The long anticipated The Last of Us series is here — and boy does it deliver! Here’s our SPOILER recap and review for season 1 episode 1.
The Last Of Us season 1 episode 1 is officially streaming on HBO Max and fans will be over the moon with how it turned out. This is the perfect way to kick off the series. It basically recreates key early moments from the fan favorite video game. Despite being really tough to watch (emotionally) for those who know the game inside and out, it delivers incredible performances that will have viewers begging for more.
The premiere episode does a great job of taking what was already made for the game, and turning it into live action. So much of what occurs is ripped right from the game, remaining extremely loyal to the source material. This is something fans are most definitely going to appreciate. Right down to the choice to film from the backseat as Joel (Pedro Pascal), Tommy (Gabriel Luna), and Sarah (Nico Parker) drive through town during the outbreak, it is apparent that the creators truly cared about capturing the same feel.
As for a quick spoiler free review, things are intense almost from the very beginning, as they should be. Fans of the video game franchise will be thrilled with how this first episode turned out, and newcomers will immediately be obsessed with this world.
Warning: Spoilers for The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 1 Ahead
The first few minutes of the premiere episode perfectly sets up for the worldwide outbreak that starts the apocalyptic story. Josh Brener plays a television host in the 1960s who is discussing viruses and potential life ending outbreaks with a couple of experts. One of them brings up that it is the fungi we really need to worry about as a society. He dives into detail about how they can take over insects bodies, controlling them in ways that will spread the contagion, without killing off the hosts.
For those who are familiar with The Last Of Us games, it was very clear this is a hint at the direction things are going. The scientific facts he uses in the explanation are all accurate, which is a little bit terrifying. While it isn’t a threat at this time, he claims that should the Earth get warmer, the fungi can evolve to live inside of humans. And if this happens? Well, we are all screwed.
Of course, this is exactly the direction that things move in during The Last Of Us season 1 episode 1. Cut to 2003 and we see Joel, Sarah, and Tommy Miller. Joel and Tommy are brothers, and Sarah is Joel’s daughter. The morning scene is very similar to how it plays out in the video game. They have an old couple as neighbors, and the wife is clearly wheelchair bound and cannot speak.
It is Joel’s birthday and Sarah gets his watch fixed for him (with his money) as a gift. Before she sees her father, she goes to the neighbors house where we are treated with some truly creepy scenes, as the older woman becomes infected somehow. She is still in her wheelchair but her mouth opens and she starts to twitch. When Joel gets home, he and Sarah put on a bad movie to celebrate his special day. After Sarah falls asleep, Tommy calls him to come bail him out of jail so he puts her in bed and leaves to get him.
This is where things really start to copy the video game. It almost feels as if the cut scenes and walkthroughs have now become live action. Sarah awakens around 2am to find her father gone. The neighbors dog is at her door, so she goes over there to see what is happening. Meanwhile elsewhere in The Last Of Us season 1 episode 1, there are helicopters, sirens, and the TV is warning residents to stay inside. She discovers the older woman eating her caretaker, and the older man has been bit and is sitting down in the house bleeding.
The detail of the fungi growing out of the old woman’s mouth, as she looks up at Sarah is incredible. It looks both creepy and amazing, if that makes sense. Sarah is then chased out of the house, basically into her father’s arms. Joel, Tommy, and Sarah try to flee from town in the truck, which is once again ripped from the game. They get in an accident which causes Joel and Tommy to be separated, and Sarah ends up injured.
As Joel carries her through town, trying to escape, they meet up with a soldier. He radios in his discovery and gets the order to kill them. He shoots at them and they start rolling down the hill. Tommy arrives just in time to save Joel from being killed, but Sarah has been fatally shot. Joel’s watch is once again broken, but as seen when we skip 20 years in the future, he still wears it.
Once in the 2023, we see what the outbreak has done to the world. There are quarantine zones, military leaders, and a rebel group that calls themselves the Fireflies (remember them, they are important). We also meet Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who has been infected yet has never turned. The Fireflies chain her up and observe her for a few days to see what happens, and when nothing does, they realize she could be a help to find the cure.
We see that Joel is with a woman names Tess (Anna Torv), and they sneak out of the quarantine zone in order to get supplies for people. Tommy has gone out on a mission and not returned, so of course Joel wants to go look for him. As he is trying to escape he runs into Marlene (Merle Dandridge) who ends up injured after trying to leave the zone. She is planning to take Ellie to the Firefly headquarters so they can run tests and see what they can come up with.
She asks Joel and Tess for help, hoping they will accompany Ellie to where she needs to go. Ellie is the same age as Sarah was when she was killed, because of course she is. Joel and Tess accept in exchange for a vehicle and supplies to allow them to look for Tommy after they escort Ellie.
Ellie has quite the attitude and expresses that she is an orphan who was in the military schooling system. The three leave the zone, being forced to kill a soldier they have dealt with in the past on their way out.
The Last Of Us season 1 episode 1 introduces us to the major players in the series, with every actor delivering spot on performances. Those who are new to the series are sure to be thoroughly entertained, while those who love the games will be thrilled with just how close it is to the source material.
The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 1 Review
Overall, The Last Of Us premiere delivered everything that long time fans were hoping for, and more. The set up of the outbreak is perfect, and even the heartbreaking moments will have fans smiling as they hold back tears. The performances, specifically from Pedro Pascal, are top notch. It is clear the casting team thought long and hard about their choices, and it makes this series that much better for it.
Coming in with an 80+ minute long first episode is ballsy. That is nearly film length. In order to succeed it needed to keep audiences interested, deliver a few pay offs for fans, while setting up for the rest of the series — and The Last Of Us season 1 episode 1 does just that. It gives off enough of the story to really get the ball rolling, and pretty much ensures that everyone who tuned in will be back the following week for more.
With very little to complain about, The Last Of Us season 1 episode 1 can be called darn near perfect, earning itself a 5 out of 5 rating.
Rating: 5 out of 5
NEXT: Sonic Prime Season One Review
About The Last Of Us
THE LAST OF US story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
The Last Of Us season 1 episode 1 is now streaming on HBO Max.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.