HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation to the silver screen was met with great praise after just episode one, and the finale leaves fans seemingly satisfied.
After episode one aired back in January, the internet has been on fire with talk surrounding the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us. Many have praised the adaptation for expanding on character depth, like Nick Offerman’s portrayal of Bill, while remaining true to the source material. While episode one was exalted, the series has gone through typical growing pains of a season one, with fans becoming restless around episode seven, calling it a “filler episode.” But, the HBO adaptation closed with a bang, with most fans agreeing it was a proper finale for season one.
While not everyone will be completely satisfied by everything offered in a video game adaptation, fans have seemingly come together to praise the season one sendoff. Buzzfeed’s @noradominick took to Twitter with “i don’t think a show has honored the source material quite like what the last of us did with ashley johnson. watching ashley portray anna and share a scene with baby ellie — knowing all of the work ashley put into ellie and how much she loves her — is truly remarkable. i wept” regarding the finale.
Metacritic showed it’s hand, suggesting critical acclaim on the last episode, with a mean score of 79%. However, Metacritic’s fan ratings weren’t as kind as the critical reception, especially surrounding comments regarding The Last of Us. User OlivierPiel refusing to give the episode a score with a resounding 0 — their other reviews on media were equally as unkind — saying “The emptiness of the whole thing is flabbergasting. 2 minutes of plot advancement (Protagonist arrive at destination, discover ally was lying and wanted to kill golden goose, protagonist escapes thanks to usual clichés, rescue golden goose through senseless killing, retreat) stretched over 50 minutes of useless blabber and violence. Worse than TWD” regarding the episode.
Here at CGMagazine, Jordan Biordi gave his thoughts on the series finale, saying “I believe HBO’s The Last of Us will go down as one of the gold standards for adaptations and will prove the concept is not unapproachable, so long as you put genuine talent, love and understanding behind the work,” with praise for the adaptation.
Finally, Naughty Dog President Neil Druckmann weighed in to thank fans on Twitter for the show’s successful run. Another huge gaming industry icon, NetherRealm’s Ed Boon, commented with anticipation regarding a continuation, saying, “Season 2 can’t get here soon enough” in support.
While a The Last of Us season two has been greenlit, it remains to be seen when it enters production. It has already been confirmed Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will be reprising their roles as Joel and Ellie, which may give fans a brief moment of reprieve, considering it has also been confirmed season two will follow the sequel video game, and fans of the series KNOW what happens in the sequel.
