Hope HBO does The Last of Us justice

I wish Warner Bros. won the bidding war with the Tolkien Estate.

I have a feeling their Lord of the Rings show would have been vastly superior to what The Rings of Power gave us. HBO has a reputation for making high-quality TV, and they have proven as much with the first episode of The Last of Us. I was not looking forward to this show.

Much of the internet approached the adaptation with trepidation, probably because of the travesty that was Halo, but my concerns were different. Many were worried that HBO would butcher the source material. This happens with every popular adaptation. For reasons no one understands, screenwriters and showrunners are hesitant to stay true to the stories they adapt.

Again, look at Halo, a game known primarily for Masterchief, a faceless protagonist who never takes his helmet off. What did Paramount do? They took his helmet off in the first episode.

I liked Halo, but even as someone that could not care less about the Halo games, I thought taking Masterchief’s helmet off was a mistake because it killed the character’s mystique, turning the protagonist into a generic gravelly-voiced hero.

Fans had every reason to hold their collective breaths when HBO announced an adaptation of The Last of Us. However, I was worried HBO would remain faithful to the source material, and it would bore me to death. Some of my favourite moments of the last decade were of playing that game. But here’s the thing; I know that story pretty well, and seeing it recreated in a live-action show does not interest me.

The Last of Us succeeded as a game because it had such a cinematic feel. Rather than relying on cut scenes, the game provided character development during the gameplay through Ellie’s snide remarks and observations and Joel’s characteristic grunts.

The game already feels like one well-told 14-hour TV show. Every encounter with the clickers is dripping with tension. You can feel the hairs on your arms stand as you crawl through darkened hallways, the lights above flickering, the walls dripping with blood, as legions of the undead march through the streets outside.

I expected a faithful adaptation of this exquisite game to put me to sleep, because I could not imagine what the show would bring to the table that I had not already seen in the game.

After watching the first episode, I can’t say I changed my mind. That final moment between Sarah and Joel in the first few minutes of the game was heartbreaking. That same scene in the first half of episode one did nothing for me. First, I knew it was coming. Second, I think the game’s execution was better, because I was in control. With the show, I was engaged but not necessarily amazed.

The end of episode one left me wanting more. I want to see how things play out, even though I already know what to expect. In that regard, this adaptation is a triumph. If you have not watched it, think The Walking Dead. But instead of a virus that makes zombies, you have a fungus that eats its victims from the inside out, turning them into disgusting zombie/plant creatures.

Like the game, Joel and Ellie are the best parts of the show. Pedro Pascal manifests the vicious anger and exhausted swagger we associate with Joel. Bella Ramsey has that fire that makes Ellie such an exciting sidekick.

I don’t know if The Last of Us would stand out as a story if it were not for those two. I wonder whether they can carry the show the same way they did the game.

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