One of the best things about The Last of Us is that you don’t have to suspend too much disbelief to buy into its world. The show opened with an explanation of how a mass fungal infection might arise and why it’s so dangerous, which has since been backed up by real-world scientists. Beyond that, the show’s vision of a hard world in which everyone is naturally suspicious of one another just makes sense.
Despite all that, horror master Stephen King still had a bone to pick with the excellent third episode, “Long, Long Time.” This was a touching love story between survivalist Bill and his partner, Frank, which concluded with an all-time TV show tearjerker. Much of the episode was set in Bill’s compound, with him fortifying the street he lives in against wandering infected and raiders.
King enjoyed the episode, but refused to believe this scenery was a 10-mile walk out of Boston:
The simple reason is that it doesn’t look like Massachusetts because it isn’t, but where is it?
‘The Last of Us’ episode three shooting locations
The Last of Us was entirely shot in Canada and is the biggest TV production in Canadian history. It reportedly has a budget of $10-$15 million per episode, with that money very much visible on screen. Much of The Last of Us‘ interiors are shot on sound stages, though there’s also a fair amount of location filming.
The first part of the episode saw Joel and Ellie hiking through some beautiful, deserted countryside, which was shot at Sheep River Falls near Calgary.
Towards the end of this sequence, they crossed a bridge, which in real life is the Shannon Terrace bridge in Calgary’s Fish Creek Provincial Park.
The real-life story behind Bill’s compound
Bill’s idyllic slice of normality amidst the chaos has an interesting story behind it. The location is Beachwood Estates in High River, Alberta. This is a small neighborhood built between 1990 and 2002, though in 2013, the province was hit by a devastating flood that forced many Albertans to abandon their homes. Recognizing the location was no longer safe, the province purchased the 94 properties in the flood plain and relocated the residents.
Since then, the neighborhood has been abandoned. YouTuber Seth Lawless took a trip there in 2017 and explored it in a video aptly titled, “The Creepiest Neighborhood in the World.”
Lawless compared the atmosphere to The Walking Dead, so it’s no surprise that The Last of Us location scouts jumped at the chance to realize Bill’s compound here. Having said that, the previous residents don’t seem particularly happy that their former homes look like the backdrop to the apocalypse. Ryan White had to abandon his tattoo parlor in 2013 and said it was painful to look back at the neighborhood in this state:
“I just don’t think people take into consideration the actual PTSD it caused for the whole community. I myself was diagnosed with PTSD, so you know, even for me, it’s a touchy subject.”
What’s next?
The Last of Us has six episodes remaining in its first season, so we’re hoping to spot many other cool real-life locations popping up throughout the show. We doubt whether any of them will have as interesting a backstory as Beachwood Estates, but the show’s location scouts are certainly proving their worth in finding places like this.
With The Last of Us Part II set to be adapted in future seasons we’re hyped to see more ruined-yet-weirdly-elegant scenery and locations as the show goes on.
The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO.
