“The Last of Us” is a TV adaptation made by HBO of its video game counterpart developed by Naughty Dog. Both the game and the show follow the main characters, Joel and Ellie, in a horror-action adventure in a post-apocalyptic world.

In “The Last of Us,” a fungus-caused zombie outbreak has infected the world. The outbreak started in 2003, caused by the mutated fungus entering the world’s food supply and infecting millions of people in one day.

Ellie, an orphan born years after the initial outbreak, was taken in by Joel. Ellie is immune to the virus and Joel is tasked with taking her to a hospital in hopes of reverse-engineering an antidote for the virus from her blood. This was the exigence for their adventures and travels.

Joel and Elie have to survive the harsh, post-apocalyptic world while competing with other survivors to get to their destination; however, surviving also involves the killing of infected and non-infected  humans. The aspect of fighting to survive against both the infected and the non makes this show much better than other zombie stories because it actually focuses on the survival and the adventure that comes with surviving, unlike “The Walking Dead,” where it focuses more on the human interactions.

The trauma that Joel experienced when he lost his daughter and the beginning of the outbreak causes him to hesitate taking Ellie in, making their relationship in the beginning feel one-sided. Overtime, Ellie and Joel both develop a strong father-daughter bond while traveling,which causes Joel to go to the extremes when Ellie ends up in danger, usually resulting in lots of violence. 

“The Last of Us” show on HBO is a strong, straightforward adaptation of the game. This makes it a good watch for fans of “The Last of Us” and of the horror-action genre; however, it may not be for everyone because it does include a couple of touchy subjects (although the show covers these in a respectful manner).  

Despite the show’s story being somewhat derivative of other zombie related shows, it does a great job of making sure it stands out from the others. It does this by making the zombies an actual threat, unlike other shows such as “The Walking Dead.” It also does a great job of making the viewers have an actual attachment to the characters.

The actors who play Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) do beautiful work. They play the father-daughter roles wonderfully, which is why the show works so well. The show wouldn’t have the same immersion as the game if it wasn’t for the actors’ amazing performances. Their acting helped make their interactions more believable.

The show is also great if you don’t have too much free time as it only has 9 episodes. Though I do admit that the ending was kind of bland, overall, the show is an amazing adaptation of the game, and I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of zombie shows or of the game. I give “The Last of Us” 6/7 enjoyment Yoon Beams.