TV Review: The Last of us season review
Let me begin by saying I have played the video game and that this is possibly one of the best video game to TV/Film adaptations ever made. However, I also have some pretty big issues with it.
The plot
The storyline of the Last of Us is undeniably a good one and was the biggest factor in the video games success and for the most part HBO has followed it faithfully and sometimes expanded on areas that didn’t really need to be expanded upon.
Joel is played excellently by Pedro Pascal who carries off the angry yet sensitive when required character incredibly well and Bella Ramsey does a good job of playing Ellie (although I’d like to have seen more scenes between the two.)
Other areas that deserve praise are the set designs and costumes. At times it felt as though you were literally watching the game with some scenes an exact copy. A ruined Boston looked realistic and incredible for a TV show budget for example.
The pacing
Now, onto my biggest issues with the series as a whole. The pacing. For some reason HBO only gave the showrunners 9 episodes, which is nowhere near long enough. The relationship between Joel and Ellie is barely touched and just feels rushed and bizarrely the writers knowing full well that they had a limited number of episodes decided to devote precious time to side characters that were barely even in the video game. Don’t get me wrong episode 3 with Bill and Frank was one of the best episodes of any show on television this year, but in the grand scheme of things it impacted negatively on the overall flow and pacing of the series. The writers also decided to devote two whole episodes to Kathleen which is quite frankly bizarre. She was an irritating character and the events in Kansas City could have been handled a lot better and developed more if only there were more episodes to play with.
Are there any infected in this world?
Another major gripe I have with the series is where were all the infected? We see them only a handful of times and that detracts from the overall plot. We’re supposed to believe that this world is a dangerous one and yet Joel and Ellie are able to cross most of the USA without encountering any. There was little horror, little tension and it leads to the finale being, well, a bit stupid. Why bother trying to find a cure when this world is seemingly so safe? Sure they encounter a few bandits and a cannibal group but those are rare and again there is so little buildup that the tension is lost.
In the game the relationship between Joel and Ellie grew because they came to depend on each to survive encounters with the infected and this was just missing from the show. Some of the best scenes from the game involved the infected and added to the drama and horror of the world they are forced to survive in. Even my wife who hates anything zombie related was asking where are all the zombies at?
Overall
I did enjoy The Last of Us but I can’t overlook the flaws. It felt rushed, there was little in the way of horror and tension and the character development just lacking. If only they’d been given 12 episodes instead of 9 this series could easily have been a 10/10 for me. However, the lack of infected and feeling of danger was missing. The pacing was too rushed and some of the best scenes from the video game (and that were sorely needed) were missing completely. It was a very uneven series for me with some incredible highs and some very low lows.
I give the Last of Us a 7/10
