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Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
The Last of Us Season 2 is brutal, beautiful, and burdened by its own ambition
The Last of Us stormed onto screens last year with a rare mix of prestige-drama emotion and genre spectacle, proving that a game adaptation could sit comfortably among television's finest. Set in a United States crippled by a brain-altering fungal pandemic, the show followed weary smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) and immune teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) on a cross-country trek that ended with Joel's morally catastrophic decision to save her life at humanity's expense. While its second is gorgeous, gripping, and well acted, its truncated scope and fixation on vengeance blunt the emotional power that made the first run unforgettable. Five years after the Salt Lake City massacre, Joel and Ellie have tried to build a life behind the fortified fences of Jackson, Wyoming. Their fragile détente is strained by Joel's secret—he lied about why the Fireflies abandoned a cure—and by Ellie's ordinary-but-extraordinary passage into young adulthood. Meanwhile Abby, daughter of the surgeon Joel killed, scours the country for payback, and two rival militias close in on the mountain settlement. Tensions inside and outside Jackson ignite a chain of violence that forces Ellie onto her own path, shadowed by Joel's example and haunted by questions of what justice really costs. The production values remain staggering: snow-caked streets, candle-lit cabins, and the show's signature nightmare fungi give every frame a painterly bleakness. Directors Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann still know how to wring dread from a creaking floorboard or a distant clicker's rasp. Performances are uniformly stellar. Pedro Pascal deepens Joel's weary regret, and Bella Ramsey excels as a 19-year-old Ellie whose sarcasm now guards genuine fury and confusion. Newcomers bring welcome texture: Kaitlyn Dever's Abby is a coiled spring of grief; Isabela Merced's Dina supplies warmth and gentle humor; Jeffrey Wright radiates chilly authority as militia leader Isaac; and Catherine O'Hara steals scenes as a therapist whose professional façade cracks around old wounds. When the season leans into intimate moments—Joel's halting therapy sessions, Ellie and Dina's mixtape-trading banter, Abby's whispered vows—the series feels as insightful as ever. Trimming The Last of Us Part II to seven episodes leaves the narrative stretched and oddly rushed. Crucial new players, especially Abby and Isaac, get sketch-note introductions when they deserve full-color portraits. Thematically, the script circles the idea of revenge until it begins to feel like lecture: every confrontation ends with a variation on 'hurt people hurt people,' yet the show seldom digs deeper than that slogan. Set-piece zombie battles, while technically impressive, occasionally resemble bonus levels inserted to pad run time. The absence of standalone detours—Season 1's most affecting hours—makes the pacing feel uniform and, paradoxically, slower. And the finale arrives so abruptly that it registers less as a climax than a mid-season pause designed to justify a third installment. Season 2 is still head-and-shoulders above most genre television, thanks to top-tier craft and performances that breathe life into every blood-spattered corner. Yet its narrower focus and didactic approach to vengeance mean it never reaches the cathartic highs or devastating lows of the debut run. Fans craving more time in this ruined America will find plenty to admire; those hoping for the next leap forward may leave feeling, like Ellie herself, hungrier than before.
Mint
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
The Last of Us Season 3: What to expect in the third season of the fan-favourite post-apocalyptic drama
With the explosive end of Season 2 still fresh, fans of The Last of Us are already looking ahead to what comes next. Based closely on the video game The Last of Us Part II, Season 3 is expected to follow the same bold and emotional path—with some big changes in focus. If The Last Of Us sticks to the game's structure, viewers will see far less of Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey). In fact, much of Season 3 may not feature her at all. Instead, we're likely to spend most of our time with Abby, played by Kaitlyn Dever, who was introduced at the very end of Season 2. In the game, the story is split down the middle between Ellie and Abby. We've already seen Ellie's side of the events in Seattle, but Season 3 is expected to shift fully into Abby's perspective. Her journey runs parallel to Ellie's, showing what she and her group were doing during those tense three days. Expect the return of familiar faces like Nora, Owen, Mel, and Manny—Abby's close friends who had big roles in Joel's death and are key players in what comes next. This means actors Tati Gabrielle, Spencer Lord, Ariela Barer, and Danny Ramirez, will return for the third season. No, most likely not. Pedro's Joel Miller was killed in the show by Abby after what he did to the Fireflies. But if the show was the follow the game more closely, then there may be chance of his return. The series' creators have promised that 'all will become clear,' but if the game is anything to go by, fans should prepare for a deeply emotional and complex season—one that may challenge who we root for. One thing's for sure: The Last of Us is about to change in a big way.
