The first episode of HBO’s The Last of Us has premiered, bringing fans of the video game franchise, as well as those who haven’t played it, to the world of Ellie, Joel, Clicker, and society as we know it. Invited. Anyone who’s played the Naughty Dog game series knows The Last of Us is no run-of-the-mill zombie apocalypse. It’s one of those soul-crushing heartbreaks and how you move forward from there.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Last of Us premiere episode. If you haven’t seen the show yet, head over to HBO Max now and see for yourself what happens.
That heartbreak is a key component of video game openings, so for those familiar with it, it’s no surprise that The Last of Us’ first episode delivers on those terrifying moments in live action. (Pedro Pascal), his daughter Sarah (Nico Parker) and brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) find people turning into zombies due to a fungal outbreak. Fighting to escape the terror, they end up in the crosshairs of the military member who shot Sarah down. Literally no one knows exactly what’s going on or why these newly minted monsters are attacking others, so it’s a disturbing scene to watch unfold.
When it came to filming this moment, Parker admits she and Pascal were “listening to sad songs” to get into the proper headspace. and talked about the scene.
“I remember Craig coming up to us as a last prompt, to you,” she explained. But for Pedro, it’s more of an emotional pain.”
The pain and anguish that unfolds onscreen is palpable. It’s hard to imagine such iconic moments from a game being better captured in live action.
“It was incredibly scary, but also very exciting,” Pascal said in interviews with GameSpot, TV Guide and Metacritic. He added: Tommy, my brother, and this little family are, in essence, instantly ripped apart by the day of the outbreak – fans are all iconic moments that exist in the game, and fans know it’s basically his I am very aware that the rest of the journey will shape who this man is.”
And while there are certainly tweaks to the TV scene to make the moment tastier, there’s also a lot that’s pulled directly from the game, right down to the framing of certain shows.
“I remember being amazed at the similarity of how they were framing it,” Luna said. What was going on and the way we were handling it was really, really true to the game.Of course Tommy has seen a lot of death in him.I was trying to tell I think it’s about knowing what happened, being able to see this wound, knowing what’s going to happen, trying to understand what’s going on.”
As to whether or not Sarah will be seen again in flashbacks, we don’t know.
A new episode of The Last of Us airs Sunday on HBO.
The products featured here have been independently selected by the editors. GameSpot may receive a portion of the proceeds from purchases featured on our site.
