Reaction Review: The Last Of Us Season 1 Episode 1: When You're Lost in the Darkness
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Episode Summary
Warning: major spoilers for The Last of Us season 1 episode 1, “When You’re Lost in the Darkness”, are throughout the entire review. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
It’s an hour and a half later, and it is safe to say that HBO’s The Last of Us was meant to be a television series. This premiere episode, “When You’re Lost in the Darkness” (taken from a Fireflies mantra that is presented throughout the episode), is a sensational way to introduce the series to those that have played the game as well as newbies to the franchise; if anything, this episode has more backstory and depth than the video game does at parts, particularly what I will call the prelude of the entire season. There have been quite a few smart changes from the game, mainly when the series takes place. Instead of 2013 and leaping ahead to the 2030s, we start all the way back in 1968. There is a roundtable interview about the capabilities of parasitic viruses. A scientist brings up how host bodies become puppets for the parasites, and each now-mindless drone has the same objective channeled into their brains: to wipe out other healthy humans (and ultimately the human race). There is some hesitation presented on the stage, and the interviewer asks what this means if this actually takes place. There’s no good news: this would most likely wind up killing everyone on Earth with no known prevention. They cut to commercial break to ignore this possibility, but a channel like HBO doesn’t have commercial breaks. We’re not so lucky when it comes to having to face the harsh reality of the situation, but we’re extremely fortunate that we can watch The Last of Us with zero interruptions.
We then cut to 2003 in Austin, Texas, decades after this discussion has taken place with zero preparedness in sight (Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin has a fascination with society’s lack of regard when it comes to protecting others and humanity from the easily-preventable). Sarah Miller is a super smart teenager that lives with her dad (Joel) and his brother (Tommy); her mother is nowhere in sight. America is still in a state of panic post 9/11 (we get a cut to a picture of President George W. Bush on the classroom wall to remind us of the time period we’re now in). Something’s a little off this day in Sarah’s life: a kid in her class is appearing to twitch and be out of it, for starters. Later on, Sarah will see that her neighbour, the geriatric Mrs. Adler, is not herself either. She’s at a watch shop getting her father’s favourite watch repaired, and something happens that alarms the store owners to close up nearly four hours early. None of this matters, because nothing will stop Sarah from giving her dad the best birthday gift ever: his watch in working order. Joel gets home and forgets his own cake. Sarah doesn’t mind: she has his watch ready, and a DVD of a B-movie from the Adler household (when she was over to take care of Mrs. Adler, as per usual).
Joel gets a call: his brother, Tommy, is in jail and needs to be bailed out. Now. The urgency is real, because there is apparently a brawl breaking out in prison (Tommy also doesn’t want to be locked up all weekend, either). Joel leaves with due haste, and Sarah goes to sleep. She wakes up to the television channels all cut out or featuring government-issued warnings to not leave one’s domicile. Sarah is alerted by the Adler household dog that is planted against the sliding door of her house. She goes to see what is wrong with it (it seemed to be unsure of Mrs. Adler earlier in the day, and animals can definitely pick up on concerns quite naturally). It leads her back into the Adler household, and now she sees that Mrs. Adler is seemingly eating her own family alive. She looks unwell, and nearly inhumane. The parasite within her has taken over. This is what that television special back in 1968 tried to warn us about, and no one gave a care.
Sarah bolts it out of the house, and both Joel and Tommy slam their pickup truck onto the Adler front lawn just in time. There’s no time to explain. Sarah has to hop in. They drive over the now-infected neighbours that stumble in front of their truck. Clearly, nothing is right at this very moment. As they try to book it out of Austin, the highway is backed up with no movement in sight; properties are set ablaze; families are abandoned on the side of the road because everyone refuses to pull over and trust that they are healthy. Finally, the Millers are driving off-road, and they have a path in sight. They are quickly thwarted by a collapsing plane that sends the truck tumbling. Sarah’s ankle is busted, so Joel carries her to safety while Tommy takes a different route. A runner (a newly infected human that is quick on their feet and eager to infect others by eating their flesh) bolts it towards Joel whilst Sarah is in his arms, and the mutant is killed. Joel thinks they’re safe until he quickly realizes that the bullet had to have come from somewhere.
