Welcome back to the blog, readers. A truly sad day for the small screen has come, because the first season of the HBO series The Last of Us has come to an end. I am sure you have seen me post a spoiler-filled review of each episode of the first season, but now I wanted to take this time to share my overall thoughts on the season as a whole. Was it worth watching this season, created and written for television by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann? Stick around to find out.
Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the first season sees a hardened survivor named Joel take on a mission to smuggle a young girl, who may be the only hope to save mankind, across the country. During their journey, they will come across different people that will shape the pair's perspective on the reality that they all find themselves in.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, and I will also be spoiling the events of the season finale "Look for the Light," so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the full season or the final episode.
I want to start this spoiler review by saying that I did not play the first game, and only watched people play the second. So my knowledge of this world is defined only by that. Now, to get this going. Now it's no surprise that HBO has been putting some quality content on television. And I was intrigued by this show from the initial trailer we got in September. I had the feeling this could be quality television in the form of recent shows like House of the Dragon and Ms. Marvel. Did we get that?
If you read my weekly episode reviews, you will already know the answer to this question. If by some miracle you did not, well let me tell you something. This season was nothing short of brilliant. I loved every second of this show from the action to the characters to the emotional stakes. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann struck gold with this show and I hope to the God I do not believe in that this show can go on forever.
I have been a fan of Pedro Pascal since Kingsman: The Golden Circle and The Mandalorian. But this series made me a bigger fan of his. I feel like this is the first time we actually get to see one of his characters go through the emotional ringer, and it is a delight to see. His Joel portrays a carousel of emotions, and he really gets a chance to show off his acting muscles. From being the loving father to his daughter in the first half of the pilot to the stoic shadow of himself to breaking down in front of Tommy about his nightmares (his best scene in my opinion) to being Ellie's emotional savior to his massacre at the hospital to save Ellie, Pedro puts on an acting clinic.
If there was ever a breakout role, Bella Ramsey as Ellie is THAT. We got a small glimpse of what she could do in the sixth, seventh, and eighth seasons of Game of Thrones as little Lady Mormont, a role she crushed. But we were not prepared for the level of talent that she brings to The Last of Us. She transitioned into this character so well that she becomes Ellie. Now that is not something that I say just for the hell of it. You absolutely have to bring it and immerse yourself into the existing character you play so well that we cannot tell the difference between your performance and the real person/existing character. And Bella brings her youthful bliss and some real acting chops to deliver a very fleshed-out character.
The guest performances were nothing short of incredible. Gabriel Luna feels different to Jeffrey Pierce's portrayal of Tommy Miller, but also feels just so very familiar as to where he is a warming presence whenever he is on screen. For the 30 minutes Nico Parker is on screen, she brings a fire that makes her portrayal of Sarah Miller more memorable than Hana Hayes's portrayal. Merle Dandridge reprises her game role as Marlene and adds an entire new dimension to her character that just made her a lovable complex character. Anna Torv as Tess brings a similar fire to her, and she even has a more memorable role to play in the main narrative than the late great Annie Wersching. Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman portray Frank and Bill respectively, and absolutely deliver the goods with their performances, with Offerman in particular finding himself in a good spot for Emmy consideration. Possibly my favorite performances of the year so far.
Melanie Lynskey plays the new character Kathleen and absolutely crushes her screen time playing a morally complex antagonist, one that you will hate to love. Lamar Johnson plays Sam, a rebel in Kansas City. He has more to do than Brandon Scott because we actually see his facial expressions and emotions, and he delivers some emotional weight. Newcomer Keivonn Woodard plays Henry's brother Sam and kills it despite being deaf. You could really feel the emotion in his eyes and his childlike wonder when around Ellie. Tragic ending for both Henry and Sam even though we all know how it goes. Speaking of Jeffrey Pierce, he plays a new character named Perry that served as sort of a moral compass for Kathleen and showed his true colors when he makes certain decisions. Awesome character and awesome ending to his arc. I am slowly but surely becoming a fan of Storm Reid, and her appearance as Riley Abel in the flashback episode "Left Behind" was nothing short of phenomenal. Her performance works better than Yaani King's, and I would put her up for award consideration myself.
Scott Shepherd plays religious leader David and brings complexity to a broken and evil character and completely steals the show whenever he is on screen. And I have seen people unfamiliar with the game cheer when his story comes to an end, just because of his menacing performance. Troy Baker (Joel in the games) plays David's right-hand man James, and plays him more ruthlessly than Rueben Langdon. It was nice to see the creators find a place for Baker, because he is an uber-talented actor and it needs to be seen. And finally, Ashley Johnson as Anna. What is there to say about the Ellie from the games coming on to play Ellie's mother? For her brief appearance as Anna, Ashley Johnson brings the same level of fire and bravery that she did as Ellie, and you could really feel the emotion in her performance, in a story that everyone is unfamiliar with.
Now that I got performances out of the way, I want to talk about the story. The story here is just as effective as it is in the game, and it gets the same message across: that grief and guilt live inside all of us, and how we deal with that grief and guilt defines who we are as people. It could be in a real-life situation, such as a relationship or a job or whatever, or it could be the apocalypse, just like it is in the game. An example of this on full display is with Joel, as he uses his grief over the death of his daughter Sarah as a way to close himself off from the world. He uses the grief he feels as rage, as he has become a terrible person in the 20 years since that tragic event. He is cold and stoic towards everybody, including his girlfriend (?) Tess. In fact, it is only his journey with Ellie that convinces him to open himself up again, and experience the love he once felt all those years ago.
Some of the people Joel and Ellie meet along the way allow them to have the courage to open up to each other. For example, Bill and Frank teach Joel that love is okay in a world like theirs, and that the strongest of hearts will open their blast doors once they find that missing piece. Henry and Sam taught Joel, but specifically Ellie, that the world outside can be cruel, so they should cherish what they have for however long it may be there for. That is also something I believe Riley taught Ellie, in that love is just as cruel in this world. Marlene taught Joel that there should be things that we as people have to fight for. And David taught Ellie that love can be dangerous if wielded by the wrong people.
From the beginning, the chemistry between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey was just palpable. You could feel the metaphorical sparks fly between the pair, and the magic instantly begins. There are moments that just add to the relationship, such as their interaction in Bill's house, the car scene lifted straight from the game ("How did he walk around with that thing?"), the scene in the Kansas City building where Joel finally laughs at one of Ellie's jokes, Ellie playing with Sam in the Kansas City underground bunker, their fight ("You have no idea what loss is"), Ellie staying behind to patch Joel up, Joel emotionally saving Ellie after her encounter with David, and their petting the giraffe in Salt Lake City. I can only hope for more of that in further seasons, depending on how they go about adapting the second game.
One final thing I want to point out is the music by game composer Gustavo Santaolalla. His themes and scores are translated over perfectly from the game and he also does a wonderful job expanding on his musical mythos. There are familiar themes and some new ones, and I would go as far as to say that this score is better than that of both games.
Speaking of the second game, I will not be spoiling that so do not expect a breakdown of anything related to that until future seasons of the show release. With that being said, I want to thank you all for reading this longer review and I will see you for the next one.
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