‘I didn’t sign up for a musical!’ Are the guitar sing-alongs killing The Last of Us?

Ellie’s endless ditties are more horrifying than mushroom monsters. But her painful renditions of a-ha and Pearl Jam aren’t just cringe – they signal a much bigger problemThis week’s episode of The Last of Us contained a moment that froze the blood. For a split second, the hearts of the viewing audience rose into their throats in horror. This is a show that has presented us with terror after nightmarish terror but, even by these exceptional standards, this was almost too much to bear. I am talking, of course, about the scene where Ellie started playing a Pearl Jam song on a guitar.Within the broader world of The Last of Us, the song – entitled Future Days – is of enormous importance. If you’ve played the game, you’ll know the scene it hints at. It’s devastating. You’ll also know that, if the show hews closely to the source material, the general theme of guitars will eventually reduce the audience to emotional husks, teeing up the saddest, most hopeless ending to any major piece of storytelling in years. Continue reading...

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