The Last of Us has introduced viewers across the globe to a whole new world, set in a post-apocalyptic era when people who have been infected by a monstrous fungus have left the Earth unrecognisable.
To those unfamiliar with the video game franchise on which the TV show is based, they might draw comparisons to other zombie-related stories that came before it, from The Walking Dead to World War Z and 28 Days Later.
However, in The Last of Us, the transformed humans aren’t dead, nor are they described as zombies, instead being known as ‘infected’.
This point was very important when it came to speaking about the creatures on the set of the drama led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, as it turns out those working on the production weren’t ‘allowed’ to say the word ‘zombie’.
‘We weren’t allowed to say the Z word on set. It was like a banned word. They were the infected. We weren’t a zombie show,’ Eben Bolter BSC, director of photography for several episodes on the programme, told The Credits magazine.
‘Of course, there’s tension building and jump scares but the show’s really about our characters. The infected are an obstacle they have to deal with.’
Stressing that the show was very much ‘character first and then just tell the story’, the cinematographer used a particular scene in episode three as an example, when Ellie (Bella) investigates an infected person who’s been trapped underneath some rubble.
‘Initially, she’s scared, but then you see her grow in confidence, cutting open the infected and looking at the fibres. Through that interest, you see what the infected means in Ellie’s own life,’ he outlined.
In April 2020, Neil Druckmann – who co-created The Last of Us video game and is a co-showrunner on the TV adaptation – responded to the franchise being mentioned on the game show Jeopardy!
The question mentioned Joel and Ellie embarking on a treacherous journey ‘filled with zombies’.
‘I mean… they’re not zombies, but this is still pretty damn cool,’ Neil responded at the time.
This week, episode six of The Last of Us is due to air on HBO in the US and Sky and NOW in the UK, following on from the events of last week, when Joel and Ellie teamed up with Henry (Lamar Johnson) and his younger brother Sam (Keivonn Woodard).
The series consists of nine episodes in total, with the season finale due to air on Monday March 13 in the UK.
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The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW with new episodes released on Mondays.
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