The Last of Us S1 Ep. 2 Personal Highlights

Guys, I’ve been watching countless of shows throughout the course of my life now, and every now and then, there's a certain special feeling that gets triggered during the viewing of a new release that eventually becomes a celebrated classic. I remember having that feeling back when I was watching shows like The Office, Breaking Bad, the Justice League animated series, and Game of Thrones for the first time just to name a few. And after tonight's episode of The Last of Us, I’m here to report that I'm getting that same feeling again with HBO’s live action adaptation of the video game series. Just the fact that I'm saying this about a video game adaptation alone I think is celebration worthy on its own considering the mixed track record for these types of properties. 

Everything from the phenomenal approach that this series takes in its handling of contextual exposition, to the incredibly detailed world building presentation and strong character writing, I truly have that gut feeling that we're witnessing the birth of a new standard setter here. This goes for both video game adapted work and post apocalyptic TV shows based on pandemic related storytelling. Similar to Andor (another amazing show that set a new standard in its own right), this is one of those properties that makes its every character feel as though they have their own multi layered story to tell whether they're onscreen for 5 minutes or 5 seconds which is a major feat to accomplish. Case in point comes to my first personal highlight of the episode; the beginning.

 

A Chills Inducing Opening

The opening flashback with the scientist being asked for a solution towards the handling of the infection resulting in her coldly responding "bomb" was absolutely spine tingling. And to my earlier point, despite this being a short lived character that we'd probably never see again on the show, you can feel the weight behind her suggestion and follow up plea to be with her family before the inevitable impending doom approaches. It's such an effectively unsettling and equally emotional way to show the early stages of the outbreak through various perspectives. The premiere did this with a talk show guest scientist speaking in eerie hypotheticals and Sarah's perspective as an innocent child witnessing the chaotic event from an uninformed civilian outlook. 

Episode 2 follows up this idea with a mycologist who is recruited to analyze "an incident" realizing that we've now stepped into apocalypse territory which brings its own frightening angle to the mix. Also, and I might be wrong on this, did we just get something of a confirmation as to where this fungal outbreak started? A flour mill incident with workers being bit who are now missing? This is a pretty interesting revelation because I certainly don't remember that detail in the games but maybe I skipped over it or this is entirely new territory for the lore. Either way, I loved that they're building up the origins of the threat and world through these opening scenes giving some compelling insight towards where our characters are in the present and what they have to live through daily. 

An Incredible Attention to Details 

The direction on this show so far has been absolutely brilliant in immersing newcomers to The Last of Us brand while also recapturing several elements of the game to appropriately service longtime fans. The imagery of the city making up of collapsed, rusted over structures with plant life protruding from every direction instantly calls back to the game. It's also worth nothing that the VFX work here is truly outstanding really solidifying the fact that HBO spared no expense in making this series look as amazing as fans should expect considering how highly celebrated the games are. 

This is seen in both the exterior and interior shots which makes me feel pretty optimistic about the cinematic directional hands that we're in regarding the handing of the source material's distinct visual appeal. The sight of corpses being smothered in mushrooms and ash almost seeming to be a part of the environment's foundation is exactly the type of concerning and dreading inducing stuff that you'd walk across during various portions of the game. Typically these would be signs of infected potentially being around the corner which, as a gamer now watching the show, placed me in a certain mindset of alertness that I enjoyed. 

Impressive looking settings aside, there's also a few other cool details that both connects to certain elements from the game as well as introduce new things for the franchise. For example, those brief bits showing characters digging through their bags to grab items for the task ahead or move around obstacles had me smiling realizing that the production team were essentially inserting gameplay elements into the character actions. Also, the lore expansion twist that is unique to the show with the infected acting as a massive hive mind through scattered vines is interesting. It was an awesome surprise for the scene involved being this show's way of eventually killing off the Tess character and thoroughly really pushed this inhuman threat to a whole new elevated level even beyond what the games did with their approach. 

That moment where the vines begin spiraling around the infected corpse that Joel shot down transitioning to vines covering over the hand of a sleeping infected outside is one of my favorite little segments that I've seen in any post apocalyptic horror story. There's just something about that shot focusing on this one freakish looking infected waking up from the vines while an entire massive herd is blurred out around him rushing into one direction in unison that is absolutely haunting. It's the frightening solidification of something larger than mankind's full understanding and grasp emerging out of seemingly nowhere to wipe them out that imbues a drop of cosmic or even existential horror into the show that I love. 

I’m intrigued to see how they utilize this new concept down the line and I celebrate the fact that the show now has a foundational component that allows it to stand on its own. As for other cool details, there’s a quick 2 second moment where Joel glances down at his watch after ensuring that Ellie safely climbed down a roof access staircase. Just that level of visual storytelling connecting her safety being in his hands with the symbolism of his watch’s connection to his daughter's tragedy really caught my attention. The games did a lot with strong imagery telling a grander narrative of mankind's grim future with slivers of optimism inserted through small signs of hope for a better tomorrow. With that context, it's great to see the show is taking that approach to its visual storytelling to an extent whether it's in a subtle performance choice or the set dressing telling its own narrative.

The Clickers Are Terrifyingly Adapted To Perfection

Now of course there's no getting around discussing this episode without talking about that Clicker scene. And let me just say right out of the gate,"I…love this scene". Everything from the set up of the characters seeing a fresh corpse and making speculations around its cause, to eventually leading up to the first blurry shot of the creature itself was perfectly executed. Speaking as someone who has dealt with these freaky bastards giving me a heart attack while trying to evade them in both games, this scene was personally important for them to get right. The Clickers are pivotal part of what makes The Last of Us stand out as a post apocalyptic survival horror property with its own frightening lore, and to my utter delight, they absolutely nailed it.

How often do you get to look at a live action video game adaptation and utter the words “They perfectly captured the game”. The lore of the Clickers using echo location to track their prey by making these unsettling sounds is masterfully done here. The VFX and prosthetics work on the infected as well as their bodily movements literally looked as if the production team ripped them right out of the game and placed them into our reality. The attention to making silence a crucial fear inducing survival element is also nicely adapted here in effectively adding suspense to the scene. Some of the cinematography sensibilities immediately took me back to playing the game as these characters in third person via certain camera angles utilized.

Altogether, I was really happy to see the show being able to deliver on some of the crucial survival horror aspects of the game through its cinematic direction while also standing firmly on its own as a new horror series. I look forward to seeing how they'll approach the other infected related enemies of the game in future episodes as well as the equally intense human threat that awaits our lead characters in the wasteland.

Episode Rating: 10/10