{🚨SEMI-SPOILERS🚨}: Helmed by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, The Last of Us Season 2 picks up five years after the events of Season 1 where Joel and Ellie’s collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.
The first season was a perfect adaptation of the first game that set a whole new standard for video game adaptations and really took the world by storm. With the grand success of the first season, it wasn’t surprising that a second season was going to happen based on the second game, but I knew things were going to be a lot different when it came to this season. While the first game was beloved by all the second game was extremely divisive, starting waves of discourse and despicable hatred that went as far as mass user review bombings on various websites, as well as death threats towards the game’s cast members and developers. So I knew that regardless of how this season was going to be adapted it was going to likely trigger the vile fandom once again.
My hope was that Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin wouldn’t appeal to the toxic fanbase and stay true to the bold yet beautiful story of the second game, and thankfully that is exactly what they did with this second season. While they only adapted the first portion of the second game for this season, it is once again a phenomenal adaptation that is perfectly brought to life through phenomenal acting, writing and technical elements making for a brutal but masterful continuation of the story from season one.
Given that this season includes one of the most significant events of the game that drives the narrative and motivations of the characters I will need to discuss some spoilers so if you haven’t finished the season do not read further at this point.
The first season featured some of the most incredible performances by each of the chosen cast members but I feel the performances this season were far more incredible and impactful, given the more layered and emotional events their respective characters go through. In fact this adaptation of the first portion of the second game ends up doing far more character-wise than the game did, which I didn’t expect but hugely welcomed.
By far the most phenomenal performance delivered this season is Bella Ramsey, leading the season as Ellie when she is put on a path of revenge after Joel is murdered early in the season by a young woman named Abby, who wanted revenge against Joel for the death of her father that he mercilessly killed in the finale of season one. Much like Ashley Johnson in the game, Bella Ramsey embraces the complex emotional layers of Ellie as we see her beginning to spiral on a self destructive path of rage that not only endangers herself but endangers everyone she cares for.
She initially hides her rage behind a mask of her typical humorous self, as well as is made to keep a level head by her new romantic interest, Dina, but through Bella’s amazing performance through intense dialogue and facial expressions, we see her primal instinct of revenge claw its way out and begin to unleash vicious hell upon those who get in her way to find Abby, making her become just as monstrous as the infected beasts that still roam the planet. Being able to replicate such a heartbreaking character journey from game to tv screen was never going to be easy yet Bella Ramsey managed to pull it off beautifully, delivering quite possibly the best performance in television this year by far.
Pedro Pascal’s role as Joel is significantly shorter this season as a result of the character’s horrific death that was perfectly adapted from the game, but we do end up getting several significant moments with him in this season in the first two episodes and the penultimate episode where Pedro once again delivers a masterful performance as the character. Joel committed a shocking act of violence to save Ellie from a fate she had no choice in due to his love for her, and he ends up hiding the truth from her for five years while trying to be a father to her.
But the truth doesn’t remain hidden for long as gradually the two begin to drift apart as Ellie grows up and begins to suspect the one person she felt she could trust is lying to her, eventually leading to the “confession on the porch” scene directly pulled from the game. It is in this scene that we see Pedro and Bella deliver top tier emotional acting in one of the most impactful scenes of the season featuring both of them, next to Joel’s brutal death scene, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Joel’s presence will be deeply missed going forward as it was in the game but Pedro’s wonderful performance will always be remembered for the amount of emotional weight and energy it brought to this series.
While Bella and Pedro are certainly the shining stars of this season just like in the previous season, there was another major standout that came in that absolutely blew me away with her performance and that was Isabela Merced as Dina. Dina is a freewheeling spirit with a loyalty towards Ellie that is constantly challenged by the world’s brutality yet it ends up resulting in one of the most beautiful love stories every created in an apocalypse setting, and it was brought to life beautifully by Merced’s perfect performance as the character. Everything from the character’s humor, iron will and emotional layers is nailed down perfectly by Isabela Merced, making her an instantly lovable character for viewers to get attached to and root for as both Ellie and her get close together during this season.
Their relationship will evolve further as the series continues but I am glad that this character was adapted perfectly and that the relationship between her and Ellie was adapted wonderfully when it could have been either censored or held back to appease the bigots within our world today.
The character of Abby doesn’t have a huge amount of screen time in the series until the following season but even in her short time in this season makes a huge impression, due to the shocking actions of the character and the fantastic rogue-fueled portrayal of her by Kaitlyn Dever. Abby is considered to be one of the most hated characters in video game history, mostly due to her mercilessly killing Joel in revenge for her father, yet she is also one of the most fascinating and compelling characters that has a lot of complex layers to her that make you understand her side of the story and show that she is very much on the same self-destructive path as Ellie is. While we get to see only a part of her story explored in this season we end up getting truly amazing portrayal of the character by Kaitlyn Dever, who delivers cold primal rage in her performance that she nails down perfectly, making me eager to see more of her as the character gets fleshed out in the future.
