The Last of Us (Season 2)

The Last of Us (Season 2)

A More Confident but Still Constrained Adaptation

Overview: In Season 2, the story picks up years after the dangerous journey of Joel and Ellie across a post-pandemic United States. As they settle into life in Jackson, Wyoming, their peace is disrupted by the consequences of Joel’s past actions—and a new group of survivors, each with their own traumatic pasts and complicated choices.

I don’t usually play a lot of video games—especially single-player ones. But due to years of insistence from my friends, I did play both The Last of Us games, one year before the show—on easy mode though (I’m not very good… sorry!). The game’s biggest strength is, unquestionably, how much it makes you care about its main characters. Through small, seemingly trivial conversations, you watch their connection grow. Then the game puts you in situations where you make decisions you probably wouldn’t in real life—but because of that bond, you don’t question that it’s what the character would do.

That’s what made adapting this story into a series so tricky: how do you translate that connection into a format where you’re only ever watching from the outside? While well-acted and well-produced, Season 1 never came close to capturing the same level of immersion. In the game, that emotional bond is constantly tested—through scares, tough battles, and those many, brutal deaths that leave you feeling exhausted and hopeless. The show also made one of its biggest missteps by scaling back the infected (likely for budget reasons), which meant we never really felt the weight behind the characters’ choices. If you’re only afraid of humans, then why bother saving humanity? The game was far more effective at showing that the clock was ticking—and that a cure was the only real hope left.

Which brings us to Season 2, filmed with the same cast and creative team, but this time in a different Canadian city and only beginning production in 2024 due to the strikes. Because Part II is a longer game, the showrunners decided to split it into two seasons—a decision that, for anyone who knows the game, puts Season 3 at a disadvantage. It creates too much distance from events that are meant to happen in parallel—something even the game struggled with.

Still, the show has improved in some key areas. Even if it’s out of fear—or extreme reverence, depending on how you see it—the changes made this season are minor but mostly smart. And as in Season 1, the show shines brightest when it moves away from the source material. Episode 6 adds real depth to Joel and Ellie’s relationship, while Episode 3 brings more emotional weight to the aftermath of a tragic event. Episode 2 finally delivers a large-scale infected attack with the kind of urgency the series had been missing. Dina, played by the fantastic Isabela Merced, is also much better defined this time around.

But that same reverence brings some of the season’s biggest frustrations. The acoustic guitar score and the long stretches of introspective silence don’t always translate well to screen, making several episodes feel overly slow. With no real subplots to cut to (the show tries to fill that gap by teasing moments the game reveals much later), there are scenes—like one in Episode 5—where Ellie talks to Dina, walks into another room, strums a guitar for five seconds, and is immediately interrupted again. Episodes 4 and 5 especially drag because of this. And out of all the moments that had room for improvement, the major event at the end of Episode 2 stands out as the biggest missed opportunity. Narratively, it doesn’t make sense for Abby’s group to repeat the exact same action that set off their quest, without giving any explanation—especially when this time, they make a certain character watch. That entire sequence needed rethinking.

Visually, the show still feels flat. There’s little effort to craft striking or cinematic shots, or to build suspense through visual storytelling—aside from a few predictable background movements. The show seems convinced that the strength of the original game will carry it, but once you remove the “you’re playing this” factor, that’s not always the case.

That said, the production value is still high, thanks to HBO. The big sequence in Episode 2 is genuinely impressive in scale, and the sets remain detailed and immersive. Performance-wise, the highlights include brief but excellent appearances by Catherine O’Hara and Jeffrey Wright, and a standout turn from Kaitlyn Dever as Abby—leaving us hopeful for what Season 3 might deliver. Bella Ramsey, who has proven to be a great actress in the delightful Prime film Catherine Called Birdy, still doesn’t quite capture the vulnerability that the game’s more understated Ellie had, but she handles the heavier emotional beats with real strength.

All in all, the show remains effective—for longtime fans and newcomers alike. It never comes close to surpassing the game, but it succeeds in retelling it with a few smart tweaks. The emotional impact is still there. If you’re looking for the same experience in a different format, The Last of Us absolutely delivers.