All the ways HBO’s The Last of Us TV show nods to the game

Spoilers: It’s everyplace and everything

HBO’s The Last of Us is simply a measurement to revisit nan iconic and beloved video crippled of nan aforesaid name — to revel successful nan ways it’s some unchanged and wholly different. For dedicated fans of nan game, nan entreaty of The Last of Us is not needfully successful being surprised by twists and turns of nan story; rather, it’s to see nan franchise successful a caller light, picking retired nan small specifications that constituent backmost to nan original media.

There’s plentifulness to spot successful that regard. Video games are known for their Easter eggs, nan mini and obscure references hidden arsenic small surprises successful nan game. And truthful it makes consciousness that HBO’s The Last of Us would do nan same, to make subtle (and not-so-subtle) nods to each nan The Last of Us-heads retired there. The Last of Us Part 1 felt for illustration it truthful severely wanted to beryllium a movie aliases show, and now nan TV show is switching that up — astatine slightest successful 1 way.

Episode 7

Left behind

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Episode 7 is pulled correct from The Last of Us Part 1’s Left Behind downloadable contented and it plays retired conscionable for illustration nan other contented does — nan HBO section is moreover named aft nan DLC. The section is conscionable arsenic heartwarming and heartbreaking arsenic nan other content, nan mostly of it playing retired wrong a Boston-area promenade pinch some Ellie and Riley. But conscionable for illustration nan DLC, “Left Behind” is punctuated pinch Ellie attempting to return attraction of Joel aft he suffers a beautiful bad coiled astatine nan university.

A-ha cassette

Ellie’s sewage a fewer cassette tapes hanging around, and nan HBO camera lingers connected 1 for a bit: It’s from A-ha, nan 1980s synth-pop band. What’s nan narration to The Last of Us? There’s a saccharine infinitesimal successful The Last of Us Part 2 where Ellie sings A-ha’s “Take connected Me” for Dina, her girlfriend. It’s besides utilized successful a trailer for nan show.

Halloween masks

Ellie and Riley sojourn a Halloween shop successful The Last of Us Part 1’s DLC. As Ellie, you tin locomotion astir and research — and if you choose, put connected nan wolf mask. There’s a full bunch of cute, silly speech that’s unlocked erstwhile picking up and trying connected different masks successful nan store.

Water pistol

There’s a motion to nan DLC successful nan show erstwhile Riley mentions she’s sewage a gift for Ellie; Ellie asks, “Is it a h2o pistol?” Riley says that it’s thing better, but successful nan game, Riley really does person a h2o pistol for Ellie, and they extremity up having a water-gun fight. The water-gun series isn’t successful nan show, but it’s an important infinitesimal successful nan game: It’s nan arena that leads straight into their kiss, which different plays retired nan aforesaid measurement it does successful nan series.

Mortal Kombat 2

Ellie and Riley don’t really play Mortal Kombat 2 aliases immoderate video crippled successful nan DLC — nan arcade furniture for nan clone Mortal Kombat-like crippled doesn’t really work. Instead, Riley has Ellie adjacent her eyes ideate really a conflict successful nan crippled would spell based connected her descriptions. You property nan due buttons done nan imagined conflict successful Left Behind, but those actions don’t construe arsenic good to TV.

Is that Twilight?

The Last of Us’ Boston area promenade has a movie theatre and marquee wrong it, and it’s showing a Twilight-esque ripoff called Dawn of nan Wolf Part 2. Because, aft all, Twilight isn’t a movie that was retired successful 2003; Twilight wasn’t released until 2008. There are movie posters and advertisements each complete nan first game, and Joel mentions is being a cheesy teen drama. But aft playing The Last of Us Part 2, immoderate group started to deliberation that it was a reference to nan 2nd crippled — it’s Part 2, naturally, but besides brings successful a group called nan Washington Liberation Front, aliases nan Wolves.

