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HBO\u2019s The Last of Us<\/em> is a way to revisit the iconic and beloved video game of the same name \u2014 to revel in the ways it\u2019s both unchanged and entirely different. For dedicated fans of the game, the appeal of The Last of Us<\/em> is not necessarily in being surprised by twists and turns of the story; rather, it\u2019s to see the franchise in a new light, picking out the little details that point back to the original media.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s plenty to see in that regard. Video games are known for their Easter eggs, the small and obscure references hidden as little surprises in the game. And so it makes sense that HBO\u2019s The Last of Us<\/em> would do the same, to make subtle (and not so subtle) nods to all the The Last of Us<\/em>-heads out there. The Last of Us Part 1<\/em> felt like it so badly wanted to be a movie or show, and now the TV show is switching that up \u2014 at least in one way.<\/p>\n

Episode 1 Easter eggs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Halican Drops<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Photo: Shane Harvey\/HBO<\/cite><\/p>\n

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Halican Drops is the name of the band on the T-shirt Joel\u2019s daughter Sarah (played by Nico Parker) is wearing at the beginning of the show \u2014 and the game. There\u2019s no real significance for the band in the game, other than a few posters, but the back of the T-shirt does foreshadow how the game plays out: Each tour stop is another location that Ellie and Joel will visit throughout their journey.<\/p>\n

Aside from Sarah\u2019s T-shirt, there are Halican Drops stickers in windows, too \u2014 at least according to set pictures.<\/p>\n

Back-seat driving<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When Joel, Tommy, and Sarah are trying to escape Austin during the chaos of the initial outbreak, the show\u2019s directors make clever use of the camera angle to make The Last of Us<\/em> feel like the video game. It\u2019s all in the third-person view, with the camera in the back seat. This is exactly how the game is shot from the truck \u2014 you\u2019re still playing as Sarah at that point, and she\u2019s in the back seat. Several of us noted instantly that it just feels<\/em> like a video game during these shots, a trick that\u2019s of much better use here than in other TV adaptations of games, like Halo<\/em>, which tried the first-person view \u2014 including player UI.<\/p>\n

Sarah waking up<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sarah wakes up in her bedroom in the middle of the night in both the game and the TV show, stumbling around sleepily in the dark to see what\u2019s going on. Both scenes provide a little more context but in different ways. In the video game, you control Sarah, and she\u2019s looking through her house in the dark. You\u2019re not on a set path, and you can pick up things in the house, which provide some more context \u2014 one item is a newspaper that details how admittance to local hospitals is up by more than 300%. In the video game, an infected person comes busting through the glass door, but Joel shoots him, before they run outside and Tommy shows up, right on time.<\/p>\n

The Last of Us<\/em> TV show has Sarah waking up, alone, because Joel went to bail Tommy out of jail. She ends up back at the neighbor\u2019s house, bringing their scared dog home. That\u2019s when she gets a very clear glimpse of what\u2019s going on: The infected old lady is munching on her housemates. This scene sets up the horrors of the infected in a different way, giving some more context to show viewers what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

Joel\u2019s wrench<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tommy and Joel pull up to their neighbor\u2019s house just as Sarah is getting attacked by the infected old lady, but thankfully Joel has a formidable weapon: a wrench. The heavy wrench looks to be of forearm\u2019s length and probably quite handy while they\u2019re escaping the city, but Joel drops it right away. <\/p>\n

Why not save it for later use? Toss it into the back of the pickup truck and you don\u2019t even have to hold it. Our best guess is that this is a nod to the video game \u2014 in The Last of Us Part 1<\/em> and The Last of Us Part 2<\/em>, you get max three hits on your everyday melee weapons. They break all the time, and that\u2019s by design. The Last of Us<\/em> is a game about survival, and you have to scavenge for everything, including bullets and, yes, wrenches for hitting infected things.<\/p>\n

Marlene<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Photo: Liane Hentscher\/HBO<\/cite><\/p>\n

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Does Marlene in The Last of Us<\/em> TV show sound familiar? That\u2019s because the same actor plays both roles. Merle Dandridge plays Marlene in The Last of Us Part 1<\/em> and The Last of Us Part 2<\/em>, taking the role on a third time for the HBO adaptation.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re lost in the darkness<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Photo: Liane Hentscher\/HBO<\/cite><\/p>\n

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The full phrase, When you\u2019re lost in the darkness, look to the light<\/em>, appears several times in the show, and it\u2019s plastered all over the games. The phrase is graffiti on walls throughout Boston (and likely elsewhere), a symbol and motto for the revolutionary group the Fireflies \u2014 the people who are fighting the oppressive military in the country\u2019s quarantine zones. Marlene\u2019s one of them, and an important one at that: She\u2019s the leader of the Boston faction, and the person who puts Ellie in Joel and Tess\u2019 care.<\/p>\n

Curtis and the Viper 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Curtis and the Viper 2<\/em> is the movie that Sarah picks up from the neighbor\u2019s house in The Last of Us<\/em>, pulled from a shelf alongside the likes of Pink Panther<\/em> and Murderball<\/em>. Unlike those two, Curtis and the Viper 2<\/em> isn\u2019t a real movie, but it\u2019s still an important one. People who have played The Last of Us Part 2<\/em> will remember it tearfully \u2014 it\u2019s brought up in the second game as a cheesy \u201980s movie, but one that was going to mean a lot to the two people watching it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Long and Winding Road\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When Ellie and Joel are waiting for Tess to scout for the escape from the Boston quarantine zone, Ellie picks up the book of No. 1 music hits and flips through it. There\u2019s one page marked off with a piece of paper \u2014 the radio code for Joel and Tess\u2019 smuggling operation. The page it opens to is easy to miss, but may be a nod to the franchise \u2014 The Beatles\u2019 \u201cThe Long and Winding Road.\u201d This could be reference to the long, winding road that will take Ellie and Joel across the United States, or maybe the long and winding road it\u2019s been since a The Last of Us<\/em> movie adaptation was announced in 2014.<\/p>\n

Bigwig\u2019s daughter<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the same scene where Joel and Ellie are discussing the radio code, Joel starts to question Ellie on her own life \u2014 why Marlene and the Fireflies are going through so much trouble to smuggle her out of Boston. No one knows yet of Ellie\u2019s true condition \u2014 that she\u2019s immune \u2014 and she\u2019s sworn to keep it a secret. Joel asks if Ellie is a \u201cbigwig\u2019s daughter\u201d or something, and Ellie responds that it\u2019s \u201csomething like that.\u201d These few lines are pulled straight from the game, but in those scenes it\u2019s Tess talking to Ellie when they\u2019re escaping the zone.<\/p>\n

Escaping the quarantine zone<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Photo: Liane Hentscher\/HBO<\/cite><\/p>\n

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Ellie, Joel, and Tess\u2019 escape from the Boston quarantine zone has a few shots that are heavy references to the game \u2014 the overgrown world is dark and gnarled up with cars and buses to crawl under and through. But there\u2019s one scene in particular that stood out for its similarities to an iconic level in The Last of Us Part 1<\/em>: Chapter 3, \u201cThe Outskirts.\u201d Crawling through tunnels and debris, the trio has to dodge spotlights and flashlights from the military guarding the quarantine zone wall \u2014 spots in the game where it\u2019s essential to play the game as stealthily as possible. Visually, the show does a clever job of mimicking that feeling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n