The Last of Us episode one, which is currently accessible to watch on OSN+ in the Middle East, is fully spoiled in this review. To avoid spoilers
The Last of Us Series It becomes evident within the first minute of HBO's The Last of Us that this series won't be a simple 1-1 copy of the adored computer game. In a talk show scenario more akin in tone to anything out of showrunner Craig Mazin's Chernobyl, it lays up the history behind the creation of the virus that will serve as the spark for everything else to come in the program's chilling opening. It provides context for the pandemic that is all-too-relatable for novices and feeds viewers who are already familiar with the game. It's a theme that runs throughout the first episode of the new season, which serves as a brilliantly fresh way to enter the world of The Last of Us.
The very first episode of the TV series meets two important goals: it creates the universe in which the remaining 8 episodes will take part and introduces Joel as the nuanced character that he is. His daughter Sarah, who is charmingly portrayed by Nico Parker when we first meet him in Texas 20 years before the major events, is the center of his universe. Before we are abruptly pulled apart later in the show, Sarah's story gives us glimpses of life before the impending pandemic as viewed through her inquisitive teenage eyes. This gives us a greater connection with Sarah. These early scenes are excellent at introducing us to a once-familiar environment as well as to the important father tie between Joel and Sarah.
We get some of our first looks at sequences from the game that have been given new life as night falls and chaos breaks out. It's interesting to note that one of the first of them closely resembles how the in-game camera is set up as Sarah and we watch the chaos take place from the backseat of a truck. It's a sweet compliment and a wise one that solidifies Sarah's role as the viewer's proxy, just as she previously served as the player's. The scene also provides insight into Joel's complicated psychology as Pedro Pascal deftly exhibits both his compassionate and cunning sides. He'll take any measures necessary to keep the people he cares about safe.
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Walking gives us a better sense of the threat that is now sweeping through the streets, as fires burn, vehicles explode, and the infected are born. Early infected move like toddlers learning to run, unsure of their new bodies but determined to spread throughout the room. They are learning to exist in a world as abruptly as the world is learning to exist with them, and neither is doing a particularly good job of it, as the deliberately frantic action demonstrates. Of course, it all leads up to the event that will shape Joel's life from that point forward: the death of his daughter.It's as sudden and shocking as it always is whether you've watched it for the first or the 12th time, and made all the more heartbreaking by Pascal's desperate cries and the firmly innocent moments we'd just spent with Sarah.
It's an opening half-hour that hits home not only because of the heartbreaking performances, but also because of the technical artistry.
It's an opening half-hour that hits home not only because of the heartbreaking performances, but also because of the technical artistry. As normal life comes to an end, the impending disaster is kept out of focus - literally, in the haunting image of Sarah's convulsing elderly neighbor. As the lens is exposed, warm sunlight floods the screen before alarming reds and blues dart through the darkness.just as we are, to the outbreak's creeping momentum. Sarah's death marks a shift in the camera's focus to Joel 20 years later, as browns, greens, and greys desaturate the world and signal that darker times are ahead. It's a clever use of camera behavior and shifting perspectives that works really well.
As we enter Boston's Quarantine Zone and its militarized imitation of a community, we are greeted by a harsh new world. The fungal virus has spread and no cure has been discovered. The clinical death and subsequent burning of a newly infected boy that welcomes us into this alternate 2023 is a stark example of this. It's also where we meet another child who has recently been bitten by an infected, but who may hold the key to unlocking the world as its inhabitants once knew it.Ellie, a brash product of her surroundings, jumps off the screen from the start thanks to Bella Ramsey's talents. We don't get to spend much time with her this time, but it's clear that Ramsey is going to be a force of nature to be reckoned with throughout the series - and one that may be required to reclaim the world from the sickly nature that has overtaken it.
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Anna Torv also sparkles as the toughened Tess, especially in a well-crafted earlier scene and successive exploding escape. Merle Identification successfully reprises her role as Fireflies leader Marlene, showing both the hardness you'd expect from a presumed terrorist, as well as moments of open mindedness and vulnerability when meeting to discuss Joel and Ellie on their mission.In this first chapter, the cast does an outstanding job of creating not person, but two distinct and human environments.
The locations in which these characters work are also impressive, with the Boston QZ's grimy inner cities and run-down streets exuding a meaningful sense of place, in which any description of comfortable lifestyle has long since disappears; local shop owners and friendly neighbors have been replaced by drug traffickers and armed enforcers.
The episode covers a lot in 80 minutes, mostly deftly, despite a few slightly rushed introductions to folks and verbiage that barely allow for a present time to breathe. At breakneck speed, concepts such as the outbreak, containment areas, the Dragonflies, and the overall situation around the world are presented.At times, the show appears as determined as Joel to end up leaving the QZ, making for a fast-paced opening that may leave the uninitiated befuddled. Ellie and Joel's 1st occasions alone together are thankfully given space. It's an enjoyable glimpse into their dynamic: tense and simply lack in trust, but it has a fun edge as Ellie deciphers Joel's radio code.
The Judgment
The first episode of HBO's The Last of Us dazzlingly lays the groundwork for the mental suffering that awaits us at every turn. It throws us into a world on the verge of catastrophe before magnificently projecting us into one that has plunged into its depths, with a cast at the top of their game and technological artistry behind camera to match. For the majority of its long and complex runtime,It's always enjoyable, even as new knowledge is thrown at us at breakneck speed. It captures everything which makes the first chapter of a video game's story so special - as to if it's the initial or hundred-and-first time it's punched you firmly in the gut.
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