Ellie’s pun book

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Episode 7 has a captious root communicative for nan series: It’s wherever Ellie gets her precious transcript of No Pun Intended: Volume Too. As successful nan DLC, nan book is simply a gift from Riley, and Ellie sounds immoderate puns aloud to some of them, including immoderate quoted successful this episode. (The crippled allows you to proceed reference and has a genuinely awesome magnitude of puns, which delight Riley and Ellie whenever they understand capable of nan aged world to admit them.)

Losing our minds together

Ellie and Riley’s infinitesimal together aft they were bitten plays retired successful HBO’s The Last of Us arsenic it does successful nan video game. It’s a tender and heartbreaking infinitesimal wherever Ellie and Riley effort to travel to grips pinch their destiny — that they’re infected and will yet turn. Of course, we cognize that Ellie is immune and won’t move aft all.

Episode 6

Astronaut dreams

Ellie spends a batch of clip successful section 6 reasoning astir her future. As a kid increasing up successful Boston’s quarantine zone, she said, she was forced to look astatine nan jail-like walls aliases nan ocean. Shunning those, she decided to look upward, into space. Ellie tells Joel she wants to beryllium an astronaut, for illustration “Sally fuckin’ Ride.” This comes up successful The Last of Us game, but is really fleshed retired successful The Last of Us Part 2, which has a rubbing infinitesimal betwixt Joel and Ellie wrong a run-down subject and history museum.

Is that Dina?

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Once wrong nan Jackson, Wyoming, compound, Ellie and Joel beryllium down for immoderate nutrient — their first due repast successful a while. While they’re eating, a young woman peeks from down a bannister to drawback a glimpse of Ellie and Joel. Ellie scares her disconnected pinch a look, but we can’t thief but wonder: Is that Dina? The Last of Us Part 2 fans will cognize who Dina is, since she’s a immense portion of nan 2nd crippled — she and Ellie stock a buss that past develops into a existent relationship.

Shimmer

Regardless of whether it’s Dina, there’s 1 The Last of Us Part 2 cameo that’s for definite successful nan show: Shimmer. During nan circuit of nan commune, Ellie’s introduced to a newborn horse, who Maria tells her is named Shimmer. Shimmer is Ellie’s equine successful The Last of Us Part 2.

Sniper lessons

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

With a powerful sniper firearm from Tommy, Joel and Ellie caput retired of Jackson successful hunt of Fireflies. In The Last of Us Part 2, successful a flashback, Joel’s relative Tommy teaches an older Ellie to sprout pinch a sniper rifle. First, she starts shooting astatine targets, for illustration immoderate woody signs. Then she upgrades to infected. There is besides a infinitesimal successful The Last of Us crippled wherever Joel teaches Ellie really to sprout a rifle, thing she says she’s only changeable astatine rats... pinch BBs. Of course, nan crippled segment is overmuch little heartwarming — it’s a do-or-die situation.

Not my daughter

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

HBO’s been playing up Joel and Ellie’s father/daughter-like narration for nan full show, a reflector to his narration pinch his biologic daughter, Sarah. And it each comes to a caput during an statement betwixt Joel and Ellie successful Jackson.

The segment betwixt nan 2 plays retired almost identically to nan game, successful a pinkish room that’s reminiscent of Sarah’s. (The existent location of nan room is different successful nan crippled and show, however: Ellie runs disconnected to a random, far-off location successful nan game, but successful nan show she’s successful nan location assigned to her and Joel successful Jackson.) Joel wants to time off Ellie pinch Tommy; he thinks she’s amended disconnected getting to nan Fireflies pinch him, that he himself can’t support Ellie safe. That tension, of course, is because he feels for illustration he grounded Sarah, truthful erstwhile Ellie brings it up, he snaps: “You’re right, you’re not my daughter. And I judge arsenic hellhole ain’t your dad.”

Dam!

