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Note: This will cover both seasons
Well time to review a third videogame adaptation in a row, but this time about a game I didn’t even play nor watch playthroughs of, so the comparisons I might make with the original will be very little and thus won’t be a very important part of this review and my criteria about the series.
The first season of The Last Of Us proves that you can make something great even out of a generic premise. To its core it’s a by the numbers zombie apocalypse show with all of its usual elements, but on closer inspection its execution makes it worthwhile without needing to be something very special.
First of all the production is very good, even more so for a tv show. The series combines both real locations, practical effects and animals with computer generated images, blending both really well and somehow even managing to confuse some people. The show is more drama than action oriented yet the most thrilling scenes and the fighting moments are well choreographed, filmed and portrayed, with no blurry camera motions or similar annoying stuff. For a little bit of negativity, that also means that the series can be a bit static at times, and the characters look normal and not exactly like their videogame counterparts, if that matters, while the infecteds don’t have a very distinctive design.
The atmosphere is also good, with a properly somber and kinda mysterious soundtrack that still knows how to sound epic when needed, and the sound design is one of the best aspects of the show, with every single sound effect adding to the intense mood of the series, every shriek, every grunt, every step, transports you into there. The acting is also very good from everyone, something which would be somewhat missed on the second season.
The initial premise is based on an actually existing fungus. Whether it would be even near to cause something remotely close to what it does in the show is debatable, and it sure was when the first season came out, but it is a nice addition.
As it is usually the case with post-apocalyptic fiction like this one, the focus eventually switches to show how humankind deals with the situation, which normally causes two types of reaction, Those disappointed by the lack of presence of a monster threat, and those that praise the look at human behaviour under such dreadful situations. I happen to belong to the second group because I think people fighting off zero dimensional monsters can only get you so far before the action becomes repetitive and the thrills stop being, well, thrilling.
But it’s not like the infected get sidelined for the sake of the human drama, the show knows how to balance the thrills with the sociological themes, not undermining something in the favor of the other thing, despite clearly focusing on one genre. Another positive aspect is how the superhuman threat remains consistent. There are several types of infecteds, each one looking and acting in a certain way, despite sharing common characteristics, and the rational humans know how to react to them and fight against them because of that. Besides, unlike other zombie type of fiction that I’ve seen, the infecteds in here do not change their capabilities in strength or speed nor their behaviour for the sake of the story plot-armouring the humans.
The other aspect is very well handled, showing humankind organizing and working in groups to survive instead of becoming crazy beasts or anything of the sort, which is not that uncommon for monstrous hordes invasion type of stories. Even amongst the most paranoidal and evil characters, they stick in groups to fight against the infected, as well as other humans, cooperation is key to survive and live, even more so during the apocalypse.
Since I normally review animation, I think it’s worth mentioning that live action series have the advantage of 40 minutes to an hour of runtime per episode, thus even characters that appear for just one episode can get explored and be fleshed out, and that’s certainly the case here. But obviously the characters that are most looked into are the two main ones, from their pasts, their losses, what they can and can’t do, their weird father-daughter dynamic they build upon throughout the season.
What I appreciate is having an experienced, veteran, middle aged lead, who is knowledgeable about different topics and how to defend himself, and the way he teaches stuff to the coprotagonist. She on the other hand is obviously important as a plot device for being immune, and adds a bit of humanity, morality, light mood, and yet still a traumatic past that forced her to be able to fend for herself, and yet can’t simply overpower everyone she comes across. Unlike power fantasy stories for teenagers, the little girl here will certainly struggle and see herself bested by the antagonists they face here and there. Even Joel himself will have health issues that will make him suffer at times.
And I appreciate how there are actual stakes in the series. Obviously the main leads won’t die, but their partners and friends sure will, and their families are going to be in need of rescue.
Another good aspect is that the protagonists will sometimes have to antagonize other innocent people trying to survive just like them, with the final episode being the most famous peak of gray morality in the franchise, at the very least the best handled moment with that intention.
For the negatives, how many zombie stories do you know that have actual endings? Yeah, this one is another case too, though there’s an explanation here, and a sense of closure and catharsis along with it, plus the outcome will come back to bite the protagonists in the ass, which is always welcome in a sequel.
Then the seventh episode, Ellie’s flashback, which adapts the DLC of the first game, was certainly introduced weirdly into the narrative. But worst of all was the third episode, which yeah yeah I know it was one of the most popular and beloved and highly rated, something that I never understood.
