Television Show of The Year:
The Last of Us
Let’s be honest. NOTHING came close this year to this video game adaptation of the Naughty Dog phenomenon. Granted, the track record for video game movies and TV shows hasn’t been the best (read: Halo, Monster Hunter, Alone in the Dark, etc.). But this time around, HBO did it right. They gave the reigns of the project to Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and shadowed him with Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckmann to keep the integrity of the game’s story intact.
What we got was a tight 9 episode ride that was more a character study, than a post-apocalyptic show. Not only was this due in part to the writing, but a lot of the credit needs to go to the show’s two main stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Throw in some amazing supporting actors (Anna Torv, Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, and more…) and you end up with something special. There’s a chance this season might be overshadowed by the final season of Succession when Emmy time comes around, but as quality shows go, The Last of Us was destination viewing at its finest.
Best of The Rest
