The Last of Us: Make Fungi Scary Again
The TV adaptation of the dystopian horror video game, The Last of Us, isn’t afraid of tugging at heartstrings and causing nightmares.
By Beatrice Handlin
Let me preface this review by stating that I am very bad at video games. I come in last place every time I race in MarioKart. I die so often in Minecraft that I turned on “keep inventory” so I don’t lose everything when I inevitably fall from a high place. I am fantastic at LEGO Batman, but that should be disregarded as an outlier. Because I am so comically bad at video games, I have never played The Last of Us. Despite absorbing pop cultural knowledge about it over the years, I started this show with virtually fresh eyes.
According to my video-game-informed roommate, The Last of Us show closely follows the plot of the video game while incorporating more cinematic elements and character development, adding more depth to the show than the game. If you, like me, know little about the plot of the game, here is a mostly-spoiler free summary:
In 2003, a fungus that infects and zombifies ants has evolved to infect humans, creating cannibalistic fungi zombies that bring about the apocalypse. Twenty years later in 2023, Joel (Pedro Pascal) is living in a militaristic quarantine zone as a smuggler, and is tasked with taking a fungus immune girl named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across the country to scientists that can create a cure.
Overall, it is a pretty basic plot, but the show uses this simple plot effectively to create moments of genuine human connection, allowing the characters to grieve or be angry about the dystopian world that erupted suddenly twenty years ago, destroying society and nearly wiping out the human race. .
The first episode opens with a ‘60s talk show host interviewing two scientists about the possibility of widespread pandemic and what the consequences might look like. One of the scientists dismisses the concept of a flu-like virus ending the world, mentioning that a rapid evolution of fungus would bring about real destruction. Under the spotlights of the stage, the in-studio audience and the viewer at home is left to imagine what that could mean for their future.
Three years into a global pandemic, this moment felt all too real, and reminded me of what the early days of quarantine felt like when we didn’t know what to expect from COVID-19. This moment was short, yet it set the tone for the rest of the show: foreshadowing the creatures to come, and leaving an ominous feeling that not only would the disease destroy the world, so would the people.
This sense of doom and tragedy becomes a reality when an evolved form of the cordyceps fungus begins to rapidly spread throughout the world. Those who are infected become violent and cannibalistic, and begin to take on a fungal appearance.
Then, there is an outbreak of the fungus in Joel’s neighborhood and he has to pack up his family, his daughter Sarah and brother Tommy, and try to get out of town. As they drive, we see that the entire city is in chaos, with buildings on fire and people viciously fighting each other in the streets. When Joel’s family finally reaches the outskirts of the city, they are stopped by the military and in what momentarily seems hopeful amidst the chaos, both Joel and the audience realize that they aren’t there to help the innocents. The show then flashes forward 20 years, when Joel meets Ellie and the main plot begins.
This show emphasizes hopefulness and the good that humans are capable of, while not shying away from the great evils that humanity’s institutions can commit when given enough power; that is why the show is so powerful. In a world full of evil fungi creatures, there is room for hope and love, even when some parts of humanity seem to have turned away from that hope and compassion.
I’ll get off my soapbox now, and talk about how fantastic Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are within the show. Pedro Pascal is fantastic at showing the multifaceted nature of parental love; his love is saturated with the grief and gruffness of someone who has lived through the horrors of the apocalypse, yet it remains unconditional. At this point, if you need someone to play a grumpy father figure for your orphaned child character, you need to get Pedro Pascal on the phone. Speaking of orphaned children, Bella Ramsey is great as Ellie, and they excellently play off of the other actors with well-timed biting remarks and snark. Not only are they funny, they hit all the right notes portraying the anger, grief, and confusion of growing up within the apocalypse and losing everyone you have ever cared for. Along with the amazing acting from the leads, the rest of the ensemble is just as exceptional and I definitely cried a lot watching the show. Not to mention, the actual production of the show is breathtaking. The creature design is top-notch and terrifying and the sets are the perfect combination of apocalyptic destruction and the beauty of nature reclaiming urban environments.
However, in my unending love for this show so far, some caveats exist. If you don’t like horror, violence, or gore, this probably isn’t for you. While the main focus is on human survival and resilience, there are still fungi monsters running rampant and lots of human on human violence. Additionally, If thinking about a widespread pandemic in your daily life is already a stressor, and you generally consume media as an escape from the problems of the real world, this show probably isn’t for you.
While I may not have played the Last of Us, I feel confident in saying this adaptation is a must-watch for 2023, and I undoubtedly will be tuning in to each new episode. The first four episodes of The Last of Us are available to stream on HBO MAX, and new episodes are available on Sundays!