The Last of Us, a post-apocalyptic HBO exclusive, came out a little over a week ago on January 15th. Since then only a couple of episodes have been released but from what I’ve seen around the internet it has been a pleasant surprise. The show is based on the video game created in 2013 which was game of the year back in 2014.

The history of video game adaptations has a long list of failures like Doom, Assassins Creed, and Resident Evil, franchises that are huge in the gaming industry yet it has become a common trend for either movie or show adaptions to fall flat for long-time lovers of these video games.

Although some had hoped it would follow the recent success of Mortal Kombat, both Sonic’s 1 and 2, and Uncharted. People were still concerned that The Last of Us would be the latest victim to the curse of failures of gaming to show adaptations. Although The Last of Us had the ability to be an amazing adaptation there were quite a few things fans were concerned with.

The casting when it was released led to a lot of controversies with the 2 main characters Joel who is played by Pedro Pascal and Ellie played by Bella Ramsey both receiving backlash for not looking like their in-game characters even though Pedro is an outstanding actor in shows like Mandalorian and Narcos.

After the first trailer was released many people kept raving about how the show doesn’t look exactly like the video game but as soon as episode 1 aired all the backlash was silenced as it currently has a 95% on rotten tomatoes and a 9.7 star rating. While moving away from the controversies of the show let’s talk about more of the contents of what the show is about.

The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic drama that follows the main character Joel, a father suffering a devastating loss that impacts his relationship with Ellie. Ellie is a strong and witty kid with a trauma-filled past that you’ll learn more about as the show goes on.

The plot takes place 20 years after the opening 30 minutes of the show giving you context to what is going on. The show follows Joel and Ellie connecting through the harshness of the world they live in and are forced to take on ruthless conditions in a post-outbreak America. The conditions? Infected humans that have been horribly mutated by a parasitic fungus known as Cordyceps Brain Infection.

The mutations cause the infected to attack any living creature that have yet to be affected. There are a variety of creatures with different names and symptoms. There are many different mutations that you will see through your viewing like runners, stalkers, clickers, shamblers, bloaters, and rat kings.

This show is definitely worth the recommendation but don’t go into it expecting a binge session. As of right now only a couple episodes have been released so if you’d rather wait until the full season is released it will have a 9 episode total and will only be available through HBO.