History Series / TheLastOfUs2023

* CrapsackWorld: This is what's become of the United States. The cities that are left after futile bombing campaigns to control the spread of the fungus are ruled by FEDRA, the last remnants of the former government, who have become distinctly fascist and, in certain areas like Kansas City, turned the surviving population into their personal playground. In the immediate areas beyond the quarantine zones you run the risk of either being torn apart or turned by the Infected; while there are pockets of peace in the abandoned countryside, there's always the threat of raiders killing you for your supplies -- [[ImAHumanitarian or your flesh.]] And if you develop a disease like leukemia, good luck trying to find any medicine ''or'' someone who can actually treat you.

* FindTheCure: The Fireflies want to use Ellie to find a cure for cordyceps. [[SubvertedTrope However]], it's ambiguous how useful a vaccine would actually be. By the time the show takes place, the vast majority of deaths are a consequence of living in a CrapsackWorld - people being executed, dying in conflict (raids, revolutions), from hunger etc. We also see people killed by Infected, and most are decapitated or mortally wounded, such that the victim would die whether or not they were infected themselves; Tess even points out to Ellie that being immune ''doesn't'' protect her from being torn apart. Only a handful of present day deaths are caused by the Infected inflicting relatively minor injuries, which ultimately kill via infection. Therefore, if Ellie could provide a vaccine, it would only have a trifling effect on mortality, and almost no effect on quality of life: the "bad" communities (FEDRA, raiders) would still be bad, and the only good communities (such as Tommy's commune in Jackson) would be unchanged.

* CrapsackWorld: This is what's become of the United States. The cities that are left after futile bombing campaigns to control the spread of the fungus are ruled by FEDRA, the last remnants of the former government, who have turned distinctly fascist and, in certain areas like Kansas City, turned the surviving population into their personal playground. In the immediate areas beyond the quarantine zones you run the risk of either being torn apart or turned by the Infected; while there are pockets of peace in the abandoned countryside, there's always the threat of raiders killing you for your supplies -- [[ImAHumanitarian or your flesh.]] And if you develop a disease like leukemia, good luck trying to find any medicine ''or'' someone who can actually treat you.

* FindTheCure: The Fireflies want to use Ellie to find a cure for cordyceps. [[SubvertedTrope However]], it's ambiguous how useful a vaccine would actually be. By the time the show takes place, the vast majority of deaths are a consequence of living in a CrapsackWorld - people being executed, dying in conflict (raids, revolutions), from hunger etc. We also see people killed by infected: most are decapitated or mortally wounded, such that the victim would die whether or not they were infected. Only a handful of present day deaths are caused by the infected inflicting relatively minor injuries, which ultimately kill via infection. Therefore, if Ellie could provide a vaccine, it would only have a trifling effect on mortality, and almost no effect on quality of life: the "bad" communities (FEDRA, raiders) would still be bad, and the only good communities (such as Tommy's commune in Jackson) would be unchanged.

* FindTheCure: The Fireflies want to use Ellie to find a cure for cordyceps. [[SubvertedTrope However]], it's ambiguous how useful a vaccine would actually be. By the time the show takes place, the vast majority of deaths are a consequence of living in a [[CrapsackWorld]] - people being executed, dying in conflict (raids, revolutions), from hunger etc. We also see people killed by infected: most are decapitated or mortally wounded, such that the victim would die whether or not they were infected. Only a handful of present day deaths are caused by the infected inflicting relatively minor injuries, which ultimately kill via infection. Therefore, if Ellie could provide a vaccine, it would only have a trifling effect on mortality, and almost no effect on quality of life: the "bad" communities (FEDRA, raiders) would still be bad, and the only good communities (such as Tommy's commune in Jackson) would be unchanged.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Some fans complained that the giraffe in episode nine was "bad CGI". [[https://collider.com/last-of-us-finale-giraffe-real/ It was a real giraffe]]. In fact, Joel, Ellie and the giraffe were the only things in that scene that ''weren't'' CGI!

[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tlou.png]]
[[caption-width-right:349:''"Save who you can save."'']]

* PedophilePriest: David, the preacher and leader of Silver Lake [[spoiler: abducts Ellie and throws her in a prison cell in the restaurant of Silver Lake. After Ellie shows severe violence against him, he tells her that [[WeCanRuleTogether they can rule together]], with obvious romantic undertones on David's part. After Ellie escapes her cell, killing David's friend, James, one the way, and burning down the restaurant she was locked up in, David chases her with a butcher knife. After he gets a hold of her, he pins her down and attempts to rape her. Ellie escapes his clutches and strikes him down repeatedly with his butcher knife.]]

** [[spoiler:The Fireflies in the original game are AmbiguouslyEvil, mostly owing to the uncertainty over whether their plan to extract a cure from Ellie would even work. Here, their plan is given more detail and its chance of success is more certain, which pushes their portrayal more into being WellIntentionedExtremists. [[PlayedWith Then again]] the Fireflies do get some AdaptationalVillainy as well, as unlike in the game Ellie had woken up before surgery and was comforted and lulled into a false sense of security by Marlene who neglected to tell her surgery would be fatal.]]

