HBO’s The Last of Us had to speed up Abby’s reveal

The HBO adaptation of The Last of Us had to speed up the reveal of character Abby due to the show’s episodic release schedule.
In the game, Abby’s backstory and motivations are revealed around midway through The Last of Us Part II, but this pace wouldn’t work for a weekly episode release schedule.
Co-creator Neil Druckmann explained that waiting as long as in the game to reveal certain things would have left viewers waiting too long, which wasn’t comfortable for the show’s creators.
As a result, parts of Abby’s story were moved up, making her motivations and history clearer from the start in the premiere episode of season 2.
The show’s team had to make adjustments to fit the pacing of the game into the episodic release schedule, which allowed them to introduce Abby more quickly and clearly to viewers.

In The Last of Us Part II, it takes a long time before players understand just who Abby is. A new character introduced as both an antagonist and protagonist, Abby is locked in a violent game of revenge with Ellie, but her reasoning and history don’t become clear until around midway through the game, when players actually take control of her as a character.

When the team behind the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us started thinking about introducing her for the show’s second season, they realized they didn’t have that same amount of time.

“When we put out The Last of Us Part II, you have the entire story and you decide how you want to pace it out,” co-creator Neil Druckmann, who was also the writer and director on both games, tells The Verge. “Here we’re putting out episodes week by week, which are roughly an hour long. If we were to wait as much as we did in the game to reveal certain things, our viewers might have to wait a very, very long time – longer than we were comfortable with.”

That means parts of her story were moved up. In the premiere episode of season 2, it’s a lot clearer from the start why Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) has tracked down Joel (Pedro Pascal …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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Q. Why did the team behind HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation speed up Abby’s reveal?

A. They realized they didn’t have enough time to pace out the story like in the game, as they were releasing episodes week by week.

Q. How long does it take for players to understand who Abby is in The Last of Us Part II?

A. It takes around midway through the game, when players actually take control of her as a character.

Q. What was the reason behind Neil Druckmann’s decision to speed up Abby’s reveal?

A. To avoid making viewers wait too long for certain plot points, which would have been longer than comfortable for the show.

Q. How does the team behind HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation approach releasing episodes compared to the game?

A. They release episodes week by week, rather than having a set story and pacing like in the game.

Q. What was the impact of speeding up Abby’s reveal on her character development?

A. Parts of her story were moved up, making it clearer from the start why she has tracked down Joel.

Q. Who plays the role of Abby in HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation?

A. Kaitlyn Dever plays the role of Abby.

Q. How does Neil Druckmann feel about pacing out the story for the show compared to the game?

A. He feels that releasing episodes week by week is more comfortable than waiting as much as they did in the game.

Q. Why was it important for the team to speed up Abby’s reveal?

A. To keep viewers engaged and avoid making them wait too long for certain plot points, which would have been frustrating.