Ellie and Joel skip correct complete nan dam, which is simply a important ngo pinch tons of fighting successful nan game. But they do extremity to return a look astatine it, and Ellie makes a pun — but she’s nary Will Livingston, a reference to her pun book, according to Joel.

Joel’s singing aspirations

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Can you judge it? Joel wants to beryllium a singer. The lines present are pulled consecutive from nan video game. But does Joel ever extremity up singing for Ellie? Perhaps you’ll person to play The Last of Us Part 2 for that.

Monkeying around

Ellie and Joel research nan aesculapian laboratory astatine nan University of Eastern Colorado, and that’s wherever they spot a bunch of escaped laboratory monkeys. They find ’em successful nan game, too, successful nan aforesaid scenarios. But nan crippled explores that discourse a spot much done a sound recorder near by a Firefly. The feline successful nan signaling reveals that nan Firefly scientists were conducting testing connected monkeys, and that a “batch” of them were “tainted” and needed to die. Instead, he lets them go, but 1 bites him and presumably infects him pinch nan Cordyceps disease.

You don’t brushwood immoderate infected monkeys during The Last of Us, but nan fearfulness is ever there. That’s terrifying.

Episode 5

Kids being kids

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

When Ellie meets Sam, it’s nan first personification close-ish to her property that she’s encountered successful rather immoderate time. Ellie and Sam’s narration plays retired likewise successful nan show and nan video game, allowing nan 2 kids to enslaved complete existent kid worldly — puns, toys, comic books, and conscionable playing together. A fewer moments guidelines out, but 1 that’s really rubbing is erstwhile Ellie and Sam commencement kicking astir a shot ball successful nan hideout they find. It’s a moment, successful nan show and nan game, wherever they tin hide astir nan reality of nan world for a spot — thing some Joel and Henry notice.

Soccer is besides important because of its narration to Joel’s daughter, Sarah. In her room, she had loads of shot memorabilia; we cognize nan crippled was important to her, and a reminder of her for Joel.

Ish, Danny, and nan castle hideout

Inside nan show’s hideout — nan 1 pinch nan shot setup — there’s a drafting connected nan wall of 2 people, Ish and Danny, nan protectors. The camera doesn’t linger connected it for excessively long, and HBO’s The Last of Us doesn’t explicate much than that little look; it’s conscionable a relic of nan past group that lived here. But nan crippled fleshes retired that communicative done recovered items and notes astir Pittsburgh. Joel finds letters from Ish connected a washed-up vessel successful Pittsburgh earlier Ish met a family pinch kids. They traded supplies for a while earlier Ish moved into nan sewers pinch them, mounting up nan safehouse seen successful nan show. The group is forced to time off erstwhile a doorway is accidentally near ajar and infected get in. Some escape, including Ish, but his destiny is unknown.

All of this is told done nan recovered items, down to nan drafting of Ish and Danny, who kids saw arsenic nan protectors of nan group.

Savage Starlight comic book and “endure and survive”

In The Last of Us game, Ellie collects comics. They’re hidden astir nan crippled arsenic a collectible item, but they’re not location to read. The 5th section of HBO’s The Last of Us is nan first mention of them successful nan show, erstwhile Sam finds 1 successful nan safehouse, different point for Ellie and Sam to enslaved over. The comic book is besides wherever nan building “endure and survive” comes from — a tenet Ellie seems to unrecorded by.

Backpack flashlight

Image: Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

A insignificant detail, but section 5 is nan first successful which we’ve noticed a backpack flashlight. It’s Henry’s, and very useful — nary request to clasp one! In nan game, everyone’s sewage 1 of there, truthful they person their hands free to transportation guns.

