The Last Of Us
We finally know when The Last Of Us Season 2 is coming to HBO and Max, and it’s exactly one week after the Season 3 finale of The White Lotus (which is off to a terrific start).
The second season is based on Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us Part 2, a video game that stirred up some controversy when it first came out back in June, 2020. I called the game a “beautiful, terrible sequel” in my review at the time.
I liked Season 1 of HBO’s adaptation from showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (who also directed the games) but it fell short in certain key ways, including what I still believe are some odd casting choices and a strange lack of “infected” for much of the season.
I’m hopeful that Season 2 somehow manages to navigate the narrative issues with the second game and strengthen the fear factor that was missing from so much of Season 1. But I’m as worried about the outcome as I am excited for more of the series.
In any case, Season 2 premieres on HBO and Max on Sunday, April 13th at 9pm. The season is short with only seven episodes which drop weekly. It’s possible that the second game is being broken into two seasons of the TV show since it’s hard to imagine how they’ll cover everything in this amount of time. The second game was much longer than the first, so a shorter second season doesn’t make sense unless it’s being broken up.
Here’s the trailer:
Season 2’s returning cast includes Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, and Rutina Wesley as Maria. HBO has already announced new cast members including Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Ariela Barer as Mel, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, Danny Ramirez as Manny, and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac. Catherine O’Hara also guest stars and appears to be a therapist.
The logline reads: “Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.”
The only trouble I see with this is that Bella Ramsey still looks fifteen. I’m really at a loss as to how this tiny person can play the monstrous killer Ellie becomes in the second game, slashing and shooting her way through dozens (if not hundreds) of enemies like the second coming of Joel himself. We shall see. I will try to keep an open mind.
HBO also released three new posters for Season 2 which you can see in the tweet below:
What do you think of HBO’s adaptation? If you’ve played the second game, how do you think the story will land with TV audiences? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
