«Останні з нас»
The second season of the «The Last of Us» series started with the episode «Future Days», in which we noticed several important changes from the original The Last of Us Part 2.
Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann’s approach to adapting The Last of Us Part 2 is significantly different from how they adapted the first game. If last time the adaptation was almost frame-by-frame, now the chronology is slightly changed. For example, scenes are mixed up, new plot elements and accents are added. At the same time, many scenes remain almost identical.
The article contains spoilers for the first episode «Future Days»
Shortly after the series begins, Tommy, Joel’s brother, teaches Ellie how to shoot a sniper rifle. But in the game, this moment appears much later — in Ellie’s memories during the chapter that takes place in Seattle after the tragic events.
The authors also changed the season to a cold winter, when everything is covered with snow. During the game, this scene takes place in the summer under the scorching sun of Wyoming. But Tommy’s phrase combines both options — he says that in winter, large hordes of infected people move in the region. It seems that this is how the authors decided to explain why so many infected people gathered at that location.
Another detail that remained unchanged was the Springfield Armory M1A rifle. Tommy teaches Ellie how to compensate for the bullet’s trajectory over long distances — just like in the gameplay moment of the game.
In the middle of the episode, Ellie and Dina go on a patrol, which is almost exactly the same as the beginning of the game. Ellie takes the horse, and Jesse argues with her about being late. However, the tone of the conversations in the series is slightly different, as Dina is made a bit more defiant. The girl is the first to list the patrol plan, being ironic even before Jesse has a chance to say anything. Although in the game, the first task was voiced by a man.
Later, during the dialog, Dina tells Ellie about the breakup with Jesse in a more emotional way. In the game, she says that his parents will always be her family, emphasizing the warm relationship between them. In the series, this scene was made more dramatic.
Another example in this point is the scene with the bloody body of an animal. In the game, the girls find a moose, and in the series, a bear. Also, while in the game universe only Ellie and Dina went on patrol, in the series the whole team gathered. But then they continued their journey together.
According to the story, during a patrol, when the heroines were alone, they came to the Greenplace market. There, they climb out of a window on the second floor — from this point on, the story diverges.
In the game, Ellie and Dina fall through the floor together, and Dina kills the clicker to save them. In the show, Ellie falls alone, and runs into a stalker — a new type of infected the enemy is more cunning and aggressive. This immediately shows that this season’s enemy will be even less predictable.
One of the most romantic scenes from The Last of Us Part 2 — Ellie and Dina’s dance in the barn — now appears in the series much earlier. In the game, it was a flashback closer to the finale, and in the second season of the show, this scene closes the first episode. Otherwise, everything remains the same as in the game.
Also, during the scene in the barn, Joel reacts more harshly to Seth, who insulted Ellie. While in the game Joel just pushes him, in the series — he throws him to the floor.
The series finale is a direct adaptation of the scene from the first chapter. Abby and Owen climb a cliff where they can see Jackson. In the game, they talk and are happy to have found the right city, but also surprised by its scale. But in the series — not a single word. Complete silence, just a look at Jackson and a tense tension that hints that something is about to happen.
To summarize, the second season of «The Last of Us» is not going to just repeat the game, which is not a sensation because that’s what the creators said. Showrunners remain faithful to the original to the smallest detail, but sometimes change the atmosphere or meaning of the scenes. But there is no arguing with the fact that «The Last of Us» — one of the best video game adaptations, we were looking forward to it very much.
Source: IGN