'The Last of Us' Showrunner Teases Plans For 4 Seasons

The first season The Last of Us had so much heat before it debuted that I can imagine there was immense pressure on Mazin and Druckmann to deliver.

Well, the show debuted to huge numbers and continued to steamroll. By the time they got to the third episode, one that felt like a movie with Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett playing a couple trying to survive, the internet was ablaze. That episode raised the pressure even more. Now people were saying the third episode was the best of all time, and it stayed that way all season.

So how do you keep writing with a fear that you peaked?

Mazin said, "I try not to compete with myself because you can head down some pretty dumb roads where things become synthetic and are not written from a place of honesty. I’m trying to be Zen about it. Some episode has to be the best episode, and it’s very unlikely to be the final one, where it’s just this straight [quality] line going up. "

One thing that struck me about the show is that it's not afraid to ask big, hard questions, such as: Is one life worth millions of other lives?

We call that issue "The Trolley Problem" or "The Trolley Question". It comes up at the end of the first season, when Joel saves Ellie from demise, even as doctors plead that her blood might be able to save the people of Earth. Is that a selfish move? Heroic? It was one of those ideas that divided fans and what made the game so great.

Mazin discussed this theme, saying, "It’s certainly selfish. But the question is, “Is it wrong?” It’s the question that we are forced to ask ourselves and I’m not sure we can answer it easily. Because any parent, if somebody comes to them and says, “I’m going to press a button, and either your kid dies or some other kid dies,” I don’t know any parent who would say, “My kid.” "

And when this problem gets more nuanced, Mazin expanded on this idea.

He said:

"Press the button and either your kid dies or two other kids die, then this is starting to get itchy. And underneath it is an exploration of love and what love does to us. It defines our humanity, but it also separates us from an algorithm. The Trolley Problem is a problem because it’s a problem [whereby a person is given the choice to divert a runaway trolley that will kill five people onto a different track where it will kill one person]. This act Joel commits is a flawed act. From an objective point of view, let’s call it “technically immoral.” However, this is where the kind of simple exploration of morality begins to break down: If there’s something that we say is immoral and yet no one is capable of not doing it, then what is the point of defining it as immoral? So I have tremendous sympathy for Joel’s decision. I also have tremendous antipathy for Joel’s decision. And that is what echoes forth and why we’re making more The Last of Us."

How Many Seasons Will 'The Last of Us' Have?

So how long can a show like this last? How many seasons can they go?

The game currently has a sequel, so that can help them carry on.

Mazin theorized, "You never know. It can end up being three or five. But four seems like a good number. Some seasons, because of the story we’re telling, will need fewer episodes and some will need more. The best news is the audience wants more. We will not indulge a desire for more simply to make them happier when they hear how many episodes are announced. And if they don’t like how many episodes are in a season because they want more, well, OK. But when all is said and done, I think the wisdom of how we lay it out will hopefully be clear."

So strap in, we have a lot more of Joel and Ellie coming toward us.