"The Last of Us is HBO's post-apocalyptic thriller based on the popular video game. it debuted on Sunday, January 15, 2023, on HBO channels. The series has nine episodes in total and follows the plot of the 2013 game in which a fungus outbreak turns half of the world’s population into flesh-eating zombies — a.k.a. “clickers.”

Starring “The Mandalorian” actor Pedro Pascal as Joel (a hardened middle-aged survivor tormented by the trauma of his past), and “Game of Thrones" actress Bella Ramsey as Ellie (a feisty, 14 year-old girl), “The Last of Us centers around these two characters who, at first, want nothing to do with each other. Joel and his confidant, Tess (played by Anna Torv), are tasked with smuggling Ellie out of the quarantine zone in Boston and across the U.S. As the story progresses, Ellie and Joel's dynamic shifts as they start to depend on each other.

“The Last of Us” is HBO's first foray into adapting a video game into a series. After so many video game adaptation fails, the show is a relief to many “Last of Us” fans. It was co-written by the game’s creator, Neit Druckmann, so there was little room for it to flop in the first place. HBO's "The Last of Us” is Druckmann's love lefter addressed to the millions of loyal fans that help keep the decade-long franchise alive.

On the surface, "The Last of Us" may just seem like another survival story with zombies. However, the HBO series doesn't focus on dramatic, long-winded shootouts and shots of the undead. Instead, it focuses on the human relationships between the uninfected as their world turns more uncertain by the minute.

But what makes this show so great, in our opinion, is the fact that viewers don't need to play the game to understand it. Although HBO's "The Last of Us" is very accurate to the timeline of the game and has Easter eggs sprinkled throughout, there are some key differences that help the story speak to a larger audience.

According to the author, The Last of Us is: