The Last of Us is garnering praise from all directions from fans and critics alike and was renewed for a Season 2 ahead of its Episode 3 release. The series has broken the supposed video game adaptation curse by substituting high-octane action sequences that engage a player in the game but do little for a series, with great character studies. With every episode, we get a deeper sense of how is it to live in a post-apocalyptic world. In a new clip, Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the original games and is currently hosting The Last of Us podcast, talks about how some new aspects of the show are enriching the IP.
Created by games’ original director Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin, The Last of Us is surprising even the most avid fans. Since the creators are also big gamers they made a point of balancing out the monsters and action with captivating backstories for the characters, "Selfishly, I really wanted to see what it’d look like for someone else to play Joel,” Baker said. "But that thing that to me added a whole new layer to the IP was not something I expected. It wasn’t something that I was looking for because it wasn’t even really there,” he says of the series’ fleshed-out characters.
In Episode 3, we meet Bill and Frank. Baker teases, “Perfect example is the character of Frank. Frank in the game is, well if you play the game you know. He was basically dangling feet in a bad Hawaiian shirt. But in this version of the story, he is the anchor point. And it’s possibly one of the most beautiful episodes, not only of this show but any show I’ve ever seen.” Baker’s comments are in line with actor Murray Bartlett’s comments, who plays Frank in the upcoming episode, made to Collider about the script. Baker continues,
“So that to me adds a whole new layer of the IP, and that’s what at the heart of this story. It’s the relationships. Yeah, we have monsters that are attacking us and yeah, there are vicious people that are doing horrible things to survive. But at the end of the day, it’s how these two people feel about that and what they’re going through.”
The Last of Us is streaming on HBO Max. You can check out Baker’s comments below: