Though it’s not expected until next year, this week we got an even closer look at the upcoming HBO TV adaptation of the PlayStation 3 megahit, The Last of Us. Previous glimpses of the show revealed some stunning parity to the source material, and the first teaser trailer shows even more synergy with the game’s set design, props, narrative beats, and more.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here:
From duplicated street signs and scenes with near identical framing to hints at character development that match the original, here are the top things that stood out to us from the most recent trailer. Fair warning, we’ll get into some spoilery territory. The Last of Us has been around since 2013, so if you’re still avoiding spoilers for this plot, I’m envious of your ability to stay so sheltered from gamer culture.
The Quarantine Zone
After the brutal, heart-wrenching opening of The Last Of Us, we get a brief glimpse of what society looks like 20 years after the outbreak. Shocker: It ain’t great. This section of the actual game is rather brief. You walk around, observe the misery of the world, some shit blows up, then you get your signature backpack and it’s time to chart out across the States like a kleptomaniac with the one person immune to the fungal outbreak that “caused” all of this.
From the trailer, details that match the various sets of the game are on full display. The most immediate are the street signs indicating curfew enforcement in the Quarantine Zone. Some of the copy is different across these two, but the format is strikingly similar.
The Fireflies are complicated
The Last of Us is often very cynical about whether organisations like what’s left of the United States government or revolutionary groups like the Fireflies can appropriately respond to or provide solutions for complete societal collapse. There is a constant power struggle between groups like this in the game. The opening environments set that tone with the obvious attempts to cover up and silence slogans and logos of the Fireflies that have been graffitied on closed storefronts and walls throughout the Quarantine Zone.
As we can see from the trailer, that element is at play here when it comes to the Fireflies, who may or may not even be the “good guys” of the story. People can be seen painting over the “Look For The Light” slogan in a way that’s remarkably similar to what’s observed in the original game.
The museum encounter
An early encounter with the game’s audibly terrifying “Clickers” takes place in an abandoned museum. It’s an eerie moment. Here you are, surviving amidst the wreckage of modern society, only to be pulled into, for a brief moment, what’s left of society’s previous attempts to preserve the past. It’s one of those segments where the game seems to meditate on what’s worth preserving, what can be preserved, and whether modern society is disposable given how quickly it all fell apart.
As evident from the HBO trailer, this specific sequence of events will be kept intact to some degree. This is more of the series showing off its dedication to specific narrative beats, sets, and even encounters, no matter the medium.
The car crash
Around halfway through the original game, Joel and Ellie get a nice break from their usual slumped-over grind of gathering tape and scissors and other garbage fit for repurposing into strange weapons. With a newly acquired pickup truck, the two have a nice scenic drive through an American wasteland, only for it to be swiftly interrupted as they’re ambushed in a city, causing a head-on collision in said pickup truck with a wall.
The HBO trailer shows off something that looks very much like this scene for a brief moment. It may not be the same moment of the story, but the similarities are evident. Creative leads Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are clearly taking their cues straight from essential moments in the game.
Joel’s watch
In the painful opening moments of the game, Joel’s daughter gives him a watch. Unlike his daughter, the watch survives 20 years later. Broken, it’s clearly of no use for telling time. Instead it’s somewhat a reflection of Joel, a man out of time and place whose life was forever put on pause when his daughter died. He won’t move on and he won’t fix what’s broken.
The show is clearly paying attention to these essential props of the story. Right there, not even ten seconds into the trailer and we’re treated to a close up of this painful connection to Joel’s past. I look forward to the Adam Savage’s Tested-style recreations of props like this when the show premieres.
The Outskirts
Shortly after meeting up with Ellie, Joel and Tess must move through the remnants of Boston. Two notable buildings stand out in the landscape. These eventually become the site of skirmishes with various infected. One tower has taken substantial damage and is left to lean against a more stable one, threatening perhaps to topple over at any moment.
This specific set piece will be making an appearance in the show. And it looks like much of the rain and mud-soaked sequence that follows the revelation of Ellie being immune to the contagion will be in place to some degree. Joel will beat the shit out of army men, and the crew navigate their way through old sewer tunnels before arriving at the near-collapsed skyscrapers.
Ellie’s descent into violence
With trauma of her own (which we’ll get to in a hot minute), Ellie’s experience of surviving the world of The Last of Us basically deletes any semblance of normal teenage girlhood. How relatable. A pivotal moment in the game is Ellie’s encounter with a group of cannibals and creeps as she searches for means of survival while Joel is incapacitated. This culminates in a vicious scene where Ellie hacks away at David, the very creepy leader of the cannibals. In a blood frenzy, she’s interrupted by Joel, who knows all too well the mental state Ellie is sinking into.
While it’s not clear whether or not these scenes are the very same in terms of the plot’s pacing, the dynamic is still present in the trailer.
Left Behind flashbacks
In The Last of Us’ DLC, Left Behind, we’re introduced to Ellie’s best friend, Riley. Alluded to in the main game, Riley meets an untimely end, but the DLC gives us a taste of the bond and happiness shared between her and Ellie. Short sequences of playing in a mall, riding a carousel, and then eventually a moment of queer awakening are cut short as the violence of the world catches up to blissful youth. I’m sorry, is this a work of fiction?
It’s clear that Riley and scenes from this very expansion will make their way into the show based on the brief call to the carousel scene. Hopefully it will amount to more than just a couple of easter eggs as it acted as a a welcome widening of Ellie’s character within the game fiction.
Joel’s violence is front and centre
One way to characterise the pacing of The Last of Us’ plot is that of a slow, sobering awareness of how far gone Joel is mentally. The loss of his daughter certainly prompts sympathy from the player, and even leads us to believe that Joel is a reliable narrator here. But it’s through Ellie that we start to possibly distrust Joel, at least as far as his violent impulses are concerned. He’s a tragic character for sure, but one we should perhaps be a bit scared of.
While we only have the briefest of teaser trailers to go by, the brief lightning flashes that hide and show Joel’s brutality, with Ellie watching, mirror several times Joel goes to town on someone in the game. One that stands out is Joel’s pummelling of Henry, before Ellie snaps him out of his violent blood rage to realise that this person isn’t a threat.
The opening moments are nearly identical
Though we got hints of this the last time we saw glimpses of the show, it seems likely that the opening scenes of The Last of Us TV show will be following the game very closely, even down to Tommy’s (Joel’s brother) pickup truck.
The famous (and brutal) initial sequence was filled with tons of its own explosions and surprises, but the show might amp things up. A plane can be seen crashing into the ground, which I don’t remember from the game. So, while the show will likely take its own liberties and have its own elements to add, it’s still seemingly aiming to pull that off with the game’s plot, pacing, and sets as guardrails.
A new character (and side story)
Any good adaptation requires a change or two. Sometimes multiple characters are compressed into one. Flashbacks or montage sequences might summarize a more drawn-out aspect of an original text. It remains to be seen what adaptive techniques will bring The Last of Us to life, but at least one of them is a brand new character and storyline that starts out in Kansas City.
As seen for a brief moment in the HBO trailer, Melanie Lynskey will star as Kathleen who, as Polygon reports, is a ruthless revolutionary leader. Hopefully this will provide some nice elaboration on the main story. At best, this kind of adaptive inclusion can help reframe a familiar narrative. At worst, it’ll be like Master Chief taking his helmet off half the time (that actually was a good adaptive choice too, but I’ll stop).
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