The Last of Us is one of HBO max’s most popular series and rightfully so, with about 8.2 million who have watched the show. The story is about Ellie, the only known human resistant to the fungus Cordyceps and Joel, crossing the remnants of the US in hopes that Ellie will help them find a cure. While it seems like your average “the-world-has-ended-because-zombies” show, it quickly proved itself to the audience. 

Video game adaptations are known for being terrible, and usually hard to follow unless you have the background context of the game itself and its plot. “The show emphasizes smaller parts of the game like Bill and Frank, and less killing which I think is pretty cool.” Said Haley Vollans, a 9th grader here at Oakton. By emphasizing small parts of the game and relying more on teaching us new things about the characters and using them to drive the plot, the show is enjoyable for video game fans and their friends who were forced to watch it alike. 

The Last of Us is a very dark show, but it probably wouldn’t have felt as terrifying if it didn’t feel so realistic. If it was made a little over three years ago before the pandemic, much of  the realism would have been lost, but because of the COVID pandemic, everything hit a little bit harder. The realism is also fueled by the characters. The show also allows the characters to act like kids when they are kids and to make bad decisions, and give the adults realistic trauma to what they’ve been through. All the characters, even those who are there for barely an episode, all pack an emotional punch in their characters and their stories. The relationships between different characters, especially Joel and Ellie grow realistically, and not with just some big dramatic scene. The visuals and cinematography are beautiful

and help set the dark tone of the story with an overgrown, desolate, and hostile environment.

Even as someone who usually doesn’t like this genre of film, the show is a wonderful exploration of human nature and whether you are a video game fan or not is definitely worth the watch. As Haley put it “ I can’t really explain it but everything was perfect”.