The Last of US Season 2

Hey everyone, and welcome. Today, we will be talking about the second season of the show The Last of Us. There will be spoilers, so leave if you are scared of those, or stay, up to you. Fun Fact: The game was originally going to have a section where Ellie goes to Scar Island, but they cut it out, and made room for it in the show. This season came out in 2025 and stars Bella Ramsey, Isabella Merced, and Pedro Pascal, and was created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. So without further ado, let's get right into it.

The Last of Us Season 2 sees Ellie and Joel getting used to life in Jackson after Joel saved Ellie at the end of season 1 by killing all the doctors. What Ellie doesn't know is that Joel killed everyone in the hospital, which in turn has created an enemy by the name of Abby that is out to get Joel no matter what. Abby kills Joel, and Ellie goes on a mission to find her so that she can get revenge.

The Last of Us is an apocalyptic show based on a video game. It has similar vibes to Fallout, All of Us Are Dead, or Attack on Titan.

So i just want to say that I have played The Last Of Us part 2 game, actually finished right before the season started so my perspective on things is from one who has played the games but dont worry I will not spoil what happens in the game past what we see in the show but I may mention stuff they left out that I know probably would not be added later becasue it wouldnt make sense. The games themselves are so fun to play, and Part 2 is interesting and long, but focuses heavily on Ellie and Abby. I was excited for the show and nervous, mainly because the structure was going to be different, going from city to city on this journey to find a doctor to create a cure to switching to one city on the hunt for one person, using her friends to find her. The show's performances are great, like if I had Emmys for them, I would hand them out to all of the cast, but I will say some of the story decisions were interesting. I am ok with changes in adaptions but i think the thing that makes people like me who might have played the game or read the book that is being adapted feel irritated, is when they change stuff that sets up something in the future or messes up the characterization of what the character was like in the source material. With that being said, let's dive a little deeper into this season, which took us on a city tour of Seattle.

The season for me started off strong, and towards the end, they made some changes that I was questioning, but I wanted to see how they played out. One thing I love that they did was add these easter eggs for people who played the game. Like, obviously, this show is adapted from the game, so we see the story, but they added more callbacks to the gameplay, which I love. We see the stealth, listening to figure out how many enemies, bottle throwing as a distraction, knife attacks, RAIN, the dog on the employee appreciation board in episode 1, climbing, Abby's dreams of her dad, and the guitar scenes, to name a few. These are things that I felt nongamers would just see and keep moving on, but it's nice for the game players to see how that translated in live action. I think the story is one of the easiest aspects to adapt, but the actual gameplay is the hardest because a lot of stuff might not seem natural, or in the game, it takes a long time, but it was nice to see them add so much.

There is one thing from the game I wish they had cut down on was the guitar scenes. In the game and the show, both of those were the bane of my existence. In the game, you are forced to play, and I want to keep on with the mission, and it doesn't make sense that when you are in an unfamiliar area, have no clue where the infected are, and don't know the details of whatever fighting is going on that you sit and play a guitar. When I saw it in the show, I was like irritated because I'm like that would draw so much attention, and the situation itself is already high tension. In the scenes of the first episode, they show it in, the creators say something about the fans loving the guitar in the games, and I was like, who said that? It's not something that would ever make me hate the overall product, but I just needed to tell everyone watching my dislike for the abundance of guitar scenes.

The show was filled with some great performances all around. Ellie, Joel, Tommy, and Maria return, and this season introduces us to Dina, Jesse, Abby's crew, who are great, Gail, and Isaac, who gave great performances. Ellie, who is played by Bella Ramsey, gets a lot of hate from people online for some reason because they don't like her as Ellie, but I honestly think she's perfect for the job and does a great job of showing the angst while growing up, finding yourself, and what you want, and dealing with loss. Abby who is the one that causes her so much pain this season is played by Kaitlyn Dever who I think is a phenomenal actress who I was very excited for and I will say she kills the performance of Abby, really showcassing the anger but after playing the game I was shocked that she didnt have the look of the character since it came from a game and viewers can look up how Abby in the game is a beast, bigger and stronger than Ellie which to me seems like she would be played by someone like Katy O’Brian. While it took me a minute to get past that, I do think that the rest of her crew was cast perfectly, and I'm glad they kept Jeffrey Wright as Isaac. To be honest, I think some of the performances really saved some scenes from being a complete wreck due to the pace and how the story was written in some parts.

