Zombies, a monster popularized by “Night of the Living Dead,” have become a staple of the horror genre. A natural advancement was the creation of the zombie apocalypse, a world not only ending but destroyed by brainless violence. Yet there is beauty in such brutal stories in the fight to survive and “The Last of Us” puts up a hard fight.
“The Last of Us,” an adaptation of the video game with the same name, is set during an apocalypse where a parasitic fungus evolves to infect human hosts. It primarily follows two survivors, Ellie and Joel, as they journey across what’s left of America, forming a father-daughter bond on the way.
Season two, now available on Max, expands on their relationship while introducing new characters, exploring the consequences of their actions from the first season.
Part of what makes the story so appealing is the intricate character work. Horror is a callous genre, usually showcasing the worst of humanity. The genre’s most infamous pieces like “The Thing,” “The Shining” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” are bleak, focusing on the degradation of humanity. Yet “The Last of Us” centers the strength that love can provide and its motivation even in desperate times.
The video game expanded the possibilities of the medium. Instead of concentrating exclusively on the gameplay, the creators developed a poignant story. It made the player think — you are not just mindlessly shooting zombies, you also have to confront real subject matter like the sacrifices a parent makes for their child.
The game made it possible to combine the interactiveness of a video game and the emotion of a movie. In fact, a study by City University of Hong Kong found that after playing “The Last of Us,” participants’ empathy increased.
What distinguishes “The Last of Us” from other zombie media is the outbreak’s realism. The parasite is based on a real fungus called Cordyceps, which infects the brain of its insect host, controlling its mind and motor abilities.
While the likelihood of the fungus reaching humans is very low, the basis in our environment is eerie. Knowing that the outbreak occurs in nature, even on an insect scale, is unnerving.
As opposed to most stories like “The Walking Dead,” “Night of the Living Dead” and “Zombieland,” where zombies are slow-moving and stupid, “The Last of Us” subverts these conventions.
The undead are fast, retaining the speed their bodies had before the infection. It means that athletic ability is not the only skill needed to survive. But as season two explores, the zombies evolve, gaining intelligence. They no longer run thoughtlessly after the nearest food source but craft traps for their prey.
It is a new level for the monsters, blurring the difference between the undead and the living. If they can form coherent plans and match the brawn of the survivors, enduring becomes even more complex.
Yet it also adds further depth to the characters. There is optimism in the choice to fight a seemingly impenetrable predator because it means that there is something to live for, even at the end of the world.
However, the adaptation has not been without its faults. The primary issue with season one was the lack of action. Whole episodes would pass with barely a sight of an infected, as the showrunners chose to prioritize the characters.
It makes sense. They had to shorten around 25 hours worth of gameplay to eight hours of screen time, so cutting the aspects of the game that did not directly move the plot forward was natural. But it still removed the adrenaline rush that many played the game for.
In response, the second game has been split into two seasons, with the first part currently airing. It allows the writers to maintain what made the game so lovable: human stories set in inhumane conditions.
