‘The Last of Us’ vs. ‘The Walking Dead’: the importance of having a purpose

They resemble a chestnut like an egg and, at the same time, it is impossible not to compare them. ‘The Last of Us’ is the latest in post-apocalyptic series (so much so that it is the most watched series in the history of HBO Max Spain) and ‘The Walking Dead’ is the reference television fiction of the last decade in this regard. zombie-driven world endings, both in relevance and longevity. Is there something that connects them, beyond the presence of the living dead (or, infected with cordyceps, to be more exact)? What is it that makes them different, apart from the obvious?Is there one above the other? Let’s address these issues. There is no doubt that the series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey deserves to be among the best HBO Max series of 2023.

‘The Last of Us’ does not invent the wheel in terms of its start and context: the world is going to hell due to a viral pandemic (in its case, derived from some very dodgy fungi) and after five minutes the military is converting what little What remains of our civilization in fascist societies where the survivors have no voice or vote while, outside the walls, there are other people walking through the mountains and living poorly. Whoever can save himself, but whoever has weapons will be able to save himself more than the others because everything becomes the law of the strongest. Also, the infrastructures fall, deteriorated, and nature is making its way. This, although the HBO series has shown us with an unusual level of production, is still the never-ending pandemic story. Many elements, of course, have been able to remind us of ‘The Walking Dead’who also had his Atlanta torn apart, his Georgia towns eaten by weeds and more than one fascistoid villain wanting to be the king of the mambo with a few minions under his command.

But where ‘The Last of Us’ differs from other similar a priori fictions is in its character development and in the emotional arc that we attend. Here the “plot” understood as a succession of events and twists is not as important as the affective journey of Joel and Elliethe two protagonists. Going from him transporting the girl as “merchandise” to getting involved and caring, to feeling like friends and that, in some way, the mere existence of the other is the reason for living for one, is what this fiction is about. And it cannot be said that ‘The Walking Dead’ did not have characters to whom things also happened inside between killing one zombie and another. Of course it did, it had them, but 1) there were many more, leaving the portrait of them more diluted, and 2) their relevance was subject to that of the plot. If in ‘The Last of Us’ the two protagonists weigh more than what can happen, in ‘The Walking Dead’ it was just the other way around; so much so that any character was expendable and, eventually, all the initial protagonists were parading and the series continued its course.

And there we find the big difference: the concretion and the purpose. By nature, ‘The Walking Dead’ was a show that was “not going anywhere”. Because? Because it was born as the adaptation of some comics with many numbers and whose story did not have a closure either when the series started or many years later. Not only that: it is not that it did not have an end, it is that it did not have one nor was it expected; that is to say, it was not devised nor was it relevant to reach him. Robert Kirkman’s macro-narrative was a framework, an open world, a universe… and now a television franchise made up of several series. That gave her infinity, but also made her more dispersed. There is no focus, there is no alpha and omega. It was a kind of river novel where we only found a clear narrative structure in the compartmentalization season by season.

Instead, ‘The Last of Us’ emerges with the opposite mentality. Craig Mazin, co-creator of the series, made it very clear in an interview on The Hollywood Reporter in which he seemed to leer at ‘The Walking Dead’: “I have no interest in a series of turntables that goes on forever. When he turns into a perpetual motion machine, he can’t help but get a little… stupid.. Endings are very important to me”. Concreteness. Starting a journey that reaches a destination (I insist, a journey more emotional than physical). Telling a story with meaning, with a beginning and an end. Do not take too long. Definitely not be like ‘The Walking Dead’.

And yes, ‘The Last of Us’ will have a second season, but it does not seem that there is a will to stretch the gum until it loses flavor. The first season covers the entire first game, while the second covers more than one season, although it seems unlikely that more than two. We won’t see Ellie and Joel lock themselves up on a farm or go around in circles just because there are a bunch of episodes to fill out on a highly rated series. And no, ‘The Last of Us’ has not had filler episodes nor will it be infinite as, almost, was ‘The Walking Dead’, who died exhausted when no one was watching anymore. For that, and for the digital deer, it seems that HBO will have a little more dignity..