The beloved video game adaption for HBO has seen its second episode, and with each scene, fans of both the game and the show compare both renditions ofThe Last of Us. The HBO show remains relatively the same as the video game, butThe Last of Ustakes somecreative libertiesin some places whilst remaining faithful enough to warrant the praise it has been getting.
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There’s a lot to dissect with the second episode of HBO’sThe Last of Us, and many character orientated moments and set scenes that are worth mentioning. The video game had important sections that the show has altered or done without, and the show has important sections that the game lacks.
8Indonesia Flashback
HBO’sThe Last of Uscontinues to lean into the past, and delve deeper into what caused the initial outbreak.In episode 2, fans watch a haunting flashback into Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 24th, 2003. Here, a professor of Mycology investigates the first recorded infected patient found at a flour-and-grain factory and advises the military to bomb the city with everyone in it.
This scene israther traumatic, as it shows the helplessness and inevitability of the cordyceps virus spreading into humans. This scene and its importance is lacking entirely inThe Last of Usvideo game, as the game follows Joel after theevents of the outbreakand doesn’t delve into the origins of the initial virus conception.
7Immune Debate
When audiences see Joel, Ellie, and Tess again forThe Last of Usepisode 2, there’s a lengthy and tense scene in which Joel and Tess ask questions to Ellie and debate what they should do with her. It further shows the fracturedrelationship that Joel haswith other people and Tess’ desperation for a hopeful future in the world.
This scene is new forThe Last of Usand gives audiences an insight into the minds of all three characters, whereas the game ignores the problem at hand and treats Ellie far more like cargo at the start rather than a potential threat and danger.
6Boston During The Day
As Joel, Ellie and Tess make their way out of a building that they were camping in during the night, they find themselves in the middle of a desolate city. The landscape is beautiful and tragic, filled with overgrowing flora, blown-up buildings, and abandoned highways. However, the element of tension is lost in this scene, as it’s in the middle of the day.
In the original game, Joel, Ellie, and Tess don’t camp out the night after escaping the FEDRA wall and instead venture through the city in the night, leading to a much more intense and scarier encounter in the dark, rather than the bright and calming sights of the show.
5Open Highway
There are many gameplay sections that the HBO showThe Last of Ushas decided to skip, and the Boston subway is one of them. In this section, Ellieencounters a clickerfor the first time, and Joel and Tess use molotovs and other scavenged weapons to navigate through the two collided buildings to get through to the other side.
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To skip all the action and stealth, the HBO show completely avoids this and elects for the safety of conversation on an abandoned highway. Tess asks Ellie some interesting questions, all while the quiet and reserved Joel keeps a lookout on their walk.
4Cordyceps Connectivity
Stealth was quite a big feature inThe Last of Usgames, as it allowed players to carefully plan and take out infected without alerting the masses. Each member of the infected was an individual and relied on their senses in their fungus-riddled brain. However, the HBO show introduces more science to the mix.
It’s explained in episode 2 ofThe Last of Usthat the cordyceps virus serves as a hive mind, in which all those integrated with the fungus have a connective thread that binds them. When one infected dies and hits a tendril, it sends a signal to hordes of infected all over. This adds more tension and urgency if an infected die of fungus, but is different to the game.
3Joel Gets Separated
The Bostonian Museum features in bothThe Last of Usand HBO’s live-action adaption. This museum harbors many infected in the game, and Joel, Ellie, and Tess must navigate through it to take a shortcut to the Massachusetts State House. However, in the game, a wooden beam crashes down and separates the gang, leaving Joel to fend for himself against clickers while Tess protects Ellie.
The show nods to this wooden beam breaking, but Joel, Ellie, and Tess all make it out together to fight two clickers. There’s less action in the HBO show in the museum, but it further adds to the threat of the clickers, how strong and how many bullets they can take.
2Ellie’s Second Bite
The carnage of the Bostonian Museum leaves Joel, Ellie, and Tess fighting for their lives. Yet, one person that doesn’t have to worry too much about a scratch or a bite is Ellie. Ellie is bitten by a clicker, something that she just shrugs off, considering she is immune. Sadly, her gift is not shared by all.
Ellie’s second bite has an influence, as Ellie is bitten by a clicker, but not untilThe Last of UsPart 2. Ellie’s second bite helps her in spoiler-filled ways inThe Last of UsPart 2, but it’s interesting to see that the show has already had her bitten twice, probably because there are no spores inThe Last of Usshow to emphasize that she cannot get infected.
1Massachusetts State House
Episode 2 ofThe Last of Uscomes to a disturbing and emotional end as audiences witness the goodbye to Tess.Tess was infected by a clickerand gave her life to save Joel and Ellie so that humanity may have a chance, and she could die for something heroic and redeem herself. Tess’ death in HBO’sThe Last of Uscomes from an army of infected, in which she blows the Massachusetts State House up, with the infected and her inside. Her death also marks a submission to the virus, featuring an ”infected kiss.”
The game plays out differently and has FEDRA agents hunting for Fireflies. FEDRA arrive at the Massachusetts State House, to which Tess decides to face them head-on to give Joel and Ellie more time to escape, as her luck had run out, and she was already infected. Tess is shot to death rather than blowing up after becoming one of the infected.
