THE LAST OF US Spoilers: Series Premiere Makes The Game's Prologue Even More Devastating

THE LAST OF US Spoilers: Series Premiere Makes The Game's Prologue Even More Devastating

The first episode of The Last of Us is now streaming on HBO Max, and the series premiere expands the role of a supporting character to devastating effect. Check out our recap...

By MarkCassidy - Jan 16, 2023 05:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Last of Us
Source: Via GameFragger.com

HBO's highly-anticipated series adaptation of Naughty Dog's groundbreaking video game, The Last of Us, premiered yesterday (today in the UK and Ireland), and while the first episode plays out in pretty much the same way as the game, one significant change arguably makes the already heartbreaking prologue even more devastating.

Spoilers follow.

The game begins by giving us control of Joel's daughter Sarah, a few hours before society starts to fall apart after the onset of the Cordyceps virus. The series premiere also plays out from Sarah's (Nico Parker) point-of-view, but we get to spend more time with the kind-hearted teen before her life is cut tragically short.

We follow Sarah as she goes to school, drops in on an elderly neighbour, visits a repair shop to get her father's watch fixed for his birthday, and returns home to watch a movie with Joel. Throughout the day, we get hints that something serious is brewing, but don't find out exactly what's going on until Sarah wakes up to the sound of helicopters and explosions later that night. 

From here, we get a recreation of the game's pulse-pounding escape sequence, as Joel, Sarah and Tommy attempt to make it out of the city before all hell breaks loose.

Unfortunately, just as salvation seems near, Sarah is gunned down by a solider and dies in her father's arms. 

In the "Inside the Episode" featurette below, co-creator Craig Mazin explains why he felt "it was important for us to present the audience with a Sarah that we thought we could follow for the rest of the series. She’s almost the protagonist, until disaster strikes."

If someone hadn't played the game and was going in to the show completely blind, it would be easy to be fooled into thinking Sarah was going to be our protagonist. Allowing us to get to know her better makes her death all the more difficult to witness, and easier to understand why Joel loses faith in humanity and heads down such a dark path in the years that follow.

What did you guys make of the season premiere of The Last of Us? Drop us a comment down below, and check out our verdict on the full season here.

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THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 1/16/2023, 5:42 PM
Cool man
GhostDog
GhostDog - 1/16/2023, 5:43 PM
Cool as [frick] man
bobevanz
bobevanz - 1/16/2023, 5:45 PM
Best pilot since Breaking Bad, the game lovers rejoice, and people who love top notch television rejoice! Anyone who says otherwise is a clown, like the idiots who think Everything Everywhere is bad. Some people are simply too stupid..
bobevanz
bobevanz - 1/16/2023, 5:47 PM
@bobevanz - and that's a fact
RegularPoochie
RegularPoochie - 1/16/2023, 6:22 PM
@bobevanz - it is a fact. Just hope they csn keep it on same level. It's 9,6 after first episode on imdb
MrDandy
MrDandy - 1/16/2023, 5:47 PM
Great first episode. So far it is capturing the spirit of the game. Definately the best video game adaption yet if they can keep it up through this season.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 1/16/2023, 5:48 PM
I’m actually borderline envious of the people that get to experience this story the first time this way, same way I was with those who played the remake first. But man, what an opening. The fact I know what’s going to happen didn’t lessen any of the impact. You can tell already that this is going to be one of those really special adaptations that goes down as one of the all-time greats.
vegetaray
vegetaray - 1/16/2023, 5:51 PM
@PlusUltra - Totally agree…

Just wait until they get to main story for the second game 😬…People who have no idea where this all goes are going to collectively lose their minds…
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