Game adaptations on the small screen; it often goes together as well as white socks and sandals. Many movies and series based on video games tend to deviate too much from the source material. Well-timed, original, and especially valuable deviations from an original story are welcome, but this is often not the case. Writers of adaptations seem to want to prove that they can also write well. In fact, that they can write better than the creator. Spoiler: this often backfires (just ask David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, although they also had no source material to fall back on).
Netflix’s The Witcher, with a current rating of 8.1 on IMDb, does not fall into this category. The ratings for the first season were sky-high but have been declining recently. Despite not being a failed adaptation in terms of numbers, I am convinced that this series would have even more potential if the writer had wisely stayed on ‘The Path’ instead of venturing out on her own. Henry Cavill probably wouldn’t have hung up his swords yet.
Where adaptations like Assassin’s Creed, Alone in the Dark, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter missed the mark, HBO’s The Last of Us manages to strike the right chords.
Here are 3 examples of times when the creators of The Last of Us successfully stayed true to the original material, and 3 times when they successfully deviated from the story.
Warning: Spoilers for both the game and the series lay ahead.
Faithful: Sarah and Joel sharing a moment on the couch
In the first episode, we are introduced to Joel’s cheerful daughter, Sarah, portrayed briefly but effectively by Nico Parker (in real life the daughter of actress Thandiwe Newton). Sarah is just as disarming as her video game counterpart. From this scene on, gamers knew that they were dealing with an adaptation that was willing to copy game scenes one-to-one. The strong bond between father and daughter is quickly established in this scene and sets the foundation for the rest of the series. Even the dialogue matches down to the smallest details. Okay, they’re sitting on the other side of the couch, but we’ll turn a blind eye to that.
Despite only being able to enjoy her performance briefly, the story of the game/series would not have taken place without Sarah’s unfortunate demise. Secretly, we should be grateful to that bastard of a soldier.
Unfaithful: Bill and Frank’s relationship
I know this heading is a bit ironic. As far as we know, their relationship was totally faithful. The episode, however, massively diverted from the game. In episode 3, our main characters took place in the backseat while Bill and Frank took the wheel. The episode received a lot of criticism, which in my opinion was unwarranted. We can all watch a three-hour heterosexual romance on a sinking ship, so why not spend a small hour watching a blossoming romance between two men in the midst of an apocalyptic world?
The episode “Long, Long Time” (a title that also wouldn’t be out of place for the Titanic) temporarily turns a secondary character into the main character. This leads to a beautiful and moving episode that shows that we can encounter our true love at any moment and under any circumstance.
In the game, we get to know Bill in an action-packed chapter where we also encounter the first bloater. Bill has some entertaining conversations with Ellie, who get along as badly as most games and their adaptations. Bella Ramsey and Nick Offerman could undoubtedly have played these funny moments fantastically, but instead, we are treated to an episode that would not have been out of place on the big screen. Linda Ronstadt’s beautiful and sensitive accompanying music perfectly fits the emotions that the episode tries to evoke.
Playing as Joel, we stand by Bill’s side when he discovers Frank’s hanged body. Thanks to his body language and a discovered note, it becomes clear that Bill cared a lot about Frank.
At first glance, there seems to be little evidence that that feeling was mutual. Still, as a player I got the impression that the two were in a relationship. I did not expect the series to devote an entire episode to this couple, but to be Frank, this was a completely justified deviation from the source material (yes, I went there. I’m not sorry).
Faithful: Sam’s faith
One of the moments that I was personally very curious about was how the series would handle the adventures with Sam and Henry. The game is full of memorable moments, but the sad fate of Sam was one of the parts that stood out most vividly in my mind.
Large parts of episode 5, “Endure and Survive”, could also be classified as “unfaithful”. For example, Sam was not deaf in the game, and Kathleen was nowhere to be seen (you won’t hear me complain about the latter). During the break in the tunnels, I was hoping for an invasion of the Infected. This did not happen (yet), but the subtle hint towards Ish will undoubtedly have satisfied gamers as well.
When the quartet left the tunnels without any problems, I noticed that some disappointment began to build up inside me. If they change this, will they also approach the ending differently? Precisely at that moment, the sniper appeared, and not much later the Infected madness broke out after all. The explosion of Infected, and the chaos that followed, exceeded my expectations. Kathleen and company met a violent end, but unfortunately Sam did not emerge unscathed from the fight either.
