The Last of Us is my favourite franchise of all time. I’m a huge fan of the source material. I’ve been into the games for years before the show came out, and I’ve spent over 1100 hours on them (over 400 on TLoU Remastered [almost all on the story, some on Factions to earn all the trophies], over 500 on TLoU2, over 130 on the TLoU Part I remake, and over 100 on TLoU2 Remastered). I’ve also read the American Dreams comic multiple times, and completed Left Behind many times. I’ve fully completed the story of TLoU games over 40 times (30+ times across all versions of TLoU1, almost all without skipping any cinematics), and so far completed TLoU2 13 times across both versions (12 without skipping any cinematics). I’ve also earned all trophies for the games. So safe to say I know the world and characters very well.
I loved the first season and think it’s as close to a perfect adaptation as possible, and one of the best seasons of television I’ve ever seen. I also love season 2 and think it’s great as well. I love the production design, visual effects, practical effects, costume design, prosthetics, music, attention to detail, the writing, the performances, all of it. I feel like the production design and the action sequences were even better this season than last. I like how they don’t have action just for spectacle, and that each action scene adds to the narrative.
I also love how they expand upon the lore and showed more backstory to characters that we didn’t see in the game, and getting to spend more time in Jackson. I liked how it had Ellie trying to mask her feelings it shows that it’s yet another way she was trying to take after Joel. In the game, since you are controlling Ellie and are in her shoes, you feel complicit in her actions. Even if you want to stop, you can’t, much like how Ellie can’t stop either because it’s an addiction. So you’re feeling the same things she is. In the show, you can’t replicate that because there’s no interactivity, so they have to change things. Sure, they could have her going around doing all the same action scenes from the game, but watching her do them wouldn’t hit the same as actually being the one to do them. So instead, they have a deep exploration of Ellie’s internal turmoil. Like I mentioned earlier, we see her trying to mask her emotions like Joel did a lot in Season 1, and this connects us more to her because it’s a familiar thing we witnessed from a beloved character.
The show tries to bring out the same emotions as the game the best they can, even if they go about it in different ways, and for me, it worked. I really loved all the little Easter eggs and references to the game. I love the story for the same reasons I love the game’s story. I feel this season explored Ellie’s trauma and PTSD more in-depth and realistically than the game.
I love how the show wasn’t afraid to take risks. Just like the game, it doesn’t shy away from making controversial decisions, and it takes risks that most shows wouldn’t take, as they are telling a story they’re passionate about. I could go on and on about what I love about Season 2, but overall I love it for most of the same reasons as I love the game. And despite having more changes from the source material, to me it still captures the DNA of the story—just think of it as an alternate reality version of the games. I think it was overall a great season of TV, and I am excited for Season 3.