Henry and Joel parallels

Henry’s tragic communicative astir becoming a FEDRA informer to prevention Sam, who has leukemia, mirrors Joel’s passim nan crippled — doing thing bad to prevention nan life of nan personification astir important to him. Henry tells Joel successful this section that he became a FEDRA informer because he needed entree to medicine to prevention Sam’s life, that location was nary different measurement to get it. He made nan sacrifice, giving up tons of guiltless people, to prevention Sam. People acquainted pinch nan game will understand really this parallels Joel’s story, but I’ll support it vague for those who don’t.

Sniper scene

After nan group escapes Kansas City, they extremity up trapped by sniper occurrence — a segment that plays retired precisely successful nan show arsenic it does successful nan game. In nan game, you play arsenic Joel arsenic he sneaks up down nan sniper and takes complete nan gun; you usage nan sniper to protect Sam, Henry, and Ellie from incoming threat — including that monolithic “RUN” plow introduced past episode.

Face-ripping bloater

Image: Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment

HBO’s The Last of Us shows its first bloater — nan large infected feline — successful nan 5th episode. He’s gross and very strong, pulling himself up from nan sinkhole of infected that conscionable opened up nether a fiery house. Once he gets his hands connected a person, nan extremity consequence is gruesome: He pulls isolated Kathleen’s henchman Perry by nan face, ripping unfastened his jaw and skull.

The Last of Us players cognize this animation each excessively well. Each clip you’re caught by a bloater, it plays this sadistic decease animation.

“Are you scared?”

After Sam is bitten, he and Ellie stock a tender infinitesimal by themselves. Sam asks Ellie if she’s ever scared, and says that she ne'er seems it. But she reveals that she’s ever scared, each nan time. (She jokes she’s frightened of scorpions, too, conscionable for illustration successful nan game.) The only large quality present is really Ellie and Sam communicate. In nan show, Sam is deaf (and played by deaf character Keivonn Woodard), truthful they pass via a write-and-erase artifact that Sam keeps around.

Episode 4

The porn magazine

On nan road, Ellie finds an aged mag successful nan backmost spot of Bill’s motortruck — and nan segment plays retired successful HBO’s The Last of Us almost precisely for illustration it does successful nan game. She’s looking done it and realizes it’s a porn mag pinch a bunch of naked men. There are truthful galore funny lines: “How does he moreover locomotion astir pinch that thing?” “Why are these pages stuck together?” It’s particularly nosy to spot Joel squirm astatine nan questions, successful some nan show and nan game, earlier Ellie reveals she’s conscionable messing pinch him and tosses nan mag retired nan window.

The only large quality is that erstwhile Ellie picks up nan mag successful nan game, she remarks that Bill will astir apt beryllium missing nan mag that night. That doesn’t hap successful nan show, of course, because Bill died alongside Frank.

Hank Williams

Hank Williams’ “Alone and Forsaken” was utilized successful an early trailer for nan show, but it’s besides successful nan game, too, pinch different Williams song, “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive.” Ominous and foreboding names, americium I right? “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” is nan first opus connected nan cassette portion Ellie steals from Bill’s, and it starts conscionable earlier Ellie pulls retired nan magazine; “Alone and Forsaken” comes connected erstwhile they thrust into Pittsburgh. The show removes “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” successful favour of going consecutive into “Alone and Forsaken,” which is besides nan sanction of nan peculiar section successful nan game.

No Pun Intended: Volume Too

When Joel and Ellie are parked astatine nan state position siphoning gasoline from aged cars, Ellie pulls retired a pun book, No Pun Intended: Volume Too, by Will Livingston and starts reference immoderate genuinely atrocious — and still bully — jokes: “It doesn’t matter really overmuch you push nan envelope. It’ll still beryllium stationary.” She brings it retired a fewer times during nan section successful immoderate scenes that are intelligibly bonding moments for nan two. It shows up a ton successful nan Pittsburgh section of nan game, too, arsenic Ellie will return nan book retired and publication jokes astatine circumstantial locations — almost for illustration a collectible.

We cognize she sewage nan book from her friend Riley successful nan Left Behind DLC, truthful it’s intelligibly a sentimental item. The books show up connected a support successful The Last of Us Part 2, too.

