The Last of Us series on HBO is an incredibly accurate recreation of the video game it is inspired from. At least in the first two episodes, the majority of the show appears to have been faithfully adapted from the game, with a few minor exceptions. There are also a few instances that resemble nearly flawless recreations of game frames.
But at the very end of the second episode of the show, Tess’ (Anna Torv) storyline received a significant upgrade.
Spoiler Alert: be aware that this story contains spoilers for the show and the game if your still new to the game .
It’s not quite shocking when Tess dies at the end of episode 2, exactly. Although it might surprise new players, game players knew she would pass away from the beginning, albeit perhaps not in the manner depicted in the episode. The Last of Us from 2013 features Tess dying at about the same same place in the narrative, although the actual circumstances are quite different.
Tess is actually killed by FEDRA soldiers in the game’s plot, but the fact that she was already infected and gave herself up to protect Ellie and Joel is still true. Additionally, Joel (and subsequently the player) truly watches Tess die, as opposed to the show where he merely sees the explosion that follows.
There are a few reasons why the show might have made this alteration, one of which is the fact that FEDRA has only recently been introduced into the series’ storyline. Even while the government’s response hasn’t contributed much to the story thus far, it’s clear that it’s not enough to make FEDRA’s existence known. Since the virus and its hosts were mainly missing from the show’s pilot, Tess’ death at the hands of the infected also makes them appear to be legitimately threatening.
Putting away the games, the way the show handled Tess’ passing was weird and unsettling. The lengthy voyeuristic “kiss” is nearly leering for a show that frequently isn’t and doesn’t need to be, despite the fact that it is obvious that the show adores its odd, disgusting infected, with their tendril-y fungus strands that wriggle and flit continuously, hunting for new hosts. Tess’ death is not made more tragic by witnessing a mushroom zombie infect her, nor is it made clearer how the Cordyceps curse that killed humanity came to pass.
This was intended to investigate what happened when someone was infected gently and demonstrate that not everything needed to be violent, according to showrunner Craig Mazin. What does it look like if you simply remain motionless as they abuse you? In a Variety interview, Mazin posed the question. Then we arrived to this fuel for nightmares. It violates human rights and is unsettling. In my opinion, the way it invades your own body is incredibly primordial. Mazin’s own description of the scene may serve as the greatest justification for it: It’s triggering, to use an overused phrase.
Showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin demonstrated with episode 2 that they still have some surprises in store for both viewers who are learning about the story for the first time through the show and for veterans of the video game. There may be additional unstated, practical reasons for the change.