The infected play a huge part in the world that this show is in because of how dangerous they are. I'm glad this season they show that there are more stages than just infected, clickers, and bloaters when we meet the stalkers. Funny enough, in the game, I feel like when you play as Ellie, the stalkers don't really do much, and I often ran past them really fast, but not in the show. I'm glad they introduced them and explained a bit about where they fit in the timeline of an infected person. We see the normal groups as well, and even come across a bloater who gives Tommy a run for his money. I must highlight that the bloater scene perfectly captures the stress you feel in the game while playing as a bloater. I felt in season one they really didn't capture how stressed and horrified you are when playing the game, but that scene really did, and showed how difficult they are to kill.

While I was happy for the intro of stalkers, I wish the show would not only focus on big groups of infected but also show how the small groups are also stressful. Like we have the siege on Jackson, the attack with Abby, and the train station, which show that the situation is stressful, but it also seems like it's mostly because of the sheer number of infected. In the game, I do feel like they do a better job showing how, yes, the big group can be frightening, but a pack of like 4 clickers can be very stressful too. I think about this with the subway scene because they showed so many infected going after Ellie and Dina but in the game its only like 4 clickers but they’re so hard to kill because if you shoot you alert the others and they move fast so you have to do it with stealth which makes it more difficult on top of the fact there are WLF soldiers in there. I think the show could've done a better job this season showing how there's not always a lot of infected, but the amount is not always the scary part. Overall, I feel like there are minimal scenes with the infected, and it made me wonder if they forgot that this was a show that dealt with human threats as well as zombie ones. I would have loved to see more infected and how Ellie had to deal with that on her journey, and if there were more types of infected, but it seems like, with how fast they were moving, they cut it out because they didn't think it was important. I know the drama is interesting as well, but I wish they gave more time to showcase the infected throughout the season.

It was such an odd choice to add these storylines that were tied in with homophobia and give them so much attention. Seth speaks about traditional values and then apologizes later, and that's where his storyline should have ended. I hate when shows or movies feel the need to give people some type of redemption arc after being such an awful person. Sometimes it makes sense, but sometimes I think it's better to let people hate that character and not bring them up again. You can show forgiveness is important with a person who has done something that is less offensive because it is important, but I think it's ridiculous for the person who is being attacked to constantly have to be the bigger person and forgive when they always shouldn't, and in that case, I don't think Ellie should have.

In the flashback episode, Joel has some undertones of homophobia after he catches Ellie with a girl, and that was shocking to me because game Joel would never and show Joel never showed any inclination that he would either. It pisses me off more becuase they then change the storyline to be that Ellie was mad at him because of how he reacted and their final speech was in regards to that and then she ask him about what happened at the hospital at the end episode 6. This was one of the biggest changes I think that pissed me off because in the game Ellie figures out what happens at the hospital and confronts Joel about it and thats why she is mad and that makes more sense because it ties into the overall Abby vs. Ellie story, lets the person playing know that Ellie knew about what Joel did which was a big question I had while playing, and leans more into this idea that its just a cycle of violence that will just keep going. In the game, she's mad at him for a while, like 2 years, I think, and it's something she really has to come to terms with. In episode 6 they show the last convo from her and Joel and in the game that scene was at the very end which was a nice way to wrap up the game and while it does deliver an emotional punch, i think it wouldve been better like it was in the game to really wrap things up. The way the show handled it made me feel like they forgot how much the story was loved, and part of that is how it all connected. In the show, adding this homophobia storyline makes it seem like they were just trying to be different from the game, and I don't think it worked.

