The Last of Us is a newly released T.V. show that was adapted from a popular video game adaptation of the same name. The Last of Us  was recently released on HBO Max and has become almost as popular as its video game counterpart. The game version was released in 2013 by the game company Naughty Dog, and has since sold over 37 million copies worldwide. This new spin on the zombie apocalypse begins with a fungus, called cordyceps, that can infect insects and control them, mutating to be able to control human hosts. This infection causes the human host to become a mindless zombie, which in the show is called an Infected. The series’ main character is Joel, a smuggler from Texas, who has been tasked with taking a teenage girl named Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, across the country.

The T.V. show is fantastic! I have not played the game it was based on, but I have seen some play throughs and the creativity is incredible. I got really attached to the characters, especially Tess and Joel. These characters are extremely well fleshed out and you really get to know them. The characters have such interesting interactions with each other, and the cinematography was amazing. Another thing that I loved is how well selected the cast is. The cast embodies the characters in a way that is very accurate to the game, and captivates the audience. The backgrounds and the way the buildings were held up by each other, with vines and other flora, were very well done. The setting of an overgrown and abandoned city really gave the show that post-apocalyptic atmosphere.

One thing that usually worries me about T.V. show adaptation is how well the quality of the graphics will carry over. When it came to The Last of Us, I was not disappointed. I compared the game graphics to the show and the show captured the crumbling appearance of  post-apocalyptic Boston from the game really well!

The zombies in this show are simultaneously astounding and terrifying. The show introduces the possible explanation of the infection which is realistic enough to give the show a real world scare factor, because cordyceps in the show is an actual organism in real life. Though the real life fungus isn’t adapted to survive the high temperatures of the human body, so there is no threat of a zombie apocalypse… yet.

I highly recommend this show for high school kids, horror/dystopian lovers and people who aren’t squeamish with blood. The episodes are on the longer side so make time to watch all of it! New episodes are released every Sunday at 9:00pm.