7 The Last of Us Easter Eggs That the Show Forgot About

Video games have so much time to tell their stories. While plenty of titles get players in and out in a few hours, the great ones take advantage of the opportunity and build worlds that take forever to explore. The Last of Us certainly fits into that category because, while it’s not an open-world game, there are so many nooks and crannies to discover, and it’s in the player’s best interest to find them all because of the constant need for resources. However, The Last of Us always makes it worth it, hiding Easter eggs all over the game to enhance the experience.

HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us brings plenty of the game’s Easter eggs to life, such as the “Savage Starlight” comic books and Ellie’s rendition of “Take on Me” by A-ha. Not every reference makes the jump to live-action, though, including some that are more than deserving.

1) Sarah’s Photo

Joel reluctantly agrees to get Ellie across the country to the Fireflies in the first The Last of Us game. He’s not happy about the arrangement because it’s a massive inconvenience, but he’s also still struggling with the death of his daughter Sarah, whom Ellie reminds him of. While Joel’s brother, Tommy, tries to help him move on by giving him a photo of Sarah, he doesn’t want anything to do with it. Only when Ellie hands the photo over later in the game does Joel accept that his daughter is gone.

The show removes the photo, with Joel’s visit with Tommy focusing on Ellie’s immunity. Sarah still comes up, and Joel and Ellie even get into an argument about her, just like in the game, but the emotional moment where Joel moves past his grief is nowhere to be found.

2) Dunder Mifflin Office

Players spend a lot of hours in The Last of Us games just walking through buildings. There’s always a bottle in a drawer or a rag on a desk, so it’s worth not running through all the rooms without looking around. The remake of the first game even entices players to stay awhile by recreating the Dunder Mifflin office from the sitcom The Office.

The Easter egg appears in Pittsburgh, which doesn’t show up in HBO’s The Last of Us. Kansas City takes its place, and while Ellie and Joel still find themselves in offices, none of them resemble the place Michael Scott and Co. work at.

3) Video Game References

It’s normal for video games to show love to titles from the same developer or ones on the same console. The Last of Us features plenty of PlayStation Easter eggs, such as Jax and Dax figurines, as well as items from Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series.

Since HBO’s series isn’t a game, it opts to cut most of the video game shout-outs. Tess’ lighter and a keychain late in Season 1 ensure that Naughty Dog is still a small part of the story, but the show still leaves a lot to be desired in the video game Easter egg department.

4) The First Bloater

While Ellie and Joel are visiting Bill in the first game, they have to obtain a battery to get their vehicle working. They head to a school nearby to search, and while their mission is a success, it’s not easy because they run into a Bloater. Ellie and Joel have to fight off the beast by themselves before escaping the school and getting back on the road.

HBO’s version makes Ellie and Joel’s journey easy because Bill and his husband, Frank, are already dead and left a car in the garage. Billy and Frank’s story is better than that portion of the game by a mile, but the change delays the Bloater’s arrival by quite a while.

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5) The Bunny

Ellie finds herself hunting for food after Joel gets injured in The Last of Us game. She comes across a bunny just minding its own business and shoots it dead. It’s a very jarring scene in the game, and it comes back around in The Last of Us Part II when a bunny appears outside Ellie’s window.

The Last of Us series still sends Ellie out on her own to look for food. However, she never takes out the adorable woodland creature, finding a deer instead that leads her to David. While it’s far from the show’s biggest omission, it still hurts that it’s gone.

6) Ellie’s Swimming

Growing up in a quarantine zone, Ellie doesn’t have a lot of life skills that most kids her age are supposed to have. One of her major knowledge gaps is swimming, which Joel helps her learn during the first The Last of Us game. She’s proficient by the time Part II rolls around, with Joel throwing her in water to test her skills during a flashback.

The show never really touches on Ellie’s fear of water. There’s even an opportunity in Season 2 for Joel to push Ellie into water, but it never comes to pass, leaving the level of the girl’s aquatic skills a mystery.

7) Safe Combinations

One of the most rewarding things in The Last of Us games is finding the combination to a safe and busting it open to earn additional resources. It usually takes a lot of effort because the code and safe are rarely in the same spot, meaning a lot of exploring is required.

In The Last of Us show, the characters almost always have what they need. Obviously, using valuable time to have Ellie and Joel look through drawers and cabinets would be a waste, but a nod to such an important aspect of the games wouldn’t hurt anybody.

The Last of Us is streaming on HBO Max.

Did you notice these Easter eggs are missing from HBO’s The Last of Us? What other parts of the game didn’t make the jump to live-action? Let us know in the comments below!