*This review does contain spoilers. *
HBO Max premiered the season finale of The Last of Us, “Look for the Light.” Which directly plays off episode one’s title and the Fireflies slogan, “When You’re Lost in the Darkness.” this past Sunday night. Despite the episode’s competition with ABC’s premiere of The Oscars, premiering at the same time, it garnered 8.2 million viewers, the season’s highest thus far.
Both fans and critics have praised the series as staying true to the source material, the 2013 award-winning games of the same name, and its character-building. While key points of the plot stick to the original, certain moments give more detail and backstory to events that never happened in the game. Episode three, “Long, Long Time,” centers around the story of Bill, played by Nick Offerman, a minor character that players originally didn’t know much about. In the game, our protagonists mainly work with Bill to help find a car as players fight off the infected and hunters together. In the show, Bill (and his husband Frank, whom viewers never see in the games) die before Joel and Ellie arrive for help.
With the release of episode nine, it’s safe to say that this is one of the few video game adaptations that really stayed faithful to the game but also made it it’s own by exploring ways to improve the original narrative.
The beginning of episode nine starts with the introduction of Ellie’s mother, Anna, whom is never seen in the games, other than a brief reference. Anna is played by Ashley Johnson, the original actress for Ellie, and in these few scenes, she gives birth to Ellie and getting bitten by an infected in the process. This scene is a full-circle moment for the fans and the creators show the original Ellie introducing the new Ellie.
This heartwarming moment is cut short with a bite, implied to be the reason why Ellie is immune from the outbreak, and when Marlene reappears, for the first time since the first episode, to see Anna on the floor, this is when seeing the effects of the infected taking action. At this moment, Marlene makes the difficult decision to kill Anna before she becomes completely infected and to take Ellie.
It’s amazing that the creators added this moment as it adds depth to a moment later in the episode, which is shown in the games when Marlene tells Joel about how she was there for Ellie’s birth and promised Anna she’d do what’s best for Ellie.
It then cut to the present day, Joel and Ellie are in the final stretch of their journey to finding the Fireflies’ base. This is a really small moment between the two of them, as Ellie is still dealing with the events of what happened in the last episode with David and the… cannibals. Joel tries to cheer her up with games and canned pasta… it’s just such a good father-daughter moment between the two.
Another wonderful moment is taken directly out of the game when Joel and Ellie encounter a giraffe on their way to the Fireflies hospital. For the first time since the events of the last episode, viewers get a glimpse into Ellie acting as her old self again. The dialogue between the two is replicated of what’s in the game, with Joel asking, “Is it everything you hoped for?” with Ellie replying, “It’s got its ups and downs. But you can’t deny that view though.” It’s a truly touching moment when it’s remembered that Ellie has probably only seen things like the giraffes and the ecosystem in all its glory in books.
This all culminates in the climactic moment in the hospital. Marlene is back in a scene with Joel where she explains what they really need from Ellie. The only way to make the cure is to kill her since the cordyceps grow in the brain. Something I find really interesting that wasn’t touched on too much in the show was that in the game, there are various clues left throughout that allude to the fact that the creation of a vaccine would never happen. One of the scientists for the Fireflies even said, “The girl’s infection is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The cause of her immunity is uncertain… We must find a way to replicate this state under laboratory conditions.” The fireflies scientist didn’t even understand the cause of it but were ready to perform a life-or-death surgery for the possibility of maybe creating a cure.
In the end, Joel saves Ellie by killing everyone in the hospital, including Marlene and the lead scientist (this action will have repercussions next season- iykyk), to save Ellie from being killed in the procedure. The episode ends with Joel lying to Ellie about what happened in the hospital, saying that they couldn’t make a vaccine and that there are others immune. The episode ends on a cliffhanger teasing a set-up for the next season (it’s already been renewed).
Overall, This first season has been a really great example of a good video game adaptation for film and TV.