As previously confirmed, the fifth episode, “Endure and Survive,” was to premiere on Friday, February 10th instead of Sunday, February 12th to avoid the Super Bowl. However, Crave users quickly noticed that the February 5th episode, “Please Hold to My Hand,” was showing up instead.
Beyond this streaming snafu, “Endure and Survive” is notable for a few reasons. To start, it features Toronto’s own Lamar Johnson in the key role of Henry, a man looking to escape Kansas City with his little brother, Sam. It also features two original characters: Melanie Lynskey as revolutionary leader Kathleen and Jeffrey Pierce (who played Tommy in the video games) as her right-hand man, Perry.
For more on “Endure and Survive,” read our interview with Pierce, in which he talks about what it was like to shoot in Calgary.
At the end of last week’s episode of The Last of Us, a man and his little brother get the drop on Joel and Ellie, holding them at gunpoint.
Those who’ve played the original PlayStation game that inspired the hit HBO series will recognize them as Henry and Sam, arguably two of its most memorable characters. (If you know, you know.)
But what many might not know, however, is that the older brother, Henry, is played by Toronto’s own Lamar Johnson. The 28-year-old actor is best known for a lead role in the Canadian teen drama series The Next Step, as well as appearances in the likes of The Hate U Give and Your Honor. He also stars in Brother, an upcoming Toronto-set drama that garnered rave reviews at TIFF.
Henry (Johnson) and Sam (Woodard). Image credit: HBO
While that brotherly relationship was present in the game, the show tweaks Henry’s background by giving him a troubled history with the new character, Kathleen, a ruthless revolutionary leader played by Yellowjackets‘ Melanie Lynskey.
Some other changes from the game: HBO’s version of Sam is younger and Deaf (Woodard is also Deaf himself), which is a nice move for representation. We’ll see this all play out in the fifth episode, titled “Endure and Survive.”
Henry (performed by Brandon Scott) in The Last of Us’ PS5 remake. Image credit: PlayStation
Johnson is one of The Last of Us‘ many Canadian connections. Most notably, the series was filmed in Alberta for an entire year, shooting in such locations as Calgary, Edmonton, High River and Lethbridge. However, it was the small town of Canmore that stars Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Bella Ramsey (Ellie) raved the most about in a recent interview with MobileSyrup. “Every inch of Canmore was just this magical little town… with really great fudge,” Pascal told us.
Pedro Pascal recently made his highly-anticipated Saturday Night Live debut, and he didn’t disappoint.
After a wholesome opening monologue thanking his family in Chile, Pascal took part in a humourous skit inspired by his hit new HBO show, The Last of Us. The idea behind it was that HBO saw the success of the PlayStation video game adaptation and wanted to give the same treatment to Mario. And when we say “same,” we mean it — a dark, grounded take on the beloved Nintendo platformer series.
That’s where Pascal comes in, wearing the iconic plumber’s signature red-and-blue outfit but keeping the rugged weariness of his The Last of Us character, Joel. Like Joel, Pascal’s Mario has to escort a young girl (in this case, Princess Peach) on a dangerous journey across a ravaged world. Naturally, he uses a (Mario) kart to do so.
On a base level, it’s certainly amusing to see Nintendo’s family-friendly series reimagined in such a gritty way. But beyond that, it’s just fun to see the ever-charming Pascal ham it up as the mustachioed hero. SNL also gave us a video of Pascal dancing with the deadly Clicker creature from The Last of Us, which was incredible in and of itself.
HBO has announced that it is moving up the premiere of the fifth episode of The Last of Usto avoid conflicting with the Super Bowl.
Normally, new episodes of the hit post-apocalyptic drama series drop on Sundays at 9pm ET, which would overlap with the big game on February 12th. Now, The Last of Us Episode 5 will arrive on Friday, February 10th at 9pm ET. Bell has confirmed that it will begin streaming at the same time on its Crave platform in Canada. Otherwise, the remaining episodes of The Last of Us will stream each Sunday at 9pm ET.
The Last of Us has had a strong momentum since premiering on January 15th, landing HBO its second-biggest series debut after House of the Dragon. This has resulted in the network quickly renewing the show for a second season, which will adapt The Last of Us Part II.
In Canada, specifically, The Last of Us has generated a lot of buzz for filming in Alberta. With a reported budget of over $100 million USD (about $135 million CAD), the show is believed to be the biggest TV production in Canadian history.
With that in mind, we wanted to take a look at some other notable productions in the province. Of course, if we go back several years, we’d have titles like the award-winning movies Brokeback Mountain (the Canadian Rockies in Southern Alberta) and The Revenant (Calgary and Kananaskis). But for the purposes of this piece, we’ll focus on some other movies and TV shows that, like The Last of Us, were recently shot in Alberta. We’ll also make note of where you can stream them.
Synopsis: This anthology series follows various crimes in Fargo, North Dakota.
