The Last of Us

Last Sunday, the season finale of The Last of Us was released on HBO max. The Last of Us is based on a popular video game of the same name and takes place in a Zombie infested USA. The show follows the unlikely duo Joel and Ellie as they travel across the US. Along the Journey, a bond begins to form as they learn to depend on each other for their survival. I came into this TV show completely fresh. I had never played the games before nor knew anything about the premise other than it takes place in a Zombie apocalypse. HBO has a great track record with their shows and I like both of the main actors in the story so I thought it would be worth a look.

To get right to the point, I thought this show was absolutely fantastic. The plot was very captivating and kept me interested in the story for the entire runtime of every episode. The writing and storytelling a both really well done. The show gets you to connect with the characters so that by the end of the season, you begin to really care about them. The story also does a great job of introducing and creating stories for our side characters. Characters such as Bill, Henry, and David get their own backstory when they are introduced which makes the audience connect with even the side characters. The way the show handles the zombies is also really well done. The zombies are present and play a role in the show, but the story is done in a way that doesn't let the zombies become front and center. They are more so part of the setting than a major component of the plot. This allows the show to steer away from being a Zombie show like The Walking Dead and allows it to be its own thing and more of a survival show. Easily the best part of the show is the dynamic and relationship between Joel and Ellie. The two of them have such great chemistry together and really play off of each other really well. The show does a great job of letting the audience see their relationship grow and change throughout the show with the later episodes really allowing the two of them to cook together and the relationship to shine. The progression from being wary and untrusting to becoming such a sweet father-daughter relationship was just really well done. Finally, all of the performances in the show were very good with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey being the standouts.

I honestly do not have much of any issues with this show. The only minor things that may be an issue for some are that some of the side characters' stories are a bit long and the last episode has a bit of an abrupt ending. However, these issues are extremely minor.

Overall, this is a very well-written, well-acted show that has a lot of compelling characters and solid episode arcs. I am really looking forward to where this show will go in the next season. This is probably one of the best seasons of TV that I have seen in a while.

Score: 9.8/10 Grade: A Recommendation: Definitely check this one out

Rating Disclaimer: This show is rated TV-MA for language and violence. If a lot of F-bombs or violence bother you, then you may want to sit this out.