Pittsburgh aliases Kansas City?

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Speaking of Pittsburgh, you’ve astir apt noticed that Joel and Ellie skipped correct complete nan Pennsylvania metropolis successful nan show. Instead, HBO’s The Last of Us takes nan duo overmuch farther west, into Kansas City, Missouri — a location not successful nan game. It’s astir apt to velocity up nan timeline, because Joel and Ellie person to get crossed nan United States successful conscionable a fewer episodes. The show veers disconnected people from nan crippled a spot to research nan Hunters and their leader, Kathleen; successful nan game, they’re much of a generic bad feline group giving nan subordinate thing to sprout at.

It’s besides wherever Joel and Ellie meet Sam and Henry, 2 fan-favorite characters from nan game, correct earlier nan section ends.

Jeffrey Pierce

Jeffrey Pierce, who voiced Joel’s relative Tommy successful The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2, shows up for nan first clip successful this episode, playing a rebel successful Kathleen’s huntsman group. The character won a BAFTA for nan video crippled role, and is lending his talents erstwhile again to nan show arsenic an original characteristic that rolls alongside Melanie Lynskey’s Kathleen.

Run plow

The forsaken “run” plow, attached to a military-style Humvee, has made it into nan show, and each The Last of Us players are shuddering. It’s a notorious portion of nan Pittsburgh chapter, chasing nan group astir nan metropolis — genuinely hunting.

Is that a bloater?

When nan Hunters are exploring immoderate buildings looking for Sam and Henry (they don’t cognize Joel and Ellie are astir yet), Kathleen and different Hunter extremity to look astatine an evident sinkhole that’s quivering, covered by a furniture of concrete. It’s not clear what it is, but my champion conjecture is thing genuinely terrifying: a bloater. We spot 1 crawling retired of a fiery pit successful 1 The Last of Us trailer... possibly it’s coming successful section 5.

Joel’s losing it

This one’s much of a reference to different portion successful nan show, but I deliberation it’s worthy noting. At nan extremity of nan 4th episode, Joel and Ellie are joking astir — again, pinch puns. Laughing hysterically, Joel makes a remark that he’s “losing it.”

It’s a reference backmost to nan first section pinch Tommy and Sarah. Around nan meal table, nan 3 are tossing quips around, and Tommy makes a jab astatine Joel, saying that he’s “losing it.” These some hap successful moments of softness for Joel, and look to constituent to really his narration pinch Ellie mirrors his narration pinch Sarah.

Episode 3

Cumberland Farms

Ellie and Joel extremity astatine a Cumberland Farms state position aft leaving Boston. This isn’t a reference to nan video games, but arsenic a New England gal, I request to admit a motion to “Cumby’s,” arsenic we for illustration to telephone it. This concatenation of state stations is located mostly successful New England — making it a staple successful Massachusetts, wherever this section is set.

Mortal Kombat 2

Image: HBO Max

Mortal Kombat 2 is simply a classical arcade crippled from 1993, which intends it came retired astir 10 years earlier nan outbreak started successful The Last of Us show. Ellie and Joel stumbled upon a Mortal Kombat 2 arcade crippled that’s, of course, not working. She explains to Joel that she’s sewage a friend who knows everything astir nan classical fighting crippled — astir apt a reference to Riley, who’s mentioned earlier successful nan show and stars successful The Last of Us prequel Left Behind. Left Behind itself is mostly group successful a classical arcade wrong an quiet mall. And while nan description didn’t. see a Mortal Kombat 2 reference, erstwhile it was included successful The Last of Us Part 1, a poster for nan crippled was added connected 1 of nan walls.

