The Last of Us Episode 1: Intense post-apocalyptic drama and a searing takedown of police brutality

In a scene in the pilot episode of The Last of Us, a police officer holds Joel and his daughter Sarah at gunpoint on the suspicion of the father-daughter duo being infected by a fungus, which has turned half the town folk into Zombie-like bloodthirsty attackers. Joel begs the officer to not shoot them — ‘we are not infected’ he says repeatedly. The officer shoots them anyway and Sarah dies of the gunshot wound. Years later in a post-apocalyptic Boston, Joel is tasked with smuggling Ellie to another Quarantine Zone. Joel is again held at gunpoint — this time, by a FEDRA soldier. Instead of playing defense, Joel kills the FEDRA soldier in cold blood. The callback to Sarah’s death towards the end of the episode is significant: it shows how the civilians react to police brutality and unwarranted use of law enforcement in an extreme manner if they have been victims of the same in the past. The Last of Us shows the long-lasting ramifications of police brutality on the psyche of the civilians who often take law in their hands and turn vigilantes.

The post-apocalyptic 2023 shown in The Last of Us is not very different from our world. In Boston QZ, the police control the city and the movement of civilians. Every public street is patrolled by the FEDRA guards who, like Big Brother, keep a tab on the movement of the cityfolk. Meanwhile, the civilians are living a life full of misery — one where they either clean the streets or the sewer to survive. They line up outside a telephone exchange where they communicate with their friends and family members living in other QZs ((Quarantine Zones) who were lucky enough to survive the outbreak. The airtight control on the movement of civilians is suffocating to watch. In one scene, we hear a FEDRA agent announce the names of civilians who either entered or exited a QZ without permission and will soon be given the death penalty. To rebel against the draconian FEDRA, Firefly, a resistance group who claims to fight FEDRA has gained prominence. They often attack FEDRA hideouts which lead to intense shootouts. The Fireflies, most of whom are Black women, have been targeted indiscriminately by FEDRA.

The social commentary here is clear as daylight — the Fireflies, much like African Americans today, are fighting the oppressive police force. The Last of Us is not subtle in its political messaging but not too obvious or loud either. Judging by the first episode, the Fireflies vs FEDRA trope is likely to occupy the centerstage through the first season. In its pursuit to show the clash of civilians and the police through the lens of an epidemic, The Last of Us doesn’t deny either side its humanity. The suspenseful plot, nail-biting action sequences and one jaw-dropping plot twist after another, only make this conflict more engaging. Instead of resorting to tokenism and virtue signaling, creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have built a post-apocalyptic world where the power dynamics similar to today’s world play out organically. The Last of Us is every-bit engaging and isn’t crushed under its weight of coming across as intellectual. The acting performances by Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey and Anna Torv propel the show just enough so it qualifies both as a suspense-thriller and a socially conscious drama.

The opening scene of the show is very telling, too. “There are some fungi who seek to control, not kill. The fungus gets into the ant’s brain and controls it — where to go, what to do. It needs food to survive so it begins to devour its host from within but it doesn’t let its victim die. It prevents decomposition”. The description given by a doctor of the fungal infection can very well be used for the mass media and the political propaganda which ‘infect’ their hosts and begin ‘controlling’ them. Perhaps, the fungus could also be the social media apps — which illegally sell our data to show targeted ads which in turn, influence our behaviour. The possibilities and meanings that can be ascribed to the fungal infection are endless.

Based on the first episode alone, The Last of Us, which has already received critical acclaim, is likely to snowball into a grittier, twisted suspense thriller with each episode. The social and political irony, which is the show’s biggest strength in addition to the action scenes, is likely to get starker as the season progresses. Based on a 2013 video game, the suspense-thriller is likely to enthrall the viewers in the coming months.
The Last of Us is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

Deepansh Duggal is an entertainment, pop-culture and trends writer based in New Delhi. He specializes in op-eds based on the socio-political and gender issues in the world of entertainment and showbiz. He also writes explainers and occasionally reviews shows in the OTT space. He tweets at @Deepansh75. 

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