Filmed entirely in Alberta, HBOs ‘The Last of Us’ has taken audiences on a ride and while it’s been a bumpy one, we’ve loved every minute of it. Episode 7, of course, was no exception – and for some residents, it also brought back some memories.

From the beloved mountain town of Canmore to the legislature building in Edmonton, the network has really taken us along on a post-apocalyptic tour of the province. However, we’re not sure how anything will compare to the sights we saw last night.

Though the building will soon be turned into an open-air shopping centre, the set designers and talented VFX teams were able to bring Calgary’s old Northland Mall back to life one last time, and it was truly beautiful.

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While much of this has to do with getting to see a shopping centre for the first time through the eyes of the character Ellie, the bright colours and neon lights hit us right in the nostalgia.

“We had this interesting challenge, I was in love with the mall from the DLC and we needed it,” said showrunner Craig Mazin on a recent podcast.

“We got kind of lucky, to an extent. There is a mall in Calgary that was scheduled for demolition, so on the one hand it was great because they basically said ‘you can do whatever you want! You can break up the floors, you can gack up the whole place with mud and vines and everything and you have the run of it for as long as you want for shooting.”

On the other hand, as he explains – its second floor was really just a Winners and a clinic, so much of it had to be CGI.

Curious as to what it looked like without movie magic? Here are some photos that were taken of the set.

Pretty cool, right?

Whether you’re already on board or just want to see what all the fuss is about, be sure to tune into new episodes of The Last Of Us on Crave or HBO via your local TV Provider every Sunday at 9:00 pm ET or 7 pm MST – but bring tissues!

This show has some serious heart.

Curiocity Staff

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