8 Shots in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ Exactly Like the Game
We examine just a handful of moments, set pieces, and shots from the pilot of HBO's hot new series and compare them to the original game.
⚠️ Spoiler Zone! This post has spoilers galore! ⚠️
Okay, so HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ has dropped, and it seems the verdict is in: the show lives up to the hype. Or at least the pilot does—and delivers us even more. For devoted fans of the game, that means an extraordinarily faithful adaptation, along with a lot of original scenes that feel like they’re from a brand-new DLC. Everyone in the cast is fantastic as these beloved characters. There are some tonal differences in performances—Pascal’s Joel feels more spritely than his earthier game counterpart, but that could just be the difference between an actual human and CGI. Still, there is so much that matches what fans should remember from their first play-through.
One of our Remarkist members, @lee, hosted a post-day water cooler event to talk through the episode—the first in a series of upcoming gab sessions for the show every Monday at Remarkist. We had both new viewers and old fans there to discuss what we saw. And the overall consensus from those fresh to the franchise was a quick connection to characters and a story that sucked them in right away. It sounded similar to what most of us felt when we were introduced to Joel, Tommy, Tess, and Ellie a decade ago. And Sarah!
In the game, you play through Sarah for a bit which helps you develop a connection with her quickly. That bond has all the more impact when Joel loses her. And we share that weight with him the rest of the game. We were curious how, or even if, the series could pull off a similar connection to the character in such a short time without any play-through. And judging from the reactions of new viewers, they hit the mark. With touches like the watch store scene ⌚ and her visit to the neighbors (both times 🐕), you get even more of Sarah’s spirit and relationship with her father than in the game. That leads us to believe this story is partially hers so that when we do lose her, it’s the same shock for us as for Joel.
wrote in a recent anticipation piece how fans of the game will be watching out of the corner of their eyes as their newcomer friends experience vital scenes. Sarah’s death is probably the first of those.With so many familiar moments in this first episode, fans can relive more of this plot through first-timers, no doubt. But there will likely be surprises for everyone. While some of us can debate for hours about whether spore clouds 💨 belong in this series or which actors we could imagine thumb-controlling around a room 🎮, this first episode deserves a serious slow-clap 👏 for how well it balances those fresh story perspectives with strikingly similar scenes from the game. We thought it would be fun to show you eight moments when we were like, “Omgfmg! That’s that’s game game from the game!”
Sarah searches for Joel
We noticed many shots taken from the game seemed deliberately flipped. It’s as if the game and the series exist in mirror universes of one another. Pictures of Sarah are on the wall in both. Two police cars pass
The road signs are practically duplicates of the ones in the game. The burning farmhouse
Another left/right mirror of the farmhouse. Broken ankle
Confronted
The same grimaces on both Joels are gut-wrenching “Your watch is broken.”
“You mumble in your sleep.”
Pascal says he didn’t play the game or reference it for his performance. If so, then either serendipity or the filmmakers guided him at times. Into Boston
This final shot of the pilot shows the collapsing towers from the same point in the game.
Want more?
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