The Last of Us Review: Pros and Cons
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If you are searching for an honest The Last of Us review, this guide breaks down the biggest pros and cons of HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama. We look at the story, acting, horror, violence, pacing, characters, video-game adaptation, production quality, emotional impact, and whether the series is worth watching.
The Last of Us is an HBO drama created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann and based on Naughty Dog’s acclaimed video-game franchise. The series follows Joel and Ellie as they attempt to survive in a world devastated by an outbreak. It combines post-apocalyptic drama, horror, action, science fiction, and character-driven storytelling.
The series currently has two released seasons. Rotten Tomatoes lists an overall 94% average Tomatometer score, with Season 1 at 96% and Season 2 at 92%. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Quick verdict: The Last of Us is highly recommended if you enjoy mature television, emotional storytelling, survival horror, strong performances, and complicated characters. Its biggest drawbacks are its bleak subject matter, violence, slower pacing in some sections, and a second season that is more divisive and structurally incomplete than the first.
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Table of Contents
- Is The Last of Us worth watching?
- What is The Last of Us about?
- Is The Last of Us based on a video game?
- What are the pros of The Last of Us?
- What are the cons of The Last of Us?
- Is The Last of Us scary?
- Is The Last of Us violent?
- Why is The Last of Us so popular?
- Is The Last of Us better than the game?
- Is Season 2 of The Last of Us worth watching?
- Does The Last of Us have good acting?
- Is The Last of Us slow?
- Who should watch The Last of Us?
- Who should skip The Last of Us?
- The Last of Us pros and cons at a glance
- Is The Last of Us worth watching in 2026?
- Final verdict
Is The Last of Us worth watching?
Yes, The Last of Us is worth watching if you enjoy emotional post-apocalyptic drama and character-driven storytelling
The biggest reason to watch The Last of Us is that it is not simply a show about surviving infected creatures.
The infected are an important part of the world, but the series is ultimately interested in people.
Joel and Ellie form the emotional center of the story. Their relationship develops as they travel through a dangerous and devastated United States, and the decisions they make raise questions about love, loyalty, survival, morality, and sacrifice.
Season 1 is particularly easy to recommend. Rotten Tomatoes currently lists it at 96% on the Tomatometer and 86% on the Popcornmeter, with more than 480 critic reviews. Its critics consensus describes it as a highly successful adaptation that expands on the source material. (Rotten Tomatoes)
What makes The Last of Us worth watching?
The strongest reasons include:
- Pedro Pascal’s performance
- Bella Ramsey’s performance
- The Joel and Ellie relationship
- Emotional storytelling
- Strong supporting characters
- High-quality cinematography
- Detailed production design
- Post-apocalyptic atmosphere
- Mature themes
- Effective horror
- Moral complexity
- Faithful adaptation of the game’s central story
The series is particularly appealing if you want television that gives its characters time to develop rather than relying exclusively on action.
What is The Last of Us about?
The Last of Us follows Joel and Ellie as they attempt to survive after a devastating fungal outbreak
The basic premise is relatively simple.
Joel is a hardened survivor living in a world where modern civilization has collapsed. Ellie is a teenage girl whose importance to the surviving population becomes central to the story.
Their journey forces them to travel through dangerous environments while dealing with infected creatures, hostile survivors, competing factions, and the consequences of choices made years earlier.
The official series synopsis describes Joel and Ellie as having to survive ruthless killers and monsters while traveling across America following the outbreak. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Why is The Last of Us more than a zombie show?
Calling The Last of Us a zombie show misses an important part of its appeal.
The infected create the physical threat, but the show’s most important conflicts frequently involve human beings.
Joel has experienced devastating loss.
Ellie is growing up in a world where normal childhood does not exist.
Other characters have their own beliefs about survival, morality, family, revenge, and society.
That gives the series considerably more depth than a straightforward monster story.
How does the apocalypse affect the characters?
The apocalypse is not merely scenery.
It shapes how the characters behave.
People have learned to distrust strangers. Communities create their own rules. Violence becomes normalized. Relationships become extremely valuable because almost everything else has been taken away.
That makes the central relationship between Joel and Ellie especially important.
Is The Last of Us based on a video game?
Yes, The Last of Us is based on Naughty Dog’s acclaimed video-game franchise
The television adaptation was created by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin. Druckmann was also deeply involved in the original game, which helped the series retain many of its core themes and characters.
The adaptation does not simply copy every scene from the game.
Instead, television allows the creators to expand certain characters, relationships, and events.
