The Last of Us showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann explain why our introduction to Abby is a bit different in the TV adaptation – and it makes perfect sense.
“There are two reasons why we change certain contexts or move certain things up into the story, one of which [is in the game]. In the game, you play as Abby, so you immediately form a path to connection with her, because you’re surviving as her, you’re running through the snow, you’re fighting infected,” Druckmann explained at a press conference attended by GamesRadar+.
“And we can withhold certain things and make it a mystery that will be revealed later in the story. We couldn’t do that in the show because you’re not playing as her. So we need other tools, and that context gave us that shortcut.”
In the game, we’re introduced to Abby via cut scene. We see her wake up from what appears to be a bad dream, and then immediately meet her friend Owen – who brings her out into the snow to show her a city. Owen tells Abby that the person they’re looking for is in there, and that they have to lure him out. Abby says they should do this at any cost, but Owen, fearing for the safety of their group, disagrees. You then immediately jump into the gameplay – and because of this, you immediately begin to care about her as your natural player instincts are to keep her alive. As Druckmann explains, it’s hard to convey this in the show…especially given Abby’s status as a controversial character.
“Something similar happened in season one when you encountered game one starts with you playing Sarah [Joel’s daughter], and we didn’t have to do a lot of heavy lifting for you to care about Sarah, because you’re playing as her, you’re experiencing the outbreak as her in the show,” Druckmann continued. “Which we spent quite a bit of time to achieve something similar. So that was one reason. Another reason is, you know, where that revelation happens in the game.”
The Last of Us Part II takes an even deeper, darker turn, which isn’t hard to find or watch online. Should the show wait a bit longer to make that “revelation,” it’s possible viewers would find out before it actually happened in the show – which would definitely put a damper on things. We don’t find out Abby’s true motivation until a bit further on, so the speed-up in the show makes perfect sense. Kaitlyn Dever plays Abby, taking over from Laura Bailey who did the voice acting and motion capture in the game.
Continued Druckmann: “If we were to stick to a very similar timeline, viewers would have to wait a very, very long time to get that context. You’ll probably get spoiled between seasons, and we didn’t want that, so it felt appropriate for those reasons to move that up and give viewers that context right off the bat.”
The Last of Us season 2 premieres April 13 on HBO and Max. For more, check out our list of the best Max shows and the best Max movies to watch right now.
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