It’s finally here! Hi I'm Meg! Zombie pro here at Zombie Infection! Greg (our MD) has asked me to review the series so here we go! SPOILER FREE FOR NOW!
Essentially I went into the show completely blind!
The highly anticipated show The Last Of Us has dropped. Personally I have been very excited to see an awesome horror game be adapted for the small screen; and in order to avoid spoiling it too much for myself I only watched one trailer. Essentially I went into the show completely blind, armed only with my basic knowledge of the game. I decided to watch episodes 1 and 2 back-to-back, and I’m so glad I did. I’ll be keeping this blog spoiler free for those who haven’t had a chance to watch the show yet.
The show kicks off with a brief run down on the biological side of the infection we were about to see before introducing us to our main characters. I liked how the show briefly explored what normal life was for them before switching to the chaos of an outbreak, as it allowed me to connect with the characters more. Pedro Pascal and Nico Parker do a fantastic job setting up the father/daughter relationship between Joel and Sarah, and this makes for an emotional rollercoaster later in the episode. Not even 15 minutes in I was questioning “Is that person infected or is it a red herring?”. I was quickly proven right on the former as the action and tension skyrocketed and our characters found themselves in the middle of an apocalypse. Seeing the speed of the infected immediately made me think of 28 days later, the film that first introduced the ‘fast infected’ to popular culture. We quickly see how people adapt the ‘every man for themselves’ mentality and it made me think- if an apocalyptic scenario broke out tomorrow how would people react? Would people help others or focus on sole survival
After a few high tension scenes and a close encounter with the infected we reached the most emotional episode of the series so far. Fans of the game will know what I’m talking about- Pedro and Nico gave a raw and emotional performance that brought a tear to my eye. Seeing such a powerful scene brought to life in the series had me glued to my laptop screen and I was left slack-jawed as we jumped 20 years into the future.
Bella Ramsey’s introduction as Ellie was incredible.
As soon as Ellie appeared on screen I immediately loved her character. Bella portrayed her brilliantly and I can’t wait to see her character develop. As the story started to unfold and truths were revealed, I found myself on the edge of my seat and rushing to start episode 2 after the cliffhanger ending of episode 1. Episode 2 was just as action-packed and gripping as episode 1. At no point through either episode did it feel like they were trying to fill time. The standout moment from the 2nd chapter of this series was the clicker encounter. The tension was palpable throughout, and my heart was in my mouth as the clickers moved round the room and the danger increased. I loved the detailed special FX makeup on the clickers and the actors did a phenomenal job with the physicality- every time they twitched I didn’t know which way they’d go or who they’d attack.
The encounter peaked with an action-filled sequence that resulted in heartbreaking consequences. I didn’t expect them to do what they did so early on, so I wasn’t as emotional as I was in episode 1. I knew it had to happen at some point, but I would have loved to see more character development beforehand. As the episode ended I immediately wanted to watch the next episode, but unfortunately I have to wait until next week to find out what happens next.
Overall I absolutely loved the first two episodes. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the series, seeing how the story unfolds and seeing how the audience will further connect with the characters. If you want to be thrown into your own apocalypse check out our multi award winning immersive events taking place across the UK! Choose you Zombie Infection Experience!