The first episode of HBO’s live-action retelling of Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us has finally dropped and it’s everything fans of the series wanted – and maybe even a little bit more. If you haven’t seen the episode, and you don’t fancy reading through this The Last Of Us TV series episode 1 recap, this is your spoiler warning. If you have, or you don’t care much about spoilers, you might be interested to find out that there’s an easter egg for The Last Of Us Part 2 hidden away in episode one of HBO’s The Last Of Us.
As you might expect, the very first scene in Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us Part 1, which shoes Joel’s daughter Sarah giving him a watch as a birthday present, has been included in the first episode of HBO’s TV series. However, the live-action depiction of this scene has been stretched to include a second present, a DVD, which is actually ripped straight from a conversation Ellie has in The Last Of Us Part 2.
As you’ll be able to see below, thanks to a quick cut of the two relevant scenes from HBO’s The Last Of Us and The Last Of Us Part 2 by Reddit user ‘hrvycc‘, the DVD Sarah gives Joel in the TV series is Curtis and Viper 2.
If that name sounds somewhat familiar to you, that’ll be because Ellie actually mentions that she’s going to invite Joel to watch the very same movie with her to Dina in the early stages of The Last Of Us Part 2.
You can see both scenes in succession right here:
Now, for quite a few fans, this is nothing more than a fun little nod to The Last Of Us Part 2 and proof that the showrunners of HBO’s TV series know the source material – and that they want to honour it. It’s a fun reference, and little else.
However, as pointed out by quite a few other fans, this is foreshadowing something far more tragic. For those of you that haven’t played the second game, there are spoilers ahead.
Not only does Joel not get to watch Curtis and Viper 2, a film he seems quite excited about in the live-action clip, with Sarah, but it doesn’t look like he gets to watch it with Ellie either – provided HBO’s The Last Of Us sticks to the same story as The Last Of Us Part 2.
In The Last Of Us Part 2, Ellie is clearly talking about the movie as something she hasn’t seen – and we can’t imagine she would suggest something Joel has seen already. Adding to that, we can’t actually imagine Joel would sit down and watch the movie alone, without Sarah, after being given it as a gift.
Of course, this isn’t something we see happen in Naughty Dog’s video game, but there’s nothing to say it doesn’t happen at some point. The game itself cuts from the two joking about Joel’s new watch to Sarah asleep on the sofa. We can’t imagine that’s something that happened instantaneously.
The Last Of Us Part 1 (and Part 2) is one of the best PS5 horror games – while also being a candidate for one of the best PS5 games altogether – and it looks like HBO’s The Last Of Us is set to be one of the best video game adaptations of all time. If you’re asking yourself ‘should I play The Last Of Us before watching the TV series‘, you’re not alone – and you can find out whether you should here.