Pancake mix

On their measurement to Bill’s, Ellie asks Joel really nan infection started — it’s not thing they taught kids astatine FEDRA school, wherever Ellie went arsenic an orphan. It’s revealed successful section 2 that nan Cordyceps outbreak began successful Jakarta, Indonesia, apt successful a flour and atom factory. This is nan reply that Joel gives Ellie, that nan microorganism sewage into nan atom supply, noting that these factories provided flour for awesome companies that shipped worldwide — mundane stuff, down to pancake mix.

That ties backmost to nan first section of The Last of Us, erstwhile Sarah’s making meal for Joel connected his birthday. Everyone thought Sarah was going to make pancakes, but she made eggs instead, apt sparing them from ingesting infected flour.

Bill’s traps

OK, Bill’s traps. We spot them successful action astir Bill’s suburban compound, which makes up a fewer blocks of his neighborhood, shops and all. They’re intense, but work: We spot them successfully holding disconnected intruders, some group and infected. The traps are conscionable arsenic innovative successful nan game, but dispersed passim a larger area and ace deadly for players. The magnitude of times I stumbled done a trap I didn’t see... it’s a lot. Quickly, though, you study that bricks and bottles are important successful getting done nan level, thrown astatine nan tripwires to group them disconnected and breeze correct through.

“Long, Long Time”

Linda Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time,” from nan 1970s, is simply a cardinal portion of The Last of Us’ astir beautiful show moments. It’s not a reference to nan video game, but I’m calling it retired because nan opus holds truthful overmuch meaning to nan section arsenic a full — it’s besides nan sanction of nan episode.

Ellie’s reddish shirt

Image: HBO Max

When we first meet Ellie’s she’s wearing a baseball-style T-shirt pinch a overgarment and a hoodie. But astatine Bill’s, she gets a ablution and a alteration of apparel — nan iconic reddish shirt. It’s a garment that she wears done nan mostly of The Last of Us Part 1, with a worn out, faded thenar character motif connected nan front.

Episode 2

Giraffe plush

There’s a dirty, run-down giraffe stuffed animal nether a car’s tyre arsenic Ellie, Joel, and Tess flight done Boston. Anyone who has played nan crippled will cognize instantly what this references: an iconic, rubbing infinitesimal that comes precocious successful nan first game, apt 1 of nan astir talked-about scenes successful nan game.

Ellie can’t swim

When Ellie, Tess, and Joel participate nan edifice successful Boston, they’ve sewage to trudge done immoderate cloudy water. It’s wherever show viewers study that Ellie can’t aquatics — possibly not a immense woody successful nan show, but that truth is basal successful making nan games’ biology puzzles work. Ellie can’t aquatics successful nan first game, either — truthful to transverse water, nan subordinate has to lick biology puzzles to get her through, usually by uncovering a hidden floating pallet.

Locked doors

Like nan floating pallets, locked doors successful nan video crippled service to group players up for biology puzzles. You can’t spell consecutive done nan door, and alternatively person to find a caller measurement around. It’s successful nan crippled truthful overmuch that nan show’s re-creation apt elicited a groan from those who’ve played it. I cannot overstate really galore times I’ve seen nan animation for Joel lifting Ellie complete a wall aliases into a model to spell unlock a door.

The Boston museum

The Last of Us Part 1’s Boston flight takes players done nan Freedom Museum of Boston, and nan show has a beautiful dang bully re-creation of it. It’s apt drafting inspiration from nan real-life Bostonian Society Museum. The depository itself is wrong a assemblage aliases colonial-style home, and nan quarters are quaint. There’s tons of busts of aged men to sound over, and successful nan dark, it’s a creepy venue to lurk astir — is that shadowed caput a clicker aliases a statue? (Probably a statue, unless it’s clicking.)

Tess’ lighter

Less a Last of Us Easter Egg, much a Naughty Dog one: Tess’ lighter successful nan 2nd section is simply a shoutout to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.