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘The Last of Us' Season 2 finale: A mission for revenge takes a turn
This story is full of spoilers for 'The Last of Us' Season 2, especially the finale. Season 2 of HBO's 'The Last of Us' ends with the ultimate cliffhanger (seriously, if you have not seen and do not want to know, please stop reading right now): An Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) vs. Ellie (Bella Ramsey) face-off in which only Abby has a weapon. As Ellie cries out, a gun goes off and ... we are sent back in time to Day 1, Abby's viewpoint. So if any of y'all were looking for some kind of closure, emotional or narrative, well, you have got a bit of a wait. The episode itself played out like a mini-epic. Picking up where last week's mostly flashback episode ended, Ellie returns to the theater to find Jesse (Young Mazino) tending to Dina (Isabela Merced), who got an arrow through the leg, courtesy of the Seraphites, in Episode 5. When Dina refuses an anesthetic slug of alcohol during the proceedings, Jesse gets the wind up. As he and Ellie then set out to find Tommy (Gabriel Luna), he (kinda) tricks Ellie into revealing Dina's pregnancy. That admission only adds fuel to the tension between Ellie, with her obsessive need to make Abby pay for killing Joel, and Jesse, who is angry at Ellie for putting her personal desire for revenge above the needs of the community back in Jackson. High words are spoken before the two split up, with Jesse going to search for Tommy, Ellie to continue tracking Abby. After a frankly weird hero's journey in which she braves stormy seas and faces execution by the Seraphites, Ellie makes it to the abandoned aquarium to find Abby. There she surprises Mel (Ariela Barer) and Owen (Spencer Lord), two of the former Fireflies who were with Abby when she killed Joel (Pedro Pascal). When Owen reaches for a gun, Ellie fires, shooting him through the throat. The bullet also, alas, hits Mel, who reveals her advanced pregnancy and, as she bleeds out, begs Ellie to cut the baby out. Horrified, Ellie can do no such thing, and Mel dies even as Jesse and Tommy show up. It's a powerful and terrible scene. Upon their return to the safety of the theater, Ellie is, understandably, very shaken and appears to be rethinking the wisdom of her revenge tour when Abby shows up and kills Jesse (sob). As Ellie takes responsibility for Mel and Owen's deaths and struggles to explain, we see her original fury reflected in Abby's face. She points the gun at Ellie, a shot rings out and the story resets on Day 1 of the outbreak. The Times' Lorraine Ali, Tracy Brown and Mary McNamara discuss the finale and the season that came before it. McNamara: As someone who has not played the game but has watched a lot of television, I am going to make the wild guess that Ellie is not dead. Not that I expect to discover this for quite a while, as the final scene indicates that Season 3 will be giving us Abby's backstory before bringing us (one hopes) back to the theater and the series' present. This finale, like much of what preceded it, felt both rushed and oddly slow. This season has been very much (and at times too obviously) focused on Ellie's growth, as a person and a main character. And with the exception of her love for Dina, I'm not sure how much is there. That Ellie is relentless has been made abundantly clear; ditto the fact that she is confused about her purpose in life. But I admit I was relieved when Jesse read her the riot act about how this mission of vengeance put so many people in danger, including and especially the woman Ellie claims to love. The stakes in Season 1 were very clear — get Ellie to where she can be used to make a cure — even if they were subverted in the end. This season, the main tension appears to be more about Ellie becoming mature enough to accept that not all heroes have to make dramatic sacrifices or win a blood feud. That's a fine message, but it required a lot of attention on her emotional growth, which honestly seemed to occur mostly in the final few minutes, while offering only tantalizing slivers of the larger forces around her. How do you introduce a crazy cult and not offer any real explanation for it? How do you enlist Jeffrey Wright (or for that