The Last of Us

What would you truly do for love? What lengths would you go to hold on to those you hold dear? What part of yourself are you willing to sacrifice to find peace? How many will you hurt to save someone? These are all questions that Season 2 of The Last of Us asks and tries to answer. The acclaimed and award-winning HBO series adaptation of the popular 2013 video game of the same name is back after a two-year hiatus. The Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann creation is set in a post-apocalyptic America after a fungus-based zombie plague has wiped out most of humanity. Those that are left have to make choices on all the above questions as they try to find peace, love, and justice in a terrible new world. The second season is based on the game’s sequel, The Last of Us: Part II, and stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, with an ensemble supporting cast that includes Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Jeffrey Wright, Catherine O'Hara, and Kaitlyn Dever.

Set five years after the finale of Season 1, Joel (Pascal) and Ellie (Ramsey) are now citizens of Jackson, Wyoming, with Joel’s brother Tommy (Luna) and his family. However, their relationship has taken a nosedive in those five years, with everyone in town asking what went wrong with them. Neither is talking, assuring everyone that everything is fine, with Ellie telling her best friend/secret crush Dina (Merced) that her and Joel will always be her and Joel. Throughout this, we see that Ellie is still Ellie. She makes jokes and wears her chucks proudly, but there is something different about her. She seems much angrier, especially when it comes to Joel. At the town's New Year’s Eve party, Joel causes a scene by punching local bar owner Seth after he makes homophobic comments towards Ellie and Dina, who dance and share a kiss. Ellie blows up and screams at Joel that she doesn’t need him, and he leaves with tears in his eyes.

The next day, everything changes. While out on patrol during a snowstorm, Joel and Dina are captured by a mysterious group. This group is revealed to be Abby (Dever) and her friends Nora, Owen, Mel, and Manny, and they have all sworn to kill Joel for the hospital massacre five years ago. They drug Dina and Abby begins to viciously beat Joel. Jesse (Mazino) and Ellie find the cabin where this is happening, but are immediately subdued. Ellie can only watch as Joel is killed right before her eyes. She vows vengeance and swears that she will kill all of them. This sets her on a path of destruction and revenge that will alter the lives of everyone around her.

The first season of this show was easily the greatest adaptation of a video game story ever and a true masterpiece of drama television. While many who had only ever seen the show were excited about a second season centered on the game’s sequel, those who had played Part II knew there would be challenges with the second game's narrative and translating it to TV. The first of these issues centers around Ellie. Ellie in the first game was a smart, funny, slightly over-confident kid, while Ellie in the second game is more or less The Angel of Death on a revenge quest across the USA. As a player, you kill a lot of people as Ellie in the second game, so your attachment to her from the first game is tested a lot more because of the choices she makes. It almost seems like Maizen and Drukmen were afraid of Ellie’s character arc from the game and making her anything less than a noble protagonist.

Ellie’s chucks in The Last of Us Season 2.

In this season of the show, she waffles back and forth between being driven by her bloodthirsty revenge and regretting every bad thing she does. This is a common theme in most of the changes this season made from the game, and in general, it seems the creators wanted to avoid the divisiveness that Part II received because of its story. However, in doing so, they have crafted a season of television that feels like a hollow imitation of both the game and the season that came before it. It still looks amazing, with a beautiful set and production design, and all the actors have moments where they shine, especially Isabela Merced and Kaitlyn Dever. Maizen and Druckman are doing both the actors and fans a disservice by not going all in on the messy, often times uncomfortable story of Part II. With two more seasons to come from this narrative, let us all hope that they gain the confidence to tell the story they told before.

Utter heartbreak.

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