The Last of Us (tv series

2023 - 1 - 16

The Last of Us The Last of Us

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Image courtesy of "GamesHub"

The Last of Us HBO TV Series – Episode 1 Recap (GamesHub)

The first episode of The Last of Us on HBO establishes a new world for the video game series, with plenty of differences and similarities.

The two make a plan to find Robert and confront him in order to find out where the battery ended up. In the chaos, the guard points his rifle at Ellie, and Joel jumps in between them, unarmed, to try and talk him down. - There’s a clear shot of dust in the light in the first scene in Joel’s apartment. Fortunately, as it turns out, the guard is the one Joel provided pills to earlier in the episode. Tess escapes to see that a FEDRA vehicle has been bombed, and that a sniper is on a nearby rooftop, firing on FEDRA soldiers. A guard notices the child, and rushes to assist as he collapses. As Joel tries to explain that neither of them are infected, the soldier radios for instructions on how to handle the situation. Just as the monster is about to pounce, it’s shot by a soldier, who then keeps Joel and Sarah at gunpoint. As Sarah gets outside, Joel and Tommy careen onto the scene in their pickup truck, and Joel kills the infected woman with a wrench, without hesitation. Joel is painted as being forgetful and preoccupied with his work and his need to keep his family afloat, though has a clear lighthearted side, and is very open to playfully jesting with Sarah and Tommy. Post title credits, the episode then jumps ahead to a suburb of Texas in 2003, where single father Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), a building contractor, and his teenage daughter Sarah (Nico Parker), are starting their day. One of the guests begins to talk about the very real concept of parasitic fungi – organisms that infect, kill, and control the body of their host to further spread their existence.

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Image courtesy of "Den of Geek US"

The Last of Us Episode 1 Review: Does the TV Series Live Up to the ... (Den of Geek US)

In this case, the relationship between survivor Joel (Pedro Pascal), who's haunted by the loss of his daughter 20 years ago, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a strong- ...

[Chernobyl](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/chernobyl-is-more-terrifying-than-you-think/)’s Craig Mazin at the helm as showrunner and the game’s director Neil Druckmann onboard as a co-showrunner, HBO’s The Last of Us has every chance to be a worthy adaptation of one of the best video games of all time. But The Last of Us series isn’t just acclaimed for the characters and writing. You can almost smell the desecration and despair wafting through the Boston streets as Joel hauls the body of an executed boy (who we meet earlier in the episode…brutal) to a pyre for FEDRA. When Joel, Ellie, and Tess are held at gunpoint by the FEDRA soldier Joel’s been dealing pills to on the side as they’re on their way out of the quarantine zone, we see a fleeting image of Joel cradling Sarah right before she was shot. When the story jumps ahead 20 years and we find Joel in a ravaged Boston, working macabre odd jobs for FEDRA, the last remnants of the US government, you can feel the years of brutal post-apocalyptic survivalism and grieving for Sarah has taken its toll on him, and that he’s harboring some serious regret and self-loathing. The show obviously can’t offer us the same type of immersion, but what it does offer is more time with Sarah as she goes about her day, getting her dad’s watch repaired for his birthday, and visiting their neighbors. The story then jumps to 2003, introducing us to young Sarah Miller (Nico Parker), her father Joel, and his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna), who together try to make it out of Austin alive during the emergence of the cordyceps outbreak. [Game of Thrones](https://www.denofgeek.com/game-of-thrones/) as the fearless Lyanna Mormont, and her natural ability to embody someone beyond her years despite her age and diminutive stature is on full display in her turn as Ellie as well. Will the new actors live up to the performances of the original cast? The show also adds a few new narrative wrinkles to the proceedings, such as a flashback to a 1968 talk show on which an epidemiologist (John Hannah) explains that fungi are a much greater threat to humankind than any virus, being that in certain cases, fungi can take control over the bodies of living hosts like ants and, potentially, humans. Judging from the first episode of HBO’s The Last of Us, fans have nothing to fear — other than the infected fungal monstrosities waiting at every turn in this refreshingly faithful adaptation. In this case, the relationship between survivor Joel (

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Image courtesy of "BBC News"

The Last of Us: Sky Atlantic TV series of hit game praised by critics (BBC News)

It has been described as "comfortably the best adaptation of a video game ever made" that has been able to "break the curse" on gaming-TV crossovers.

"Through Ellie, we see its wonder. "Through Joel, we feel the heartbreak of this world," its chief television critic said. "The design is stunning: vistas of deserted, bombed out metropolises are matched by sprawling, Western inflected, shots of rural America." All this to an audience who may not traditionally engage with games. [there's some stand out acting in the series](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jan/11/the-last-of-us-tv-finally-has-the-perfect-video-game-adaptation) acknowledging "it's a bold statement to make" but episode three "might well be one of the TV episodes of 2023". [gave it four stars, saying](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-last-of-us-review-pedro-pascal-hbo-b2258847.html) it's "undoubtedly a new landmark in the seemingly impossible task of adapting video games".