The Washington Post’s Season 1 review specifically noted that the television version gives some characters, including Sam and Henry, more extensive stories and context than they received in the game. (The Washington Post)
What makes The Last of Us a successful video-game adaptation?
One of the biggest challenges for video-game adaptations is maintaining what made the original property appealing while making the new version work independently.
The Last of Us succeeds because viewers do not need to have played the game.
At the same time, gamers can recognize important locations, characters, relationships, themes, and story beats.
That balance is one of the show’s biggest accomplishments.
Who created The Last of Us TV series?
Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin are the creators of the television series. The cast includes Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, with Gabriel Luna as Tommy and Isabela Merced as Dina. (Rotten Tomatoes)
What are the pros of The Last of Us?
The biggest pros are excellent performances, emotional storytelling, strong atmosphere, memorable characters, and high production quality
There is a reason the first season was so highly regarded.
It combines the storytelling strengths of a prestige drama with elements of survival horror and science fiction.
Who gives the best performances in The Last of Us?
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are the obvious standouts.
Pascal plays Joel as a man who has become emotionally guarded after years of loss. He does not need lengthy speeches to communicate what Joel is feeling.
Ramsey’s Ellie provides a very different energy.
Ellie can be funny, sarcastic, vulnerable, frightened, angry, and determined. Her personality gives the series moments of humor despite the overwhelmingly dark environment.
Their chemistry is one of the show’s biggest strengths.
Even Rotten Tomatoes’ Season 2 coverage continues to highlight Pascal and Ramsey’s performances and their importance to the series. (Rotten Tomatoes)
What makes the storytelling effective?
The series understands the importance of character development.
Instead of simply moving Joel and Ellie from one dangerous location to another, the story frequently pauses to explore why people behave the way they do.
That makes later events more meaningful.
When characters experience loss, viewers understand what they have lost.
When characters make difficult decisions, viewers understand what motivated them.
Why is the cinematography so impressive?
The visual presentation is another major advantage.
Abandoned buildings, overgrown cities, rural landscapes, underground spaces, quarantine zones, and survivor communities all contribute to the feeling that the old world is gone.
The production design makes the setting feel lived-in rather than like a collection of movie sets.
How does The Last of Us create emotional impact?
The show gives viewers time to become invested in its characters.
That is important because The Last of Us is fundamentally a story about relationships.
The horror works because viewers care about who might survive.
The action works because there are emotional consequences.
The quieter scenes work because they reveal character.
What are the cons of The Last of Us?
The biggest cons are its slow pacing, bleak subject matter, violence, and the more complicated structure of Season 2
No television series is perfect, and The Last of Us has several weaknesses that potential viewers should understand before starting it.
Why can The Last of Us feel slow?
The show frequently prioritizes character development over action.
There are episodes and sequences where characters spend significant time talking, traveling, remembering the past, or dealing with relationships.
If you expect constant combat and infected encounters, that approach may feel slow.
If you enjoy character-driven drama, it can be one of the show’s greatest strengths.
This is one of those situations where the series’ biggest strength can also become its biggest weakness.
What is another major disadvantage?
The story is extremely bleak.
Death, grief, violence, trauma, disease, betrayal, loneliness, and revenge are recurring themes.
There are moments of humor and hope, but the overall atmosphere is heavy.
That means The Last of Us is not necessarily the best choice when you want something light or relaxing.
How does Season 2 create additional problems?
Season 2 expands the story substantially.
It introduces additional characters and factions while exploring the consequences of events from the first season.
That ambition has been praised by critics, but its structure has also attracted criticism.
Rotten Tomatoes’ first-review roundup described the second season as darker and more complex while noting concerns about its shorter length, incomplete feeling, and reduced time for Joel and Ellie together. (Rotten Tomatoes Editorial)
Is The Last of Us scary?
Yes, The Last of Us is scary, but its horror relies heavily on suspense, atmosphere, and disturbing situations
The show includes infected creatures, violent encounters, disturbing imagery, and intense survival situations.
However, it does not rely exclusively on jump scares.
The horror is often psychological.
The possibility that something could be waiting in the darkness can be more effective than simply showing a monster.
What type of horror is The Last of Us?
The series combines:
- Survival horror
- Creature horror
- Psychological horror
- Body horror
- Post-apocalyptic horror
- Suspense
- Human violence
The human characters can sometimes be more frightening than the infected.
That is intentional.
The show repeatedly demonstrates that the collapse of civilization changes people as much as it changes the physical world.
Is The Last of Us violent?
