You Can’t Unsee These Major Similarities Between HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Chernobyl’
The Last of Us occurs in a world ruined by a fungus mutation, which has transformed most of the population into monstrous pseudo-zombies. On HBO‘s latest hit show, hope is a scarce resource for Joel (Pedro Pascal) until he is convinced to help smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across the country. Ellie’s immunity to the fungus makes her the potential hero this world needs. But, throughout their journey, Joel and Ellie learn a lot about themselves and what they care about most.
The Last of Us has its own point of view, but it also has several similarities with another former HBO program: the 2019 Emmy-winning miniseries Chernobyl.
Inspired by the stories from Pripyat locals recorded in Belarusian Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich’s book Voices from Chernobyl, the five-part miniseries explores the impact of the 1986 nuclear disaster from multiple perspectives. It shows how the tragedy happened due to authority figures’ poor decisions and the inevitable devastation for citizens when everything goes to hell.
These shows were borne from very different circumstances, but here are five ways things The Last of Us has in common with Chernobyl:
Both ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Chernobyl’ are run by the same person for HBO
The most obvious point of comparison is where the two shows aired and who made them. Both The Last of Us and Chernobyl were slotted in HBO’s precious Sunday primetime slot. Both prestige series are also led by industry veteran Craig Mazin as one of the principal showrunners.
Chernobyl lightly toyed with the facts of the disaster in the interest of good TV. But Mazin’s input is more pronounced on The Last of Us, despite creating the show with Neil Druckmann, one of the writers for the original video game. The show adds cold opens that provide context to the pandemic’s beginning and expands on minor characters, most notably in the incredible third episode “Long, Long Time.”
Both start right in the middle of a crisis
Neither show wastes any time getting into the horrors of its premise. Chernobyl begins with Soviet chemist Valery Legasov (Jared Harris) hanging himself after recording his memories about the nuclear plant explosion. Then, the miniseries goes back in time to show the chain of events that led to his misery.
The Last of Us moves in the opposite way, showing the nightmarish emergence of the cordyceps infection through Joel and his daughter Sarah. for the first half of the pilot episode, the duo attempt in vain to find safety prior. Then, the episode advances 20 years into the future for the main plot.
Both ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Chernobyl’ use dark lighting in their cinematography
There’s a perverse beauty to the way nature is reclaiming the land in The Last of Us. The color palette of the show is broadly dark and heavy on neutral colors. Chernobyl is similarly muted, placing a sickly green filter on the screen that makes the series look like a worn memory from decades before.
The focus of each show is an attempt to stop an apocalyptic event in its tracks
Both The Last of Us and Chernobyl have a simple, direct goal: Stop an unfathomably destructive event from growing and killing a larger amount of people. It’s important that Joel gets Ellie to her destination. She represents the best chance to create a real cure for the infection.
Chernobyl’s leads Legasov and Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgård) are attempting to minimize the human cost of the nuclear plant collapse. But they constantly run into issues convincing their superiors to do the right thing at the right time. Other storylines portray the actions of lesser-known first responders and volunteers who tried in vain to save the day.
Both ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Chernobyl’ involve duos who rely on each other to survive
Lastly, both shows are built on the backs of a specific central partnership. When Joel and Ellie first meet in The Last of Us, neither party tries to hide their apathy for the other. The kid isn’t impressed by her gruff protector. He refuses to see her as a living person until another death forces him to reckon with his worldview.
Their dynamic invokes big themes surrounding family, trauma, and what we hold on to in times of crisis. The connection between Joel and Ellie is no less meaningful despite its fundamental and possibly ruinous imperfections.
The bond between Legasov and Shcherbina in Chernobyl is less familial but powerful nonetheless. Throughout the story, they work together to cajole the Soviet Union into action. But they’re repeatedly frustrated by the incompetence of higher power, making the incident much worse than it had to be.