matter, Hettienne Park) as WLF commanders and then give them so little to do? Not to mention poor Mel and Owen, who are sacrificed, apparently, merely to broaden Ellie's worldview. I realize that some of this is about staying true(ish) to the game, which I understand offers different viewpoints, but even with the action-packed finale, it's hard not to feel like Season 2 was simply a preamble to Season 3. What do you think, 'Last of Us' player Tracy Brown? Brown: I have to agree with you, Mary — the finale's pacing felt a bit awkward as it barreled its way toward the perspective shift into Abby's side of the story that will likely be the focus of Season 3, while also trying to pack in familiar moments from the game. I also think you're feeling a version of the confusion and frustration that 'The Last of Us: Part II' players felt when Ellie and Abby's showdown at the theater abruptly cut to something completely different and you're suddenly being forced to play as the character you've spent hours trying to hunt down. In the game, up until that cliffhanger, you've primarily been playing as Ellie outside of a few sequences before Joel's death. Players don't learn much about the Washington Liberation Front or the Seraphites or their conflict until they get to Abby's side of the story. And when you're playing a game, you're used to knowing only as much as the character you're playing as and learning more about any enemies as you go. You're also much more mission-oriented — as great as a game's story is, you're main focus is gathering as much information as you can to accomplish your goal. The mission and the themes are a bit more straightforward in the first 'Last of Us' game. In 'The Last of Us: Part II,' there's a bait and switch. You start the game's main storyline playing as Ellie, with the assumption that your mission is to get revenge, only to find yourself suddenly playing as Abby. Because 'Part II' is more about an exploration of trauma and cycles of violence, Abby and her story have to be more than something you learn about as Ellie. In the game, the perspective shift is essential and revelatory because, navigating any discomfort while playing as Abby is part of the experience. It's something dependent on the unique way players become attached to characters they play as. In television, stories can unfold differently. Because audiences are not playing as Ellie, they can be introduced to Abby's ties to the events in Salt Lake City and characters like Isaac (Wright) much sooner than in the game because we're not locked into one point of view. And that freedom brings its own challenges. I should also mention that as acclaimed as the franchise is, 'Part II' was a bit more divisive among players too. Lorraine, what did you think about the finale? Ali: You've both expressed many of the same feelings I have about the finale and about Season 2 in general. Does that mean I can have the night off? If I took my cues from Ellie, I'd do just that. Ellie predictably put her own interests above everyone and everything else, which didn't leave much room for an interesting story twist or character growth in the Season 2 finale. To Mary's point about pacing, Episode 7 spent precious time hammering away on what we already know: Ellie's need for revenge put everyone who cares about her in danger. Poor Dina. The only way Jesse was getting that crossbow bolt out of her leg was pulling it straight through. The credits are nearly ready to roll by the time Ellie realizes her single-minded quest is as barbaric as Abby's killing of Joel, but not before she gunned down a pregnant woman. Tracy, I wonder if the trouble the show had picking out where to spend its time is partly a game-to-TV adaptation problem. You mentioned the shifting perspectives in the game, of players seeing the world through Ellie's and then Abby's eyes. But serieswatchers are a passive audience and that left the show with a lot of options to tackle and/or leave out. The finale's hopscotching from scenario to scenario appeared like it was born out of duty rather than purpose. Ellie's choppy boat ride, the rogue wave washing her ashore, her capture and release at the hands of the cult — all were colorful and dramatic but felt abrupt and even extraneous to the story. That said, the