The Walking Dead was yesterday. With The Last of Us, starting January 16, 2023, Sky and WOW will not only be showing the next big series about an infection that is bringing society to its knees and turned people into monsters. The HBO series starring Pedro Pascal as cranky smuggler Joel, who has to escort teenage girl Ellie (Bella Ramsey) halfway across the United States, is one of the most anticipated projects of all.
That’s also because the series adapts one of the most acclaimed video game franchises of the last 20 years: The Last of Us, conceived by Neil Druckmann and development studio Naughty Dog. Many fans have been wondering for a long time like much of the plot from the first game will be featured in Season 1 of the series.
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Showrunner Craig Mazin now provides the answer – and with the reasoning should speak from the soul of many frustrated series fans.
Season 1 of The Last of Us tells the storyline of the complete first game
Season 1 consists of a total of 9 episodes that are between 45 and 80 minutes long. Overall, this is how the series comes about almost 9 hours running time – while reproducing the entire main storyline of the first The Last of Us game.
Craig Mazin, who was already responsible for an enormously acclaimed HBO miniseries with Chernobyl, explained the decision during a press conference as follows:
For me, the story of the first game is wonderful. It’s complete, it deserves a season, we know how to tell it within a season – so the question didn’t even arise. And I promise if we’re lucky shoot more seasons and tell the story we will continue to make sure each and every episode is worth the wait.
However, this also means that if the series maintains this narrative pace for potential further seasons, HBO will run out of adaptation footage after season 2. There are only two parts of the video game template, The Last of Us Part III is likely, but not yet officially confirmed.
It is also possible that the series adaptation from the outset only designed for two seasons was. Because Craig Mazin isn’t afraid to draw a line sooner rather than later:
I have no interest in doing a television series that is designed to go on forever. i love endings and I don’t see what the point of anything is if it doesn’t come full circle at the end. The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin hates filler episodes — and is running an anti-Netflix strategy
HBO
The Last of Us series works with many iconic images from the game template
This approach is comparatively uncommon in the streaming world. Especially when the adaptation material is limited. Platforms like Netflix are known for thisto use whole seasons to first establish the basic story before it really gets going in season 2.
Incidentally, Craig Mazin has a very personal reason for his “better an early end than none” attitude:
I’m a very demanding TV watcher. When someone says to me, ‘You have to see this. Season 3 Episode 9 is where things really get going!’ I say, ‘No, I’m not doing that.’ I want to be really in by Season 1 Episode 1 and I want every episode to prove to me why it has to exist. […] I never want to feel like they’re wasting time here just to make the show last longer. We’re all too smart for that.
Of course, the “junk” approach is understandable when it comes to being able to tell potential fan favorites about as many episodes as possible. But this approach is only bearable for the audience if the future of the same series is certain. And makes it all the more annoying when series like 1899 are canceled after season 1 – and stuff like that end on a huge cliffhanger.
It is not yet known whether The Last of Us will get a second season from the crisis-ridden HBO. But at least one thing is certain: The end of season 1 won’t leave anyone hanging in mid-air.
The best January series starts on Netflix and Co. in the podcast – from The Last of Us to Vikings
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A new series year has begun and it’s time for our monthly again Series preview in the stream browsing podcast. You can find out in our overview which 20 starts you really shouldn’t miss in the streaming area this January. Also included: The Last of Us on Sky/WOW, Season 2 of Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix and the German True Crime response to Dahmer on Amazon.
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Do you think it’s good that Season 1 of The Last of Us shows such large parts of the video games?