It did: a soldier that commands that they freeze. Joel insists that they are healthy, but it sounds like the armed officer has been given orders to not take any chances. He fires a flurry of bullets at Joel and Sarah, and they roll down the ravine behind them. Joel looks up at this soldier that is preparing to give the coup-de-grâce until he is killed by Tommy. Joel is relieved, but Tommy isn’t so much because he can see what has already happened: Sarah is fatally wounded. Joel tries to revive her, but there is no use. The light of his life is dead. Then comes the theme of being trapped in complete darkness and searching for a way out: there absolutely is no light for Joel. His entire point of existence is gone. He may not be infected, but he is now as soulless as the infected surrounding him.
It’s twenty years later in Boston, Massachusetts, and things have only gotten much worse. Society has completely crumbled to the now-identified cordyceps, fungal-based infection. Most cities are wastelands. The only habitable places seem to be completely closed off by military, housing civilians like prisoners. Joel is now a smuggler that imports drugs for ration cards (cards that guarantee that people can get nourishment if they fulfill certain societal duties) and vice versa. Those that neglect the orders of society are executed. Joel is trying not to be one of the departed. He works — and lives — with his partner (business wise and romantically), Tess. Tess is not having the best day, having been beaten up by other criminals and the military alike; the latter confront her because they are on the look out for the Fireflies and they mistaken her for a member. The Fireflies are labeled as terrorists, but they view themselves as a political rebellion that are aiming for the betterment of humanity. This sector of the Fireflies is run by Marlene, who has her own big secret in the form of a young teenager named Ellie Williams, who is chained in a moldy room against her will. Meanwhile, Joel is trying to get in touch with his brother Tommy, but to no avail. He aims to trek towards his radio tower that is states away. However, he needs a battery for his truck, and it is clear that batteries are few and far between in this reality (really, anything useable is now scarce).
Joel and Tess find out who stiffed them of their promised battery (their planned import has been sold to someone else), and their quest leads them to… Marlene, who is now preparing to take Ellie somewhere for safe keeping. In that very moment, Marlene has been wounded in her stomach. It’s as if they were connected by fate: Marlene can get Joel and Tess to smuggle Ellie out of Boston and bring her to her desired location. Joel is furious, but he doesn’t really have a choice. Joel and Ellie — who are clearly already at odds because of this forced union — are quick to figure each other out. Joel realizes Ellie must be the daughter of an important figure, to which she responds “Something like that.” Ellie searches through Joel’s books and finds a paper with codes on it. She quickly puts two-and-two together and decides that these numbers represent musical eras and their music, of which can be played via radio for Joel to get hidden messages. The other decades don’t matter as much as the 80s do, especially once Ellie confirms that any time a song from that decade is played, there is trouble ahead (a bit contradictory considering the usage of Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go).
As Joel, Tess, and Ellie escape the high walls of Boston (something the young Ellie has never experienced, given she was born after the cordyceps pandemic began). They are quickly spotted by an armed guard, one that Joel just provided drugs to earlier in the day (then again, they are on high alert for Fireflies attacks, and Joel was warned to stay home for the next few days). The guard forces his device on the three of them: one that detects whether or not you have the infection. We see it being used earlier in the episode on a limping child (we see the device light up as red, but we’re not sure if this means negative or positive at first). He is given an injection of what appears to be a vaccine and promised a fun day ahead; he winds up dead and incinerated alongside the other corpses of that day (clearly the medicine was to put him down peacefully, as he was infected). So we know the damage that can come from these tests.
Joel sees this formality as pointless; he tests negative. Tess abides, but Ellie is quickly preparing herself; Tess is negative as well. After two green results, the guard gets to Ellie, who stabs him mid assessment. She is positive, but Joel and Tess don’t know this yet when the guard retaliates with his assault weapon pointed right at them. Joel remembers what adhering to authority did to his daughter, Sarah. This time, he doesn’t wait with the gun in his face. He pounces and pummels the guard to death. Once Tess notices the redly-lit device, now it’s time to question Ellie, and she’s ready for this as well. She swiftly points out a healed bite mark on her arm: she was attacked by an infected person and never turned. She is clearly important because she is the answer to this pandemic and to the safety of humanity; whether Marlene and the Fireflies are using her as leverage or to actually find the cure is unknown at this point. There’s no time to dilly-dally, mind you: the trio book it into the darkness of the night. At home, Joel’s radio goes off, and it’s Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again”, whose lyrics are meant to provide faith in The Last of Us. Remember: this is an 80s song being played for Joel. There is trouble ahead. The fate of the world and this mission are both not looking good.