decaying Costco storefront was a nice touch even if it was totally random. Lastly, I loved the Seattle-centric soundtrack and poster choices of grunge bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. But a lot of great female bands came out of the Pacific Northwest too, and I can't help but feel the feral screams of 7 Year B— would have been a perfect soundtrack for Ellie's rage. So what do we all think about the last moments of the finale, which set us up for Season 3? McNamara: I love the granular music criticism, Lorraine! For the life of me, I could not figure out what to make of Ellie's brief capture by the Seraphites, which felt a lot like finale padding — don't forget the crazy cult in the woods about which we know nothing yet! — or even her 'Twelfth Night'-like near-drowning. ('What country, friends, is this?') I can see how the switch from Ellie to Abby might work in the game — you'll never understand your 'enemy' until you walk a mile in her shoes — but for a series to flip viewpoints seasonally (as opposed to episodically) is a big ask for viewers, especially those not familiar with the game. With the exception of Ellie and Dina's burgeoning relationship, much of this season felt like a big teaser reel for Season 3. Ramsey is a talented actor, but the task of carrying the show by portraying a recognizable teen on a complicated existential journey in the middle of a life-or-death adventure tale is a formidable one, especially without the benefit of an older, wiser guide/co-star. But then no one said adapting a game to a series would be easy. As for the final moments, well, as I said, I don't think Ellie's dead, though Jesse certainly is, which is tragic — he and Tommy were the real heroes of Season 2. I am intrigued by the 'Day 1'-ness of the final scene. I always like when postapocalyptic tales take the time to explain how it all went down. So I will be counting the months to see what happens next, which I suppose is what every TV writer wants. Brown: I'll refrain from spoiling Ellie's fate here, even though the game with the answer came out in 2020! But I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the cut to Abby's 'Seattle Day 1' signals the show is likely sticking to the structure of the game — meaning Season 3 will tell Abby's story, following the former Firefly for the same three days that Ellie has spent in the Emerald City leading up to their violent reunion. If the show stays true to the game, we won't be seeing what happens to Ellie following that cliffhanger gunshot until the story reaches that part of 'Day 3' from Abby's perspective. Sorry, Mary! I was a bit surprised when I realized the show was going to follow this same route, especially after it introduced Abby's backstory so early. One of the perks of television is that it's possible to follow the multiple storylines of more than one character, so I thought the show might try weaving Ellie and Abby's narratives a bit more. One benefit of following the game's road map, though, is there are distinct breaks in the overall story to build seasons around. (I'm calling it now that the Season 3 finale will be around their clash at the theater again.) Back to Lorraine's point, I do think that some of the struggles of this season comes down to the choices around which game moments to give space to. Some game-to-TV moments were very successful, like Joel taking Ellie to the museum for her birthday in Episode 6. Others, like Ellie taking that boat to get to the aquarium, were a bit less successful. Ellie getting tossed around those waves was a great nod to that sequence in the game, but on the show, it wasn't as clear why she even needed to hop on the boat to begin with. We've all mentioned how Dina and Ellie's relationship has been one of the highlights of this season. Without spoiling anything, what I am most curious about is how Ellie's excitement around Dina's pregnancy and becoming a dad is going to affect the story to come. How about you, Lorraine, is there hope for 'The Last of Us' to win you back? Ali: There is always hope, Tracy, even in the blighted, rotting, fungus-filled world of 'The Last of Us.' My meager hope for the Season 3 opener? That Ellie emerges a survivor, and her comeback scene is set to Pearl Jam's 'Alive.'
