If you've experienced the compelling, if also stress-inducing 2013 video game "The Last of Us," you'll be ready for what comes in the excellent new television adaptation debuting this weekend on HBO and HBO Max.
Or as ready as you can be.
The story told in the award-winning Sony PlayStation game — and continued in its emotionally devastating 2020 sequel, "The Last of Us Part II" — takes place 20 years after a fungal mutation quickly turned much of the human population into zombies.
It is a dark and morally murky tale of a man trying to protect a young girl as they traverse a wasteland populated by sporadic collections of desperate humans and lots of "infected," each of which is a varying degree of dangerous depending on how long the Cordyceps fungus has had to do its horrifying dance within the lost soul's body. And while they can't really see, they will hear you — and come at you fast.
The series was developed by Craig Mazin, who earned raves as the creator of the acclaimed 2019 HBO miniseries "Chernobyl," and Neil Druckmann, the creative director for the games, made by the studio Naughty Dog.
The world isn't exactly littered with tremendous game adaptations. However, Naughty Dog creates highly cinematic efforts — it's the studio behind the likewise terrific "Uncharted" series — and much of what appears in "The Last of Us" is lifted quite faithfully from the game's myriad cut scenes, so that this is a successful translation isn't entirely surprising.
And that the show nailed the casting of its leads is a big reason it remains engrossing throughout its nine-episode debut season. Both Pedro Pascal, as Joel, and Bella Ramsey, as Ellie — "Game of Thrones" alums who more recently have been seen starring in "The Mandalorian" and "Catherine Called Birdy," respectively — bring the spirits of the game's versions to the screen while making each character his and her own.
After a brief prologue set in 1968, when a scientist lays out just how devastating a mutating fungus could be to the human race, "The Last of Us" begins 35 years later by introducing us to single dad Joel and his daughter, Sarah (Nico Parker of 2019's "Dumbo"), on Joel's birthday. She falls asleep on his shoulder as they watch a bad movie. Within hours, though, the world is collapsing and many folks, their neighbors included, are becoming infected and turning violent.
Two decades later, Joel is in the Boston QZ — one of several quarantine zones around the country run by FEDRA, a military faction many see as fascist — doing what he can to get by with smuggling partner Tess (Anna Torv, "Mindhunter").
He and Tess are given a job by members of the Fireflies, a group that works to take down FEDRA: Get Ellie out of the QZ and deliver her to other members of the group in a nearby location. As you may have guessed, Ellie is special, and what makes her so soon will be apparent to the viewers, along with Joel and Tess.
Before long, "The Last of Us" settles into the endeavor that is at the heart of the game, Joel's mission to protect Ellie as they make a long and arduous journey to the other side of the county.
Numerous events and encounters from the original version of the story make it to the show's, which should please longtime fans. The same can be said for touches such as having the game's composer Gustavo Santaolalla create the music for the show and casting Merle Dandridge as Boston Firefly leader Marlene, the character she performs in the game. (And while Gabriel Luna portrays Joel's brother, Tommy, in the show, the actor who handled the duty in the game, Jeffrey Pierce, shows up as a minor character. It's very cool, as is how the show uses Ashley Johnson, who has so memorably voiced Ellie, and the game's Joel, Troy Baker.)
There is the occasional nod to gameplay from "The Last of Us," such as Joel boosting Ellie up somewhere high or grabbing a ladder, but if you were hoping to see him beef up his weaponry at the occasional found workbench, you'll be a little disappointed.
It's the obvious choice, but Mazin and Druckman — each of whom at least co-wrote every episode with the other and directs at least one installment — deserve some credit for veering away from the game's over-the-top action sequences in favor of more character-driven moments. (You're just not going to believe Joel and Ellie regularly surviving the type of odds-stacked-against-them encounters they must for a player to progress through the game.)
However, some of the character content they've added is deserving of praise. Most notably, the show's richly drawn, Peter Hoar-directed third episode offers a fuller (and significantly different) picture of Bill (Nick Offerman), the survivalist Joel visits with Ellie in tow. Through flashbacks, we see the time Bill spent with Frank (Murray Bartlett of "The White Lotus"), a wanderer he briefly traps. It's pretty touching stuff for a zombiepocalypse drama.
On the other hand, we must note we get surprisingly little in terms of the infected, which is especially disappointing given the show's reported sizable per-episode budget. What we do get is terrific — the live-action version of a "clicker," with it's chills-inducing sounds, is every bit as terrifying as you'd hope — but there isn't that much of it. Money clearly went into re-creating the game's decayed world, though, and that appears to have been money well-spent.
Other characters from the game you'll see include brothers Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard), as well as David (Scott Shepherd), the leader of a group trying to endure in a frozen part of the country. Also, Storm Reid ("A Wrinkle in Time") portrays Riley, a key figure from 2014 downloadable minigame "The Last of Us: Left Behind," in the show's impactful seventh episode.
Speaking of impactful episodes, the finale is that, even if the all-important stretch of the Mazin-and-Druckmann-penned hour feels a little rushed. What happens — the choice that is made — perhaps hits even harder in this medium. It's certainly an earned moment given the well-handled evolution of the Joel-Ellie relationship.
More credit to Pascal and Ramsey. More credit to Mazina and Druckmann.
Even knowing what ordeals likely would lie ahead in a second season of "The Last of the Us," we're desperately hoping for a renewal — a move deserving given the show's quality.
And while we're at it, Naughty Dog, an announcement that there will be a "Last of Us Part III" would make us very happy ... if also a little stressed out.
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'THE LAST OF US'
How to watch: Debuts 9 p.m. ET Sunday on HBO
