10 Moments We Wanted To See In The Last Of Us HBO Series

10 Moments We Wanted To See In The Last of Us HBO Series

Aaron Brown


Welcome to MojoPlays and today we’re reminiscing and thinking about the 10 moments we wanted to see in HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us.

Don’t get us wrong, we absolutely loved the series and it’s probably the best video game adaptation to date, but there were just some things we were really hoping to see, but didn’t.

What was a specific moment you were waiting for in The Last of Us series that didn’t happen? Let us know down in the comments.

Spores

Although as explained by showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, spores would have not only been a logistical nightmare but also didn't contextually make sense since spores are technically all around us all the time, we’d be remiss if we still didn’t lament their absence. The spores represented a known danger, something that was a tangibly avoidable way of infection and added greater tension to encounters, knowing that even if the infected didn’t get you, the spores still could, as demonstrated in the sequel. Moreover, just visually they were beautiful in a horrific kind of way, something so innocuous gently floating on the breeze that could just as easily kill you should you breathe too heavily. The showrunners have stated the spores could end up making an appearance in season 2, so we might just have to wait a bit to finally see them in action.

Left Behind

Now, don’t get us wrong, the episode “Left Behind” mostly follows the events leading up to Ellie and Riley’s infection almost beat for beat. The part we miss was Ellie’s desperate struggle to find medical supplies in the abandoned mall which led to her flashbacks of her time with Riley and the mall in the QZ. We loved seeing Ellie on her own using the skills Joel had taught her along the way and her desperation to not lose anyone else she cares about as well as her relief finding a full medical kit in the crashed helicopter. It would have also been great to see Riley and Ellie’s squirt gun war which was one of the most important moments outside of the arcade that reminds viewers they are still just kids trying to navigate a dangerous world and grasping at any moment they can to just cut loose and have fun as kids should.

University Studies

By far one of the most pivotal moments within the game is the visit to the University of Eastern Colorado to search for the Fireflies. In the show, this trip is relegated to the last 10 minutes or so of the episode “Kin”. In the game however, this is a much lengthier section in which the pair explore the abandoned university and fend off numerous infected hordes that have taken up residence within. While the discovery of the Fireflies moving on is relatively the same, as is Joel and Ellie discovering they are not alone at the school, it’s the moments later that felt especially rushed. We can forgive the lack of infected in this episode, but we could have at least used a few minutes of the pair attempting to avoid the scavengers before simply slipping out the back of the building.

Infected

Speaking of infected, for this being what amounts to a zombie apocalypse, we really don’t get to see a whole lot of them. The few moments we do encounter them throughout the series are thrilling, especially in “Endure and Survive”, particularly the endless infected pouring out of the sinkhole. It’s just, we were hoping for more. After the introduction to the new variation of the infected hive mind within the series’ universe as well as the extremely tense encounter in the museum, we don’t really have many experiences with the infected outside of these two episodes, which is a real shame because seeing them in live action is almost more terrifying that every encounter in the game. We understand that battling the infected every episode would have dulled their impact, but come on, a couple more instances of the infected ambushing the pair isn’t too much to ask for, right?

Unlikely Allies

Another moment made better by the addition of the infected comes during Ellie’s first meeting with David during her hunting trip. While waiting for James to return, Ellie and David are beset upon by a seemingly endless horde of infected and the two are forced to team up and depend on one another to survive. While the scene plays out mostly the same without the infected, it’s this time when Ellie and David are working together in which Ellie’s guard begins to come down, right up to the moment David reveals he knows exactly who she is and who she’s traveling with. The series did an admirable job with their version of David but it’s this rug pull in the game that truly caught players off guard after fighting side by side with someone they thought would be a new ally.

Joel Unleashed

Throughout the game, Joel’s brutality both in and out of combat is front and center and a large part of his character. He holds nothing back when fighting for his and Ellie’s lives and within the QZ had garnered a reputation for his brutality. However, within the series, we only have mentions of just how unhinged Joel can be, outside of the interrogation scene anyways, with characters often referring to the horrific things he’s done in the past. While the series is clearly taking a different approach to the aging anti-hero, we still would have loved to see Joel fully cut loose outside of a couple instances and the hospital scene at the end of the series.

Sewer Separation

Fans of the game were no doubt both excited as well as heartbroken when Joel and Ellie entered the sewers with Henry and Sam to discover Ish’s small community within. While the look and feel of the living quarters felt almost lifted from the game, including the “Protectors” picture, the group never encountered any resistance during the exploration of the tunnels. We would have loved to see the moment when they get split up and Joel’s struggles to communicate with Sam as they attempt to find a way out and back to Ellie and Henry. Even without any infected, the pair could have still needed to sneak past some of the military groups searching the tunnels for them and it could have made for an intense moment for newcomers not familiar with the game.

The Hotel

When we arrived in Kansas City, a stand-in for Pittsburgh in the series, fans of the game were probably expecting and hoping for a cat and mouse game between Joel and Ellie and the military group within the city limits. However, beyond a brief encounter early on, the pair rarely encounter any resistance. We would have loved to see the two of them navigate the crumbling hotel building and follow their exploration and attempts to find one another after they get separated by a crumbling elevator shaft. This also would have been a great time to let Joel cut loose a bit more during encounters with the militaristic force hunting them, as well as even a couple more instances of infected attacks for Joel to contend with.

Bill’s Town

While we can’t fault the showrunners for giving Bill a much happier outcome than he had in the game, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t a little upset we never got the banter between Bill and Ellie. Not only that but Bill’s town in the game was more fun to explore and gave greater insight into Bill’s traps and his tactics for keeping himself and his town safe, it also has some of the best early moments between Joel and Ellie. The scene in which the pair team up with Bill to get the battery at the school is especially missed just for the tension as the group attempts to navigate the horde of infected surrounding them. We wouldn’t dare touch what Bill and Frank have in the series, but we still would have loved to get a better look at Bill’s town as well as a detour to the school.

Ellie’s Near Death Experience

Mentioned only once, Ellie’s inability to swim is never revisited throughout the rest of the series. However, in the game, it’s an ongoing issue that leads to Ellie nearly drowning in the tunnel section at the end of the game and is one of the game’s most intense moments as the two are briefly separated in the raging current before Joel pulls her out. Ellie’s near death experience also means she has absolutely no idea what’s happening to her until she awakens after Joel saves her, while in the series, her being taken in fully conscious had no effect on anything that transpired, and they simply put her under to begin the surgery. We understand it probably would have been a logistical nightmare to recreate the scenario within the game, but it also could have been much more impactful than a simple smoke grenade.