HBO Max has unsurprisingly hit it absolutely out of the park with the first episode of The Last of Us adaptation. People are falling in love all over again with the story, now being embodied by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the lead roles. Never before has a video game adaptation gotten fan reactions quite as universally strong.
Social media is abuzz with all the praise for episode one, with it really feeling like a shot-for-shot remake of the game. Following the first hour and ten of the video game, it ran an hour and twenty minutes long. Particular love has gone to the painstakingly brutal recreation of Sarah’s death yet again.
Some have even described it as one of the best first episodes ever for an adapted series, with it almost making you think it was just the game with slightly more advanced graphics. Imagine how much better it could get.
Fans of other games are feeling jealous though, with the first episode making some remember misfires of years past. Such failures like Netflix’s Resident Evil which made jokes about Zootopia erotica, and the immensely dull Uncharted film with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg.
Joel and Ellie’s first moments together resulted in the show’s first meme, with everyone and their mom making fun of the absolute whack and shove Joel gave her. Is it too early to declare Pascal and Ramsey as the absolute, pin-perfect casting for the roles? It just feels like a match made in heaven.
The best thing you can really say about The Last of Us really is that it managed to get people emotionally involved in a story they already know all the twists for. Everyone knows Sarah dies in the beginning, everyone knows how brutal it is. Yet it completely works like new seeing it in live-action.
The Last of Us drops new episodes every week on HBO Max.