The Last Of Us goes deep narratively and even deeper in its lavish world-building. The show’s savage vision of a post-apocalyptic America is so completely convincing that when Ellie (Bella Ramsey) strums a few bars of a-ha‘s ’80s megahit ‘Take On Me’, it’s a haunting reminder of the “normal life” that these characters barely remember.
This poignant scene is borrowed from The Last Of Us Part 2, the hugely successful 2020 video game upon which the show’s second season is largely based. It begins five years after the first, which means it’s now a quarter of a century since a parasitic fungal infection turned most of the human race into frothing zombies known as “the infected”.
As you may recall, season one followed stoic smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) as he escorted the charmingly inquisitive Ellie across an America made treacherous by rival survivors and the bloodthirsty infected. A band of survivors known as the Fireflies believed her blood could save all of humanity but Joel couldn’t go through with the sacrifice and spilt plenty of other people’s blood in the process of rescuing Ellie from her supposed destiny. The new season begins with a lot more peace. Our heroes are safely ensconced in Jackson, Wyoming, a close-knit community protected from the infected by a massive perimeter wall. It’s the dystopian equivalent of a gated development.
Though Ellie is romantically drawn to rebellious Dina (Isabela Merced), the season’s emotional fulcrum is her increasingly fractious relationship with Joel. Put simply: he wants to be her father, but she wants to be his partner in protecting Jackson from the outside world.
Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann – the latter also co-created the video game – do make some tweaks to the source material. Ellie’s new nemesis Abby (an excellent Kaitlyn Dever) is less enigmatic here, while Catherine O’Hara adds value as Gail, a dry-witted psychotherapist who doesn’t appear in the game.
Describing the overarching storyline is a minefield of spoilers, but the season eventually takes a vengeful Ellie to crumbling Seattle. Here, the army-like Washington Liberation Front, led by Isaac (Jeffrey Wright, reprising his role from the game), are mired in a seemingly futile war with the Scars, a cult-like community who believe humanity’s future lies in going back to basics.
Despite dazzling production values and universally strong performances – Ramsey really captures Ellie’s noble obstinacy – this season is slightly less satisfying than the first. The main problem: an over-reliance on non-chronological storytelling. Though the various time jumps and flashbacks ultimately add to the narrative, they can feel frustrating in the moment. Mazin and his co-writers clearly had to get inventive to balance loyalty to the source material with retaining the key ingredients that made season one a success.
Still, a few fiddly episodes don’t spoil an entire season – especially one driven brilliantly by the fierce heat of vengeance. At its best, The Last Of Us is unsettling enough to make you question your own hypothetical moral code. When every day is about survival and making sense of post-apocalyptic chaos, does taking a life become easier, or somehow even harder? This show doesn’t just go deep narratively – it also cuts deep emotionally.
‘The Last Of Us’ season two is available to watch in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW