The Last Of US TV Show Creators Explain Massive Change From The Game - Kotaku

While The Last Of Us TV show has remained precise faithful to the PlayStation, it’s occasionally deviated successful important ways. Episode three, which aired past night, showcased the biggest alteration from the root worldly yet, and co-creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin person tried their champion to explicate wherefore successful a new interrogation with IGN.

Spoiler Warning: the pursuing station details large crippled points from some the crippled and the show. If you haven’t played oregon seen either 1 yet, now’s your accidental to deed the brakes and crook back.

Titled “Long, Long Time,” occurrence 3 of The Last Of Us TV show yet introduces Bill, a bellicose but no-bullshit survivalist played by Nick Offerman (Parks And Recreation, Devs). The crippled alludes to Bill having a romanticist narration with a antheral named Frank, but ne'er goes into detail. Last night’s occurrence not lone delved into the narration successful item via flashbacks, it besides changed however it ended.

“When we got to this portion successful the season, Craig brought up a truly absorbing constituent which is... there’s a batch of examples of things not turning retired good for people, and often those are reflections and cautionary tales for Joel of ‘here’s what you basal to lose’,” Druckmann told IGN. “It was, what if we amusement them what you could basal to win?”

In the game, Bill helps Joel and Ellie find a motortruck they tin usage to caput west. Bitter and foul-mouthed, he’s the lone idiosyncratic near successful a municipality called Lincoln, surrounded by infected and his home-made booby traps. He lectures the brace connected however caring astir others is simply a sure-fire mode to get yourself killed, mentioning a adjacent spouse helium tried to instrumentality attraction of successful the past. Later connected that spouse is revealed to person hanged himself aft becoming infected, penning successful a enactment that it was yet inactive amended than remaining with Bill.

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In the show, Bill is already gone by the clip Joel and Ellie get successful Lincoln. And viewers get to spot however Frank, played by Murray Bartlett (Looking, The White Lotus), archetypal meets Bill, arsenic good arsenic bits and pieces of the 20-year narration that followed. Frank yet becomes debilitated by a terminal unwellness and Bill helps them some instrumentality their ain lives together. When Joel and Ellie arrive, they find a missive from Bill talking astir however protecting Frank aft the outbreak was precisely what had made his beingness worthy living, a implicit reversal from what happens successful the game. The alteration was seemingly Mazin’s idea, though Druckmann warmed up to it erstwhile they did the mathematics connected however it would assistance enactment the remainder of the story.

“I deliberation it is simply a blessed ending,” Mazin told IGN. “I deliberation we thin to presumption decease arsenic failure, peculiarly erstwhile you’re talking astir playing a video game. It is virtually failure. And for our amusement truthful far, there’s been immoderate brutal moments wherever Joel has failed oregon astatine slightest perceives that he’s failed: helium failed his daughter, he’s failed Tess, and he’s surely feeling that value astatine some the opening and extremity of this episode.”

It’s this benignant of compassion and anticipation that The Last Of Us was arguably missing, and Druckmann said the changed crippled constituent besides served arsenic a informing motion for Joel; that, without idiosyncratic to instrumentality attraction of, surviving conscionable to past is pointless. It’s besides the benignant of deviation Druckmann would person said “fuck no” to successful the past, helium told IGN. “Are we amended successful this mentation of the story, successful this different medium, oregon are we worse?” helium said. “If we’re better, we should clasp it fully. And this was specified a beauteous story. It was precise casual for maine to say, ‘Let’s bash it. Sounds amazing.’”