First Reaction
Wow. What a stunning premiere. It’s as if there was zero fear when it comes to adapting one of the most beloved video games into a television series. There wasn’t any half-assing, either, with the Sarah prologue having even more backstory and depth than you’d find even in the game. I find the change of era appropriate, firstly because it makes the initial infection take place during a fear-torn America (Sarah even wonders if the unfortunate day was caused by terrorism), and secondly because it brings the present day to our own time. Of course, the game is so much harder to muster because of the COVID-19 pandemic we have all lived through, and both Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (of Naughty Dog, who worked on the games) know how close to home such topics hit. They adapted not just a video game but the unprecedented times we have all had to deal with.
Parts of the episode felt like the video game, like when you first see the soldier that kills Sarah, or when Joel cuts in line to do a deal (the framing and pacing of the shot felt exactly like the third-person perspective of the game). Otherwise, quite a lot has changed in this series, making it rewarding and different for those that are fluent inside and out with the game; there is very much a reason to experience this version of The Last of Us. The show has captured how beautifully depressing the settings and photography in the game are, and we have a series that is not only narratively rich but exquisitely made as well. As much care that went into the game is already present here, and that goes into the casting as well. In microseconds, the question about whether or not Pedro Pascal would make a good Joel was answered as he is instantly perfect for the role: gruff with a heart of gold underneath many layers of pain and grief. We haven’t seen much of Bella Ramsey as Ellie, but she too also feels quite similar to the back-chatting, attitude-giving, loveable rapscallion. Anna Torv is great as Tess, and obviously Merle Dandridge is great as Marlene (she is the actor behind the character in the game, after all).
For a premiere, there is so much information given, entire tidal waves of emotions, and an entire labyrinth of mystery built, and all we have to do is go in and explore the rest. Even without context of the video game, I would feel like I was presented with such a mythology that was begging to be combed through. In all honestly, ”When You’re Lost in the Darkness” is one of the best premieres in recent memory: a nearly-perfect opener to one of the most anticipated series of the year. The themes presented here (the lack of prevention, the selfish response to crises [by neglect or by helping one’s self and loved ones only], and the feigned hope in a world that is impossible to solve [until Ellie shows up]) are all explored thoroughly enough even in just ninety minutes; you know the entire series is going to be built up nicely with these talking points in mind. How do you prepare for the worst? Clearly not how we have been, in real life or within The Last of Us.
The prologue with Sarah is just as affective here as it is in the game. You will never forget the importance she held in Joel’s life, and “When You’re Lost in the Darkness” captures it perfectly. Ignore the post-apocalypse and the pandemic. Joel would be broken anyway when his daughter is stripped away from him. The underlying notion of Joel’s depression and lack of faith in the world is there; he embraces Tess in bed but only barely (love is non-existent in his heart). If you’ve never played the game, the title, The Last of Us, is ever-so-clear now even in this very first episode: this is all that’s left of our species, and it isn’t looking good (whether you observe the low numbers, the brutality, the lack of joy, or the sickness). Ellie is the cure not just because she is immune, but because she is clearly the only source of fun so far in The Last of Us, as she cracks jokes and sarcastic remarks. She didn’t live before the world went to shit. She doesn’t know what she lost. To her, this is all normal. She’s prepared to have the time of her life when others around her aren’t.
I cannot stress enough how excited I am to see the other eight episodes of this season of The Last of Us if it begins this strongly. Should the entire series hold up as well as this introduction, it can easily go down as the best series of the year (which seems too early to call, of course, but just imagine the caliber of what we’ve seen so far and how well it functions as a series). If it isn’t the top series of the year, it can very well be amongst the very best. What is certain, however, is how well “When You’re Lost in the Darkness” functions as a premiere, and it may have to do with how many years of acclaim and foresight the video game had. Usually premieres test the waters and set the scene. Mazin and Druckmann had their work laid out for them, and they just executed this episode as well as they could. This episode is confident but not arrogant, because so much thought is still placed in a series that could have relied on its already-existing audience to tune in to a lazily made product (fortunately, The Last of Us was made with the best intentions). All I know for now is that I am most certainly tuning in next week, even if Depeche Mode has alerted me to the fact that there’s only darkness ahead (we’re well past the point of finding light).
Final Grade: 4.5/5
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.