Overall, there were pacing issues, which really come down to the fact that 7 episodes were not enough to tell this story. The show adds stuff in as well that really makes you question why they decided to do 7 episodes, and when they try to, but how much time has passed in the show, it starts getting confusing cause you're trying to keep up. I think they could have omitted Isaac's storyline and saved it for Abby's season, since he connects more with her. If they wanted to give a backstory on something, it should've been why the Scars and WLF are fighting. Ellie going to Scar Island was not necessary and felt like a waste, like great, you want to show it, but with the way you were rushing through stuff, maybe now isn't the time. There are too many guitar scenes that aren't really exclusive to the show. Adding Eugenes story to me felt like a waste because there couldve been other things added like what Tommy was doing or what Jesse was doing becasue that whole storyline seemed like a sidemission that didnt need to be in the story because it was used to tie back into why Ellie was mad at Joel when they should’ve kept that it was becasue of Joel killing the Dr’s and lies to her which would further tie in Abbys role, the tension between Joel and Ellie, and further show how the events at the end of season one wasn’t something that everyone besides Abby just got over. I love Catherine O'Hara and thought she did fantastically, but the inclusion of Gail with that Eugene storyline just ate away time that could've gone to more infected or even Hillcrest. The beginning of the series was paced well, but then it started moving fast, and some of the skips seemed a mess. For example, the Nora scene jumped from Dina getting shot to basically Ellie chasing Nora and failed to even hint at how hard it is to get into that hospital.

I will say that I love them adding Ellie cutting herself, so the bite looks less like a bite. Like she can cover up the one on her arm with a tattoo, but that's not always an option, so showing her being creative was a cool way to show she understands how people would react and is protecting herself. I think it was great to mix Manny and Jordan in the show because Jordan didn't seem that relevant in the game besides someone you hate. I'm glad they kept Shimmer alive because while Shimmer's death in the game helped you understand that Seattle is filled with traps and is truly the unknown, I still want my horse alive. I do like that they added frozen infected because it shows that while infected can live for a long time, they can be stopped by the seasons. Some changes like these are good to help further explain things and the world they live in, which I'm glad the show displayed.

The chase with Nora was such a good scene and reminded me of the game in the most positive of ways. I love the line delivery from Tati Gabrielle where she says she dreams of Joel, and he got what he deserved. The chase was intense, and I loved the realization that Ellie was immune and her trying to be like, well, Joel killed Abby's dad, and Ellie being like I know which is a shock. While I was mad they skipped over Ellie fighting her way through the hospital to get to her, once she got to her, that scene was intense, and they perfectly captured how Ellie had to choose to fight or chase Nora because she was a little track star.

At the end of the episodes, there are behind-the-scenes discussions with writers and creators, and it's always interesting to see the reasoning behind changes from the game, and then I think about whether it worked. There were some that were interesting, like them saying they gave Jesse more of a presence in the last episode because something along the lines of them having to flush these side character stories, which I don't agree with because I didn't actually need to learn more about him, and all it did was make him slightly more unlikeable cause he was being rude. I am glad they introduced the Scars, but I think it would've been way cooler to have them in the scene where Dina gets shot as the intro, because in the game it feels like they come out of nowhere and you don't know them, but you know they aren't WLF and they just shot you. I think showing all the Scars traveling and then the dead Scars killed by WLF might have made people want to have sympathy and I prefer in the game how essentially both groups suck and if you arent one of them they will kill you. I also felt like this scene made them look weak, which I think they rectify because the scouts might not use guns, but they are stealthy and have good aim with a bow and arrow. Like I said earlier, I would have loved an explanation on the beef or even a visual between Scars and WLF. They also should not have cut out spores in season one, only for them to bring them up in season two. The mask seemed to be the reason why becasue acting behind a mask is boring but the mask to me just show how dangerous it is and it seems inefficient to avoid spores every time someone in that world encounters them instead of having the mask so that you can get in the room that has them and finish what you were doing. Since they bring it up in this season, they rush to explain it, but it feels like a huge oversight in season 1. In the end of the season, Dina seems to judge Ellie, and I was like, well, that would make more sense if she wasn't encouraging her to do murder the entire season for revenge, but then she does, and Dina is now having a moral dilemma. I'd prefer her to be more supportive of Ellie and not so judgmental, but that goes more into Ellie's character, which I will discuss in a moment.

