Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Last of Us‘ premiere.
I knew Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Nico Parker’s Sarah for all of, what, half an hour? And suddenly, I was sobbing for them. Such is the effect The Last of Us apparently has on me. And if that premiere was any indication, as the TVLiner who’s writing about the HBO show this season, I am in for a rough time. An excellent, well-acted, expertly crafted and lovingly faithful to the original but rough time.
Sure, as someone familiar with the Naughty Dog game on which the post-apocalyptic series is based, I knew Sarah’s death was coming. The event is the awful culmination of Outbreak Day, the 2003 date on which the Cordyceps fungus infection reached critical mass and life as everyone knew it changed forever. Her killing — ironically at the hands of a member of the military and not by getting bitten by someone infected — is the lodestone responsible for everything that develops between Joel and Ellie as the game, and the season, progresses. (Read a full recap of the premiere here, and then check out Parker’s memories of shooting the scene with Pascal here.)
I expected to find the scene sad. I did not expect actual tears to form and fall! This cannot stand! I do not love emoting and downright hate doing so in the presence of (most) people. And now I’m getting weepy over a (really good, yes) video-game adaptation?! What has become of me? In my defense: I think a filing cabinet would probably be moved to tears by watching Joel repeatedly murmur a panicked “I know, baby, I know” as he desperately — and futilely — tries to stop his little girl from bleeding out.
On a less lachrymose note: I enjoyed the extended peek into Joel, Sarah and Tommy’s life before everything went to hell. And did anyone else pick up on this prophetic bit of dialogue during breakfast on Joel’s birthday?
SARAH | (regarding Tommy) He loves you.
JOEL | He’s dependent on me. It’s not the same.
SARAH | I think it’s the same.
TOMMY | It’s definitely the same.
We’ll revisit this in a few weeks, cool?
OK, while I regain my composure, hit the comments: What thoughts/questions/predictions do you have after The Last of Us‘ premiere?