Plot details are under wraps on the upcoming fifth season, though we know it will include the likes of Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Juno Temple (Ted Lasso), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight) and Joe Keery (Stranger Things).
Alberta connections: We’re cheating a bit by including the entire FX series, but outside of Season 4, it was filmed completely in Calgary. This includes the undated fifth season, which began shooting last year in the city.
Where to stream: The first three seasons are available on Amazon Prime Video (via the MGM channel). The fourth season, however, isn’t currently streaming anywhere beyond PVOD platforms like iTunes and Google Play.
Synopsis: A single mother and her children move to an Oklahoma farm inherited from her estranged father, original Ghostbusters member Egon Spengler.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife was co-written and directed by Montreal’s Jason Reitman (Juno) and stars Carrie Coon (The Leftovers), Vancouver’s Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), McKenna Grace (I, Tonya) and Paul Rudd (Ant-Man).
Alberta connections: The Ghostbusters sequel was shot in Calgary between July and October 2019.
Synopsis: One of last year’s surprise hits was this prequel to the Predator franchise which follows a Comanche warrior’s first encounter with a deadly alien hunter.
Prey was directed by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) and stars Amber Midthunder (Roswell, New Mexico), Dakota Beavers (debut acting role), Dane DiLiegro (American Horror Stories) and Calgary’s Michelle Thrush (Blackstone).
Genre: Drama Runtime: Seven episodes (63–88 minutes each)
Synopsis: A police detective finds his faith shaken when investigating the murder of a Mormon mother and her daughter that appears to involve the Church of Latter-Day Saints.
Based on Jon Krakauer’s 2003 non-fiction book of the same name, Under the Banner of Heaven was created by Dustin Lance Black (Milk) and stars Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick… Boom!), Sam Worthington (Avatar), Daisy Edgar-Jones (Cold Feet), Wyatt Russell (Lodge49) and Denise Gough (Angels in America).
Alberta connections: Under the Banner of Heaven was filmed in Calgary between August and December 2021.
Skinamarink (2023)
Genre: Horror Runtime: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Synopsis: Two children who cannot find their father and must deal with mysterious happenings in their home.
Alberta connections: Skinaramink is perhaps the most quintessentially Albertan title here. This viral experimental horror flick was shot by YouTuber Kyle Edward Ball in his childhood home in Edmonton over the course of seven days in August 2021. Due to the small $15,000 USD (about $20,000 CAD) budget, Ball actually had to rent equipment from the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta, a non-profit that supports local independent filmmakers.
In the remake, character models have been significantly improved over the original game.
Naughty Dog is delaying The Last of UsPart 1 (TLOU) for PC’s release until March 28th. This is only a slight pushback from its initial March 3rd release date.
The developer says that it needs an additional few weeks to make this version of TLOU live up to the developer’s standards.
The Last of Us Part I PC will now be released on March 28. An update from our team: pic.twitter.com/lvApDT71Xj
The Last of Us TV show is now streaming on Crave in Canada. While the critically acclaimed TV show follows portions of the video game closely (at least so far), certain aspects have been adapted for television, providing more background to specific characters.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday to promote his acclaimed January 29th episode of the HBO series, “Long, Long Time,” Offerman revealed that he has a history with games. When Kimmel asked if Offerman had played The Last of Us, the Parks and Recreation star said that an addiction to Nintendo 64 classic platformer Banjo-Kazooie actually made him quit games entirely:
“Twenty-five years ago, I played my last video game and I’m very indulgent. I lost a couple of weeks to a video game called Banjo-Kazooie. Two weeks went by and I was like, ‘oh my god, the slow dopamine drip is so delicious,’ then it’s over and you’re like ‘yes, I won!’ and immediately I’m like, ‘what have I done with my life?’ So I decided I was never going to do that again. And so thankfully, because games have gotten so good, like The Last of Us, that I think I’d be in a basement and I wouldn’t even be going to audition for shows like this.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Kimmel showed amusing clips of people reacting emotionally to “Long, Long Time.” Both Offerman and co-star Murray Bartlett have garnered significant praise for their respective roles of Bill and Frank, two partners surviving together over the years during the post-apocalypse. In fact, many of those who have seen all nine episodes of the series have said it’s the best of the bunch.
Overall, The Last of Us has already become one of HBO’s most popular shows, and its second-biggest premiere after House of the Dragon. The massive early success has led HBO to already renew the series for a second season, which will adapt The Last of Us Part II video game.
Co-created by Neil Druckmann (the original The Last of Us game) and Craig Mazin (Chernobyl), The Last of Us follows Joel (The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal, a hardened man who’s hired to smuggle a young teenager, Ellie (Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey), across a pandemic-ravaged U.S.
Travel Alberta has created an interactive map to showcase where HBO’s hit The Last of Us series was shot in the province.
Powered by Google Maps, the tool features per-episode breakdowns of the post-apocalyptic drama show’s filming locations. A brief description of what the location stood in for in the series will be listed, while the map will be updated weekly after each new episode.
