2023 is off to a strong start for Prime Video with The Last of Us, a post-apocalyptic series adapted from the famous eponymous video game, the first episode of which aired on January 16. But have you paid attention to all these little hidden details?
It was one of the most anticipated series of this beginning of the year. The very first episode of The Last of Usadapted from the eponymous video game, made its debut on the American channel HBO on January 15, and the following day on Prime Video in France. As a reminder, a few days before its broadcast, the streaming platform announced the signing of an agreement with HBO and Warner. A news that follows the end of the collaboration between HBO and OCS. In this post-apocalyptic series, created by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, the world is in agony following the mutation of a parasitic fungus, Codyceps. Twenty years after the start of this pandemic, Joel, a smuggler, is given a mission by the Fireflies, an organization of survivors of the epidemic. The latter is responsible for bringing Ellie, a teenager with a strong character to the other side of the country. Together, they will embark on a dangerous journey through what remains of the United States. During their journey, they will have to face both the fearsome infected creatures and the hostile, even violent survivors. Highly anticipated by video game fans, they were there to discover the first episode. But did they manage to spot all those little details that have certainly escaped those who have never played video games?
The continuation under this advertisement
Music, dialogues, costumes… Everything you should have seen in the first episode of The Last of Us
- If actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who voice Joel and Ellie in the video games, will appear in the sequel to The Last of Us in different roles only actress Merle Dandridge reprized her role in the series. Troy Baker will play James, a member of a group of settlers fighting to keep their community alive, while Ashley Johnson will play Anna, a pregnant woman who is about to give birth in terrifying circumstances.
- This next detail has surely not escaped the eye of gamers. If you pay attention to the outfit that young Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) is wearing, you will notice that she is wearing a pink colored hoodie. A color identical to that of the t-shirt that the character from the video game wears over a black long-sleeved top.
- Other small details also jumped out at video game aficionados, including the mantra “When you’re lost in the dark, seek the light“, which is spoken in the opening credits of the game. We find this sentence written on a wall during a scene where Joel is selling drugs to a guard in the street.
- In addition to Gustavo Santaolalla, who specially returned to compose the music for the HBO event series, another highlight of the first episode was the lines taken directly from the famous video game. A rather rare fact when you know that most adaptations do not particularly stick to the dialogues of the books or video games on which they are based.
The continuation under this advertisement
The Last of Us : a more than successful adaptation
If critics and fans of the video game on Playstation were more than skeptical a few months before the broadcast of The Last of Us, it would seem that their doubts were quickly dispelled. In effect, the series obtained the excellent score of 97% on the American opinion aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, a rating that is far from that of the spin-off of The Witcher. American critics received the series well and particularly praised the performances of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, two actors who had previously starred in Game Of Thrones. “We have only one desire: to watch them. They are immediately endearing“, in particular wrote the magazine RollingStone. But the American press is not the only one to have been appreciative of this highly anticipated adaptation. The editorial staff of Télé-Loisirs validated this adaptation 100%. French journalists were also conquered. According to The Parisian, The Last of Us “will delight fans of the video game as much as those who do not know it. There is a grace in The Last of Us which, despite its dark side, sometimes warms hearts (…) It’s not every day that such a successful series arrives on our screens“. For Telerama“the series thwarts our expectations and carries us away thanks to two endearing characters“. Same story for viewers who hastened to say all the good things they thought of the first episode broadcast on Prime Video. Many are now waiting for the sequel on January 23rd.
Article written in collaboration with 6Médias
