{"id":1779,"date":"2025-06-21T07:38:49","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T07:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/06\/21\/the-last-of-us-season-two-is-a-devastating-mess\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T07:38:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T07:38:57","slug":"the-last-of-us-season-two-is-a-devastating-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/06\/21\/the-last-of-us-season-two-is-a-devastating-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Last of Us\u2019 season two is a devastating mess"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>Warning: There are spoilers for The Last of Us seasons one and two as well as The Last of Us: Part I and II.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Maybe the expectations were too high.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Maybe a TV adaptation of one of the<a href=\"https:\/\/seasonedgaming.com\/2020\/12\/11\/opinion-the-last-of-us-part-2-is-the-most-controversial-game-of-the-year\/\"> most controversial games<\/a> in recent history didn\u2019t stand a chance, and this show was always destined to share the same turbulent fate as its source material. Maybe expecting \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d season two to somehow unite a heavily divided fanbase while still remaining faithful to the source material was a death sentence waiting to happen.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless, I was disappointed by the aftermath.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>With a universally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/arts\/the-last-of-us-concludes-its-first-season-the-way-it-started-wonderfully\/\">beloved<\/a> first season, it was hard to see how its successor could go wrong. Although season one changed many aspects of the source material\u2019s plot points, fans of both the show and the game believed the adaptation to be faithful and respectful to the original story. Every change, big and small, elevated both the overarching narrative and character development, with the understanding that some elements of the game wouldn\u2019t function in the medium of television.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A stellar example of these broadstroke changes is Bill (Nick Offerman, \u201cMission: Impossible \u2014 The Final Reckoning\u201d) and Frank\u2019s (Murray Bartlett, \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d) love story, a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cinemablend.com\/television\/the-last-of-us-why-the-change-to-bill-and-franks-storyline-was-the-best-decision\"> beloved original addition<\/a> to the show. Even though this was a large step away from the source material, this new inclusion allowed for the story\u2019s overarching theme of love and hope to permeate through more subplots, strengthening the core of the game\u2019s message.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The show continued making bold changes in the same fashion: taking themes at the center of The Last of Us video game and making tweaks to positively impact the new narrative format. Essentially, \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d season one became the<a href=\"https:\/\/merrimacknewspaper.com\/why-the-last-of-us-is-already-the-best-video-game-to-tv-adaptation-ever-and-its-not-close\/\"> blueprint for a perfect video game adaptation<\/a> by making meaningful changes to the source material without damaging the essence of the original story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I expected season two to be no different. In fact, the second season held boundless potential as an adaptation that could <em>improve <\/em>upon its source material, given the game\u2019s reception to material.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Last of Us: Part II is about two women\u2019s desire for revenge and the destruction that this desire causes. Since its release, Part II has been one of the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegamer.com\/the-last-of-us-series-most-controversial-choices-plot-points\/\"> most divisive games of all time<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/seasonedgaming.com\/2020\/12\/11\/opinion-the-last-of-us-part-2-is-the-most-controversial-game-of-the-year\/\">,<\/a> being simultaneously vilified and adored by thousands.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>The sequel strays quite far from the original narrative of its predecessor, both thematically and through its protagonists. In the first game, we play as Joel Miller, a smuggler tasked with taking a potential cure for the Infection across the country. Only the cure isn\u2019t a vaccine or a probiotic \u2014 it\u2019s a young girl immune to the Infection. Joel and Ellie build a strong familial bond that is tested once it is revealed that creating the cure would kill Ellie in the process. Choosing between saving the world or saving his newfound daughter, Joel kills everyone involved in the vaccine-making process, including the surgeon planning on operating on Ellie.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the second game, Joel is abruptly and violently murdered by a group of strangers, with a woman named Abby as their leader. Unbeknownst to Joel or Ellie, Abby\u2019s father was the surgeon murdered by Joel five years prior. In turn, Ellie succumbs to the same vindictive rage and becomes driven to find and kill Abby. A vicious cycle of violence consumes the two of them, causing the women to lose everyone they hold dear. At the same time, Abby and Ellie are in the middle of a warzone in Seattle, where two factions, the Wolves (Washington Liberation Front) and Scars (Seraphites), are massacring each other for land they both believe they lay claim to. Both the characters and the setting reflect how the only way to end the cycle of violence is to walk away from it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Many critics<a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/reviews\/2020\/6\/12\/21288535\/the-last-of-us-part-2-review-ps4-naughty-dog-ellie-joel-violence\"> cite<\/a> the strange pacing, Ellie\u2019s character arc, Abby\u2019s character and, of course, Joel\u2019s untimely death as the sources of its failure. In stark contrast, many fans of the game<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vg247.com\/the-last-of-us-2-review\"> praise<\/a> the bold risks the story took to tackle themes of empathy, violence and forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p>After seeing the legacy of Part II, \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d season two had the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/arts\/tv\/sxsw-2025-inside-the-last-of-us-season-two\/\">potential<\/a> to do something groundbreaking: taking what worked in the original game and tweaking what clearly didn\u2019t. They could preserve and even expand the game\u2019s risks while adjusting the pacing or plot structure. The show could have used this opportunity as a second draft to an infamously daring yet flawed narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So, how does season two handle this story?<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Like the previous season, the show holds a similar overarching narrative to its source material, but here, there is a bizarre amount of miscalculated and cowardly changes that actively hurt the story\u2019s plot, characters and themes. Where season one had a clear reverence and understanding of its source material, season two appears ashamed by it.