In the game, Ellie's character has much more autonomy and really is shown to be able to handle her own, but also form her own thoughts, which I didn't think was shown this season. In the game, she is doing this revenge stuff on her own volition, and in the show, we hear this whole backstory from Dina to help push her, and then more encouragement later to push her to follow through with revenge. I think if you are going to do this, you need to be sure, and that was one thing I loved about Ellie in the game, that she was holding her own and really didn't need much help. I think the show forgot that they showed us how she trained with Fedra in season one, but also that she trained with Joel, so she isn't dumb. I think one of the worst instances where I realized they were stripping her autonomy is when Jesse saved them because it makes it look like Ellie needs a man to save her, and she can't handle her own, which should not be a thing. In the game, it's actually she who saves Jesse in Hillcrest, which they left out completely. I don't think she hit any of the stalkers she dealt with in that scene when  Jesse saves them, and that's just not the way they portray Ellie in the game, and it's a huge disappointment in the show. It's like they took every scene that showed how much of a badass she was and took out 90% of those and then just said, well, she's immune to spores and bites, which was harped on in season one for not being enough to survive. After Joel dies, I would have preferred her to be more serious and go on this journey, and the show to show us that she can handle her own and how smart she is. She may not be a huge, daunting figure, but she's small, so she's good at hiding, and pretty quick and good with weapons. The way they show Ellie in the show is weak; she needs constant help and encouragement, and I think that makes her character seem dull because she is on this mission, for revenge, if she has no confidence that she can complete it or is unsure that she can complete it why would she even continue. I think Bella is doing great with the character from whatever she's given, but I do think they need to have her be more assertive and make us feel like she wants this revenge, and she can do it, whether it's wrong or right.

Mel dying by accident is a change that I hate to see because I think the way they handle it in the game is better. I think in the current world some of us live in, we may freeze like Mel did because we don't know what to do. In the game, she attacks Ellie with a knife after Ellie kills Owen and Ellie stabs her in the neck in self defense and kills her, and then opens her jacket to find out she's pregnant, which was a better scenario to me, and played a part in Ellie's development because the baby seemed to reminded her of Dina but it was also shows that Mel wasn’t weak. Behind the scenes, they mentioned they changed that scene to an accident to show she's like collateral damage or something about her not intending to be in this situation, which to me made me think they were trying to say she was an innocent life, but Mel was an active participant in Joel's death by subduing Dina whether she agreed with it or not. The way she dies in the game feels more fitting because they are in a war where it's kill or be killed, and she's pregnant; she would and should be fighting for her life and her baby, not just standing there and then getting accidentally killed because just because she's pregnant doesn't mean that she is weak. I think her being more aggressive shows that she wants to fight for her life, but further drives home that the cycle of violence never ends, and it's a huge realization for Ellie once she figures out she is pregnant, even if it was self-defense. I'm not hoping for more and more death in the show, but I think that's what drives home that the cycle just keeps going and going. Also, in the game, Ellie drops her map, which lets Abby know where they are, which wasn't mentioned here, and they move on so quickly after it.

I love Tommy, but I did wonder if he knew why Abby came and if Joel told him about the killing. I felt like Tommy would have gone after Abby before Ellie instead of staying home. Not many people have family from before the outbreak, but he did, and he was taken by another noninfected person, so that has to feel awful, and I feel like he would have wanted revenge on the people who killed him. I did love how we see how, as a kid, Joel always protected him from his abusive father. One storyline I think they should add is what Tommy was doing while everyone else was doing what they were doing, because Tommy is like a low-key badass, you know, he's doing some cool stuff, but we just don’t see it going down.

The show has great scenography, which is just the overall design from the sets to the costumes, props, and lighting. I love seeing Seattle and how it looks like Seattle, but a Seattle that has not been maintained. I'm not going to say what exactly, but there are some hints at stuff that will play a role later, so it's nice to see that they are already included in the show, even though you might miss it as just a show viewer. I love the costumes for the noninfected because they look like you are trying to blend in, dark, earth ones, nothing bright. They also have visual queues that let you know which group people are a part of like Scars have the symbol on their back but also mostly are in long raincoats, while the WLF looks like they stole from Fedra, so the outfits look more like military.  For the infected, they are wearing whatever they wore when they died, and it's obviously distressed. The lighting is great because just because it's dark outside doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to see. Visually, the show is stunning, and bravo to the team that handles that.

My favorite part of the show was the performances across the board. Everyone acted their butts off and pulled out some emotions throughout the season but especially the flashback epioosdes. While there are things I don't agree with story-wise, the acting was still very much a highlight of this season, and shout out to the casting team.

The Last of Us season 2 stumbles a bit, the pacing is off, and the story seems rushed, so I think it would have benefited from more episodes. The cast, however, is phenomenal and really keeps you invested in the show, and the scenography is great and will just have you in awe with how the show looks. I'm interested to see what's to come and how they handle the Abby story.