In her innocence, Ellie tried to heal Sam with her blood. She probably did this to reassure Sam, but perhaps a small part of her also believed that it could actually work. Nothing could be further from the truth: Sam violently attacks her the next morning. Henry pulls the trigger, and then puts an end to his own life. It was a direct hit, both from Henry and from the creators.
Unfaithful: Joel’s vulnerability
Okay, at times my Joel in the game was definitely vulnerable. I can remember countless times when he met his downfall at the hands of the sharpshooter I mentioned in the point above. Or how about the hotel basement in Pittsburgh? But no matter how many times Joel fell, he always got back up quickly.
We can’t say the same for series Joel. As befits a man of his age, series Joel needs to catch his breath after climbing a large number of stairs. We won’t see HBO’s Joel crouching around like a crab, as we do in the game. My knees as a 30-year-old can’t handle that, let alone a man who is fast approaching his sixties.
In the game, if we press R1, our Joel can suddenly hear the movements of infected and other riffraff, through the walls even! eries Joel would surely be jealous of this quality, since he’s almost completely deaf in one ear. What? Yes, you heard that right.
Last but not least, our Joel now suffers from panic attacks. Given everything he’s been through, this isn’t entirely surprising.
As much as I love game Joel, in a series it would be too far removed from reality. Even in a series revolving around runaway fungus. The vulnerability of a 56-year-old, and the uncertainty he feels about no longer being in his prime, is completely understandable and realistic. Series Joel is seasoned and his best days are behind him.
Nevertheless, I hope we still get to see a few real badass Joel moments, because this veteran surely still has some tricks up his sleeve.
Faithful: Left Behind
I only gave in to the temptation of downloadable content twice: a DLC for Mass Effect, and Left Behind for The Last of Us. I don’t remember the one I bought for Mass Effect very well, but luckily that’s not what this article is about. Left Behind, on the other hand, left behind a great impression. Once again, it’s a love story, which is something that The Last of Us already is in its core, of course. Like episode 3, this will probably lead to review bombing and criticism, but I really enjoyed this episode. The whole thing falls almost entirely into the faithful category, as it was full of moments which were taken directly from the game.
Riley, convincingly portrayed by Storm Reid (known for her excellent work on Euphoria, among other things), is much more than just Ellie’s best friend. Just when their happiness reaches its peak, it comes to an abrupt end when an approaching Infected decides to be the third wheel. Unfortunately, happiness never lasts long in the world of The Last of Us; Riley and Ellie are bitten and all chances of their dream future are ripped away from them.
The knowledge that Ellie doesn’t lose her mind makes the conclusion even more tragic. She probably waited, just like he did with Sam, until Riley was slowly taken over by the cordyceps. She probably pulled the trigger herself to spare Riley a future as an infected. All of this makes Joel’s “You know nothing about loss” in episode 6 (Kin) hit even harder.
Unfaithful: Spores
Every time the game characters put on their masks and ominously whispered “Spores!”, as a player, you knew what time it was. You were entering an area filled with infected, most likely including a bloater or two. In a game, it’s not so bothersome when characters walk around with masks on for extended periods of time. In series and movies, that’s a bit different. Think of all those police shows where entire armies enter dangerous areas in full armor and helmets, except for the main character who is the only recognizable one.
On the small screen, we like to see the details and emotions of our main characters, in order to immerse ourselves fully in the atmosphere (something that games don’t necessarily need to do, as we are already in their game world).
In HBO’s series, cordyceps has a hive mind; the infected are connected to each other (similar to the hive mind of the Upside Down in Stranger Things). We haven’t seen the consequences of this hive mind in action much yet, except in episode 2: Infected.
Series creator Craig Mazin explained that the infection would spread even faster if it was actually present in airborne particles, and he probably has a good point. I’m no virologist, but if we look at how quickly Covid spread among us, I don’t want to imagine cordyceps entering us through airborne particles. Although that is definitely a more attractive option than French kissing an infected.
Curious about how a hive mind could work in The Last of Us Part 3? Read more about how I think it could impact the game here.
