Screenwriter’s Almanac: The Emotional Engine Behind “The Last of Us”

Why We Don’t Just Follow Joel and Ellie Across the Country - We Follow Them Into Ourselves

I’ll preface today’s Substack by saying that this might be one of the more important Screenwriter’s Almanac articles I’ve posted yet. Not because of The Last of Us. Not because I like zombies and dystopia. And it’s certainly not because it’s the weekend and I transform into a genius on the weekend. I don’t…well maybe sometimes.

Genuinely speaking, though, I really, truly, madly hope you let today’s article sink in. I could go on and on and make this much more of a workshop kind of lesson, but that’s not what I want to do with these Almanac posts. I will delve into so much more during my live weekend workshop in Los Angeles April 26 and 27. Click this link to find out more about that (I’m offering $200 off with this coupon code WORKSHOP200). I’m offering a ridiculous discount right now to help fend off the monsters within our country’s economic system that may very well be hellbent on turning our world into a dystopia…but I digress.

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I was an avid, all-in kind of fan of the show The Walking Dead. I drank it all, soaked it all in, loved every second of it (even when Sheriff-hat-wearing kid, Carl, was killed…maybe even especially then). Because of The Walking Dead I became a big fan of the zombie genre. Something that happened, though, after drinking up all of the zombie genre goodness is that I noticed there were quite possibly zero new scenarios or situations in which future zombie shows or movies could present that wouldn’t be derivative of previous shows or movies. In other words, The Walking Dead pretty much did it all.

So when The Last of Us was released, I wasn’t all that interested to be completely honest. I hadn’t played the video game (in spite of hearing how incredible it was), but only because those open world video games can tend to be so all-consuming and steal away hours of your day while playing. I just didn’t have the time. Still, I was intrigued by the show, and because I’ll always be a lover of end-of-the-world dystopian thrillers, especially when monsters and zombies are included, I gave it a go. Very quickly I saw the problem I stated earlier…The Walking Dead had already done it. All of it. The Last of Us just couldn’t out-do The Walking Dead. I had already seen all of these same scenarios and situations. But…something happened as I continued to watch the series.

I enjoyed it…because of the characters. And this is why today’s Almanac post is the most important one I’ve written yet. For you screenwriters out there, I beg of you to pay attention. I’ll do my best to keep it as succinct and to the point as I can, but let’s get into why this is such an important read…