The Last Of Us Fans Are Split On The Major Change To Tess' Fate In The HBO Series
It's no secret that live-action video game adaptations have had a bit of a rocky history, consistently failing at the box office and premiering to lukewarm (and sometimes downright horrific) reviews. For the most part, it's widely accepted that video game movies and television shows are simply not good; particularly due to the long line of horrible adaptations we've seen in the past
Enter HBO's "The Last of Us" — a drama series based on the universally acclaimed PlayStation game of the same name, which is already being referred to as the "greatest video game adaptation ever" (via BBC). The series itself focuses on two survivors of a fungal pandemic that has turned most humans into bloodthirsty abominations; Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who are forced into an epic journey across the United States to seek out the mysterious group known as Fireflies.
Despite the fact that the series' first two episodes have received an absurd amount of critical praise and broken the HBO record for viewership growth, some video game fans are already starting to criticize the series for its departure from the source material — specifically in regards to the death of Tess (Anna Torv).
Fans feel like Tess' uncomfortable death isn't as heroic as in the game
Fans of the video game will remember Tess as Joel's smuggling companion (and implied lover) within the Boston QZ, who accompanies Joel and Ellie as they travel to the Capitol Building in search of Fireflies. Upon arriving (and discovering that the Boston Fireflies have been massacred), Tess reveals that she has been infected — and sacrifices herself to fight off a group of FEDRA soldiers so that Joel and Ellie can escape. In the show, the Capitol is actually overrun by a horde of Infected; one of which "kisses" Tess in a scene that users on Reddit are calling "weird" and "f***ed up."
"Tess' death in this is so much more f***ed up than the game holy f***ing s***," wrote u/itsP0lar0id. "It felt unnecessary. It seemed more as a shock factor [than] an addition to the story," added u/sma11koa1a. "I wish Tess went out with more dignity, more 'fire.'" Indeed, the scene itself sees Tess backed into a pole while one of the Infected forces its tendrils into her mouth and down her throat — a far cry from the blaze of glory she got in the game.
U/redvelvetsmoothie complained that Tess' death was a "letdown," and far more emotional in the video game, while u/telepek25 criticized the producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for the change, saying "that kiss scene was ... weird. Simply weird ... It didn't fit the story, to the world, it felt like a forced addition of someone who desperately tried to show that he/she is 'smart.'" Although plenty of fans have criticized this scene for drastically departing from its source material, others have actually praised Tess' new fate — saying it helps keep even diehard fans of the game on their toes.
Other fans enjoyed the disturbing twist on Tess' death
Despite the fact that this scene marked a clear departure from the show's source material, plenty of fans online actually praised the new direction of Tess' death scene for making a fresh and disturbing twist on an iconic moment from the game.
"I love how much differently they did Tess' death ... This show so far is doing a phenomenal job with being completely unpredictable for the fans of the games," wrote u/goldeneyemedallion. "It was a hell of a way to make something bad you know is coming look new and worse than you could ever imagine," echoed u/SignGuy77. While plenty of fans seem to be upset by the disturbing nature of Tess' new death scene, plenty of users seem to agree that Tess' fate in the show is far more horrifying and disturbing — and absolutely loved how scary it was.
Although it's clear that fans are divided on this jarring change to Tess' death in "The Last of Us," the scene itself shows how producers Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin are more than willing to twist the show's source material into a new direction. As such, it's fair to expect plenty more of these small but significant changes in the coming episodes, so that even diehard fans of "The Last of Us" won't know what's coming next.