A series full of suspense, action and good acting. The Last of Us can certainly be regarded as one of the better video game adaptations. In addition to watching series and reviewing them, I also enjoy playing video games from time to time. One of my favorite video game series is The Last of Us, two parts of which have now been released on the Playstation. This is partly due to its strong story. I was very excited when the series was announced. After watching the first season, I still am. It was actually a very good series!
The Last of Us is about (mainly) Joel (Pedro Pascal, Narcos) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey, Game of Thrones), who live in a world where most of the world's population has been wiped out by an infection from mushrooms. Pretty soon in the series, the two aforementioned characters form a duo that has a common mission. Of course you also get to know what the two characters have already experienced and what influence that has had on their character.
Even though there is action and the series is very beautifully made, the story and the drama are central. The viewer fully empathizes with the characters and will try to imagine what it is like to live in such a world. At the same time, you can still sit on the edge of your seat when a "clicker" runs towards one of the characters.
It is the people who are often the monsters
The series is a fairly faithful film adaptation of the first video game from The Last of Us series. Many small details have been incorporated, for example that Ellie sometimes talks to herself and that she likes to read comic books. Joel's guitar also passes by. Of course, many new elements have also been added and the storyline has been adjusted a bit. For example, I thought it was a good addition that the international impact is also being looked at. In addition, episode three is a nice emotional deepening of the story. The first season consists of ten episodes, each with a duration between 43 and 81 minutes.
As emphasized earlier, the story and drama are the strength of the series. It's about what it's like to live in a world where there are (mutated) infected people attacking the survivors. More specifically, you get to see what people do in such a situation. Some seize power while others become obedient followers. One thing is clear, it is the humans who are often the monsters, not the infected.
The quality of the series is high. The acting is very good, the music is minimalist but sets the mood perfectly and the tension and action is also at a high level. From the first scene you are immediately in it and after the last scene you want it to continue. Fortunately, a second season has been announced that will most likely film part of the second video game.
Bottom line: The Last of Us is a good series whether or not you've played the video game. The cast is very convincing, there is tension and there is not a moment of boredom. In my opinion, it is one of the best video game adaptations to date. I am very curious if the second season can continue this level. Anyway, I'm going to watch it!
Based on the foregoing, the first season of The Last of Us gets a well-deserved 9.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
