‘The Last of Us’: The first episode was supposed to come in two parts, but HBO wanted to put them together

The first episode of ‘The Last of Us’ has already arrived on HBO Max, the series that international critics have described as the best adaptation of a video game to date. The showrunners of the series, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, told the official podcast of ‘The Last of Us’ on Spotify some curiosities about the pilot, including its duration, which at first was not what they wanted.

Entitled “When you are lost in the darkness…”, the opening episode is an introduction to the post-apocalyptic dystopian world where violence and fear reign after the mutation of the Cordyceps fungus, which caused a global pandemic. Its duration is remarkable, reaching one hour and twenty minutes, something unusual for a first episode. by itselfbut also for the medium of the series. Druckmann and Mazin reveal that, in fact, its long duration is due to the fact that it was initially divided into two chapters: “It would have been episodes one and two”Druckman says. The pilot initially went black with the timeskip: “It ended with ’20 Years Later’, watching Joel throw the boy into the fire”.

However, HBO convinced them to put them together, considering that this ending was not enough for viewers to want to continue the series. “The Whole Story of ‘The Last of Us’ Is About Joel and Ellie”says Mazzin. “If we see a little bit of her at the end of the first movie and we don’t piece it together… And it just ends with a baby dying and then the credits roll… people might not want to go back [a la serie] . Drukmann says this made the pilot even better. “In hindsight, this criticism makes perfect sense.Furthermore, he muses that while the initial ending was intriguing, they had failed to convey why the viewer should care about the child. “We have to get to the moment [en el que Joel conoce a Ellie]This is the beginning of the journey”Druckman says. “The episode is so much better for it”.

Is it better?

It’s not the only episode of “The Last of Us” that runs longer than usual. ‘Long, Long Time’ is the third episode and follows in the footsteps of the first, lasting about an hour and a quarter. On the other hand, it is one of the chapters most praised by critics, who consider it a sort of oasis in the darkness and harshness of the series, with its commitment to the newly developed characters in the video game, giving them a more innovative storyline. within the genus. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: the next one On Monday, January 23, we can see the second episode of “The Last of Us” on HBO Maxwhich was initially supposed to be the third of the season and which has a duration of almost 53 minutes.