Fall Finales: The Last of Us - Season One

So I have finally finished, The Last of Us. The post-apocalyptic drama based on the 2013 video game developed by Naughty Dog. Set in 2023, twenty years into a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, which causes its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures and collapses society. A little like the last few years us humans have lived.

Following Joel (Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian), a smuggler tasked with escorting the immune teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States.

Also featured in season one Nico Parker as Joel's daughter Sarah, Merle Dandridge as resistance leader Marlene, Anna Torv as Joel's partner Tess, Gabriel Luna as Joel's brother Tommy, Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Montreal Woodard as brothers Henry and Sam, and Melanie Lynskey and Jeffrey Pierce as resistance leader Kathleen and her second-in-command Perry.

This is the first HBO series based on a video game, The Last of Us premiered on January 15, 2023. Running for nine episodes I have avoided spoilers since mid March.

So it technically should have featured in my Summer Slack Streaming Blog series. However I had another 33 series to conclude over our summer.

The first season has received acclaim from critics, who praised the performances, writing, production design, and score; several called it the best adaptation of a video game. 

Across linear channels and HBO Max, the series premiere was watched by 4.7 million viewers on the first day—the second-biggest for HBO since 2010—and almost 40 million within two months; by March, the first six episodes averaged over 30 million viewers. 

After the first few episodes, the series was renewed for a second season. Not a big surprise really.

You can stream The Last of Us on Binge, along with the all other HBO titles. HBO and Showtime have both been off to a strong start for 2023 with Succession and Yellowjackets now replacing both Your Honour and this series.