HBO’s The Last of Us is a huge hit. The first episode premiered to 4.7 million viewers and was received very well by critics and fans alike. Much of the show’s success can be attributed to how faithful it remained to the game’s original telling of the story, but HBO’s version does take the opportunity to tighten some loose screws along the way. For instance, in the show places a much greater importance on the relationship between brothers Joel and Tommy.

RELATED: The Last Of Us Part 1 Free Trial Now Available For PS Plus Premium SubsIn the game, Joel and Tommy haven’t spoken for quite some time. Joel doesn’t really know where his brother is, but he also doesn’t seem particularly concerned. They’d had a falling out when Tommy joined the Fireflies and the rest is left for the audience to imagine. In the show, Joel still blames the Fireflies (or more specifically their leader Marlene) for driving a wedge between them, but the brothers keep in touch. When Tommy falls off the radar for several weeks. Joel becomes so concerned that he begins to look for a car, which he will use to search for his brother.

Tommy Holding Rifle

Motive can make or break a story, because the audience always needs to buy into what’s at stake for the characters. In the original video game telling of The Last of Us, audiences were asked to invest in the idea that Joel and his smuggling partner Tess were after guns and ration cards.

Guns weren’t a bad motive. In fact, it made for some great world-building. What do people need in this setting? Food and weapons. With those being a driving motivation, the audience learns that this is a brutal world. We can expect violence and struggle as characters are expected to fight and scrounge for basic supplies. But Joel and Tess are literally risking their lives to get these guns. Joel actively doesn’t want to be around Ellie, but he does it to push this deal through. Ultimately, Joel and Tess are gravely risking their lives for some hardware that they hope will help them defend themselves. It's not terrible logic, but it's slightly video gamey logic that might not fly in a prime HBO TV show.

Tess (left) Talking With Joel (right)

The way the show shifted the focus from guns to a vehicle is brilliant. Joel’s search for Tommy deepens the stakes and makes his motive rock solid. Everyone can relate to risking their life for someone they love. Audiences can easily buy into Joel doing a whole list of things he doesn’t want to do in order to save his brother from potential harm. Likewise, HBO’s telling is explicit about Joel and Tess being more than just business partners. We see them in a relationship, meaning Tess is obviously going to be emotionally invested in Joel’s search for his brother as well.

This small shift in focus is a major win for the show. HBO demonstrates that they can tweak and pull at the story to make changes for the better. When it comes to adaptations, audiences generally expect to view changes from the original story as something negative. So far, any deviations from the original game have only served to deepen and enrich the story of The Last of Us. I, for one, can’t wait to see what HBO has planned for viewers in the coming weeks.

NEXT: Is The Last Of Us TV Series (Episode 1) Faithful To The Game?