Health kits

Characters successful a TV show don’t request to heal themselves, but players of nan crippled will beryllium highly acquainted pinch nan enactment of putting together wellness kits pinch recovered intoxicant and rags. But location are nods to this successful nan show — Joel gives Ellie a rag to screen her wound wound, and he tapes up Tess’ wounded ft utilizing duct tape, different basal assets successful nan game.

Tess’ goodbye

Tess doesn’t past agelong successful The Last of Us Part 1, and that’s nan aforesaid for nan show — she lasts 2 episodes. But nan measurement she goes is different from nan game. In some instances, she’s been bitten and gets near down to clasp disconnected an oncoming horde. In nan game, she’s holding disconnected humans that are coming aft nan group, keeping them engaged capable to springiness Joel and Ellie a caput commencement for escape. But successful nan show, it’s a group of infected that are coming their way; she stops them from going aft Ellie and Joel by blowing nan full spot up aft getting kissed (???) by a zombie.

Episode 1 Easter eggs

Halican Drops

Photo: Shane Harvey/HBO

Halican Drops is nan sanction of nan set connected nan T-shirt that Joel’s girl Sarah (played by Nico Parker) is wearing astatine nan opening of nan show — and nan game. There’s nary existent value for nan set successful nan game, different than a fewer posters, but nan backmost of nan T-shirt does foreshadow really nan crippled plays out: Each circuit extremity is different location that Ellie and Joel will sojourn passim their journey.

Aside from Sarah’s T-shirt, location are Halican Drops stickers successful windows, excessively — at slightest according to group pictures.

Back-seat driving

When Joel, Tommy, and Sarah are trying to flight Austin, Texas, during nan chaos of nan first outbreak, nan show’s board make clever usage of camera angles to make The Last of Us consciousness for illustration nan video game. It’s each successful nan third-person view, pinch nan camera successful nan backmost seat. This is precisely really nan crippled is changeable from nan motortruck — you’re still playing arsenic Sarah astatine that point, and she’s successful nan backmost seat. Several of america noted instantly that it conscionable feels for illustration a video crippled during these shots, a instrumentality that’s of overmuch amended usage present than successful different TV adaptations of games, like Halo, which tried nan first-person position — including subordinate UI.

Sarah waking up

Sarah wakes up successful her chamber successful nan mediate of nan nighttime successful some nan crippled and nan TV show, stumbling astir sleepily successful nan acheronian to spot what’s going on. Both scenes supply a small much context, but successful different ways. In nan video game, you power Sarah, and she’s looking done her location successful nan dark. You’re not connected a group path, and you tin prime up things successful nan house, which supply immoderate clues — 1 point is simply a newspaper saying that admittance to section hospitals is up by much than 300%. In nan video game, an infected personification comes busting done nan solid door, but Joel shoots him, earlier they tally extracurricular and Tommy shows up, correct connected time.

The Last of Us TV show has Sarah waking up, alone, because Joel went to bail Tommy retired of jail. She ends up backmost astatine nan neighbor’s house, bringing their frightened canine home. That’s erstwhile she gets a very clear glimpse of what’s going on: The infected aged woman is munching connected her housemates. This segment sets up nan horrors of nan infected successful a different way, giving immoderate much discourse to show viewers what’s going on.

But there’s besides a small, rubbing reference to nan game’s waking up scene, featuring nan day paper Sarah sewage for Joel — it’s 1 of nan things you tin prime up and inspect during this segment from nan game. The paper itself is connected Sarah’s table successful a changeable from nan show, spotted by erstwhile Naughty Dog developer Alexandria Neonakis, nan personification who designed nan paper successful nan game.

Joel’s wrench

Tommy and Joel propulsion up to their neighbor’s location conscionable arsenic Sarah is getting attacked by nan infected aged lady, but thankfully Joel has a formidable weapon: a wrench. The dense wrench looks to beryllium of forearm’s magnitude and astir apt rather useful while they’re escaping nan city, but Joel drops it correct away.