News18
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
The Last Of Us 2 Finale Shows Revenge Isn't Always The Answer For Ellie
Last Updated: Without revealing too much, let's look at what fans on X have to say about The Last of Us season 2's powerful finale and a quick recap. The first season of The Last of Us felt like a journey about a special hero on a mission to save the world by making a big sacrifice. But in the final episode, Joel changed everything and surprised everyone by changing the story that no one expected. Now, Season 2 began with new questions about where the show is going. The finale answered some of these questions, which was exciting and a bit confusing. One clear part of the episode is Ellie's story, where she learns that revenge is complicated and doesn't always bring peace. Without revealing too much, let's look at what fans on X (formerly Twitter) had to say about this powerful finale and a quick recap. Ellie tells Dina the truth about Joel killing the Fireflies to save her, which leaves Dina disturbed and wanting to go home. Ellie and Jesse go looking for Tommy, but they argue after Jesse calls her selfish. Jesse also reveals Dina is pregnant and shares a past love story. Ellie learns Abby is likely at the aquarium. Jesse disagrees with Ellie's revenge plan but goes after Tommy, while Ellie heads to the aquarium. After a big wave, Ellie lands on Seraphite land, escapes during an attack, and kills Owen and Mel. The ending leaves her with guilt, unanswered questions and a painful reminder that no one truly wins. Reacting to the epic finale of The Last of Us season 2, a user wrote, 'I thought 49 minutes was gonna be rushed, but it was actually perfect. Has some of the most epic scenes I've seen on TV. I'm not sure how to feel about Ellie being portrayed as way more sensitive than in the game. Perfect ending." Another shared, 'Gonna speak my truth and say Tommy/Gabriel Luna was my favourite part of the finale, The Last Of Us." gonna speak my truth and say tommy/gabriel luna was my favorite part of the finale #TheLastOfUs — tarrin (@hearteyespascal) May 26, 2025 'Bella Ramsey as Ellie does such a great job of being the heart of this show. Seeing the connection with Dina and Jesse was so good. Also, her journey in revenge was shot so well. All leading to the Abby finale and cliffhanger was crazy, man. S3 has to hurry," a comment read. Bella Ramsey as Ellie does such a great job of being the heart of this show. Seeing the connection with Dina and Jesse were so good. Also her journey in revenge was shot so well. All leading to the Abby finale and cliffhanger was crazy man 😭. S3 has to hurry #TheLastOfUs — Nelajus (🌱) (@jNelajus) May 26, 2025 One more added, 'The finale should've cut when Abby shoots Ellie. If they wanted to go for a cliffhanger ending, they could've just cut to black there and there was no need to show WLF base. The Last Of Us." The finale should've cut when Abby shoots Ellie. If they wanted to go for a cliffhanger ending, they could've just cut to black there and there was no need to show WLF base. #TheLastOfUs — Saiyam Babel (@SaiyamRJ) May 26, 2025 The Last of Us season 2 stars Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Young Mazino, Isabela Merced, Kaitlyn Dever, Spencer Lord, Tati Gabrielle and Ariela Barer, in key roles. First Published: May 26, 2025, 15:12 IST
USA Today
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
All about that 'Last of Us' Season 2 finale: Who died? Who survived?