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

The Last of Us review – one of the finest TV shows you will see this ... (The Guardian)

This desperately moving drama set in a zombie-ravaged US is a phenomenal blend of horror and heart, with a cast that could not be more perfect.

Yet it manages to find humanity in the ruins – and that makes it worth the hardship. It is a gorgeous detour into the wider world; as many critics have said already, it might be one of the finest episodes of TV you will see this year. The fact that it manages to resist a sentimental approach and yet still finds such soul is a real achievement. What is left of society is in the hands of an authoritarian military regime fighting rebel groups classed as terrorists and it is bleak as hell. The Last of Us is violent and maudlin. That is the terrifying premise of The Last of Us (Sky Atlantic), another post-apocalyptic prestige drama in a TV landscape that, for understandable reasons, is stuffed with game-over scenarios.

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Image courtesy of "The Conversation AU"

Can The Last of Us TV series finally break the bad video game ... (The Conversation AU)

From 1993's Super Mario Bros film which regularly features on lists of the worst films of all time, to the three Lara Croft Tomb Raider films released from 2001 ...

When a video game adaption is trading on the brand and reputation of its source material, not winning over the original fans and players can leave them with few other audiences. The characters and overall narrative were deemed too dissimilar to their original video game sources, leaving viewers frustrated. When the game was released in 2013 for the PlayStation 3, it received unanimous critical and popular acclaim and is considered one of the greatest video games of all time. Human civilisation has collapsed and is contained in quarantined zones after the spread of a highly contagious fungal infection that transforms victims into mindless and aggressive monsters. However, HBO did a lot of things right. A film was announced in 2014 before falling through. All the ingredients, you would think, needed for a television or film hit. When HBO announced in 2020 a television series was in the planning stages, this was met with some scepticism. It’s a long running joke just how terrible film and television series based on video games inevitably are. IGN – the list goes on. Frustratingly, there is no reason for this terrible track record. However, to say video game adaptations are often awful is an understatement.

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Image courtesy of "Hollywood Reporter"

'The Last of Us' Scores Big: TV Ratings Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023 (Hollywood Reporter)

The 4.7 million viewers encompasses the on-air premiere on HBO, replays later in the night and streaming on HBO Max. A more detailed breakdown of the audience ...

A more detailed breakdown of the audience will be available when Nielsen releases final ratings for Sunday; on House of the Dragon’s premiere night, Other than the Game of Thrones prequel, the last HBO show with a larger opening-night audience for its debut was Boardwalk Empire (4.81 million) in 2010 — several years before HBO had any serious streaming presence. We look forward to fans around the world enjoying the rest of the season.” Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey star. That figure trails only House of the Dragon’s nearly [more than half](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/house-of-the-dragon-streaming-rankings-aug-15-21-2022-1235221779/) of the cross-platform audience came via streaming. [fungal pandemic](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-last-of-us-can-mushrooms-fungus-infect-humans-1235299195/) has killed much of humanity and turned others into monsters. [Subscribe Sign Up](https://cloud.email.hollywoodreporter.com/signup/) [10 million](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/house-of-the-dragon-tv-ratings-sunday-aug-21-2022-1235203367/) among HBO series premieres in the past decade-plus. The 4.7 million viewers encompasses the on-air premiere on HBO, replays later in the night and streaming on HBO Max. [Share this article on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/&title=TV%20Ratings:%20‘The%20Last%20of%20Us’%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere&sdk=joey&display=popup&ref=plugin&src=share_button&app_id=1153511048447777) [Share this article on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/&text=TV%20Ratings%3A%20%E2%80%98The%20Last%20of%20Us%E2%80%99%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere&via=thr) [Share this article on Email](mailto:?subject=thr%20:%20TV%20Ratings:%20‘The%20Last%20of%20Us’%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere&body=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/%20-%20TV%20Ratings:%20‘The%20Last%20of%20Us’%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere) [Show additional share options](#) [Share this article on Print]() [Share this article on Comment](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/#respond) [Share this article on Whatsapp](whatsapp://send?text=TV%20Ratings:%20‘The%20Last%20of%20Us’%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere%20-%20https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/) [Share this article on Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=1&url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/&title=TV%20Ratings:%20‘The%20Last%20of%20Us’%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere&summary&source=thr) [Share this article on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/&title=TV%20Ratings:%20‘The%20Last%20of%20Us’%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere) [Share this article on Pinit](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/&description=TV%20Ratings:%20‘The%20Last%20of%20Us’%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere) [Share this article on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool/preview?shareSource=legacy&canonicalUrl&url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tv-ratings-sunday-jan-15-2023-1235300975/&posttype=link&title=TV%20Ratings:%20‘The%20Last%20of%20Us’%20Scares%20Up%20Big%20Premiere) [HBO](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/hbo/)’s [The Last of Us](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/the-last-of-us/) got off to a strong start with viewers. “We are thrilled to see fans of the series and game alike experience this iconic story in a new way, and we extend our gratitude to them for helping to make it a success,” said Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content.

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