This series is so painful... Not painful because it is bad, Quite the opposite... It is painful because the writers will make you care about somebody, give you a little bit of hope, and then remind you that this is a post-apocalyptic world where absolutely nobody is guaranteed a happy ending.
At first, I thought this was going to be another typical zombie series.
Virus, Infected people, Guns, Survival, Run, Repeat but The Last of Us is much more than that...
The story follows Joel, and Ellie... Joel is a hardened survivor who has basically lost everything that made him a normal human being. Ellie is a teenager who is immune to the infection and may hold the key to humanity's future.
Their job is simple on paper.. get Ellie across the country and Of course, nothing in this world is ever simple...
The relationship between Joel and Ellie is the heart of the entire thing.... At the beginning, Joel doesn't really want to be responsible for Ellie. She is basically another job, Something he needs to deliver and move on from but slowly, something changes... They start becoming a family and Pedro Pascal was ridiculously good as Joel.... The man can communicate an entire paragraph with one facial expression.
Joel is not some perfect hero. He has done terrible things, and the show never tries to hide that. But you understand why he became the person he is.
Then Bella Ramsey comes in as Ellie, and honestly, Ellie is a handful... She is funny, stubborn, rude, curious, brave and sometimes completely reckless but that is what makes her feel like an actual teenager. She has grown up in a horrible world, but she still wants to laugh, make jokes and experience some kind of normal life..
The chemistry between Joel and Ellie is probably my favourite part of the series. Their relationship develops naturally, and you can actually feel the distance between them disappearing but one thing I really loved about The Last of Us is that it doesn't constantly throw infected creatures at you... Sometimes, an entire episode can pass without the infected being the biggest problem and somehow, those episodes are some of the best.
A question I kept asking my self was "What would you become if the world gave you permission to do anything just to survive?"
You have people fighting over food, territory, power and ideology.
You have people pretending they are doing terrible things for a greater good.
You have people who genuinely believe they are the heroes of their own stories and that is where the show becomes more interesting than a normal zombie series.
The infected are dangerous, obviously, but humans can be just as terrifying.
The world-building is also fantastic.
The abandoned cities, overgrown buildings, destroyed roads and empty houses make everything feel like civilisation has genuinely collapsed and then you get those infected creatures... Clickers especially?.. No thank you..
The sound design makes them even worse because you can sometimes hear them before you see them.
My biggest issue is that the series sometimes moves too quickly through certain stories. There are characters and relationships I would have liked to spend more time with... Some episodes feel like they could have been entire seasons by themselves and because the show is so focused on Joel and Ellie, some of the supporting characters disappear before you get the chance to fully understand them.
Still, the emotional impact is hard to ignore and then Season 2 makes things even darker... Five years after the first season, Joel and Ellie are in a very different place, and the story becomes much more focused on revenge, consequences and the cycle of violence.
I won't spoil what happens, but Season 2 definitely asks you to look at these characters differently...Some people will love that, Some people will absolutely hate it but Personally, I appreciated the fact that the story was willing to make things uncomfortable instead of giving us simple good guys and bad guys.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey remain the emotional centre, while Isabela Merced, Kaitlyn Dever and the rest of the newer cast add another layer to the story and the performances are one of the biggest reasons the series works.
This series is Beautifully acted, emotional, brutal and extremely well made.... If you go into The Last of Us expecting just zombies and action, you might be surprised.
Because the infected are scary... But honestly?... People are worse.
Rating: 85/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.