For example, pre-pandemic scenes in the pilot with Sarah (Nico Parker) at school were filmed at Calgary’s Western Canada High School. Meanwhile, the Home Depot that Bill (Nick Offerman) visits in the highly acclaimed third episode was actually a Lowe’s in Calgary.
Speaking to CBC News, Travel Alberta noted that it’s been a challenge to get some of this data, given that some scenes were shot on private land. But the goal is to eventually have an itinerary throughout all nine episodes that you can use to track the trajectory of the entire series.
With a reported Game of Thrones-esque budget, The Last of Us is believed to be biggest TV production in Canadian history, making it particularly notable for the province. This meant that the series shot over the course of an entire year in cities like Calgary, Edmonton, High River, Lethbridge and Canmore.
However, one of the key players behind bringing the PlayStation video game’s zombie-infested world to life feels differently.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, John Paino, production designer on The Last of Us, praised Alberta for its beauty. Over the course of a year, the series was shot all around the province, including in Edmonton, Calgary, Fort River and Canmore, so he clearly spent a lot of time there.
Co-creator Neil Druckmann on the set of The Last of Us.
To start, Paino notes that it was easy to find Western-looking towns around Alberta to stand in for Texas during the show’s pre-pandemic opening scenes. But for many of the parts of the show that required run-down areas, Paino said they ran into some challenges:
When you go to major areas, cities, states, there’s always a liminal area that used to be an army base, or maybe it was an old factory. Children of Men, they shot a lot of that in old factory areas and old shipping yards. And I thought, Oh, Canada’s got lots of that, there’ll be a bunch of places that we’re going to just run around and augment it. We couldn’t find any of that. I swear to you, we couldn’t even find an abandoned gas station. We had a slow realization that many things that we thought we would just shoot on location, we would be building. Also, the architecture just wasn’t there. If we’re careening down streets and knocking things down—I was really shocked. It’s a very clean country. There’s like no, “Oh, yeah, over there, there’s all these abandoned buildings.” No American, uh, grit. [Laughs]
Therefore, this meant that he and his team had to actually build a lot of the sets from scratch. Given that the series is believed to be the biggest TV production in Canadian history with a Game of Thrones-level budget, they certainly had the resources to do so.
Joel (Pedro Pascal), Tess (Anna Torv) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in The Last of Us.
This work includes the construction of a 20-foot (6.1-metre) wall for the quarantine zone (QZ) that’s featured in the pilot. Of the QZ, Paino said the following:
I would say that that was at least two or three acres of scenery, and that was just one backlot. Just the amounts of things we had to order! And in Calgary, you’re kind of in the middle of Canada, so there’s not a lot there. It’s kind of like if you were working in the middle of the United States; you’d go to the coasts to get things. Canada is cold and rainy and a lot of our sets are outdoors. In the QZ, there is electricity for certain times of the day because it’s a bastion of civilization, for what it’s worth. So making the hodgepodge lights and things like that, making them feel like they’ve been reworked and repaired—kind of like the chairs, that idea, that metaphor was throughout.
Overall, the interview is a really interesting read, offering a lot of insight into the kind of work that goes into creating the look and feel of a big-budget show. In particular, Paino mentions how he played some of the game for reference but looked more towards images from real-life refugee camps, slum areas and council housing in the likes of England, India and France. He also notes that there wasn’t “an extensive amount of green screen” on sets, so what you see was, often, actually hand-crafted.
Paino isn’t the only person from The Last of Us creative team who’s praised Alberta. Last month, stars Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), as well as creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, raved to MobileSyrup in an interview about the experience of filming there.
HBO has officially confirmed that The Last of Us has been renewed for a second season.
Along with the reveal, the company also announced that the first episode of the critically-acclaimed TV show based on Naughty Dog’s video game series, surpassed 22 million viewers in the U.S., making it the network’s biggest debut next to House of the Dragon. In Canada, The Last of Us is available to stream through Bell’s Crave platform. Bell has yet to release the TV show’s Canadian streaming numbers.
“I’m humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey. The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast & crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations,” said game director and executive producer of the show Neil Druckmann. “Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with season two! On behalf of everyone at Naughty Dog & PlayStation, thank you!”
The Last of Us stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Those who are familiar with The Last of Us Part II will know that the sequel introduces several new characters, including Abby. Though many think that Shannon Berry will play Abby in season 2, an official announcement hasn’t been made.
Given I’m a big fan of The Last of Us video games, I went into the HBO adaptation cautiously optimistic. As Brad Shankar outlines in his review of the first few episodes of the TV show, mimicking everything in the TV show would make for uncompelling television, and I had hopes that this wasn’t the direction Druckmann and Mazin would rake the series.
Thankfully, at least so far, that hasn’t been the case, and if rumours are accurate, episode 3 is set to diverge even farther from the video game franchise.
