The Last of Us Season 2 Gets Bleaker and Hits Harder: Review

The way audiences approach the second season of The Last of Us is going to be very dependent on how much time they’ve spent with their Playstations or PCs, as creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann remain dedicated to their quest to adapt the post-apocalyptic video game series as faithfully as possible to the screen. Without mentioning spoilers, that’s about as specific as it’s possible to get about what to expect from the show’s return — but it is safe to say that the HBO drama continues to be a powerful, emotional, and often brutal story about what it means to survive in impossible times.

Now, how many viewers of The Last of Us are going into Season 2 at least vaguely spoiled for what will happen? It’s hard to say for certain. As of December 2022, originally released in June 2020, Part II of the game had sold over 10 million copies as of June 2022 — a number that is undoubtedly larger now, given that the first season of the show led to a massive boom of game players in 2023, and a remastered version of Part II was released in January 2024.

Still, as of May 2023, the first season had already garnered nearly 32 million cross-platform viewers per episode. That number is certainly higher now, and while none of the above leads to exact math, it feels safe to say that a good percentage of the audience for Season 2 will be at least vaguely unaware of what’s to come.

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It honestly doesn’t matter that much, though — speaking as someone who did not play the games but followed enough of the discourse around Part II to be familiar with at least one of the big plot beats… It was more than a little rough to watch. Whether or not you know what’s to come, the second season is a stressful experience, the intensity rising exponentially with each tragic moment.

Season 2 begins with a five-year time jump, as Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) have settled into their new, somewhat stable lives in the revived township of Jackson, Wyoming. This far into the plague’s lifespan, the survivors have managed to build something of a normal existence for themselves — Jackson residents work hard to maintain the community as well as keep each other safe, but there’s still room for fun, whether it be having a hoedown to celebrate the new year or dating one (or more!) of your favorite survivors.

Okay, that five-year time jump does happen after we’re introduced to Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), a young woman who we learn quickly has a major beef with Joel, due to his actions in the Season 1 finale. Specifically, while rescuing Ellie from the Fireflies and their experiments, Joel killed someone Abby loved, and Abby wants revenge.

Meanwhile, ever since the final scene of Season 1, Ellie has her suspicions about what really happened when Joel rescued her, which along with her own teenage angst has led to a major rift between them as the season begins. Between this and other factors, Ellie and Joel don’t get as much one-on-one time as they did before — that said, Pascal and Ramsey’s awkward parent-child bond remains as electric as before, with heartstrings pulling at the way their relationship changes over the course of the season.

The cast returning from Season 1 includes Gabriel Luna and Rutina Wesley, with new cast members like Young Mazino and Catherine O’Hara making an immediate impact on the action. O’Hara in particular turns in some remarkable work, as an acerbic therapist who demands payment in weed and booze — we knew how funny she is, of course, but the events of Season 2 confirm just how talented a dramatic actor she can also be. (Between this and her work on Apple TV+’s The Studio, her name deserves to be mentioned more than once when this year’s Emmy nominations are announced.)

If the season has one specific flaw, it’s that some non-chronological storytelling ends up detracting from the narrative momentum. This is especially in comparison to the first season, which was propelled nicely by Ellie and Joel’s quest not just for survival, but for the hope that a cure for the plague might be possible thanks to Ellie’s immunity. Season 2 is also without question not the end of this story (though it’s hard to imagine HBO not greenlighting a Season 3 at this stage).

All elements of the production are as sharp as before, with the production design in particular really working overtime to capture not just the new community of Jackson, but the remains of the now-dead world from before. It remains a show that’s so powerful in the details, the wreckage of what was left behind, with one odd quirk: When wandering the ruins of civilization, Ellie sure runs across a lot of playable guitars.

While it’s a sad season of television, things aren’t entirely bleak, as Ellie gets closer with Dina (future Hawkgirl Isabela Merced), a spark of joy and light in bleak times. And there’s a lovely breakout episode that digs deep into key relationships — while it’s not a direct echo of Season 1’s “Long, Long Time,” it serves a similar function, in reestablishing the innate humanity of this story.

For as much fungal zombie violence as Season 2 might feature, the show never disconnects from its most essential truth: That this is a story about people, sometimes at their best — but more often at their worst. It’s damn hard, after all, to be your best during the worst of times. Yet it’s something these characters haven’t entirely given up on. And in the bleakest hours, that sometimes can feel like hope.

The Last of Us Season 2 premieres Sunday, April 13th on HBO and Max.

• Source: NEWHD MEDIA