Spoiler Alert: The Last of UsThere's little reason to gush about just how good HBO's The Last of Us is. No matter where you turn, nothing but universal praise has been showered upon the project, with many claiming it to be one of the best video game adaptations ever conceived. It's not like they're wrong. Who could've thought translating a game that was already presented as a cinematic experience into a series would be a recipe for success?
With The Last of Us breaking HBO viewership records only two episodes in, there's plenty to be excited for in the remaining seven episodes. The Last of Us wasn't an incredibly long game to begin with, but it managed to cram in plenty of memorable locations and character interactions. The series' first episode brilliantly recreated the game's infamous prologue, with discourse surrounding it dominating social media for days after its initial airing. It was an essential scene in establishing Joel's character, and the transition to live-action couldn't have been handled better. Seeing how well it turned out, we have to ask: what are some other scenes from The Last of Us we want to see in the HBO series?
Sam and Henry's Tragic Ending
While Sam and Henry are minor characters in the context of the overall story, their brief run-in with Joel and Ellie leaves a significant impact on the duo. A pair of brothers that fled their original home, Sam is the older, more protective of the two, and Henry is the younger, adventurous counterpart. In the original game, Joel and Ellie meet Sam and Henry in Pittsburgh, and through several run-ins with aggressive hunters and zombielike Clickers, the group finds sanctuary in a radio tower. It's a breather for the group, allowing them to reminisce and pass the time through discussions about religion, infection, and what to do once they have to leave.
Unfortunately, despite all they went through, Henry is ultimately bitten and infected. Sam is forced to put down his brother after Henry nearly kills Joel, and in a tense moment where Joel and Ellie are at his mercy, he suddenly ends his own life. The scene concludes the "Summer" portion of the original game and directly leads into the "Fall" portion.
Ellie and David's Terrifying Confrontation
In what is single-handedly the most terrifying and unsettling sequence from the original game, a wounded Joel is left behind by Ellie in a desperate hunt for supplies during the dead of winter. She encounters James and David, a seemingly-friendly duo who offer to trade antibiotics with her in exchange for a deer carcass. However, it's ultimately revealed that they're part of a cannibalistic group that Ellie and Joel fought off prior to Joel's injury. She's subsequently captured and held in a dingy cage, with Joel struggling to find her before something terrible happens.
It's the lowest point for either character. Ellie is forced to destroy her own innocence to survive in a tense cat-and-mouse battle against David, while Joel has no qualms about brutally torturing a pair of men to find her location, only to beat them both to death with a metal pipe afterward. It doesn't help that Joel ultimately reunites with Ellie as she's brutalizing David with a machete. It's an emotional reunion for both characters, as we truly see what they're compelled to do to survive.
The Famous Giraffe Scene
One of the most famous scenes from The Last of Us is one of its most uplifting. Taking place in "Spring," the last quarter of the game, Joel and Ellie make their way to a hospital alluded to be under the control of the Fireflies. As they roam the dilapidated buildings and broken streets, we see that plants have reclaimed a majority of the barren city, with lush greenery overtaking the man-made structures. Even after the apocalypse, nature has a way of regulating itself. It's a beautiful sight, one only made more amazing when Joel and Ellie make a fascinating discovery.
As they approach a hole in the wall that peers over the streets, they spot a herd of giraffes munching on the vegetation. One even approaches the duo and allows them both to get a few pets in before it turns to leave. In a world littered with realistic violence and depraved survival tactics, having that tiny bit of levity shows that there's still some beauty underneath the madness.
The Climactic Hospital Showdown
After Joel and Ellie are forced into the hospital via the Fireflies, their intentions regarding what to do with Ellie are revealed: they aim to make a vaccine from her, hopefully preventing further infections from the fungus. They're so assured of Ellie's consent to do so that she's already prepped for surgery. It's made apparent, however, that the infection completely overtakes the brain, requiring Ellie to sacrifice her life in order to potentially save millions. Joel protests, going on a rampage throughout the hospital that culminates in him taking back Ellie and murdering her captors. As they drive away, Joel repeatedly lies to Ellie about the circumstances, fabricating that the Fireflies changed their mind about the cure.
This entire sequence concludes the game's story with a powerful reminder: Joel is not a hero, and never was. But then again, nobody really is. There's evidence in the game that the Fireflies' attempts at making a cure failed over and over again prior to securing Ellie, and should they have failed again, it would've cost Joel the only thing he has that resembles family. On the other hand, Joel blatantly lying to Ellie about what happened is something the both of them aren't sure how to process.