A Look at The Last of Us Explosion. Will There Be More TV Show Adaptations of Games to Come?

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January 15th, 2023 marked the day when The Last of Us premiered. The show was an adaptation of the critically acclaimed The Last of Us game franchise, which released the first of the series in 2013. It was so highly anticipated that the series premiere was viewed by a whopping 4.7 million people. That is the second-largest amount of views HBO has received for one of its productions since 2010.

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The show performed so well out of the gate that it was renewed for a second season in the very same month it was released. With that being said, The Last of Us is clearly the most successful television series to be adapted from a video game that we have ever seen. They are the forerunners of video game adaptations, setting the standard for future adaptations to come. But the question is, what caused this series to explode in the manner it did?

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For starters, the game (and show) have an immensely intriguing storyline. We TV buffs have seen loads of zombie TV series surface and they all have fairly similar premises. Black Summer, Z Nation, and The Walking Dead have gone the route of traditional zombie stories in which some sort of outbreak randomly occurs, and although extremely entertaining, it’s been overdone at this point. However, The Last of Us takes a different approach to a zombie outbreak. Instead of some sort of fluke occurring which causes an outbreak, they explore a real fungus (Cordyceps) and the manner in which it takes over the host, essentially, turning them into zombies. This fungus has the ability to take over spiders, ants, and other insects, in the real world. However, Cordyceps does not have the ability to take over humans…yet. You see, the reason this fungus cannot take over the human species is due to our high internal temperatures, however, if this species of fungus were to evolve in order to do so, we could see the events which take place in The Last of Us become very real. That is exactly what the TV show explores, taking a real-life organism and establishing it as the root of the fictional society's demise. I believe this to be a major reason for the success The Last of Us franchise has achieved. There is an extra layer of fear and thrill added when the contents of a story, although highly improbable, have the ability to become real. Moreover, most gamers (especially those who played The Last of Us) were very eager to see just how well the TV show represented the video game. The cut scenes from the game are mirrored by the show in a manner that is uncanny. Furthermore, Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Bella Ramsey (Ellie) have been nothing short of amazing. They really are a fantastic one-two punch and have that father-daughter chemistry that is pivotal in representing their in-game relationship.

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As you can see, it comes as no surprise why The Last of Us TV show was so successful upon its premiere. As stated previously, HBO has truly set the standard for future TV shows adapted from video games to come. Personally, I would like to see the likes of Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto V, and Bioshock, be next in line for TV show adaptations. Seeing as they are some of the best video games ever made, I can only imagine a TV series being just as successful. Until next time y’all.

Strike out,

Writer: Lucas Zaret

Editor: Addy Crosby

Graphic Designer: Margaux Campion

Tallahassee