On Sunday, January 15th, HBO released the first episode of The Last Of Us. A TV series based on the game by the same title. I am ecstatic! I have followed The Last Of Us for a long time now. So when I first heard they were making a show based off the video game I loved so much, I thought there’s no way that could be true? and it was! However with any video game to television adaptation, there is always that worry. They will ruin the series. Now I hate that saying, “They will ruin it”. Because even though yes, a product like a television show based on a video game may turn out bad. That doesn’t mean the past products are bad. But nonetheless, I want the show to be a huge success, and do the series justice. So the day the first episode came out, I was sure to watch it right away.
These are my first thoughts on episode 1 of HBO’s The Last Of Us.
Before watching the episode, I tried my best to have a completely unbiased mindset towards the show. The creators of the show came out to say before the episode came out that it would not be an exact copy of the games. Which is understandable, and I have no problem with that. They also continued by saying that the fungus disease that turns people into zombie-like monsters, will also behave differently than what it acts like in the games. I was a little sad to hear, but I continued to keep an open mind. Some people have problems with the casting, saying that it's way too different from the games. Most notably Sara not being white. Which I find to be silly, and as long as the acting is great and the characters are done justice, I don’t care who could play the character. This mindset is the same for Bella Ramsey who plays Ellie in the show. A lot of people in The Last Of Us community show their worries for Ramseys performance as Ellie, but I couldn’t care less. As long as the story holds, and so do the characters.
Now it's time to watch the episode. With a giant tub of Ice cream in one hand, a cold can of Cherry Dr Pepper in the other, and a massive grin on my face, I was ready, and it was almost a perfect episode! However, note that I said “almost”. I loved the episode! It was great! However I have my critiques, as well as parts of it I thought were phenomenal.
The show doesn’t go far from how the story plays out in the games, and I thought that was great. Actually they added to the flow of the story, and I thought that was an incredible idea from the writer's end. For example in the video games, after Joel loses his daughter, there is a cut scene and after that we wake up as Joel 20 years later. In the show however, after he loses his daughter we skip 20 years, and instead of starting out with Joel waking up, They show a segment of the story specifically there to introduce the military, and the cruel world our characters live in. From there we meet our crew of characters, and it's not till that day ends that we watch him wake up the next morning as he does in the game. They do this a few other times, and I think that is brilliant writing. Anyone who has followed the games before the show's premier already knows the story, and knows what’s going to play out. So by adding these extra parts of our characters stories, and development. I think that’s a great way to keep viewers like myself, who know the story, and the viewers who have no idea what they are getting themselves into, interested.
I hate it when you watch a show or movie that’s based on a game or book, and you don’t understand the story because you haven’t read or played the game. One example of this is The Shining. Amazing book, and amazing film without a doubt. But if you have never read the book, and you watch the movie. You will be completely confused on some aspects. Before I read the book, I watched the film and had no idea what was going on in some scenes. This aggravates me so much as a storyteller. Anyone should be able to enjoy any story from any medium without being confused because of previous versions of the story. HBO’s The Last Of Us, however, does not do this. They so far have opened up the story, and so far have told it in a way that any viewer can understand it. The writers have found a way to give us these characters that we already know, and introduce them in a way that seems fresh, and new. Without completely butchering the original characters and story.
However, despite the first episode going as well as it did. I do have some complaints. Very few, and minor ones. But complaints nonetheless. The acting so far has been great, and I believe the casting is amazing! Like I said from the start of this article. I set out to watch this show with a completely open, and unbiased mindset. However I can't help but think one of my fears for the show came true. Bella Ramsey is an amazing actress, and I say that without a doubt. However I can't help but believe the first episode has not given me great comfort that she probably was not the best for this role. When I look at Ramsey's portrayal of Ellie, I can't help but be disappointed at the performance so far. I feel as if so far she’s trying so hard to play the role of Ellie as Ashley Johnson did from the original games. This has left her pushing out lines, most of them being very iconic lines out. Instead of performing them she is pushing them out, and not giving much character in them. For example, in the scene where Joel and Tess find out Ellie has a bite. We hear Ramsey giving the iconic lines about how her bite is 3 weeks old, and how most people turn after minutes. In the game, the scene is slow, and drawn out for dramatic effect. In the show we focus more on Joel, and his rage as he just killed a man. The scene about Ellie's bite basically plays in the background. That isn’t so much a problem to be as Ramsey's delivery of the lines were forced, and pushed out. Like she was done with the scene and wanted it to be done with. This is not like Bella Ramsey, so I was confused when this was the performance given. I’m not sure if that was her doing or maybe just bad direction at that moment. In the past, Ramsey has always given a great performance, and in most cases throughout this first episode. She has done well. But some scenes like the one I just explained, seemed forced. This happens a few more times throughout the episode, this example was just the one that peered out the most to me.
Other than that, the first episode was phenomenal, and at the time of reading this I am bargaining with myself to not watch it again and get this article written. Though nothing says I won't watch it again as soon as I’m not. The first episode will bring in new viewers, and a whole new generation of community to the series. It set us up for an amazing world, and a story that’s already been created. But I can't help but feel the same way I did when I first experienced The Last Of Us. These are only my first thoughts on the first episode, and I hope that the rest of the series will only get better from here. I still believe Bella Ramsey can give us an amazing performance, and maybe as the series goes on we can really see her dive deeper into Ellie as a character. Sure enough when the series ends I will be writing another article on it, and we will see what my thoughts are at that point. If you have not seen it yet, be sure to watch HBO’s The Last Of Us. If you haven’t experienced it yet, and you are reading this… Shame on you… Watch the show. It's great!
Written by Jonah Stone
Edited by Marie Osmola