Yes, The Last of Us contains substantial violence and mature subject matter
The series includes combat, weapons, injuries, death, infected attacks, and disturbing situations.
It is rated TV-MA, so it is intended for mature audiences. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Who should be cautious about watching it?
Anyone who is particularly sensitive to:
- Graphic violence
- Horror
- Death
- Grief
- Disease
- Psychological trauma
- Disturbing imagery
- Post-apocalyptic themes
should understand what they are getting into before watching.
The violence also has a narrative purpose.
The series repeatedly asks what happens to people when violence becomes part of everyday survival.
Why is The Last of Us so popular?
The Last of Us is popular because it combines post-apocalyptic survival with emotionally compelling characters
The series appeals to multiple audiences.
Gamers can appreciate the adaptation.
Horror fans get infected creatures and suspense.
Science-fiction fans get a fascinating alternate future.
Drama fans get complex relationships.
And viewers who simply enjoy prestige television can appreciate the performances and production values.
What separates The Last of Us from other post-apocalyptic shows?
The relationship between Joel and Ellie is the biggest difference.
The apocalypse is the setting.
Their relationship is the story.
The show is interested in how people respond to loss and whether they can allow themselves to care about someone again.
That gives the series an emotional center that many survival shows lack.
Is The Last of Us better than the game?
The television series and video game are different experiences, so neither is automatically better
The original game has one major advantage television cannot reproduce: you control the characters.
That creates an unusually personal experience.
The television series has different strengths.
It can spend more time with supporting characters and explore relationships without requiring gameplay.
What does the TV series do better?
Television can expand side characters and situations.
For example, the Washington Post noted that the show gives Sam and Henry more extensive stories and strengthens the parallels between them and Joel and his brother. (The Washington Post)
That kind of expansion can make the world feel larger.
What does the game do better?
The game provides direct participation.
You experience the journey by controlling Joel.
That makes the survival mechanics, danger, exploration, and combat feel personal.
For that reason, the best approach is not to think of the show as replacing the game.
They offer two different ways to experience the same world.
Is Season 2 of The Last of Us worth watching?
Yes, Season 2 is worth watching, but it is more divisive and structurally complicated than Season 1
Rotten Tomatoes currently lists Season 2 at 92% from critics, but its audience score is substantially lower at 37%. (Rotten Tomatoes)
That large difference tells prospective viewers something important.
Critics generally appreciated the performances, production, ambition, and themes.
Audiences have been considerably more divided.
What does Season 2 do well?
Season 2 expands the world.
It introduces new characters and conflicts while exploring the consequences of the previous season.
The performances remain strong.
The series also continues to deliver impressive production design, cinematography, action, and atmosphere.
Why is Season 2 more controversial?
The story is more complicated.
It also contains only seven episodes.
That shorter season means the story does not provide the same feeling of completion as Season 1.
Rotten Tomatoes’ review roundup specifically identified the season’s incomplete feeling, pacing concerns, point-of-view shifts, and limited Joel-and-Ellie screen time as issues raised by critics. (Rotten Tomatoes Editorial)
How does Season 2 compare with Season 1?
| Category | Season 1 | Season 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Tomatometer | 96% | 92% |
| Popcornmeter | 86% | 37% |
| Episodes | 9 | 7 |
| Story | Focused | More complex |
| Scope | Relatively contained | Expanded |
| Joel & Ellie | Central throughout | Relationship changes |
| Reception | Very strong | More divided |
| Overall feel | More complete | More serialized |
The scores above reflect current Rotten Tomatoes listings and can change as additional ratings are added. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Does The Last of Us have good acting?
Yes, acting is one of the strongest aspects of The Last of Us
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey anchor the series, but the supporting cast is also important.
The show frequently requires actors to communicate complicated emotions without lengthy explanations.
Who are the main actors in The Last of Us?
The principal cast includes:
- Pedro Pascal — Joel
- Bella Ramsey — Ellie
- Gabriel Luna — Tommy
- Isabela Merced — Dina
Season 2 also expands the cast significantly. (Rotten Tomatoes)
The strength of the acting is especially apparent during quieter scenes.
The series does not always need explosions or monsters to create tension.
A conversation between two characters can be equally important.
Is The Last of Us slow?
The Last of Us can feel slow if you prefer action-heavy television, but the pacing is intentional
This is perhaps the most important potential drawback to understand.
The series is not structured like an action movie.
It frequently stops to explore relationships.
When does the slower pacing work?
The slower pacing works best when it provides character information or emotional context.
It allows viewers to understand the motivations behind decisions.
It also gives important moments more weight.
