Pedro Pascal in a still from ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2
| Photo Credit: HBO
The premiere of the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us, titled, ‘Future Days’, does not feature the death that will break the internet. Now that is out of the way, let us look at the practically perfect, sophomore opener. Instead of a recap, ‘Future Days’ opens where the first season ended — with Joel (Pedro Pascal) swearing his version of the events at the hospital as true and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), hesitating for a beat before saying “okay”.
The shot of giraffes serenely grazing in the urban jungle underlines how much the humans have lost and nature reclaimed. It also is a callback to the first season, where the sight of giraffes at the Salt Lake City Zoo cheers a traumatised Ellie. By showing the remainder of Fireflies mourning their dead, including one very angry young woman, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) who swears to kill Joel “slowly”, the antagonist for Season 2 is set up.
The Last of Us Season 2 (English)
Creators: Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Kaitlyn Dever
Episodes: 1 of 7
Runtime: 60 minutes
Storyline: Five years after the Fireflies battle, Joel and Ellie have grown apart even as they face new and improved threats
Based on the hugely successful eponymous videogame franchise, The Last of Us is set in world ravaged by a fungus that has turned the infected into ravenous zombies. Season 1, like Part 1 of the game, tells of a cross country trek by a smuggler, Joel, and a special teenager, Ellie. The debut outing was wonderful for its visual signature of blighted towns juxtaposed with the tranquil beauty of nature, while the infected were truly the stuff of nightmares with their flowery, fungal heads, and the action was fuelled by adrenaline.
In the midst of this terrible beauty, the heart of the first season was the relationship between Ellie and Joel — from the jokes, born out of terror, to the comfort they drew from each other. With the distance between Joel and Ellie in Season 2, especially as Ellie walks away from Joel, one wonders, if Ellie is making a terrible mistake; one that she may just regret for a long time to come.
Isabela Merced and Bella Ramsey in a still from ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2
| Photo Credit:
HBO
‘Future Days’ finds Joel and Ellie in the relatively safe settlement of Jackson, Wyoming with Joel’s brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna). Five years later, while there are still the ravening hoards, Jackson has a form of government, a psychotherapist in Gail (Catherine O’Hara) and is even preparing for a celebration to welcome the New Year of 2029.
The New Year might bring new threats in the form of a mutation in the fungus, and evolution of the infected. Ellie might have a new love in Dina (Isabela Merced). The introduction of Gail and her husband, Eugene, is evocative of the Frank and Bill episode in Season 1 as in the game — Frank is a corpse, just like in the game, Eugene is a photograph.
The acting is top notch, with Pascal, revealing his world weariness, kindness and a grumpy bewilderment at Ellie’s distance, even as Ramsey hits the right notes of exploration, hormones, hurt and rage. Dever is a white hot poker of loneliness and fury. Unlike the first season’s nine episodes, Season 2 with its seven episodes is making way for Part II of the videogame to be adapted into two or more seasons as creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have indicated. There is a lot to love about ‘Future Days’ from action to heartbreak to abject terror, and a lot to look forward to as well.
The Last of Us Season 2 is currently streaming on Jio Hotstar with weekly episodes till May 26
Published – April 15, 2025 08:32 pm IST
