HBO’s The Last of Us proves that video game adaptations can be good and rival the source material quality-wise. Fortunately, the team behind this live-action adaptation is familiar with the games and worked with the original game creators to ensure authenticity.
Gabriel Luna stars as Tommy Miller, but this character was mostly absent in the first season; he was given more to do this time, and the showrunners even gave him an epic battle sequence. The action sequences planned for his character might have excited him, but the drama was enough to shed a few tears.
Tears Will Be Shed if Something Is Related to The Last of Us
The third episode of The Last of Us Season 2 was just released, and it was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. The citizens of Jackson Hole are reeling from the aftermath of the siege and Joel’s brutal execution. Future episodes will likely balance out the drama and action, similarly to how this episode was handled, and pull some heartstrings.
Naughty Dog achieved something spectacular in 2013 after the release of The Last of Us on PlayStation 3, which ushered in a new era of storytelling in video games. Fans fell in love with how this video game contained enough drama to rival live-action films, and the HBO adaptation doubled down on that aspect, evidently in the first season, especially in episode 3, “Long, Long Time,’ featuring Nick Offerman’s Bill and Murray Bartlett’s Frank.
Luna recently said in an interview that this episode made him shed tears while on public transport. While the first game’s story is common knowledge for the gaming community, showrunner Craig Mazin wanted to tell more stories through this medium and made a few creative changes with Bill:
I read it on the plane and cried my eyes out in front of a bunch of people,
Shedding a few tears after reading a script is a testament to the writing team’s skill in evoking human emotions, and turns an emotional rollercoaster like The Last of Us into an even more heartbreaking experience.
It was so beautiful, even in black and white.
While season one was much simpler since it primarily focused on Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie in 9 episodes, the second season will be much darker and more mature, akin to the source material. Luna’s Tommy plays a key role in the second game, and fans could see a similar yet different path for the live-action counterpart.
The Last of Us Season 2 Is Just Getting Started
The live-action adaptation made a few creative changes and additions, like the Jackson siege, where Luna’s Tommy was at the forefront of the defense against the Infected. This epic battle sequence was never in the game, but it was necessary to show the looming threat of the Infected beyond the walls. Luna recalled his time working on this episode and compared it to shooting a feature film.
That episode took a month and a half to shoot. So many feature films, both independent and studio, are shot [over that amount of time]. We spared no expense to maintain the quality that people who watch HBO on Sunday nights are expecting.
Luna’s role may not be identical to his video game counterpart, but this is one of the best parts of adaptations since change can be a good thing. Only time will tell if we see Tommy leave Jackson and trail behind Ellie’s quest for revenge in Seattle.
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Rouvin Josef Quirimit is a Content Writer, an avid gamer (on his PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch), and film enthusiast. He was fortunate to grow up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and was enamored by the storytelling of a shared universe full of heart and spectacle. His love for movies led him to great single-player games and he intends to cover major franchises for years to come!