First of all, it adds nothing to the plot, because the characters aren’t seen ever again, essentially meaning that the episode was a waste of screentime. And I know that the couple was very cherished by a lot of people who in turn cried with them and whatnot, but all I saw was one man trespassing the house of another, asking for a shower, clothes, food and even a piano piece, then jumping onto him for sex and to stay, to later pretend to change the other man’s life. I don’t see how any of this is romantic nor adds anything to the narrative.
But besides those issues, the first season of The Last Of Us was the best I could ask for a series of its genre and kind, with both a sense of thrill and good drama, sociological aspects, stakes, and characters that are looked into. Even the lack of an ending is excused and there’s some sort of closure at the end of the season. I rate the first entry with an 8/10.
Unfortunately, just like it happened when the videogame when it came out, according to its reception, the second season was a huge drop in quality compared to the first. Not in terms of production though, which remained just as good as it was in the first season.
I wish I could say the same for the atmosphere, but even though the sound design and the music keep the same level of quality, it is not exactly the case for the acting.
Everyone did a really good job, except for Bella Ramsey, and I don’t understand why. She killed it during the previous entry, so why does she underperform here? I don’t know, maybe it’s a directing thing, but she certainly does not emote much during some scenes, and lacks a bit of needed intensity for some other moments, even more when you compare them with the videogame, and that’s an issue when the character she plays is the protagonist of the show.
Regarding the script, the main problem is how silly some moments are, probably in part because of a lighter mood. Downtime scenes are needed to make the audience care about the characters, but it’s not like they are being fleshed out here. Also, the cast is so used to fighting the infecteds, there’s not the same sense of thrill, which makes sense of course but it’s a natural course of any zombie story if they last for more than needed and why they stop being entertaining after a while.
I said that but when it comes to humans, the main characters are outclassed almost every time. There have been complaints about the way Joel is written in this season, and although I was not having issues with it, that changed after the flashback episode, he should have been more cautious to remain consistent to how he used to be. And Ellie is a lot worse, she was more capable as a kid than as a young adult, though I guess it makes sense because she was fighting common people before, and actual militia now.
Also, I did not expect this show to have plot armor, not because of the infected, Ellie makes use of her immunity consistently and several times, but something always happens to prevent her being killed by other people. And I have to point out that some characters were saved by out of nowhere last moment saves.
Although there were moments when they were fighting off infecteds, it seemed to me that these were considerably less than in the previous season, and I didn’t understand why they let them advance so much in the second episode before attacking them, but it came out alright I guess.
Another issue is the lack of sociological themes, since the main cast already established themselves in a somewhat secured place, they no longer interact with other survivors in any way. Instead they are trapped in the middle of a war between two messed up armies, which is never fully explained to the audience. I mean it’s understandable for the protagonists to be clueless about it because the conflict does not concern them, so why would they know anything about it?, especially when they are trying to avoid it, but we as the viewers are almost just as lost to what’s going on because the focus of the narrative is not there. It seems that part of the plot will get on that in the next season though, so maybe we will get an actual explanation about it.
But at the end of the day the worst aspect of the season was the romantic elements and the way they were introduced in the plot. Was it really necessary for a pregnancy to be revealed after such an intense episode and scene? Was it necessary for it to be immediately followed by a sex scene? Why are the characters talking about a three way parenting? Does the guy even know? Is he being cuckolded? And it’s all so silly to be thrown in the middle of all the seriousness, it clashes a lot with the rest of the show.
Oh, and what was that final scene and cliffhanger at the end about though? A tease to a switch in the narrative for the next season, maybe?
Not everything is bad or undercooked though, at the end of the day it wasn’t really a bad season, there were some good scenes, moments and episodes here and there:
-Like I said earlier, the aftermath and consequences of the finale of the first season coming back for the protagonists is an interesting setup.
-Despite how the narrative treats him, the cuckold guy is very rational and one of the best characters introduced in this entry.
-Dina is also fine besides her conflicted emotions.
-Ellie accidentally killing off two people and what resulted off of it afterwards was probably the best scene in the whole season.
-The series begins to build the whole theme of revenge, reflected on how most of the town is against Ellie and her quest for vengeance after the second episode, because it could probably be a disaster for them in the long run.
-Abby does not seem to be that bad of a character, refusing to kill those she considers innocent, though she remains fairly unexplored.
-There’s a flashback episode just like in the first season, and it recontextualizes the whole of this one, mainly the drama between Ellie and Joel, to the point I ask myself why didn’t they just start with that one instead.
As a whole, the season was a big drop in quality compared to the first, but still had some good stuff in it, making it possible for the third and hopefully last one to save the series, but as for this one, I can’t give it more than a 5/10, dropping my score of an 8 for the first to a 6 for now for the series as a whole.
