The Last of Us: Season 2 - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

THERE are two ways of viewing The Last Of Us - one as someone who has played the game on which it is based, so can therefore pre-empt the twists. The other, as a newcomer with little idea of what’s coming. For the latter (myself included), it makes for a gripping second season that shocks and surprises at every turn.

[Spoilers ahead]

Picking up five years after the events of season one, the show automatically requires viewers to play catch up as Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are estranged, while still living in the walled city of Jackson, Wyoming, they arrived at during the close of season one.

The assumption is that Ellie found out about Joel’s decision to massacre the resistance group who were working on a cure for the fungus-based pandemic plaguing the country… a decision taken to save Ellie (his adopted daughter).

But there is clearly more at play too - details that will eventually be revealed as the season progresses.

Perhaps more significantly, though, is the arrival on the scene of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) as the vengeful daughter of one of the doctors Joel gunned down, as well as the fact that those ‘infected’ have begun to evolve - either by hunting in more co-ordinated packs or by becoming less predictable to hunt.

Episode one reset the scene capably and posed plenty of questions that newcomers assumed would take a while to answer.

But then episode two, Through The Valley, blew things wide open. In terms of big swings, the events rivalled the shock value of Game of Thrones’ best episodes, complete with the emotional intensity of Succession. Fitting then, that Mark Mylod, a veteran of both of those shows key moments, helmed it.

The episode in question combined a full-scale assault by a berserk horde of infected on the occupants of Jackson with the shocking torture and death of Joel at the hands of Abby.

To be honest, I had come to suspect Joel may not have survived the game (based on early reports about the show), but the swiftness of his demise at the start of the second season was truly unexpected.

The manner of it, meanwhile, was gasp-inducing, especially since moments earlier Joel had actually saved Abby from near-certain death at the hands of the infected. It’s one of those moments that you’ll undoubtedly look back on and wish has played out differently.

Episode two piled on anguish upon agony, having Ellie witness the death after mounting a failed rescue attempt. It also saw many of the Jackson townsfolk perish at the hands of the infected. Through The Valley was relentless in its devastation - physical and emotional.

And it left a lingering question: how would the show survive without Joel? The common sense answer is “ok”, given that it’s following the same beats as the popular game. But for those non-playing viewers, some of whom probably tuned in just for Pascal, there was undoubtedly a gaping hole.

Fortunately, series supremo Craig Mazin had some clever cards to play and the gamble to honour the game as opposed to going his own way paid off. The Last of Us exists to challenge viewers. And boy did those remaining episodes.

With Ellie now assuming lead role duties, her reaction to Joel’s death became the show’s driving force, with all the complex morality this entailed.

Her desire for revenge burned understandably bright - but it became increasingly reckless (particularly with regard to her fledgling gay romance with Isabela Merced’s Dina), often selfish (in the way it placed other people’s lives at risk) and even crossed boundaries.

By season’s end, Ellie’s actions were as cold-blooded and violent as both of Joel’s and Abby’s - and arguably sometimes worse.

Her torture of one of Abby’s cohorts, culminating in her decision to leave her alive amid the undead for a fate worse than death, marked a crossing over of sorts - the moment where Ellie became the thing she had long since been objecting to. In her actions, she emulated both the worst inclinations of both Joel and Abby.

But Mazin refused to judge, inviting viewers to make their own decisions, before pulling off an even more outlandish finale/cliffhanger - by rewinding the clock and restarting the story from Abby’s perspective (the continuation of which will form the basis for season three).

Some fans were indignant with rage: how could we now be expected to see things from Abby’s point of view? But Mazin feels the show exists to ask these very questions: to see things from different perspectives as opposed to the one narrative that often permeates every story.

It promises to be an interesting, if uncomfortable, experiment. But one that has something worthwhile to say (and ask) about humanity and how narratives unfold.

I can’t conclude this review of the season, however, without also nodding to the penultimate episode, The Price, which reminded us of the show’s ability to devastate emotionally. Told in flashback, the episode followed the relationship between Joel and Ellie across five of her birthdays, as Joel steadfastly attempted to surprise his young charge.

Things started beautifully, with Joel consistency surprising Ellie by offering her some life ‘firsts’, including a beautifully realised ‘astronaut moment’. The affection between the two is palpable, which makes the sense of loss and tragedy all the more great.

But as the episode progresses, Ellie begins to suspect Joel did lie to her about the killing - not least because he repeats the mistake when dealing with a popular member of their community (a welcome extended cameo from Joe Pantoliano) after he becomes infected.

For Joel, the decisions are clear. But Ellie wants to honour her friend’s dying wish, to say goodbye to his wife, and is sent off to set things in motion to achieve that, only to return to find Joel has executed him.

The subsequent confrontation (in which Ellie betrays Joel and reveals his actions to his grieving wife) pave the way for a final conversation between the two, in which Ellie gives Joel one final chance to be honest with her, which he accepts.

The final line between them is devastating, as Ellie states: “I don’t think I can ever forgive you for that. But I would like to try.”

Joel is killed the very next day.

Ellie subsequently goes ballistic in the final episode, her single minded pursuit of revenge eventually leading to the deaths of two more of Abby’s colleagues - the heavily pregnant Mel and Owen - as well as her own team-member (and the father of Dina’s forthcoming baby) Jesse (Young Mazino). The repercussions are huge - and may contribute towards the shifting sympathies the narrative is inviting viewers to experience.

The second season of The Last of Us therefore rates as another major success - marquee TV that shocks, transcends genre and asks difficult questions of its viewers. It’s gripping, grim stuff that doesn’t shy away from the worst of humanity while offering pockets of hope along the way.