Spoilers for The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2 aheadWhen it was released in 2013, The Last of Us seemed like the perfect title to get a live-action adaptation. With a focused narrative on two strangers who eventually become a surrogate family, The Last of Us tells a heartfelt story wrapped in a post-pandemic, semi-realistic world. Add in the Cordyceps outbreak that serves as a stand-in for zombies, and it's no wonder The Last of Us was well received during the height of the undead fad of the early 2010s.
The Last of Us HBO series proves that all of this is true. While it serves as a faithful adaptation of the video game, there is enough added exposition to keep those who played the original game interested. Easter eggs and nods to more subtle parts of the game can be found in the HBO series, and essential pieces of dialogue between characters are captured in such a way that they pay tribute to the source material. Seeing how well done the first few episodes of The Last of Us HBO series is offers hope that it could build up The Last of Us Part 2's story properly; something the original game couldn't quite manage.
The Last of Us Didn't Necessarily Need a Sequel
The Last of Us's story ends in a dramatic fashion. After waking up in a car, Ellie asks Joel about what happened at St. Mary's Hospital. Joel says that after running tests on Ellie, the Fireflies concluded they couldn't create a cure based on her immunity to the Cordyceps fungus. Expounding further, he also said that many others like her were immune, rendering her condition unexceptional.
In reality, the Fireflies were prepping Ellie for surgery when Joel, armed with the knowledge that creating a cure for the Cordyceps fungus would require Ellie to die, killed most of the Fireflies to save her. Desperate to keep the truth from his surrogate daughter, Joel lies to Ellie and the screen cuts to black. Ending the first game with a lie is so powerful that The Last of Us would have been just fine without a sequel, especially as each piece of the plot was tied up properly. In fact, The Last of Us Part 2 only exists to show the ramifications of Joel's decision.
Joel's massacre of the St. Mary's Hospital Fireflies left a lot of dead bodies, including both his and Ellie's security detail, the medical team, most of the Fireflies in the building, and their leader Marlene. Though it may seem like Marlene's death is what triggers the events of The Last of Us Part 2, it was actually the death of the lead surgical doctor. Jerry Anderson was the father of Abby Anderson - the second main protagonist of the sequel. Filled with anger, Abby and a few of the surviving Fireflies from St. Mary's Hospital travel to Jackson and kill Joel at the beginning of The Last of Us Part 2. This act is what spurs Ellie to travel to Seattle and exact revenge.
The Last of Us HBO Series Should Show The Aftermath of St. Mary's Hospital
Knowing how integral Joel's actions are to the continuation of the narrative, The Last of Us HBO series should put a great deal of emphasis on the events at St. Mary's Hospital. The brutality of his deeds shouldn't be understated, but there should be hints of his empathy for the Fireflies. Viewers should see that Joel doesn't want to kill the rebels, but he is left with no other choice to save Ellie. This is important especially when it comes time for Joel to kill Abby's father, whom he previously showed no sympathy for killing in the original game given he wasn't yet a story-important character. While Joel does show some emotion when he kills Marlene, the same amount of exposition should also be visible as he massacres the remaining Fireflies.
Doing this will make the lead-up into The Last of Us Part 2 more natural. Viewers will know exactly who Abby is and why her group feels the way they do about Joel. Likewise, seeing Joel's humanity as he kills the Fireflies will help viewers relate to him rather than making it feel like an emotionless massacre. But most importantly, adding context would create less of a narrative gap between the events of the first game and the second. Considering how The Last of Us HBO series already handles exposition well, it can definitely bridge two stories without making them feel disjointed.
The Last of Us airs Sunday nights on HBO.
