Summary
- The Last of Us TV show premiered to acclaim and fans are eagerly awaiting the second season, despite a long wait.
- Fans of The Last of Us can find solace in watching The Strain, a similar show that explores the gradual destruction of civilization due to a vampiric virus.
- Both The Last of Us and The Strain depict the collapse of society and feature unique virus designs that transform humans into zombie-like creatures (The Last of Us) or vampire-like creatures (The Strain).
The season final for The Last of Us premiered on March 12, 2023, and fans are already eager for its second season. While it's not an entirely unique story, it is a compelling one that drew fans in immediately. Even those who didn't play the original video game found themselves in love with the TV show. The entire cast was phenomenal in their roles, bringing the cast of the game series to life. Now, HBO has the audacity to make audiences wait until 2025 for its second season.
In the meantime, there are many similar shows fans can watch to quench their thirst. One of which is the vampiric procedural thriller The Strain which aired on FX for four seasons. It features a large cast of talented actors and delivers a unique vampire story not seen before. One unique aspect of the show is the slow and methodical destruction of civilization. Then there's the new vampire design it employs, which is reminiscent of those from Blade 2. It also comes from the fantastic mind of Guillermo del Toro.
The Last of Us Fans Will Love The Strain
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Creators |
Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan |
|---|---|
|
Cast |
Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand, Jonathan Hyde, Richard Sammel, and Ruta Gedmintas |
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Number of Episodes |
46 (4 seasons) |
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Premiere Date |
July 13, 2014 |
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Finale Date |
September 17, 2017 |
While the production value of The Strain is considerably lower than The Last of Us, The Strain is still a very solid television series. This FX series shows the gradual downfall of civilization as a virus takes root and slowly infects the entire U.S. Population. Unlike the cordyceps in The Last of Us, though, The Strain's virus is very much a strategizing monster. The end result of contracting the virus is vampirism of the worst kind.
The biggest difference in The Strain is that the audience gets to see the actions of its antagonists. The series doesn't just tell the audience to hate the vampires and root for Ephraim (Corey Stoll) and his group of fighters. In fact, it would be easy to dislike Ephraim. He's an incredibly flawed character. The Strain presents evidence as to why Eichorst, Palmer, and the Master are on the wrong side of morality. It does this because other humans in the show fall for their machinations and manipulations. Even some of the protagonists nearly fall for the Master's false offerings.
The show introduces the audience to Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, a scientist for the CDC and head of its Canary team in New York City. He investigates an incident on an airplane that killed everyone on board. This leads him to cross paths with a motley crew of people, most notably Professor Abraham Setrakian. Setrakian is a holocaust survivor who witnessed absolutely horrific things and had his entire worldview flipped upside down. World War II showed Professor Setrakian that there are things that go bump in the night.
The show slowly builds up the threat that the vampiric virus presents. At first, only a small group of people know about the vampires inhabiting New York City and they hunt down the facilitators of its spread. Eventually, government officials know about it. They start quarantining off entire districts of New York City. Of course, they don't believe it's vampirism because why would they? These are realistic people, after all. Eventually, the big honcho vampire outsmart the little resistance that exists, recruits human loyalists to spread the virus faster, until finally, they set off an atomic bomb that weakens humanity's chances of defeating the vampires.
The final season shows a completely dystopian world where some humans fight each other for survival and the others are carted off as vampire food. It's this version of the world that closely resembles that seen in The Last of Us.
Similarities Between The Last of Us and The Strain
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The Last of Us |
The Strain |
|---|---|
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Shows the fall of civilization but mostly takes place in a dystopian future |
Gradually shows the downfall of civilization |
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Deals with a fungal virus |
Deals with a vampiric virus |
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Creates zombie-like creatures |
Creates vampire-like creatures |
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Adapted from a video game |
Adapted from a book |
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Girl immune to disease who everyone wants |
Boy who everyone wants |
As stated, The Strain shows a gradual descent into darkness that all started on an airplane. The Last of Us, on the other hand, shows the world before its collapse at the very beginning of its first season or through flashbacks. It doesn't spend much time showing the world Joel lived in before because it comes secondary to the overall story. The bulk of The Last of Us occurs in a world where people are trying to rebuild and survive.
Both shows deal with spreading disease where the infected transform into a modified monster from classic folklore. The virus in The Last of Us turns the afflicted into zombie-like creatures that have no control over their faculties. They're controlled by the cordyceps, whereas the afflicted in The Strain become vampires. Its vampires are slightly different than traditional ones like Dracula. Their lower jaw opens up and a giant tongue-like stinger shoots out from their throat to drink blood and simultaneously infect humans. Small capillary worms infect the human's blood and turn them into a vampire.
Coincidentally, at the center of both properties is a child that everybody finds important. The Last of Us has Ellie who is immune to the fungal disease, and one group wants to use her to create a vaccine. The Strain introduces Zach, who has nothing particularly special about him other than being the son of Ephraim Goodweather. The master vampire wants to use him as a host body when he's old enough. Otherwise, he uses Zach as a pawn to manipulate Eph throughout the series.
Both shows tell deeply nuanced stories and present three-dimensional characters that the audience can fall in love with. Even if living in a collapsing world isn't the aspect of the story one likes about The Last of Us, the story about family, not knowing who to trust, and fighting for what's right can be found in The Strain.
The Last of Us
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- January 15, 2023
Based on Naughty Dog's popular PlayStation game, HBO's The Last of Us takes place decades after a fungal infection eradicated most of humanity. When a teenage girl named Ellie is found to be immune to the disease, Joel agrees to smuggle her across the United States.