Why not prevention it for later use? Toss it into nan backmost of nan pickup motortruck and you don’t moreover person to clasp it. Our champion conjecture is that this is simply a motion to nan video crippled — successful The Last of Us Part 1 and The Last of Us Part 2, you get max 3 hits connected your mundane melee weapons. They break each nan time, and that’s by design. The Last of Us is simply a crippled astir survival, and you person to scavenge for everything, including bullets and, yes, wrenches for hitting infected things.

Marlene

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Does Marlene successful The Last of Us TV show sound familiar? That’s because nan aforesaid character plays some roles. Merle Dandridge plays Marlene successful The Last of Us Part 1 and The Last of Us Part 2, taking nan domiciled connected a 3rd clip for nan HBO adaptation.

When you’re mislaid successful nan darkness

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

The afloat phrase, When you’re mislaid successful nan darkness, look to nan light, appears respective times successful nan show, and it’s plastered each complete nan games. The building is graffiti connected walls passim Boston (and apt elsewhere), a awesome and motto for nan revolutionary group nan Fireflies — nan group who are fighting nan oppressive subject successful nan country’s quarantine zones. Marlene’s 1 of them, and an important 1 astatine that: She’s nan leader of nan Boston faction, and nan personification who puts Ellie successful Joel and Tess’ care.

Curtis and nan Viper 2

Curtis and nan Viper 2 is nan movie that Sarah picks up from nan neighbor’s location successful The Last of Us, pulled from a support alongside nan likes of Pink Panther and Murderball. Unlike those two, Curtis and nan Viper 2 isn’t a existent movie, but it’s still an important one. People who person played The Last of Us Part 2 will retrieve it tearfully — it’s brought up successful nan 2nd crippled arsenic a cheesy ’80s movie, but 1 that was going to mean a batch to nan 2 group watching it.

“The Long and Winding Road”

When Ellie and Joel are waiting for Tess to scout for nan flight from nan Boston quarantine zone, Ellie picks up nan book of No. 1 euphony hits and flips done it. There’s 1 page marked disconnected pinch a portion of insubstantial — nan power codification for Joel and Tess’ smuggling operation. The page it opens to is easy to miss, but whitethorn beryllium a motion to nan franchise — The Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road.” This could beryllium reference to nan long, winding roadworthy that will return Ellie and Joel crossed nan United States, aliases possibly nan agelong and winding roadworthy it’s been since a The Last of Us movie adjustment was announced successful 2014.

Bigwig’s daughter

In nan aforesaid segment wherever Joel and Ellie are discussing nan power code, Joel starts to mobility Ellie connected her ain life — why Marlene and nan Fireflies are going done truthful overmuch problem to smuggle her retired of Boston. No 1 knows yet of Ellie’s existent information — that she’s immune — and she’s sworn to support it a secret. Joel asks if Ellie is simply a “bigwig’s daughter” aliases something, and Ellie responds that it’s “something for illustration that.” These fewer lines are pulled consecutive from nan game, but successful those scenes it’s Tess talking to Ellie erstwhile they’re escaping nan zone.

There are besides different instances of speech consecutive from nan show, for illustration erstwhile Sarah tells Joel she sewage nan money for his day coming — nan fixed watch — by trading “hardcore drugs.”

Escaping nan quarantine zone

Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO

Ellie, Joel, and Tess’ flight from nan Boston quarantine area has a fewer shots that are dense references to nan crippled — nan overgrown world is acheronian and gnarled up pinch cars and buses to crawl nether and through. But there’s 1 segment successful peculiar that stood retired for its similarities to an iconic level successful The Last of Us Part 1: Chapter 3, “The Outskirts.” Crawling done tunnels and debris, nan trio has to dodge spotlights and flashlights from nan subject guarding nan quarantine area wall — spots successful nan crippled wherever it’s basal to play nan crippled arsenic stealthily arsenic possible. Visually, nan show does a clever occupation of mimicking that feeling.