7 Big Plot Changes The Last of Us Show Made & Why the Creators Defend Them
The HBO hit series has sparked several major controversies in regard to The Last of Us’ game plot line, but some of those big story changes actually make sense. Here’s how the show’s creators explain them.
The Last of Us ’ ongoing season 2 has brought back a seemingly forgotten feud between the fans of the original video game and the series itself, causing some more fuss about all significant plot changes the HBO show had to go through.
While some of them are pretty easily explained by a need to fit in the TV format, others don’t really seem like decisions good enough to annoy The Last of Us’ fans anyway.
However, the series’ creators have actually laid it all out, explaining what led them to turning some of the plot details into a different direction — now they might finally make sense to you too.
Different Timeline
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In The Last of Us’ video game, the virus outbreak occurs in 2013, with the story then making a time jump into 2033. The show, however, kicks it off in 2003 and then time-jumps into 2023, later passing to 2028 and 2029 in the second season.
“Because we don't have the interactive element [in the show that we do in the games], there's certain other techniques that we have to do to keep the pacing going”, The Last of Us’ co-creator Neil Druckmann revealed in an interview with TheWrap, adding that the team aimed at getting more interest from the video game fans.
The Cordyceps Infection Is Less Dangerous in The Last of Us Series
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The video game makes it clear that people can easily become infected just by inhaling spores from the fungus. The show, however, rules this out, stating that the infection spreads only via bites or scratches.
“Part of the issue with the spores is that you run into them quite a bit in the game, although not as much as people think, and if there were that many spores and they were airborne, that infection's gonna go even faster. It's hard to imagine how anyone escapes it, and people would probably be wearing masks all the time. In the game, the second you leave a spore space, you're like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa! Get a mile away’”, The Last of Us’ other co-creator Craig Mazin explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Bill and Frank’s Story Is Way Too Sweet in the Show
The Last of Us’ entire episode was dedicated to the love story of Bill and Frank who eventually decided to take their lives together, but things weren’t that tragically poetic in the video game.
There, Bill is pretty much alive when Joel and Ellie get to his house, also discovering that Frank’s dead body was there too; on top of that, the partners are believed to have fought a lot, with Frank holding a grudge at Bill till his very last day.
“There's this lovely thread that indicated this hint of a relationship between Bill and Frank in the game. I just suggested to Neil that maybe we pull that thread and we take it in a different direction in terms of the way it was depicted in the game, and use it to show the passage of time and use it to explore some of these themes that are so important to the length of the show”, Mazin once told in an interview with Business Insider.
In The Last of Us Show, Henry and Sam Are in Kansas City, Not in Pittsburgh
It might be that the location doesn’t even matter that much after all, so The Last of Us’ creators probably thought so too, replacing Pittsburgh, where Ellie and Joel meet Henry and Sam in the game, with Kansas City.
“What it came down to was, the 'Pittsburgh-ness' of Pittsburgh wasn't necessarily important. We had certain environments we knew would shoot in, because we were shooting in Alberta, largely around Calgary [and] a little bit in Edmonton. And it looked closer to Kansas City. It was just harder to manufacture Pittsburgh in that place”, Mazin explained on a Max podcast back then.
Dina and Joel Don’t Really Talk in the Game — They Do in the Show Though
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The Last of Us’ fans got one of the first shockers from the sophomore season when it was revealed that Dina and Joel are actually pretty close, which was never the case in the original game.
“Early on, we talked a lot about clarifying, or at least demonstrating, how much Dina cared about Joel. Dina did care deeply about Joel. To put Dina in that spot and to make her a front-row participant in this murder, it connects us more to her. Her choice to stay by Ellie's side through thick and thin from this point forward is motivated just as much by her loss as it is by her friendship with Ellie”, Mazin once said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Tommy Also Has Different Roles
In the video game, Tommy is the one to accompany Joel on the latter’s very last patrol before both have their first encounter with Dina; however, in the show Tommy stays in Jackson while Joel goes away with Dina.
“We wanted to show what’s at stake for Jackson, because that will come into play later in the season as well. And we wanted one of our familiar characters to be [at the battle with the infected horde] and Tommy felt very natural for that”, Druckmann said in an interview with TheWrap.
Abby’s Goal Is the First Thing to Be Revealed in the Show
The Last of Us’ fans also have a decent portion of criticism towards the show’s creators for giving Abby’s motivation right away while in the game it remains a mystery for a pretty long time.
However, Craig Mazin admitted the team didn’t have as much time to keep it a secret, also trying to make audiences sympathise with Abby from the very first moment.
“What we're seeing is somebody that is good. She's not a bad person. She's grieving the loss of her father and her friends and her life and she's heartbroken. This is not somebody who murders people regularly”, he said in an interview with TheWrap.
