By Jessie Wallace |
Videos |
July 23, 2025
Header Image Source: HBO
It’s fair to say that we have a fair few differing opinions on HBO’s adaptation of Naughty Dog’s hit game series, The Last Of Us, here at Pajiba. Some of us appreciate what TV showrunner Craig Mazin (along with game series director Neil Druckmann) have managed to do with the source material, and are optimistic enough about what Mazin might do going forward now that Druckmann has left the project, others feel that not only does the show not live up to the ludicrously high narrative standards set by the source games, it also fails on its own merits as a piece of television storytelling. This is especially true of the second season of the TV show, which, in my humble opinion, saw a dramatic drop in quality, even after the weak first entry. Fundamentally, however, I do think the two are intertwined: The show (especially the second season) does not understand what makes the source material so great—which is truly baffling considering Druckmann’s involvement, though maybe says something about the level of his presence—and it’s this misunderstanding that contributes to its poor quality. Spoonfeeding narrative moments and character motivations; diluting moral and storytelling complexity; disregarding crucial structural choices in the source material. There’s a lot! YouTube channel Reset Button had a deeper dive into this idea in a video that helped clarify some of my own confused thoughts, which I thought worth sharing here:
