Troy Baker’s recent comments on the Play Watch Listen podcast recently made waves across the Last of Us community. The actor for the iconic character of Joel Miller in The Last of Us video game, hinted the upcoming third episode of HBO’s The Last of Us live-action series will change how fans see the story.
The series is based on the 2013 PlayStation 3 video game of the same name, detailing the relationship between the weathered survivor Joel Miller, who is now played by Pedro Rascal, and a 14-year-old orphan named Ellie, who is played by Bella Ramsey. Joel and Anna Torv’s Tess, his smuggling partner Tess, has taken up the task of delivering Ellie to the Fireflies, a militant revolutionary faction. Despite Joel initially refusing to participate, he agrees to help escort her through the zombie-infested United States, after learning of her special ability. Ellie’s significance comes from her immunity to the fungal infection terrorizing the world, and throughout the development of their relationship, Joel understands how precious this cargo really is.
In his recent sitdown, Baker expanded by saying he had seen the first five episodes of the show and praised the trajectory of the show. He hinted that the upcoming third episode will leave a mark and change expectations moving forward. Baker, who stars in the TV show as James, a member of a violent survivor group, said this on the Play Watch Listen podcast:
I’ve seen up to episode five and, I can tell you right now, you get to episode three, you’re done. You are standing on your desk, “O, Captain! My Captain!” What it sets up in the first two episodes, it introduces you to the world if you have no idea what it is. It takes all of your expectations and just gets rid of them.
With comments like these and actor Murray Bartlett, who you might know from the series Looking and who is starring in the show as Frank, saying this is “one of the best hours of television I’ve ever read”, the bar for expectations is set sky-high. Fans expect and demand a faithful adaptation of the source material, especially after the confirmation that original creator Neil Druckmann will co-create the HBO show with Craig Mazin. The cast is rounded up with Gabriel Luna as Tommy Miller, Nick Offerman as Bill, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, and many more. The Last of Us will premier on HBO Max on January 15, giving fans the opportunity to determine the validity of claims made by Troy Baker and the rest of the cast.
Speaking of The Last of Us, fans can look forward to playing The Last of Us Part 1 on the PC in March. Finally, it’s believed that The Last of Us Part 3 is already in development over at Naughty Dog.
