The Last of Us S1:E1 “When You’re Lost in the Darkness” Review

By Ben Wright (@iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)

This review may contain mild spoilers.

Created and written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) & Neil Druckmann (The Last of Us video games), this adaption of the international best-selling video game franchise, The Last of Us, is a post-apocalyptic horror drama series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.

Full disclaimer, I have experienced the full story of both video games so there are going to be story elements I am aware of. I will not let this impact the reviews and will separate the video game and TV series accordingly. With that said, I hold a minority view that The Last of Us is an OK video game series. I am not in love with them as much as most and feel there are some huge negatives, but also some great elements too. So I feel these reviews will be a good place to get some balance.

This first episode does an outstanding job of establishing the characters and the world, which is helped by the extended episode runtime. The opening act pays great tribute to the opening of the first game and there were some wonderful moments. I loved the car scene, the camera work really created a claustrophobic feeling and was also a great technical triumph. In the present day, the world is established quickly and the writing is so compact and clear that there is no need for any hand-holding for the audience. You are immediately brought up to speed and the foundation is laid, for what should be a really exciting and dramatic series.

While this first season is pulling a lot from the first game, there has been plenty of original characters announced and even in this first episode there are plenty of changes, so I am not worried that they are just going to rip scene for scene. With that said, there are some straight-up pulls, but I feel these work well enough that even the die-hard fans won’t get tired of this approach. On a similar note, Gustavo Santaolalla returns to compose the score, alongside David Fleming. Santaolalla composed the original theme for the games and they use that here. It’s a good theme, so why change it?

As for the cast, there was a lot of expectation and anticipation regarding Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Bella Ramsey (Ellie). If this first episode is anything to go by, it appears to be a casting masterstroke! Their individual performances are incredible, and their brief scenes together overflow with a deeper connection. They complement each other and as their relationship develops, it will only get even better. Anna Torv (Tess) was a good support for Joel and Gabriel Luna (Tommy), in his brief appearance, remains a positive bit of casting and his role will be expanded on as the series plays out. Merle Dandridge (Marlene), reprising her role from the games, needed no help in getting into character, and like Luna, we’ll see more of her later. Finally, a huge shout out to Nico Parker (Sarah), Joel’s daughter, who was simply outstanding in the opening act.

Overall, I thought this was a fantastic opening episode for The Last of Us and the bar has been set incredibly high. The performances so far have been outstanding and the pacing, story and production all work in perfect unison. I am already looking forward to next week’s episode!

What did you think of the first episode of The Last of Us? Let us know in the comments or find us on social media.