The Last Of Us viewer points out how Joel and Sarah narrowly missed being infected

Spoiler warning: this article contains spoilers for the first episode of The Last of Us.

The premiere of The Last of Us was heartbreaking in the best possible way. Anyone familiar with the original game knew that we’d be in for a tough watch, but despite knowing what was coming, I’d argue that the show’s first episode was even more impactful than the legendary video game opening.

Viewers have deemed the first episode to be “perfect”, and I can’t say that I disagree. Many believe that the TV adaptation is on track to be even better than the game, and with showrunner Craig Mazin promising that it’s only going to get better, maybe they’re right.

Take a look at what’s coming up next on The Last of Us below.

Episode one was littered with cool details and hidden references to the games, and as Dexerto reports, one fan on Twitter has noticed how Joel, Sarah and Tommy all seemingly avoided being infected right from the start.

Back in the game, when you’re playing as Sarah, a newspaper can be found which suggests that “contaminated crops” were to blame for the initial infections. While it doesn’t expand on what these crops were, throughout the TV show’s first episode, Sarah, Joel and Tommy accidentally avoid ingesting foods with wheat and yeast in them - they didn’t have any pancake mix in the morning, Joel forgot to buy a birthday cake, and they turned down eating the Adlers' cookies.

that's it kids! don't have pancakes or cookies

— elly | TLOU SPOILERS | 43 💫 (@wizardjarin) January 16, 2023

It’s not explicitly stated in the episode that the crops were to blame for the Cordyceps fungus being spread, but given how much of a point was made about the trio not eating these foods, it’d make a lot of sense. In the end, of course, poor Sarah’s fate would have probably been the same even if she had eaten one of the cookies, but the story would have taken a very different turn if Joel was infected right away.