Now I did want to express that while it’s completely understandable to hate the character for what she has done in the story it is not ok to harass or attempt to harm Kaitlyn Dever for playing the character, just like what happened to the former voice actress of Abby in the game, Laura Bailey. Laura Bailey went through years of harassment hell from the fanbase just because of the character’s actions in the game and I’ve started to see the same thing happening to Kaitlyn Dever everywhere I look and it’s sickening. This needs to be addressed and called out because it is not right at all and Kaitlyn Dever deserves better.
The rest of the supporting cast in this series is also just as fantastic as the main characters, with the most notable performances coming from Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Young Mazino as Jesse, Rutina Wesley as Maria, Catherine O’Hara as Gail and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac. Each one of these cast members have their own stand out moments in this season where they get to shine as these investing characters and feel connected to them in different ways.
Gabriel Luna wonderfully plays a man who has the weight of the community on his shoulders while simultaneously dealing with the painful loss of his brother Joel, making him one of the mentally strongest characters within this story. Young Mazino delivers a great portrayal of Jesse who displays immense amounts of selflessness like the character in the game, who even after losing so much prior to joining the community in Jackson, he values it and works hard to ensure it is not lost by any means.
Catherine O’Hara delivers the right amount of cynical comedic levity in her role as Gail while also being able to deliver emotional moments of her own as they expand upon the character’s story with the inclusion of her husband Eugene and Joel’s surprising connection to both of them. Jeffrey Wright reprises the role of Isaac having previously played the character in the game and just like the game brings the same amount of ruthless intensity to this leader of a vicious military faction.
There are also some surprising guest stars that make their own appearances in this season with two of them delivering beautiful performances for their respective characters that are very much going to stick with people long after seeing them.
As for the infected creatures that still roam the planet we do end up getting a bit more of them this season compared to the last and they are definitely more terrifying than ever before thanks to incredible performances of the people playing as them in heavy amounts of makeup, as well as the fact the infected are beginning to evolve and become smarter. They deliver intense amounts of horror and thrills with their more numerous appearances in this season but easily the best scenes featuring them come within the second episode in the form of a massive horde that storms the community Jackson in a high stakes battle for humanity’s survival that was executed masterfully on a grand scale.
Usually when a zombie-like series includes too much gratuitous infected scenes over the more compelling characters and story elements it can be the downfall of a show, much like what happened with The Walking Dead in some of its later seasons, but thankfully that has not happened with this series yet. This season keeps a proper balance of how it uses the infected and its focus on the characters, as well as the true dangers of this post-apocalyptic world in the form of various human factions fighting for survival or control. My only hope is that they continue to have this balance in the following seasons, especially when they end up bringing in one of the craziest infected creatures from the game that has yet to make its appearance.
This season may have only adapted the first portion of the second game’s narrative but it has already nailed down the main themes of the narrative involving the emotional conflict and moral dilemma of the main characters. Grief fueled rage and vengeance are obviously the most primary themes presented but this season takes the time to explore them in a deep and meaningful way. Every brutal action in this world has a consequence and characters like Ellie and Abby are risking losing themselves to an endless cycle of violence that not only endangers themselves but endangers everyone they ever care about, which is a grounded and realistic portrayal of the darkness of human nature.
I’m so glad that this season stayed true to the most important elements and moments of the game even with some of the occasional changes and additions they have made along the way. I hope they continue to stay on this course going forward all the way to the end of the second game’s story because right now they are handling things perfectly as is, without giving in to the ridiculous demands of the fanbase.
From a technical perspective this season definitely feels larger in terms of scale, which can be seen through the stellar cinematography, massive on-set locations, fantastic editing, major practical effects and minor VFX that all bring this incredibly brutal world to life in the best ways possible. Everything shown on screen was clearly crafted with time and passion making for a season that is even more visually impressive than its predecessor, much like how the second game was visually better than the first.
The music composed by Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming is as wonderful and emotional as one would expect but it was also great to see the iconic “Take on Me” cover scene adapted so perfectly by Bella Ramsey, hitting just as hard as when Ashley Johnson performed the song before her.
This season of The Last of Us really knocked it out of the park with adapting the first part of the second game’s story and I am eager to see the rest of it being adapted. One thing is for certain though is that this season and the following seasons are going to be highly discussed going forward, both in good ways and in toxic ways, but I hope it will be more of the former. I’m going to give The Last of Us Season 2 an A+ = 100.
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