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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, February 15, 2023
‘The Last of Us’ gets video game adaptations right so far AURORA SILAVONG Staff Writer
It is hard to get gamers to agree on anything ever, but there is one thing the community can agree on — 2013’s “The Last of Us” is nothing short of a masterpiece. Although the game turns ten years old in 2023 and spawned a controversial sequel, it is still regarded as a high point in video game narrative writing. When news came out in 2020 that HBO was looking to adapt the game into a show, fan reactions were mixed. On one hand, people believed in the network’s ability due to their other successful shows, such as “Chernobyl” and “Game of Thrones.” On the other hand, the film and television industries are still figuring out how to do games justice — looking at you, “Halo.” The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world paralyzed by a fungal outbreak known as the cordyceps brain infection. The fungus turns its hosts into aggressive, flesh-eating monsters, known as “clickers” for the sounds they make, and the world is quickly overrun due to the fungus’s presence in the food supply. The stories of both the game and the show focus on cynical smuggler Joel as he escorts a girl mysteriously immune to cordyceps to researchers. The girl, Ellie, may be the key in
engineering a vaccine or a cure for the outbreak. Throughout their travels, they fend off clickers, as well as other survivors trying to make it outside of the totalitarian, government-controlled quarantine zones. Within the first three episodes, it’s too early to say if HBO has really nailed it as a whole. However, that is not to say those three episodes are not some of the finest video game adaptations to ever hit the small screen, because they totally are. The show remains faithful to the source material, but it is not afraid to deviate in some ways and explore the world outside of what was seen in the games. It is not a shot-forshot remake of the game, and both leads were encouraged not to play the games beforehand. Despite going in relatively blind, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey do a splendid job in their roles, and they retain key elements of their characters while also bringing their own touch to Joel and Ellie. It is not necessary to have played the games to enjoy the show. While there are plenty of references and Easter eggs for fans of the games, the show is very accessible for general audiences. The show’s commentary about society’s response to a devastating pandemic is highly poignant and relatable in our postCOVID-19 world. Despite the science-fiction overtones, the show deals in other topics affecting the real world, such as climate change and authoritarianism. However, be warned, the show is quite
ARTS & CULTURE
Joel and Ellie pictured in ‘The Last of Us’. Courtesy of IMDb graphic so be prepared for guts and gore galore. The show does not shy away from explicitly showing deceased children, which may be troubling for some viewers. On the plus side, there are few jumpscares, with scares being cultivated through tension and dread instead.
“The Last of Us” airs exclusively on HBO and its streaming platform, HBO Max. New episodes drop on Sundays at 9 p.m. EST. The first episode is currently free to stream for a limited time on the HBO website.
Review: CBT’s ‘Trouble in Mind’ astonishes and amuses ELI BOLDT Contributor
The Clarence Brown Theatre’s “Trouble in Mind” opened Friday, Feb. 10 to great success. Kenneth Martin, the Artistic Director for the Clarence Brown and UT’s theatre department head, stood in the spotlight to introduce the show, reminding the audience that it is an important work, critical to our lives now. It is an important piece of art, and beautiful too, in its powerful speeches and clever dialogue, but it is also so funny. This show is a fantastic comedy, made so by the comedic timing of the cast, their interactions with each other timed perfectly. Laughs filled the audience and the stage, the characters cracking jokes with each other. And throughout it all, a simmering. Something bubbles beneath, a slight tension, heightened one microaggression at a time. When the breaking point comes, it is deserved, it is expected, a tea kettle whistling sharply as the main character Wiletta, portrayed by Shinnerrie Jackson, finally gets to yell. It is a meta-play, about a Broadway show in rehearsal. The show the characters are putting
Cast of Clarence Brown Theatre’s Trouble in Mind production. Courtesy of Ella Martson on portrays a community in tension over Black people voting; it ends with a lynching. Through the story within the story, the characters reflect on a community filled with prejudice, while experiencing prejudice in their real lives too. Wiletta must decide to star in the Broadway show or be loyal to her own sense of what is right. It is made extra meta by the fact that it might have been the first play written by a black woman produced on a Broadway stage. But the playwright Alice Childress was asked to change too much, to take away too much of the story. She refused. “Trouble In Mind” came to
Broadway, finally, in 2021. The Clarence Brown puts this show on with excellence. The set is magnificent. It depicts a small rehearsal space, walls soaring up to the ceiling and the floor inching into the audience. It is immensely detailed and extensively intricate. The actors interact with the space in a familiar and natural way. They come down into the wings, they enter through the same entrances we the audience use. The space is well-used and well-constructed. Scenic designer Christopher Pickart’s stunning set draws us into the reality of this world: cluttered tables and water
damage, old furniture and mismatched chairs. The cast is exceptional, and all of them are brilliant in their executions of complex characters. One stand-out performance is Joshua Peterson who portrays, at times devastatingly well, the character of Al, who will not accept or acknowledge his own prejudices and privilege. Another is Tom Parkhill, who portrays the bumbling and hilarious electrician, Henry. But this is truly Jackon’s show. In it, the character Al, directing the show’s show, asks for “natural” from his cast. Wiletta may struggle to draw it out, but Jackson does it flawlessly. Her portrayal of Wiletta is truthful and beautiful. She gives us comedy and drama tied seamlessly together, and she gets to show off her singing voice — emotionally impactful and brightly clear. There is no better word than powerful for describing her performance. After she delivers her commanding speech to Al, I am startled out of the moment by the audience’s applause. It is a stunning show and an astonishingly desperate story of power. “Trouble in Mind” is playing through Feb. 26. Student tickets are free. To get tickets, stop by or call the Box Office Tuesday through Friday from 12-5 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the door 45 minutes prior to curtain.