One of the most popular shows this year, HBO’s The Last of Us, just ended its first season. The show, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, takes place 20 years after a fungal infection has taken over and society has collapsed. The show has quickly become one of my favorite shows of all time. I talk with many of my friends every week about the new episode and how it emotionally destroyed us. But I also know there are many people that haven’t started the series yet and I want to encourage them to start.
For multiple reasons I didn’t think this show was going to be for me, and I believe they are the same reasons that many people have not started the show yet. It is based on a video game I have never played and didn’t plan to play because it has a lot of action (I consider myself to be a “cozy gamer girl”). I also was never really interested in any other post-apocalyptic shows such as The Walking Dead. So why did I end up giving The Last of US a chance? The honest answer is I got stuck on the Pedro Pascal side of TikTok and I assumed at the very least I would enjoy his performance.
The story of The Last of US is dark, tragic, and beautiful. I assumed the popularity of the game was due to people enjoying fighting zombie-like creatures – which again is not my thing- but the popularity is actually due to the story. This is a story about the importance of human connection. We see this most through the main character Joel and Ellie, who have a pseudo father/daughter relationship. They didn’t choose at first to be “stuck together,” but the audience watches as Joel, a very stoic character, starts to laugh at Ellie’s joke book and opens up about what the world was like before the infection.
We meet many different characters throughout the show, but the common theme between them is the audience gets to see their relationships develop and/or what they would do to protect their loved ones. Episode 3 mostly follows Bill, played by Nick Offerman. Bill is a survivalist who doesn’t trust the government (or really any other person) and has prepared for an event like this all his life. Bill seems like he is perfectly fine in this post-apocalyptic world since he has shelter and all the supplies he could ever need. But when another character, Frank played by Murray Bartlett, enters his life, we see how truly lonely Bill is. The show focuses on the characters first and is willing to slow down the plot/action to truly develop characters and let the audience get to know them.
The Last of Us is brilliant at storytelling and building a world full of complex characters that are easy to get attached to. The performance by all the actors, specifically Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, are brilliant and helps you feel all the emotions that are feeling. The Last of Us is deserving of all the love and praise it has been getting.