Celebrated Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić of “Quo Vadis, Aida?” fame made her TV directorial debut on the sixth episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us” night – bringing with her some beautiful and arresting visuals of a snow-drenched Alberta standing in for Wyoming and Colorado.
The episode also contained some big surprises for fans of the game as several elements from “The Last of Us: Part II” showed up earlier than expected in the narrative – including a brief cameo. The hour-long episode adapted the ‘Tommy’s Dam’ and ‘The University’ segments of the first game for the screen – albeit in colder climates than those game sections which unfolded in the Fall.
The dam itself was reduced to a one-shot cameo as the action was excised and the dramatic scenes of that section were shifted to the town of Jackson – barely seen in the first game but a crucial element of the second game.
The University segment was fairly intact but heavily compressed for time – reduced to the last 10-15 minutes or so of the episode and lacking the game’s famously drawn-out tension around the level. Even so, the episode covered the major plot points, lifted some scenes verbatim from the game, and made some interesting changes along the way.
Jackson was created in Canmore, a small town 50 miles west of Calgary, and Žbanić tells Variety it got down to -15C/5F at times during filming. Asked if she spoke to the producers about why they wanted to incorporate Jackson from ‘Part II’ into this episode, she said:
“I didn’t really talk about it, because for me it was very natural. What we talked a lot about was that I survived the war in Sarajevo in the 1990s… I was kind of living in a place which was like Jackson in a way… We managed to survive because of solidarity, and the way the city was restructured. You have to start from zero. That experience for me was something that I felt very close about Jackson.
It’s a community that functions, and I find it really beautiful and hopeful.
Two other key changes were made in the episode – the first is Tommy is expecting a child and Žbanić says that by making Maria pregnant, it: “makes Tommy’s decision much, much heavier that he accepted to take Ellie. It makes everything hard, with more drama for Tommy.”
Another is Joel’s injury which changes from him falling off a balcony and getting impaled on a piece of metal, to a more simple stabbing with the hilt of a broken baseball bat. Žbanić says of the change: “I really liked it because it was more subtle. Ellie thinks they made it, and then it’s a shock. Otherwise it would be immediately over.”
The episode had multiple second game easter eggs as well including Shimmer the horse, talk of a Sheep Farm and first U.S. female astronaut Sally Ride, Joel discussing his singing capabilities, and what appeared to be a cameo from Dina.
The new episode is drawing raves for Pedro Pascal’s performance in this episode which offers arguably the most detailed look at Joel to date. Check out the ‘Inside the Episode’ featurette below along with a promo for next week’s seventh episode which tackles the ‘Left Behind’ DLC.
