The Last of Us has emotionally damaged us ….
Remember how 3 years ago a show called ‘Normal People’ came out. Remember how it broke us to the core? The Last Of Us does the same job only worse.
Fans of the game know what season 2 has in store for us, and it is not pretty. I never played the game, never even knew about it, but I know what is going to happen in the very beginning of season 2 and I am not ready. I hope they change the storyline, but I also hope they stick to it for authenticity purposes and to maintain the soul of the game and the show.
The Beginning
I started watching The Last Of Us because of Pedro Pascal and the hype it was getting. When the first episode was released, I watched 30 minutes of it while eating dinner. You know how that went. So I paused, and didn’t look back until 2 days ago, knowing that the finale was today. Binged all remaining 7 and a half episodes in 2 days.
I love the show. As someone who is foreign to the game and doesn’t know anything about video games, generally speaking, I consider myself an outsider. As an outsider, I absolutely loved the duck out of this show. Honestly, Ellie cursing reminded me of Roy Kent from Ted Lasso (I will be using one more ted lasso analogy soon).
There are so many moments in the show that made me cry. The characters are so extremely well-written that if you think about it, towards the end, you start to question Joel’s actions. He did what he did. But could he have done what he did without doing what he did? Get it? He could have saved Ellie without killing the doctor or the people who asked for his mercy, or could he? Could he really leave them only to have them hunt Ellie? But it’s the way Joel is on a killing spree that makes you wonder what has actually happened to the character and his character arc.
Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, the creators of the show said that Nico Parker had a tough job to make the audience fall in love with her character, that “we had to love Sarah in order to understand Ellie and Joel’s relationship”, and I 100% agree. Nico did a fantastic job of crushing our souls by her death in just a matter of 15–20 mins. We see how she was different than Ellie.
Favourites (Spoilers ahead)
My favorite episode has got to be episode 3, ‘Long, Long Time’. Casting director Victoria Thomas deserves a standing ovation. Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett who play Bill and Frank are such splendid actors, that you fall in love with them and their story within a span of 30 mins. Towards the end of the episode, you are bawling your eyes out for the mark they have left in your heart. The writing of the show is incredible to be honest. It’s a slow burn for Joel. You see, part of episode 1 is focused on Joel with his daughter dying (hours after his birthday!!!). We then see different threads of the story. Episode 2 is focused on Tess, her character and death. It is not until episode 6 that I truly started loving Joel. It was in that episode that he met his brother, let his guard down and became vulnerable, weak and accepted that he cared too much for Ellie to let her get killed by his mistakes.
My second favorite episode would be the 8th episode, ‘when we are in need’. I love this episode because it shows the extremes. The extremes of cannibalism and demonism of David, the extremes of Joel’s weakness, and Ellie’s strength. You wait for Joel to enter the resort and rescue Ellie, but she has to see it through. She has to rescue herself. This episode also changes Ellie for better or for worse as we can see she is detached and quieter in the next episode.
The music sets the tone
For reasons unknown, I am being very punny today. Gustavo Santaolalla composed the music for the show as well as the game. Fans of the game recognize the similar tunes in the show. As someone who hasn’t played the game, I got GOOSEBUMPS in the last episode when Joel is on a killing spree. It is not because of the acting or the sound, it is because of the music and the cinematic masterpiece that the scene is! I will also be a little biased towards Gustavo because I LOVE JANE THE VIRGIN and the music for that show was just INCREDIBLE.
The bitter-sweet moments
Episode 9 should have been named ‘Bitter-sweet’. Anna, appearing in episode 9 as Ellie’s mom is played by Ashley Johnson who played Ellie in the game. This is how you bring things to a full circle. The whole sequence with her was so endearing and strong and gives so much perspective.
Him smiling at her when she is feeding the Giraffes is another such scene. Ellie has lost a part of her innocence since the last episode. She is distant and not making her usual jokes which is why when Joel sees her with the Giraffe, it makes him happy. You know those people who don’t smile a lot in a show, like Brett Goldstein’s Roy in Ted Lasso. Doesn’t that make you just want to see them smile and keep smiling, especially if they have suffered? That is exactly how I feel about Joel.
Joel finally opening up to Ellie and talking about Sarah and how the both of them would have liked each other was just like cutting onions slowly to get the maximum effect. Telling her that he tried to commit suicide and that it wasn’t time that healed the wounds while maintaining the eye contact and being all teary had me sobbing so bad. The moment makes you relieved that he has finally spread his arms and let Ellie in, just like when he called her Babygirl. He has found his purpose again, someone he can love, again, the way he loved Sarah. But, at the same time, there is just so much pain it hurts. No one should ever have to go through the loss of their child. He had to, and it’s the worst. IT IS JUST A SHOW WHY AM I BEING SO EMOTIONAL!?!
Fun facts:
- Troy Baker who plays the villainous James in the show in episode 8 is actually….. drumroll please….. Joel in the game! How cool is that!?
- Marlene is the only character that is played by the same actor- Merle Dandridge in the game and the show.
- Jeffrey Pierce played Tommy in the game and is playing Perry in episode 5.
- Laura Bailey who was in the operation room as one of the nurse in the final episode ‘look for the light’ plays Abby in the game. Abby kills Joel.
I feel like this is Marvel inspired.
The killing spree
As someone who has only ever played a playstation portable (PSP), I am not familiar with video games and how they work (if anyone could explain what the player does in the game, I would be grateful). Curious to see how the show has been adapted, I googled how to play the game and it felt like the game was an animated show where you don’t really do much? I just want to know how you actually play the game. Anyways, on my search I stumbled upon the fact that Joel is gonna get killed because he killed Jerry, who plays the doctor and is also Abby’s dad. Abby is, as we will see, out for vengeance and kills Joel in Part 2 of the game. Joel and Ellie just got their foot in, right? But fear not, we have a year or two to prepare for that (as if we will ever be ready).
I know that so far the creators have stuck to the original theme and storyline, I prayed that they might want to keep Joel around and have him not kill the doctor. Needless to say, I was terribly wrong. I do hope they twist the storyline a little bit. I mean yes the show is good and all but I did start watching it for Pedro Pascal. The reason i stayed is because I love the show. Though there have been some deviations from the actual game, the question is- how far will they go to keep Joel alive, if at all.
I think Joel totally lost it in the last 15 minutes of the show and I don’t blame him. Some people think he wasn’t completely aware of his actions. I want to say he went full ballistic (literally). The whole sequence was so well shot and edited.
I wish the show had a happy ending, but knowing what’s going to happen in season 2, I say this is a happy ending. Any ending where the protagonists are not killed is a happy ending, so I will cherish this while I can.
To those who don’t know what to do next or have lost their purpose, here are 2 ideas. Want more of Pedro Pascal? Watch The Mandalorian. I know that is what I have on my list, even though I have never watched any of the Star Wars movies (Yes, you read it right.). You could also decide to lighten up the mood and watch Ted Lasso every Wednesday from March 15th on Apple TV+. Whether we’ll get all that we want is TBD.