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler: The Fireflies while getting AdaptationalHeroism for the most past, do get this due thanks to one crucial change from the game. In the game Ellie is unconscious after almost drowning and is immediately taken in for surgery by the Fireflies which while obliviously ruthless can be seen as an efficient NecessaryEvil action to get the cure. In the show’s telling however after being taken in by the Fireflies Ellie (off-screen) actually wakes up before Joel and was reunited with Marlene whom told her that she was going into surgery — while also purposely avoiding telling Ellie that said surgery will result in her death. This change makes Marlene and the Fireflies decidedly crueller by directly giving Ellie false hope and security unlike the game where Ellie was simply unconscious throughout the whole thing.]]
* AdaptationalWimp: Due to the action being de-emphasised compared to the game with fights getting removed or shortened, quite a fair amount of the cast get this to varying extents.
** Tess in the game was easily as competent as Joel, able to casually head shot a goon one-handed and mid conversation, kill numerous infected in gameplay and save Joel from a Clicker. In the show Tess is noticeably less capable missing her shots repeatedly with Joel having to do pretty much all the heavy lifting in combat, including saving her and Ellie from the Clickers. [[spoiler: Her HeroicSacrifice is inversely a case of AdaptationalBadass however, in the game Tess was gunned down after killing two Fedra soldiers to buy Joel and Ellie time to escape; while in the show Tess succeeds in a massive TakingYouWithMe gasoline explosion that obliterates a horde of infected.]]
** Ellie is still a LittleMissBadass in her own right but many of the moments from the game where she displayed her competency and skill are adapted out with the result of her being more helpless the majority of the time. This is seen in the show’s version of university segment, where Ellie shoots wildly at the bandits missing them, unlike the game where she effectively protected the wounded Joel from a dozen or so men. Similarly in the Silver Lake chapter in the game, Ellie took the cannibals on a wild ChaseFight (initially on horseback) and it took a good deal of effort for them to subdue her. In the show, they fairly easily knock Ellie unconscious after she lured them away from Joel.
** Henry was a muscly and reasonably competent survivor in the game, he could take on infected and bandits same as Joel and Ellie. In the show, he’s a more of a weedy NonActionGuy who seeks Joel’s help — precisely due to the fact the latter can do what he can’t.
** Joel himself though he averts it for the most part, does gets this in the university segment. In the game he fights and kills a dozen bandits before getting surprised by another one barging through a door and during the struggle falls off a balcony and onto some rebar [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice which impales him]], forcing Joel to have fight his way out with Ellie while wounded. In the show’s version Joel only fights one bandit just as he and Ellie were about to escape on horseback and the bandit stabs Joel with a broken bat during the subsequent melee and strangulation, unlike the game the wound immediately debilitates Joel and there’s no big brutal and dire fight for survival.

** [[spoiler:The Fireflies in the original game are AmbiguouslyEvil, mostly owing to the uncertainty over whether their plan to extract a cure from Ellie would even work. Here, their plan is given more detail and its chance of success is more certain, which pushes their portrayal more into being WellIntentionedExtremists]].

* FindTheCure: The Fireflies want to use Ellie to find a cure for cordyceps. [[SubvertedTrope However]], it's ambiguous how useful a vaccine would actually be. By the time the show takes place, the vast majority of deaths are a consequence of living in a [[CrapsackWorld]] - people being executed, dying in conflict (raids, revolutions), from hunger etc. We also see people killed by zombies: most are decapitated or mortally wounded, such that the victim would die whether or not they were infected. Only a handful of present day deaths are caused by zombies inflicting relatively minor injuries, which ultimately kill via infection. Therefore, if Ellie could provide a vaccine, it would only have a trifling effect on mortality, and almost no effect on quality of life: the "bad" communities (FEDRA, raiders) would still be bad, and the only good communities (such as Tommy's commune in Jackson) would be unchanged.

* LivingMacGuffin: Ellie. As the only person ever confirmed immune to the fungus, the Fireflies want to study her to find a way to cure everyone else. The original plan was for Marlene and other armed Fireflies to escort her, but a sudden lack of manpower results in hiring Joel and Tess to escort her instead. Then the Fireflies they're supposed to meet are dead, and Joel has to take her even farther out.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Any vaccine that Ellie can provide. In the present time of the show (circa 2023) hundreds of deaths are depicted or alluded to. The vast majority of the deaths are a consequence of living in a [[CrapsackWorld terrible world with limited agriculture and resources]] - peple being executed, dying in conflict (raids, revolutions), from hunger etc. We also see people killed by zombies: most are decapitated or mortally wounded, such that the victim would die whether or not they were infected. Only a handful of present day deaths are caused by zobiies inflicting relatively minor injuries, which ultimately kill via infection. Therefore, if Ellie could provide a vaccine, it would only have only a trifling effect on mortality, and have little effect on quality of life: the "bad" communities (FEDRA) will still be bad, and the only good community (Tommy's commune in Jackson) will be unchanged.

