Based on the popular video game “Last of Us” has captured the attention of gamers and sci-fi lovers nationwide! Pedro Pascal’s character tugs at the heartstring right off the bat, leaving no room for questioning that he has been through his fair share of hardships in life and engaging the audience not even 10 minutes into the first episode. The show falls under a futuristic zombie-outbreak genre, following the plot that a mutant strain of plant life has been causing people to turn monstrous and even cannibalistic. Survival, trust, and the fate of humanity are all considered with each decision made throughout the show.
Not a single episode dragged, even with out-of-the-blue plot twists and changes in time settings! I will say that the show is nowhere nearly as bloody or gorey as it could have been. The concept of gore and violence turned many people away from other zombie media, but I’m not going to lie and say this show is all unicorns and rainbows. The storyline gets dark. and cCharacters die, whether they fall victim to monster attacks or are betrayed by their kind. There are even instances where we need to realize what makes someone a monster, as even in the apocalyptic zombie outbreak setting, there are still people who are just plain sick without even being infected by any outbreak. The show has also earned high praise for staying very true to the premise of the video game. Even the graphics of the scenes and the set and costume designs make the characters almost appear like they are AI designs. The character behaviors, the suspense, and even the ending are all portrayed on screen beautifully.
What is the most intriguing about this show, in my opinion, is that despite knowing it is science fiction, it does a great job of making the audience consider the reality of it all. There are many parallels to other shows like “The Walking Dead,” but this show captured my attention much better than the rest. It’s interesting – and a little scary – to think of how one contaminated batch of yeast could cause the fall of humanity in less than a couple of days.
My only critique of the show is the number of flashbacks that occur, specifically the order of events of the show. It was a little tricky following the storyline and realizing that certain scenes were set in a different time, but once you take a moment to process, the drama hits you HARD. I’m not the only one who loved the show – or Pedro Pascal – either! “Last of Us” could not have been renewed for a second season any quicker, earning over 4.7 million views during the premier. This kind of makes me sad because after binge-watching the entire season, I could tell that the show creators tried to incorporate as many plot-points and closures as possible out of fear of not getting renewed. Yes, the season ended on a cliffhanger, but I can’t fathom how the writers will stretch it into an entire second season. The finale was wrapped perfectly into a little box of suspense and shock, with the whole storyline coming full circle and backstories being explained. Nonetheless, I’m stoked to see more! At the risk of sounding corny, I am proud to say that you haven’t seen the last of Pascal, nor the “Last of Us”.”
Photo Credits: HBOMax
