I'm not especially convinced The Last of Us needs a TV show. I'd probably have written about that by now, if our features editor Jade King hadn't already described all the reasons why an incredibly cinematic game that puts huge emphasis on narrative doesn't need to be retold in a medium that doesn't ask you to push any buttons. The Last of Us has a compelling story, but I've seen it. I know what happens. Sure, I frequently watch things I've already watched and play things I've already played and am still affected by them, but moving The Last of Us to TV feels like a sideways move. It doesn't seem as though it's going to let Druckmann, who's helming some episodes, tell the story in a different way. It feels more like we, as gaming, have elected The Last of Us as our chosen Very Serious Game to take to the land of television so we can gain some respect and credibility. Making a television show so that other people who make television shows might take you seriously doesn't seem like the best motivation for making a television show.
After today's first official look at the series, I'm now less convinced than ever that we need it, and somehow more excited than ever to see it. It's a funny old world we live in.
The casting of the show has always seemed decent but unremarkable. There are few actors young enough to play Ellie, and Bella Ramsey fits the bill. Though her role in Game of Thrones was completely different, it also displayed a talent and competence far beyond her years - she's a good fit. Pedro Pascal, meanwhile, is a phenomenal actor, but he also comes across as a little safe. I'm of the opinion that a character's looks should come second to their personality, unless their look is a key part of their identity. So the fact Pascal looks the part of Joel does little for me - the fact he's basically done The Last of Us in The Mandalorian doesn't help either. I know The Mandalorian and The Last of Us have different tones, but it feels like we've seen Pascal in too similar a role already. Mahershala Ali, one of the rumoured Joels prior to Pascal's reveal, has always felt to me like a better choice - and I was always going to unfairly compare Pascal to my hypothetical, perfect version of Ali.
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In short, I was ready for it to pass me by - then I saw the first photo. It shows Ramsey and Pascal as Ellie and Joel with their backs to the camera, approaching a hill with a wrecked plane. It looks, unmistakably, like The Last of Us. Until now, I wasn't particularly convinced the game had an aesthetic. It was just a bit grim looking and grungy. Last year, after the launch of The Last of Us Part 2, an official Ellie shirt released in support of the game was criticised for just being a denim shirt - but then, that's all that Ellie wears, isn't it? That typified what The Last of Us is: While it's visually impressive in a rope physics kind of way, its commitment to photorealism means it lacks an art style - or so I thought. The shot of Ramsey and Pascal is The Last of Us, no doubt about it, and if a single shot can surprise me, maybe the full series can too.
It's not just that it looks like them - I've already said the fact Pascal looks like Joel means relatively little to me. It's that it seems to capture the idea of The Last of Us. For a single shot, not taken from a well known mission, with no zombies, gunfights, or faces being shown, that's pretty impressive.
There are a significant amount of time skips in the game, as the twosome travel across the country throughout all seasons. Clearly, the show is going to be telling new stories too - there is no downed plane in the game whatsoever. There is room for a TV show. I'm not especially convinced we, collectively, need one. I'm not sure gaming needs to select a handful of its best stories to prove we're real adults with real hobbies and not just overgrown children who still play with toys. But I am now convinced that I need to watch it, and I suppose that's the point.