🚨 Just in case you didn't read the headline, there are major spoilers for The Last Of Us Episode 5 in this article.🚨
By now, I'm sure you heard of The Last Of Us — the TV show adaptation based on Naughty's Dog's hugely successful video game.
Since its premiere, the series has garnered praise from both critics and longtime fans for its textbook parallels to the video game, as well as the incredible performances from Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who play Joel and Ellie respectively.
It's clear that there's a lot of love and respect for the source material, but the one thing that sets The Last Of Us apart from other video game adaptations (and makes it so incredible) is the way that its creators — Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann — have introduced changes that have elevated both the characters and their storylines.
One fantastic example of this is Bill and Frank's relationship. We first meet Bill after Tess' death in the game, where he's introduced as a cynical, isolated and distant character who — much like Joel — has lost everything.
While talking to Joel, Bill briefly references his relationship with Frank, explaining how dangerous it is to care about someone in this world and that trying to take care of Ellie is a suicidal mission.
It's only later, during Bill, Joel and Ellie's journey that we learn of what has happened to Frank, who hung himself after becoming infected. To add salt to the wound, a nearby suicide note in the game reveals how much Frank hated Bill at the time of his death, with his last words expressing that getting infected is better than continuing to stay with Bill.
And that's basically it. It's depressing, tragic and highlights the bleakness of the pandemic and the harsh choices people have had to make. But at the same time, it's an important moment for Joel who chooses to stray from a similar path to Bill and start opening his heart to Ellie.
Meanwhile, in The Last Of Us TV show, Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank's (Murray Bartlett) relationship couldn't be any different. In Episode 3 — titled "Long, Long Time" — we see their incredible love story play out over the years, as they go from being strangers to soulmates who would do anything for each other.
Much like his video game counterpart, Bill starts off as a reclusive and paranoid individual. But after meeting Frank, we see Bill start to come out of his shell, bit by bit — leading the couple to expand their worldview and start sharing resources with others, like Joel and Tess.
Of course, with this being The Last Of Us, there's always a bump in the road at some stage. With Frank's health declining, he makes the decision to end his life without pain and struggle. Rather than spend the rest of his days without him, Bill joins Frank for one last candlelit dinner, before dying together peacefully.
This time, it's Ellie who discovers a suicide note — except this one is written by Bill. In it, he explains how Frank helped remind him that all isn't lost — and that protecting those that matter to you is what's important, leading Joel to realise that there may still be hope left, in the form of Ellie.
While it's a significant departure from the PlayStation game, Bill and Frank's story about love and perseverance in the series does a much better job at conveying why Joel's feelings towards Ellie start to thaw and change.
so many important moments during episode 4 of #TheLastOfUs showing how joel is starting to trust ellie from allowing himself to laugh at her jokes, opening up to ellie about his past and teaching her how to use a gun, every scene with them is SO FREAKIN' GOOD 🥹
Similarly, in Episode 5 — titled "Endure And Survive", Mazin and Druckmann introduce yet another significant and powerful change to the game’s characters, specifically Henry and his younger brother, Sam.
Similar to their video game counterparts, Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Montreal Woodard) enlist the help of Joel and Ellie to help them escape the city. However, there's one main difference — Sam is not only a couple of years younger than Ellie, but he's also deaf, meaning that he heavily relies on his non-verbal communication with Henry to understand what is happening.
Speaking on the official podcast for The Last Of Us series, Mazin explained that the narrative function of Henry and Sam is to serve as a mirror image of Joel and Ellie's relationship. But for the TV adaptation, he was worried about the repetitiveness of the child/guardian dynamic and wanted to differentiate Henry and Sam's bond to that of Joel and Ellie's.
Inspired by This Close — which is written by and stars deaf creators Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman — Mazin countered Joel and Ellie's verbal mode of communication (think Ellie’s dad jokes and their constant roasting of each other), with the intimacy and quietness of Henry and Sam speaking through sign language.
What makes this decision even more impactful is that Woodard, who plays Sam, is a deaf actor. In an interview with GQ, Johnson — who stars opposite Woodard — explained that he did not know ASL (American Sign Language) prior to the role, but was excited to learn so that he could communicate with his co-star better and help him do his best representing the deaf community.
Speaking about his role in The Last Of Us: Inside The Episode, Woodard highlighted the importance of representation, saying "Sam is deaf and I am deaf. We both sign — and seeing how deaf people are and how they navigate the world, and that they can, I think is important."
I also need to mention that in the same behind-the-scenes clip, Ramsey mentioned that all of the crew learned ASL because they wanted to communicate how great Woodard and the interpreters were.
Fans were full of praise for both Woodard and Johnson's emotional and heartbreaking performances which did justice to their video game counterparts.
A round of applause to Lamar Johnson and Kevionn Woodard on their incredible portrayal of Henry and Sam and doing their storyline justice 👏 #TheLastOfUs
lamar johnson and keivonn woodard deserve nothing but praise and awards for their portrayal of henry and sam in the last of us
they are everything, they took my whole heart and soul with that opening sequence and then destroyed it by the end, love ‘em so much was said without any words or music, just damn good acting, especially with their eyes, thank you Lamar Johnson & Keivonn Woodard #TheLastOfUs
I cannot get over how fantastic Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Woodard's performances as Henry & Sam were on #TheLastOfUs tonight. Played the game many times and Henry & Sam's story never fails to hit me hard emotionally, and they managed to make it even better on the show.
Of course, if you've watched Episode 5, then you'll know that a tragic twist of fate results in an infected Sam attacking Ellie, forcing Henry to shoot him. Rather than live with the guilt, Henry chooses to end his own life.
This is mainly lifted from the game, except for one heartbreaking scene involving Sam and Ellie's last moments together. Just before they're about to sleep, Sam confides that he's been bitten to Ellie. In response, she smears some of her blood over Sam's bite mark, in an attempt to make him immune.
This is just another example of a deviation from The Last Of Us video game that enriches the story, highlighting Ellie's desire to save people using her immunity.
The Last Of Us keeps going from strength to strength — and even though it rips my heart to shreds every single week, it is absolutely worth it to get to experience these storylines from the game coming to life on TV. Shoutout to Mazin and Druckmann for not being afraid to deviate from the source material and for making an incredible story that much better.
