The Last of US Review
What a Show! HBO keeps outdoing itself with every show it makes but this is at another level altogether. I have not played the game and had no idea even that Games now(or in 2013) involved this much storytelling or character arcs and gameplay. To take a game and make it into one of the best shows ever is not easy. And I believe unlike Game of Thrones where a lot of book fans were unhappy with the changes, that % is definitely in the minority here based on online reviews.
The Show is an End of World Zombie apocalypse. But with a small difference. The zombies themselves form only a small part of the narration and screen time. A lot of time it dealt with people themselves and their emotions and their survival. This makes it very different from other similar shows. This has action but isn’t an action show.
Cast — This is one of those series where every casting is spot on. Bella Ramsey is going to win a lot of awards and so will Pedro Pascal hopefully. Nick Offerman will land something too!
Right from Episode 1 with Joel and Tess, makes us invest in their characters and their survival. The arrival of Ellie shifts perspectives in this series and raises bigger questions on the end of world survival and what we think is so essential in our daily lives. Joel and Ellie played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are super fun to watch together and share an amazing chemistry. They are the main stars of the show and hold it all together splendidly. They make us root for them in their search for the cure to save humans.
Episode 5 is where the show hits it out of the park with Bill and Frank’s story played superbly by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett. This is a remarkable episode in every small way. That a show about post-end-of-work zombies takes an entire episode to showcase a gay love story and how they survive emotionally as well as physically and lets us see how it ends is just mind-blowing writing. It is beautiful every which way.
Episode 6 and 7 which takes the lead pair to Kansas City and see them get ambushed has a gut-wrenching ending. It also offers a direct view of the difficult choices one has to make in such a situation. All these threads while seeming independent are linked to the season finale.
Bella Ramsey takes over the show in the next few episodes as Joel takes a backseat. She is one mighty performer and excels in every scene.
The bond between them goes stronger but it also exposes Joel’s darker side that has been alluded to but never fully displayed. We witness glimpses of it in episode 9 when he kills even after getting the information he wanted. He does not want to lose Ellie at any cost.
This drives Episode 10 and leaves us with a gut-wrenching ending.
Spoilers Discussion
Not that there were no spoilers earlier but to fully discuss the ending. It is tough to hate Pedro Pascal. Whatever character he does and whatever shade of grey it is, you support him. It happens here again in this series. They let viewers know of his past. Of what he is capable of. Yet, with Ellie, he seems likable and father like. When he kills the two guys who are tied up and have already provided the information of where Ellie is you realize he is in no mood to lose another young kid.
Episode 10 takes that to the fullest extreme possible. You keep thinking OK they are fireflies. Then he kills the doctor and then he kills Moreen. All because they can potentially come for Ellie in the future.
Yes, she is not his daughter but he sees her as one now. No one would want to lose their daughter, again. But given the maturity Ellie has shown, the choice should have been worse. And then to make it worse, he lies to her. It feels like their bond is about to break!
