‘Long, Long Time’ Is a Testament to All That a Zombie Show Can Be
This unexpected departure from ‘The Last of Us’ source material still stands out for its brilliance
Sometimes, taking a draft and tweaking it feels like the most logical approach to an article if I aim to express ideas I’ve already explored in detail in the past. Other times, my ideas on a subject evolve so much, or my writing style changes so completely, that I’m simply best rewriting a piece from the ground up.
While I’m perfectly happy with my prior “The Last of Us” piece, I think it may have represented one of those times where I simply would have been better off starting from scratch, rather than modifying every other sentence to reach my current standards.
Attached beneath this (comically extended) disclaimer is another article that I wrote 2 years ago on the show. It’s got a lot of strong ideas and commentary in it, even if my writing is very different from today. Rather than bring it up to my current standards, I’ve decided to put that same creative energy into covering this current season with fresh takes as some, most — or possibly even all — episodes air.
So until then, I ask that you please enjoy this less-than-timely, slightly-rough-around-the-edges review of one of the first season’s strongest episodes.
Adapting shows from video games is an interesting task. In the world of TV and cinema, it’s still something that very few shows have even attempted. We’re only three episodes into “The Last of Us,” though, and it’s already grown clear just how much HBO is able to draw from the beloved video game franchise. More than simply recreating it though, it diverges in ways that powerfully distinguish it from the source material.
The first two episodes both begin with captivating scenes that offer glimpses into a world on the brink of collapse. They’re arguably more stirring in their intensity than the main narrative driving the plot.
It’s been hoped by many that the entire season would continue with this trend of these uneasy flashback scenes. And by all appearances, this third episode seemed as though it was already poised to disappoint here. Instead, the show cleverly and unexpectedly diverts course as the episode’s narrative appears to be taking shape. Where it goes instead is a gripping story between two characters that spans the course of years.
As Hollywood has grown increasingly progressive, the inclusion of homosexual and gender-nonconforming characters has often begun to feel as though it’s done simply to meet quotas or to satisfy fans. HBO is different here. With Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Euphoria and now The Last of Us, HBO does a remarkable job at humanizing the queer characters they introduce.
I’ve never particularly loved turning to TV for my romance, but the relationship depicted in this episode is almost enough to make me fully reconsider. That the two characters depicted are gay hardly even feels like an attempt to virtue signal or appeal to modern audiences. Nick Offerman’s role here is a pleasant surprise for me and he offers an incredibly authentic portrayal of the character he depicts that’s perfectly countered by the opposing Murray Bartlett.
It’s an extremely intimate glance into the way that a love between two people can endure decades in a world that’s fallen to pieces; it‘s wildly different than anything I could have expected from tonight’s episode. The way, too, that Druckman and the team at HBO were able to tie the story of these two characters into the arc of the larger narrative does wonders in expanding the universe that they’ve created.
The flawless inclusion of Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight,” is a beautiful touch to an episode that oozes more soul than most zombie shows do guts. Throughout much of the episode, that they‘re living through a graphic zombie apocalypse almost feels secondary. Where shows like The Walking Dead and all of its spinoffs and cousins quickly begin to feel laborious for most viewers in their gratuitous displays of flesh squelching gore, The Last of Us appears to be taking a more thoughtful approach.
The show doesn’t pull any punches in its displays of the forsaken planet at hand, (hell, they’ve even got Chernobyl showrunner Craig Mazin on board here) but that each episode isn’t congested with the brutal zombie battles has given the plot room to grow. While there’s no attempt to conceal what a hostile place planet earth has become, to show exclusively the violence would quickly diminish the story being told.
Where the video game experience that this show is based off of appeals largely to its fans for its sheer immersion, “that doesn’t exist in a passive medium,” explained Mazin in an interview. Because HBO was reluctant to have the show center so much around violence in the game, “that allowed the violence [that they do include in the show] to have even more impact than in the game,” Mazin continued.
Whether The Last of Us will follow on the heels of Game of Throne’s success is still too early to say, but that it was renewed for a second season after the airing of only the second episode is a true testament to the world they’ve already begun to create. From the characters and set design to the cinematography, makeup team and sound design, The Last of Us has the potential to redefine what it is to be a zombie show.
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This is the only episode of the series I’ve yet to rewatch. It was so beautiful, touching and unexpected, I’ve yet to reach the place where I can rewatch it again.