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than tackling the controversies of the original games head-on, the adaptation runs away from any nuance introduced in the narrative. Abby (Kaitlyn Dever, \u201cApple Cider Vinegar\u201d) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey, \u201cVillain\u201d) bear the brunt of this impact. As two morally complex characters in the original narrative, the two are now scrubbed clean of their ambiguity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Abby, a pivotal figure in the second game, is a woman solely fueled by revenge. Her introduction in the game is a strategically brutal one when she beats Joel to death during one of her first scenes. Players are primed to view Abby as a remorseless monster, but the game challenges these initial perceptions over and over again as the story progresses and takes on Abby\u2019s perspective. The game\u2019s ultimate hope was to force players to empathize with Abby in spite of her previous barbarity (however, the game\u2019s success in doing so is \u2026 contentious).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the show, the viewers are not put in the same moral quandary. As if the showrunners do not trust its audience to think critically, \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d season two spinelessly removes all opportunity to misunderstand or dislike Abby. Now, episode one introduces Abby with tears in her eyes; the second episode has her accidentally start an avalanche through her clumsiness; and the show even gives her a teary villain monologue before she kills Joel, spoonfeeding the audience her motivations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This bizarre change fundamentally misunderstands what the game was trying to accomplish with the character. Abby is the manifestation of the game\u2019s ultimate question: Can we forgive someone we hate? This new iteration is terrified of asking the same question, and instead, desperately ensures that we won\u2019t hate her at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Unfortunately, the same can be said for Ellie.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One of the reasons Part II was so controversial is due to Ellie\u2019s transformation from the young, optimistic girl in Part I to a cold-hearted, merciless killer. Regardless of fans\u2019 perceptions of this choice, the game forces its players to witness the brutal decline of Ellie\u2019s morality as she systematically murders Abby\u2019s friends. With each death, Ellie\u2019s moral ambiguity chips away until her behavior is unforgivable.<\/p>\n<p>In this new version of the story, Ellie\u2019s moral ambiguity is a spectre of its original form. In the game, Joel\u2019s death embeds itself into Ellie\u2019s mind like a permanent brand, and she becomes overtaken by an intense drive to kill Abby. In the show, Ellie still witnesses the murder and grieves for her surrogate father\u2019s loss, but any evidence of moral depravity is shown through words, not actions.<\/p>\n<p>The majority of the season depicts Ellie as the exact same character from season one. Although she says she wants to kill Abby by any means necessary, Ellie spends a large portion of the show acting aloof and carefree with Dina, cracking jokes and fawning over her crush. It\u2019s only when the script can no longer avoid Ellie\u2019s plot-pushing violence that she is more reminiscent of her video game counterpart. After much time avoiding it, the show is eventually forced to portray Ellie killing Abby\u2019s friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Although the scenes are superficially similar to the game, they hold absolutely no water. The show\u2019s lack of dedication toward Ellie\u2019s decline makes these scenes come almost out of nowhere. Worst of all, Ellie\u2019s victims are portrayed not as targets crossed out on a hit list, but as casualties instead. This tone-deaf choice removes all agency from Ellie in her worst moments; it forgives her of her sins.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>The writers have sanitized the original plot to maintain Ellie\u2019s morally unambiguous character. Instead of working within the core elements of the game, they\u2019ve censored its original themes in the hopes of placating everyone. Instead, the show pleases no one.<\/p>\n<p>However, it would be unfair to call this new season a complete failure in spite of the many issues I see with it. I still believe there are some shining moments in the series.<\/p>\n<p>The show\u2019s choice to implement an avalanche of zombies to attack the Jackson stronghold was brilliant. It was a bold way to start the season and remind the audience of the extreme threat Infected pose to the community. Other Infected scenes, like in the bus station and grocery store, succeeded perfectly in creating a tense and threatening atmosphere. Additionally, Jeffery Wright\u2019s depiction of Isaac was terrifying, and the violence between the Scars and the Wolves were some of the most intense and stomach-churning scenes I\u2019ve watched in a long time, constantly keeping me on the edge of my seat. Ramsey continued to impress, making me cry almost four times during the show from their sheer talent, regardless of the spotty dialogue they made them say.<\/p>\n<p>So perhaps the title of this review is misleading. Divorced from its source material, \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d season two is \u2026 fine. A little stilted at times, with poor dialogue and strange pacing, but ultimately inoffensive. However, when considering its identity as an adaptation, that fragile facade falls apart. The season feels like a cheap counterfeit: a soulless, watered-down version of a game with a vision. I can\u2019t say I\u2019ll ever watch season two again, but at least it has helped me reflect on The Last of Us: Part II in a kinder, more forgiving light.<\/p>\n<p>Although I\u2019m walking away from this series with a lot of frustration and shattered hopes, I\u2019ll always appreciate its attempt to bring the story from the video game to a new audience. And who knows, maybe season three will learn from its mistakes. Maybe season three will make the right choices.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-6    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><em>Daily Arts Writer Ana Torresarpi can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/arts\/tv\/the-last-of-my-patience\/mailto:atorresa@umich.edu\"><em>atorresa@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warning: There are spoilers for The Last of Us seasons one and two as well as The Last of Us: Part I and II. Maybe the expectations were too high.\u00a0 Maybe a TV adaptation of one of the most controversial games in recent history didn\u2019t stand a chance, and this show was always destined to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1987,1494,315],"class_list":{"0":"post-1779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-devastating","9":"tag-mess","10":"tag-season"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1781,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions\/1781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}