‘The Boys’ punching pop culture is not a new thing. The show is satirical, frequently poking fun at superheroes, corporations, and the entertainment industry itself.
However, its most recent jab, this time at ‘The Last of Us’, hits a bit differently. Not because it is cruel, but because it strikes on something that people have long been arguing about.
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The show diminishes ‘The Last of Us’ to ‘The Walking Dead’ with mushrooms in a throwaway sentence. It is supposed to be humorous. And it is.
But it lingers longer than expected. The comparison itself sounds dismissive. ‘The Last of Us’ has established its reputation on emotional storytelling, after all, based on the relationship between Joel and Ellie.
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It has been acclaimed as one of the most intelligent adaptations in recent history. However, deprive it of the production value and heartbreak, and the structure is familiar. Like ‘The Walking Dead’, it is a character-driven survival novel set in a fallen world.
Both discuss the extent to which individuals go to defend what they love. Both confuse the hero and the villain. And both are heavy on human strife and not external threats alone.
It does not render ‘The Last of Us’ unoriginal; it simply puts it in a genre that is already well-established. The distinction is in implementation.
Where ‘The Walking Dead‘ is sprawling and grows over time, ‘The Last of Us’ is more focused, purposeful, and emotionally centered. Still, it is easy to understand why the joke works. It simplifies things in a way that’s a little unfair, but not entirely wrong either.
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It is not only the target that makes this moment work, but the timing. ‘The Boys’ have never been bad at calling things out and making you laugh in the process. It does not seek to deconstruct ‘The Last of Us’; it simply pushes the audience to consider it in a new light.
And that, frankly, is what is so appealing about the show. It does not consider anything untouchable, even the highly rated hits.
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It can be superheroes or prestige dramas; it is all fair game. Meanwhile, the jab is more of a commentary on the present state of television than on a single show. Stories are always borrowing, changing, and redefining familiar concepts. The originality of today is more about the point of view than the concept.
So while ‘The Boys’ throws shade, it also reminds us of something simple: even the most celebrated shows aren’t immune to comparison.
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