* LivingMacGuffin: Ellie. In the show's version of 2023, very few deaths are from infection. Most deaths are inflicted by humans and/or the crapsack nature of the world. Any vaccine would do very little for the quality of life or mortality rates that we see in the show.

* Living MacGuffin: Ellie. In the show's version of 2023, very few deaths are from infection. Most deaths are inflicted by humans and/or the crapsack nature of the world. Any vaccine would do very little for the quality of life or mortality rates that we see in the show.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Any vaccine that Ellie can provide. In the present time of the show (circa 2023) hundreds of deaths are depicted or alluded to. The vast majority of the deaths are a consequence of living in a [[CrapsackWorld]] - peple being executed, dying in conflict (raids, revolutions), from hunger etc. We also see people killed by zombies: most are decapitated or mortally wounded, such that the victim would die whether or not they were infected. Only a handful of present day deaths are caused by zobiies inflicting relatively minor injuries, which ultimately kill via infection. Therefore, if Ellie could provide a vaccine, it would only have only a trifling effect on mortality, and have little effect on quality of life: the "bad" communities (FEDRA) will still be bad, and the only good community (Tommy's commune in Jackson) will be unchanged.

** In "Please Hold to My Hand" the show does nod to GasolineLastsForever by having Joel say that the gas he's syphoning out of abandoned cars will only give them enough power for a few miles; in reality, the gasoline would be completely useless after a few months, let alone two decades.

** The present day portions of the ''Left Behind'' DLC have largely been omitted from the episode of the same name, with the flashbacks to Ellie and Riley's exploration of the mall given the main focus of the plot. Ellie still must find medical supplies to deal with Joel's injuries, but finds everything she needs relatively quickly in the house they take shelter in.

** The town centre of Jackson is the setting for a large part of the sixth episode. In the first game, Ellie and Joel only visit the nearby hydro dam before the university and glimpse the outer walls near the end of the game, and the town proper doesn't appear until the second game.

* ApocalypticLogistics: Both defied and played straight. Many common goods are very scarce or gone by the show's present. Joel and Tess are surprised (and obviously envious) that Ellie has a fresh chicken sandwich, Joel struggles to procure a working car/truck battery and has to abandon a very powerful rifle because he won't be able to find the right ammunition for it, and Ellie is ecstatic to find a box of tampons in an otherwise picked-clean store. When Joel and Ellie reach Wyoming they come across one survivor, Marlon, who hunts with a bow and arrows, and the patrols defending Tommy's commune in Jackson ride horses and use bolt-action rifles (though the town still has electricity thanks to having access to a hydroelectric dam). On the other hand, FEDRA's Boston garrison somehow has the logistical capabilities to operate a fleet of trucks, Humvees, and even a helicopter, but this is somewhat justified as they are mentioned to control some factories (it's mentioned that they are at least still able to make bullets and pills). It seems to be played straight by the Kansas City Militia, who have a full FEDRA motorpool and arsenal with no way to maintain it, but it turns out this is because FEDRA was only ousted a couple weeks earlier and the new leader either doesn't know or doesn't care that they're wasting the resources they still have.

** The New England countryside outside of the QZ and ruined cities is much less wild and overgrown than it realistically would be after twenty years of little to no human interference.
** In "Please Hold to My Hand" the show does nod to GasolineLastsForever by having Joel say that the gas he's syphoning out of abandoned cars will only give them enough power for a few miles; in reality, after twenty years the gas would be completely useless.

*** Also from the Jakarta scene, it demonstrates just how serious the situation will become. In a reversal of how this scene would usually play out, it is the ''scientist'' who is advocating bombing an entire city to the ground, and it is the military man who is horrified at the thought of taking such a course of action (though it's also horror as he comprehends that the situation really is ''that serious'').

*** Related to this change; during their first encounter with clickers, Ellie gets herself bitten a second time, which didn't happen in the game. As breathing spores was how she proved herself immune to Joel in the game, the show has her prove her immunity to him through a second bite instead.

** In their efforts to control the spread of the infection in the early days of the outbreak by executing excess refugees, FEDRA ended up killing more people than the fungus ever did (though this one is kind of justified; most of these people [[ColdEquation could not be saved anyways]], at least in a QZ, and most of those killed by FEDRA would have probably either been killed by the infected, or become more of them).

** The Series Joel is not a video game protagonist, and thus averts some of the passive durabilities that allowed the video game Joel to be a formidable fighter. He averts having InvulnerableKnuckles in close combat, giving an FEDRA soldier a lethal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown visibly damaging his hands and by his own estimation giving him a hairline fracture, which he can only hope heals fast. He does not possess SteelEardrums, and two decades of regular firearm use have rendered him partially deaf in his right ear, which is a further issue for him when dealing with the sound-based Clickers, or keeping track of enemies sneaking up on him. He advises Ellie to use a blade whenever given to preserve her own hearing as much as possible, as well as avoiding loud noise that attracts attention from the living and infected. He later admits to Tommy in a moment of vulnerability that he gets tired easier from a combination of [[DentedIron his age and accumulated injuries]], and rather than being the sole reason Elie can survive the trip, he admits that he only made it to Jackson because of his younger companion's aid and watching his back.