The Last of Us Episode 1 | TV Show Breakdown

Feeding Curiosity

In today's episode, we are starting our breakdown of the newly released series The Last of Us based on the game of the same name! For those who want to remain entirely spoiler-free, this is not for you, but given the game has been out for some time, we assume most casual audiences will be curious enough to learn more about the source material. In this episode, we cover the major story beats, what we enjoyed and what we hope is to come in the story. Finally, we try to dive a little bit deeper into the show. As fans of the game, seeing an adaption done well is refreshing for us. Please enjoy this breakdown in episode one of The Last of Us! Let us know what you think!

Summary of episode one:

In 2003, a mass fungal infection sparked a global pandemic. Joel flees with his daughter, Sarah, and brother, Tommy; a soldier kills Sarah. Twenty years later, Joel lives in the Boston quarantine zone managed by the Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA), working as a smuggler with his partner, Tess. When Tommy fails to contact them from Wyoming, they buy a car battery from a local dealer, Robert, but are double-crossed when he sells it to the Fireflies, a rebel group in open opposition against FEDRA. Attempting to retrieve it, Joel and Tess discover Marlene, the Fireflies' leader, who begs them to take Ellie to the Massachusetts State House in exchange for a working truck. While sneaking out, the three are caught by a soldier who tests them for the infection, revealing Ellie to be positive. Joel kills the soldier while Ellie claims to be immune.

This episode was directed by Craig Mazin and co-written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. The series stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie.

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Show Notes:

(00:00) Hype for the Show

(01:08) First Impressions

(02:40) Focus on the Daughter

(04:52) Grounding the Outbreak

(05:41) Sarah felt like the Protagonist

(07:22) Gritty Survival Story

(08:45) The Opening

(12:49) Hope for Video Game Adaptations

(13:48) 20 Years Later

(18:55) How far do you differ from the Source

(23:24) Joel is numbing Himself

(25:33) Introducing Tess

(31:19) Introduction of Ellie

(37:13) The Closing Scenes to meet the fireflies

(41:10) Nuanced Groups

(43:14) Closing Out the Episode

(48:22) Set Design and Infected

(50:15) Nature is a Character

(55:11) Final Thoughts

(58:40) Outro

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