HBO's The Last of Us is a master class in storytelling. Adapted from the 2013 video game of the same name, the live-action show has become a worldwide phenomenon.
The Last of Us tells the story of Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) and his cargo-turned-foster-daughter, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who traverse across the Cordyceps-ravaged United States in search of the revolutionary militia group known as the Fireflies. The show beats the game-to-TV adaptation curse by, among other things, making a few tweaks to the source material. These changes range from changing certain characters' fates to making the lead, Joel, more sympathetic than the game version.
This list contains spoilers!
10 Timeline Shift
The HBO show switches the timeline from 2033 to 2023. The outbreak in the PlayStation classic occurs in September 2013, whereas in the show, it happens a decade earlier, in 2003. The story takes place 20 years later in the game, i.e., 2033, whereas the TV adaptation is set in 2023, concurrent with the year of its release.
According to The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann, the timeline Shift was made to "help make [the story] more real." The subtle but significant shift helps keep the story more grounded and, therefore, relatable.
9 A More Sympathetic Joel
There's no denying that The Last of Us' success rests on character-driven storytelling. As such, the show's lead, Joel Miller, is different from his killing machine game counterpart.
Pedro Pascal's Joel is a relatable character who is healing from the loss of his child. He opens up to Tommy about being afraid of failing Ellie as he did Sarah. He comforts Ellie after she kills David in The Last of Us season 1, episode 8, "When We Are In Need." Joel's words, "It's okay, baby girl," prove Ellie has essentially become his foster daughter. He's driven to action by his love for Tommy and, later, Ellie.
8 Mall Scene
The Last of Us season 1, episode 7, "Left Behind," introduces Riley as part of Ellie's flashback to the night that changed the course of her life. Riley first met Ellie at the FEDRA military school and looked out for her since. She'd gone missing from the academy for three weeks and reappeared on a fateful night. It turns out Riley had defected to the Fireflies and wanted to give herself and Ellie a memorable last night together.
In the show, Riley sealed her fate after being attacked by an Infected, forcing the immune Ellie to eventually kill her. In the game, however, the duo was attacked by a horde, and Riley got infected in the process. The immune Ellie makes it out alive, but Riley doesn't. This change allowed for a far greater emotional impact and proves that only one Infected was enough to end Ellie and Riley's happiness.
7 David's Death
In The Last of Us season 1, episode 8, "When We Are in Need," Ellie confronted the cannibal cult leader, David, while Joel simultaneously recuperated from his grievous stomach wound. David came in contact with Ellie during his hunting expedition in the woods.
Towards the end of the episode, David meets his death at the hands of Ellie in the burning steakhouse. She uses a machete to kill him in the game and a butcher's knife in the show. Joel pulls Ellie away from David's corpse in the game, but in the show, he meets her outside the steakhouse. This slight change makes for impactful storytelling as Joel dearly holds on to Ellie and delivers the emotional weight through his comforting words, "I got you."
6 Bill And Frank's Story
Bill and Frank are the highlight of The Last of Us season 1, episode 3, "Long, Long Time." The couple lived in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and traded with Joel and Tess for years. Bill and Frank's love in the time of Cordyceps was a heartening aspect of the show. They drank spiked glasses of wine towards the end of episode 3 and walked into their bedroom one last time.
HBO's The Last of Us departs from the game's canon and changes Bill and Frank's storyline in that they die by suicide after Frank develops a degenerative disease. He decides to end his life, and Bill follows suit, saying, "This isn't some tragic suicide at the end of the play. I'm old, I'm satisfied, and you were my purpose." Their love story proves that love can thrive in the direst of circumstances.
5 Spores Vs. Tendrils
In the games, the fungal infection spread partially via spores in the air, which requires players to put gas masks on at certain points. HBO's The Last of Us swapped spores with tendrils that communicated through a root-like network.
The show explained the spread of Cordyceps through an interconnected network of tendrils as opposed to it being an airborne infection. This change not only marked a departure from the games but saved the characters in the HBO show the trouble of wearing gas masks to ward off clouds of fungal spores. It also allowed for the story to be more believable and realistic.
4 Tess' Death
Tess' ending also strayed from the game plot and added more emotional weight to The Last of Us season 1, episode 2, "Infected." She was executed by FEDRA soldiers who stormed the Capitol Building in the game, whereas in the series, an Infected pressed its lips against hers and slipped tendrils into her mouth.
While Tess was infected in both versions, she obliterated herself and the Infected in the show to buy Joel and Ellie time to escape. The kiss of death made for a frightening on-screen spectacle and helped explain the show's creative shift from spores to tendrils further.
3 Kathleen And Her Faction
Kathleen, and her right-hand man, Perry, are two of the original characters created for the HBO show. Played by Melanie Lynskey and Jeffrey Pierce, respectively, the duo heads the Kansas City resistance, which takes down the tyrannical FEDRA.
Kathleen and Perry's presence provides a significant insight into the political cost of the Cordyceps outbreak. It explains how commoners suffer when a responsible government isn't in place and how, in its absence, varied forces rush to fill in the power vacuum.
2 Cordyceps Origin
The Last of Us season 1, episode 1, "When You're Lost in the Darkness," subtly hints at the Cordyceps' origin. Joel, Tommy, and Sarah listen to a radio report about "...continued disturbances in Jakarta..." which gets the three of them talking about its location. While Cordyceps originates from South America in the video game, its epicenter is Jakarta in the series.
The Last of Us season 1, episode 2, "Infected," opens in Jakarta, Indonesia. Furthermore, its tropical climate connects well to the global warming bit from The Last of Us premiere wherein a scientist, Dr. Newman, in 1968, explains that if the world were to get slightly warmer, fungi groups could evolve, mutate and burrow into human brains.
In episode 2, Professor Ibu Ratna, who works as a professor of Mycology at the University of Indonesia, sits with an Indonesian military officer and discusses the exact time and location of the outbreak. She does so after examining a dead Infected. She is told the occurrence took place approximately 30 hours ago in a flour and grain factory on the west side of the city. The military officer explains a "normal woman" turned violent and attacked and bit her coworkers. The people she bit were executed, and fourteen workers went missing. Professor Ratna explains there's no cure, and the only solution is to "start bombing" the city and everyone in it.
1 The Adlers
Joel and Sarah's neighbors, the Adlers, were created for HBO's The Last of Us. While a man named Jimmy Cooper attacks Joel in the game, the show provides a deeper insight into the spread of the fungus and the calm before the storm.
Danny, his wife Connie, and his mother-in-law, fondly known as "Nana," live in the Adler household. The HBO show subtly sets up the spread of the infection through Adlers, as Nana is seen consuming mutated flour and sugar cookies on the morning of the outbreak. She falls prey, attacks Danny, and transfers tendrils to Connie's mouth. While Joel is forced to kill Nana using a wrench, Tommy runs over Connie, and Danny mauls a neighbor named Denise.