The Last of Us, season 1 (2023)
release year: 2023
genre: post-apocalyptic action/adventure (9 episodes)
viewing setting: home Bluray 5/20/23 and 3/24 - 4/7/24
synopsis: Two decades after a fungus-fueled zombie apocalypse ravages the world, a tough guy finds himself tasked with bringing a potential cure across the country.
impressions: For some reason, it took us a loooooooong time to finally watch all of this. It was pretty good. The first episode sets up the background (the original epidemic, and then laying out what life is like in the new world) and then the quest gets underway. There are flashbacks, and supporting characters...military and civilians...preppers and bandits...it's all here. And looming in the background is the presence of these fast-moving, aggressive zombie-like creatures. If I had one beef, it's that the flashbacks (while they add necessary character background) often slow things down. Also, the kid is often stupid...wandering away, making noise, having fun...all of which is not tactically intelligent in a world overrun with lethal zombies. I just wanted to shout at the TV "Kid! You've got to be more careful!" And then again in another episode, while exploring an abandoned city, the main characters are talking and reading jokes out of a book and not paying attention; I just can't understand why any behavior like this would happen in a survival situation.
acting: Pedro Pascal is the main character, who's honestly kind of an asshole. Bella Ramsey is the sassy young kid who's immune to the outbreak and could thus be used to make a cure (she's also a bit of a Barry at times.) There are many less prominent roles; the ones that stuck out the most to me were Anna Torv as the main character's tough companion, Gabriel Luna as his brother who's in parts unknown, Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as a survivalist couple who live in a town by themselves, Melanie Lynskey as the crazed leader of some revolutionaries, and Storm Reid as the main girl's sometimes-stupid friend from flashbacks.
final word: Pretty entertaining post-apocalyptic survival series that focuses more on the humans than the zombies.
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