By Truman Martin – Entertainment Editor

‘The Last Of Us” is a TV show that was released on the streaming service HBO Max on January 15. The series was created by Craig Mazin and Niel Druckman, and stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. It is based on the 2013 video game developed by Naughty Dog, and it follows Joel and Ellie as they travel across a zombie-ridden America 20 years after an outbreak. The show is one of the biggest produced shows in Canadian History, and the first season is nine episodes long. 

The first episode opens up with a talk show where the host is interviewing a specialist on fungi. They talk about how if a fungus could infect a human, it would be the end of the world. It then shows ‘outbreak day’ through the eyes of Joel’s daughter, Sara. The episode then skips 20 years to 2023, and that’s where the actual story begins. 

“The Last Of Us” is a surprisingly good show. Just from the first two episodes alone, you can tell that they put a lot of effort into being both faithful to the source material and enhancing the story as a whole. It does a good job of building up the world that the fans of the game love so much. It is way better than it has any business being, since it’s a show about zombies. The acting is on point, and the banter between Pascal and Ramsey is fun to watch. Right from the start the visuals are great as well. Craig Mazin also created the limited series Chernobyl, which won a lot of awards, and it’s clear why. 

The show does change some things from the game. For example, Tommy, Joel’s brother, is not mentioned very much in the game until later. Right off the bat in the show, though, it is clear that Joel finding where Tommy went is part of the plot. All of these changes just enhance the story rather than ruin it though. Most video game adaptations are either really bad or pretty shaky. “The Last Of Us” is showing neither sign. In fact, it’s shaping up to be one of the best video game adaptations ever.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars