TV series:
Joel: It is played by the Chilean-American actor, Pedro Pascal. He impeccably put on the character of Joel and performed it with utmost perfection. Joel tries to smuggle Ellie to the head of Fireflies, a rebel militia group.
Ellie: The English actor, Bella Ramsey, is starred as Ellie in the television show. She brilliantly takes on Ellie’s personality as if it was the most natural thing to do. Together with Joel, they embark on a heart-rending journey that fosters their father-daughter relationship.
Tess: Tess is Joel’s smuggling partner and its character roleplay is done by the Australian actor, Anna Torv. Both Joel and Tess are implied as lovers in the past but are unsure of their relationship.
Tommy: The character of Tommy is played by Gabriel Luna, an American actor as well as producer. He is Joel’s younger brother and a former soldier who always has an optimistic look on the future.
Marlene: She is the head of Fireflies and is played by Merle Dandridge. She hires Joel and firmly believes to be able in finding a cure for the infectious cordyceps fungus disease.
The Television Show Ratings
Even before its official release, The Last of Us has been able to garner near-perfect scores on almost all the rating websites!
Rotten Tomatoes has given it a score of 97% whereas Metacritic awarded it an 82% score. In the list of most popular TV series on IMDb, The Last of Us television show has shot up 21 points already and is currently at number 13.
Moreover, Empire, Collider, and Radio Times, all have given a 10/10 score. In addition to this, IGN has given a 9/10 rating while on The Telegraph, the TV series has accumulated a 4/5 score.
Now, when it has been released on 15th January, here are the updated ratings as of January 20th, 2023:
It shot up another 7 places on IMDb and is currently at number 6 with a rating of 9.4/10 based on 58K reviews! On Rotten Tomatoes, the rating has also improved and it is currently at a whopping 99%! In addition, the rating also improved on Metacritic and is currently at 84%!
It seems like The Last of Us television show is clean-sweeping the industry…
Final Thoughts
So, what do you think about this iconic video game adaptation? Is it worth your time?
Which is your favorite episode and what is your favorite moment? Let us know in the comments below!
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