Tomas Flores
Contributing Writer
Season Overview (Spoilers Ahead)
In my previous article, “‘The Last of Us’ Season 2: A Look Back and Ahead,” I predicted that there would be more infected. I was both right and wrong in this assumption.
“The Last of Us” season two begins by showing the audience the emotional state between Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal), how there are Cordyceps nearby, and an introduction to Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who shares her motivation to kill Joel Miller.
The second episode delivers on all that was built up in the first episode as a large number of infected attack the town of Jackson, where the main characters are maintaining a settlement. During this attack, we discover that Joel was scouting outside when he found Abby. Joel is tricked by Abby to return to their settlement, and we get the devastating moment where Joel is brutally beaten to death while Ellie watches, an emotional scene sure to make the casual viewer and gamer alike cry.
Episode three allowed viewers to catch their breath and mourn the loss of Joel alongside Ellie. It is here that we see how the characters react to Joel’s death, particularly how Ellie wants her vengeance. As with most setup episodes, when the characters weren’t mourning, the remainder of the episode felt like filler.
For example, the section where Ellie must convince the community to go with her to avenge Joel makes up the bulk of the episode. If this were to be cut, we could have gone right to the point where Ellie leaves on her own, regardless of the outcome.
Eventually, we get to act II (out of IV) from the video game, the biggest section of the game, where Ellie makes it to Seattle to search for Abby. Yet when we finally get here, there is noticeably less action, very little exploration, and fewer infected.
What went right and what went wrong
In the first season, Craig Mazin, the writer in charge of adapting “The Last of Us” into television, followed the first game so well that the show had very high reviews and praise, from video gamers and watchers alike. But I believe that Mazin might have overdone the changes this season, leading to the show’s decline in quality.
The first mistake was making season two seven episodes. Even the first season had pacing issues, and, with two fewer episodes than season one, the pacing in season two was even faster. Because of this, many side plot points were cut.
I was looking forward to seeing the bank robbery on outbreak day, Ellie being mad at Dina for coming while pregnant, and Ellie killing Mel’s dog — all of which were present in the game and absent in the show. I can forgive leaving out the death of Mel’s dog, because they made Mel’s death even more heartbreaking to compensate.
Ellie finds out that Abby is at the aquarium in Seattle, but when she gets there, she only finds Abby’s friends, Mel (Ariela Barer) and Owen (Spencer Lord). In an attempt to fight back against Ellie, Owen reaches for a gun but is shot before he can fire. The bullet is revealed to have pierced through him and sliced a vital artery in Mel’s neck, but she doesn’t die as quickly as Owen.
Mel, in a split-second reaction, reveals she is pregnant and needs Ellie to perform an emergency cesarean section to save her baby. In a heartbreaking scene, we see the last moment of Mel as she is trying to guide Ellie to perform the procedure. Heartbroken and distraught, Ellie is unable to do it.
Ellie eventually gets scooped up by her friend Jessie and uncle Tommy, where they head back to their safe house in Seattle — until they are ambushed by Abby. A scuffle is heard, and, as Jessie and Ellie rush to see what it is, Jessie is shot in the head. Abby finally confronts Ellie in a power move stand-off with Tommy as a hostage. A shot rings out as Ellie pleads, and the screen goes to black and the final scene we are left with shows Abby emerge from a slumber with a text saying “Seattle Day One.”
I have to say, as a huge fan of “The Last of Us” franchise, I was completely in love with a lot of the emotional scenes and seeing this story come to life through television, but with so much content from the video game left out, the season as a whole felt lackluster. That is why I rate this season a 7/10.
What’s Next?
Despite some viewers worrying about a drop in viewership during the finale, HBO has shared that they are still receiving more viewers per episode than they did during season one, and that they associate the fall in viewership with its release near Memorial Day.
There has already been a greenlit season three with a potential for a season four, according to Mazin. With season three confirmed to be based on Abby’s perspective, with the POV shift at the end of the episode, it leaves many to wonder what season four could be about.
In the game, there is a short section that takes place after Abby’s point of view. But with it being so short, I doubt they would make an entire season to tell this part of the story, so I suspect Craig Mazin will add more plots and maybe even create a definitive ending to this story, despite the absence of one in the video game.
With no definitive release date and only talk of a 2027 release date, we’ll have to watch and see.