This article contains spoilers for "The Last of Us" season 2, episode 6.

"The Last of Us" is dark, complex, and generally an antithesis to the infamous 1990s video game movies that barely bothered to replicate the characters' looks, let alone the general plot of the games. Granted, it helps that the HBO post-apocalyptic drama is based on Naughty Dog's impossibly atmospheric and cinematic video games, but the show still often finds a way to be far more faithful than anyone should have any right to expect. In fact, some of its scenes are such accurate replications of their game equivalents that the viewer might find themselves instinctively reaching for the controller.

The truly impressive thing is that the changes HBO's "The Last of Us" makes to the source material are rarely detrimental. On the contrary, they often end up elevating the already stellar material to unprecedented heights. From the bold...