No, HBO's The Last of Us isn't just another project about "the infected." Sure, film and TV's zombie subgenre has been done time and time again, but thanks to the talented creator of HBO's Chernobyl taking the helm of its series adaptation, The Last of Us became an instant hit that will surely benefit from additional installments. Yes, the show features a terrifying variety of zombie types, but it also features a plethora of layered performances that stem from the award-winning game that first introduced us to "runners," Joel, Ellie and more.
Thanks to its talented ensemble of multi-densional characters, The Last of Us is certainly more of a "drama" than action-thriller. One such character we grew to love was Tess, played in the series by Anna Torv (Mindhunter). And as we await the release of season 2, here's a closer look at a pivotal moment in the series, which unfortunately saw the end of her journey. It's pretty similar to what happened in the game, but there's a key difference that's worth exploring. Here's a closer look.
Tess’ Origins in the Video-Game
Fans of the original video game will always know Tess as the hardcore, no-B.S. (former) smuggling partner of Joel. Together, they traded with survivors outside their city of residence. And then, their life-changing mission comes into play — taking Ellie to the Capitol Building. Tess is extremely protective of Ellie in the game, while in the TV show, she is quite skeptical of Ellie and her supposed immunity.
But before Ellie enters the picture, it's fun to watch Joel and Tess banter, particularly in the video-game, where they're more flirtatious with each other across their multiple missions. When you first start playing the RPG, you might be thinking, "Wait, are Joel and Tess dating? Is Ellie going to be revealed as their long-lost daughter or something?" No. Sadly, Tess' journey is cut short, which brings us to our next point...
Why Tess’ Death in the HBO Series Works Better
In the original video game, Ellie realizes during their journey to the Capitol that Tess has been infected via a runner bite to the shoulder. And as the villainous FEDRA soldiers descend on the three of them, Tess urges Joel to take Ellie and let her hold off the incoming army to buy them some time. Joel and Ellie successfully escape, and not long after, Joel hears gunfire that confirms Tess has been killed — by the soldiers, not by the infected (or by her own doing)...
Therein lies the aforementioned key difference. In the second episode of the TV series, Torv's Tess reveals she was bitten as they journey to the State House. Ellie had also been bitten, but her bite heals, of course. Upon seeing this, and realizing that they're surrounded by runners (thanks to Joel's gunfire tipping off the zombies), Tess urges him to escape and take Ellie to their Firefly allies. Tess stays behind, but instead of getting shot by the hostile human soldiers, she proceeds to blow up the building she's in, killing herself along with the horde of runners that were making their way toward her.
"It's like a play, you know? You have a really great play that gets put on in different cities, with different casts, and different actresses, and some productions lean this way or lean that way, but at the end, it's ultimately the same story and the same characters when they're well drawn," Torv told ET earlier this year regarding the show's deviation from Tess' fate in the video-game. "We had a couple of Tess' big, memorable lines still in it verbatim. I didn't consciously want to be different or consciously want to be replicating... I don't even think it's interpretation, I just think it's through a different lens."
The series creators have also commented on Tess' death in the series and why it works better this way. Neil Druckmann points out that it makes more sense if the runners are surrounding them versus FEDRA soldiers, who wouldn't necessarily have a need to be out in their seemingly harmless neck of the woods at this point in time; after all, there wasn't really anything to "police." Plus, by having Tess sacrifice herself to take down a fleet of runners, we get that terrifying "kiss of death" scene right before Tess does the deed. This scary moment reveals much about the runners' true nature. "These things don't have to get violent unless you're fighting them from spreading [the infection] further," Druckmann once told EW regarding that runner that gets weirdly close to Tess before she blows them all up. "That is realized in this beautiful, yet horrific way with Anna."
Looking at the Franchise’s Future
Who else is counting the days until more episodes drop? The second season of The Last of Us is reportedly expected to take place five years after the events of the first season and will focus on Ellie's journey. There will also be a new character named Abby Anderson, who seeks revenge against Joel. Uh oh! Pedro Pascal has said to the press that as far as he's concerned, the show’s faithfulness to its source material needs to continue. This notion, coupled with the seemingly limitless potential for other A-list actors to join the series, makes it a sure thing that the second installment will be a success on all fronts.