Why might some viewers dislike the pacing?
If you primarily want infected attacks, gunfights, chase sequences, and survival action, some episodes may feel like they are moving too slowly.
That does not necessarily mean the writing is bad.
It means the show has a different priority.
Who should watch The Last of Us?
The Last of Us is best for viewers who enjoy mature, emotional, character-driven television
You are likely to enjoy the series if you like:
- Post-apocalyptic stories
- Survival horror
- Science fiction
- Video-game adaptations
- Pedro Pascal
- Character-driven dramas
- Psychological storytelling
- Dark television
- Moral dilemmas
- Emotional relationships
- High-production-value series
What type of viewer is most likely to enjoy it?
The ideal viewer is someone who does not need constant action.
If you enjoy a television series that takes time to explore why characters make difficult decisions, The Last of Us is an excellent choice.
Who should skip The Last of Us?
Viewers looking for light entertainment or nonstop action may not enjoy The Last of Us
You may want to skip the series if you:
- Dislike horror
- Avoid violent television
- Prefer lighthearted stories
- Need fast pacing
- Want constant action
- Dislike emotionally heavy plots
- Prefer simple heroes and villains
- Do not enjoy post-apocalyptic settings
The TV-MA rating is another reason parents should not assume the show is appropriate simply because Ellie is a teenager. (Rotten Tomatoes)
The Last of Us pros and cons at a glance
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Excellent performances | Can be slow |
| Strong Joel and Ellie relationship | Very bleak |
| High production quality | Significant violence |
| Emotional storytelling | Not constant action |
| Excellent atmosphere | Some side stories take focus |
| Strong adaptation | Season 2 is more divisive |
| Memorable supporting characters | Season 2 feels incomplete to some viewers |
| Effective horror | Complex storytelling |
| Thought-provoking themes | Requires emotional investment |
| Beautiful cinematography | Not ideal for casual viewing |
What is the biggest pro?
The strongest advantage is the combination of character development and emotional storytelling.
What is the biggest con?
The biggest drawback is that the series asks viewers to be patient.
If you want immediate action, the show can feel slow.
Is The Last of Us worth watching in 2026?
Yes, The Last of Us remains a strong recommendation for fans of mature television, horror, and video-game adaptations
The series has already established itself as one of the most successful video-game adaptations on television.
Season 1 currently holds a 96% Tomatometer score, while Season 2 holds 92%. (Rotten Tomatoes)
The combined series currently has a 94% average Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Why does The Last of Us still stand out?
The series successfully combines several genres without becoming completely defined by any one of them.
It is:
- A survival story
- A horror story
- A science-fiction story
- A family drama
- A character study
- A video-game adaptation
- A post-apocalyptic thriller
That combination makes it easier to recommend to different types of viewers.
Where can you watch The Last of Us?
Rotten Tomatoes currently lists Seasons 1 and 2 as available to stream on HBO Max, with other purchase options also listed. Availability and subscription terms can change, so check the current streaming service before subscribing. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Final Verdict
The Last of Us is an excellent post-apocalyptic drama with outstanding performances, strong storytelling, and impressive production values, although its slow pacing and bleak subject matter will not appeal to everyone
Overall rating: 4.5/5
Category: Entertainment
Best for: Adults who enjoy horror, science fiction, survival stories, video-game adaptations, and emotionally complex dramas.
Biggest strength: Joel and Ellie’s relationship.
Biggest weakness: The pacing can feel slow, and Season 2 is more structurally complicated and divisive than Season 1.
Best starting point: Season 1.
Best reason to watch: The characters and emotional storytelling.
Best reason to skip: If you want a fast-paced action series with constant infected encounters.
Season 1 is the easiest recommendation. It introduces the world, establishes Joel and Ellie, develops their relationship, and delivers a comparatively complete story. Its current 96% Tomatometer score reflects the strength of its critical reception. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Season 2 is also worth watching, particularly for viewers invested in the characters and the larger story. However, it takes a darker and more complicated approach. Critics praised its performances and ambition while also identifying its shorter length, pacing, shifting perspectives, and incomplete structure as potential weaknesses. (Rotten Tomatoes Editorial)
Ultimately, The Last of Us works because the apocalypse is not really the main story.
The people are the story.
The infected, abandoned cities, weapons, quarantine zones, and survival challenges create the setting. Joel, Ellie, and the people they encounter provide the emotional reason to keep watching.
For viewers who enjoy that combination of horror, drama, survival, science fiction, and emotional storytelling, The Last of Us is a strong addition to an entertainment watchlist.