‘The Last of Us’ Is Bleak, but It’s the Bleak You Need
The Monitor is a weekly column devoted to everything happening in the WIRED world of culture, from movies to memes, TV to Twitter. The Last of Us is bumming everyone…
‘Swarm,’ Superfandom, and Murder
At its most untamed, fandom poisons. It contorts logic into blind worship. It bites and stings and slices anything in its path. It gnaws on tendon meat, a wide ruby-red…
After ‘The Last of Us,’ Everything Will Be Transmedia
Perhaps The Last of Us’ accomplishments are misleading. If that adaptation’s success derived from its cinematic heart, a better insight into how more traditional games will exploit transmedia may lie…
‘The Last of Us’ Isn’t the Last of Anything
Remember when Game of Thrones ended, and people—OK, mainly TV critics—insisted there would never be another television show with the same cultural footprint? A consensus emerged in the media: The…
The 10 Best Shows on HBO Max Right Now
HBO Max might be one of the greatest things to come out of the streaming revolution. No, this is not a paid promotion; it’s just simple logic, given that so…
‘The Last of Us’ Is a Parable for Pandemic Parents
It’s a strange thing to say about a show set during a zombie apocalypse, but I had a searing moment of recognition in the sixth episode of The Last of…
Jonathan Majors Is Enjoying His Villain Era
Is your acting as a tribute to them in some way? Everything I do is connected to my family, my child, and my ancestors. Without a doubt. We represent. It’s…
Netflix’s New Chris Rock Special Revives an Old Idea: Live TV
The Monitor is a weekly column devoted to everything happening in the WIRED world of culture, from movies to memes, TV to Twitter. This week, like Dr. Frankenstein before it,…
Keke Palmer Is OK With Being Left Out of the Group Chat
As an actor, do you think games like The Sims innately speak to you—being able to step into someone else’s life? I never thought about it, but it totally makes…
‘The Last of Us’ Signals the End of an Era
Each Sunday night, as The Last of Us airs on HBO, a sense of dread permeates the air—and it has nothing to do with the fact that Joel and Ellie…