Plot Summary – Joel and Ellie, a pair connected through the harshness of the world they live in, are forced to endure brutal circumstances and ruthless killers on a trek across a post-outbreak America.

★★★★½ 

This was such a well-made, well thought-out and beautifully realized show. I had not played the game so I had a fresh perspective coming into this story and world and I must say that for someone with no exposure to this story, it did a wonderful job making me invested and engaged in the storyline of the show. What they do really well is that they substitute the aspects of the game that are not narratively important with intricate and interestingly designed world-building that adds so much color to the world that these characters inhabit. Each episode is also very contained in its story, it doesn’t feel like 9 cogs in a machine but much rather 9 inter-connected well thought-out short films that all have a point and necessity to them, that have their own character arcs and closure. This structure makes the week-to-week experience so much better because while you are engaged in the overarching storyline, each episode gives you enough substance to chew on to keep you coming back. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey were both phenomenal in their roles and made the show worth sticking around. Both their performances make certain episodes work so well that you cannot imagine anyone else in their roles. While I understand that the point of the show is to explore the human world in a post-apocalyptic setting and that the humans are the point of the show, I still felt a lack of existential threat from the ‘infected’. There was not enough screen time given to them being posed as a real threat to our duo and only appeared to conveniently get them out of bad situations. From what I’ve heard, this is not how the game is so that is an adaptation choice that did not go over too well with me. Otherwise, this is a nearly perfect season of television that has all the hallmarks of being all-time classic. I really enjoyed this season and would recommend it to almost everyone unless you have a real distaste for gore and violence.