I’ve been trying to save the TV blogs for season finales, but episode two of the new season of The Last of Us was worthy of its own post. The video game first released in 2014 (fun fact this was the first game I played on my PS4) and the sequel released in 2020, I haven’t played that one. My understanding is that HBO has three seasons of content that covers both games. With season one ending with the conclusion of the first game, I was blind coming into season two. I knew Joel died, but I didn’t know when. I’ll skip almost all of the recap, Ellie and Joel have spent a few years at a refugee city trying to find some normalcy. At the end of the first season, Joel kills a team of Fireflies who are hoping to extract Ellie’s DNA to combat the virus. They are on patrol going about their daily duties when this starts.
Joel saves a former firefly named Abby and goes back to her base with Ellie’s friend Dina. The former fireflies have been hunting Joel hoping to take revenge. While that is going on, the city is under siege by thousands of the zombies. Some elite television was shown in that battle, the cinematography, and fighting choreography was incredible, and I couldn’t look away. This was maybe the best “Zombie” battle that I’ve seen since the peak of The Walking Dead. They take heavy casualties but are able to hold their city and repel the attack.
Abby reveals who she is and begins mercilessly beating Joel while Dina is unconscious. There’s no other way to describe this other than brutal. To the point where the head of the golf club breaks off from hitting him so much. Ellie is able to find him but is disarmed and held down while they continue to beat Joel. Ellie begs and pleads for his release, but Abby eventually kills Joel by jamming the broken golf club in his neck. Abby and team leave, Ellie tells her she will find her and kill them all. Ellie is devasted as she brings Dina and Joel’s body back to the city.
This was just heartbreaking. Pedro Pascal was the heartbeat of this show, to kill off his character in episode TWO of the season is insane. I figured HBO would stretch it out and kill him off at the end, but apparently, they stayed true to the second game’s plot. There’s so much discourse about the casting of Ellie, and I think it’s all fucking bullshit. Bella Ramsey is an extremely talented actress who crushes the role of Ellie. So, she doesn’t look like the character from the game? Neither does Pedro Pascal playing Joel. These two did an incredible job bringing the story to life, and I can’t imagine there would have been a better performance if someone else was cast as Ellie.
Where do we go next? The show is shot so beautifully, a mountain western that’s worth a watch even without dialogue. It’s an incredible world, so much mystery and plot potential that could exist regardless of the characters. I will say though, I’m nervous about how they move forward without Joel. Ellie’s character works because of him, removing half of the dynamic is a huge risk. Like I said earlier, I didn’t play the sequel game so I really have no idea where the story will go.
Regardless, I will continue tuning in every Sunday night to see what happens next. There’s so much bullshit criticism of this show from freaks who don’t watch, I take solace in knowing that everyone actually watching the show enjoys it a ton. RIP Joel Miller, one of the best video game characters ever adapted to the big screen. Thanks for reading, next week I’ll get a season finale recap for the upcoming Righteous Gemstones finale. See you then!