All about that 'Last of Us' Season 2 finale: Who died? Who survived? Show Caption Hide Caption Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal discuss father-daughter relationship 'The Last of Us' stars Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal reveal they didn't enjoy their character's estrangement in season 2. Spoiler alert! The following contains details from the Season 2 finale of "The Last of Us." Somehow, things have gotten worse for Ellie. The lead of HBO's "The Last of Us," played by Bella Ramsey, has had a rough season on the post-apocalyptic zombie drama. Her surrogate father figure Joel (Pedro Pascal), admitted that he killed dozens of people in her name, and then was shortly killed himself by the daughter of one of his victims, while Ellie looked on. For the rest of Season 2 Ellie has been on a rage- and vengeance-fueled hunt for Joel's killer, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), which brought her and her best friend/crush/girlfriend Dina (Isabela Merced) to the war-torn ruins of Seattle. By the finale episode, which aired May 25, Ellie and Dina's revenge-quest had seemingly lost all hope. Dina has been shot by an arrow in the crossfire of the war between the Washington Liberation Front/Wolves, the militia that Abby is a part of, and the Seraphites, a cult-ish religious group fond of lynching. She's tortured and killed one of Abby's friends and gotten a vague hint about where Abby might be. And her friend Jesse (Young Mazino) and surrogate uncle Tommy (Gabriel Luna) have come to Seattle to her rescue – and to tell her how stupid she's being. But that wasn't the end of her search. Here's everything that went down in the (literally) wet and wild season finale, and what it might mean for the show's upcoming third season. Ellie tells Dina about Joel and the Fireflies Pregnant Dina joined Ellie on her trip to Seattle both because she loves Ellie (as more than just a friend, we recently discovered) and because she loved Joel. But after Ellie tortured and killed Abby's comrade Nora (Tati Gabrielle), Ellie realizes she needs to come clean about her own crime, and Joel's. She tells Dina about all the fireflies Joel killed in Salt Lake City in Season 1. The revelation hardens Dina, who is now ready to go back to their home in Jackson, Wyoming, but is still committed to Ellie. She gives Ellie a bracelet for good luck. Dina stays behind at the theater they've been using for shelter while Ellie and Jesse go in search of Tommy. Ellie abandons her friends so she can seek vengeance − again While Ellie and Jesse are looking for Tommy they hear on Ellie's stolen WLF walkie about a sniper, and Jesse is convinced that it must be Tommy. Jesse wants to go get him immediately, but Ellie has just finally understood what Nora said about Abby's whereabouts: She realizes Abby is hiding out in an aquarium on a dock. She abandons Jesse, cursing what she sees as his holier-than-thou attitude and finds a boat to head for the aquarium amid a violent storm. But of course the teenager who grew up in a walled city in Boston and then a landlocked Wyoming town doesn't know much about sailing, and she is swept ashore a tiny island almost instantly and is captured by the Seraphites, who believe she's a Wolf. As she begs for her life they begin to string up her up in a tree, but an oncoming real attack from the WLF spooks them and they leave her gasping for air on the ground, rope still around her neck. Eventually she makes it to the aquarium, where she hears two of Abby's friends, Owen (Spencer Lord) and Mel (Ariela Barer) arguing about their absent leader. The place is full of bloody gauze and medical-looking instruments, but we can't quite make out what Owen and Mel are saying about Abby. Ellie doesn't care, drawing her gun on them and demanding they tell her where Abby is. Owen tries a quick shot at Ellie but misses, and Ellie fires back hitting both Owen and Mel. Owen falls instantly, but Mel has a few seconds before she bleeds out, and reveals she's pregnant. She begs Ellie to deliver her baby via C-section before she dies, but Ellie, crying and traumatized, doesn't know what to do, and Mel perishes along with her unborn child. Ellie still doesn't find out where Abby is. Soon after Jesse and Tommy show up to rescue Ellie yet again, and all three go back to the theater. What happens in that theater between Abby and Ellie? Back at the theater, Ellie talks with Tommy and Jesse, coming to terms with the fact that she must give up her thirst for vengeance and return home. She also reconciles with Jesse, and the friends have a sweet moment where they realize how much they care about each other. A second later they hear a disturbance from the other room and run out to the theater's lobby. They burst through the door Jesse is shot and killed, and Abby is standing with a gun on Tommy. Ellie begs Abby to spare Tommy's life, taking responsibility for killing Abby's friends. Abby raises her gun as Ellie screams, a shot is fired and then … the screen cuts to black. What does the 'Last of Us' finale mean for Season 3? In the very last scene we see Abby, safe and sound in a compound for the WLF, and the onscreen text tells us we've gone back in time three days, to the first day Ellie and Dina came to Seattle. This is a strong indicator that Season 3 of the series will be all about Abby, which mirrors the narrative structure of the video game. That could mean very little of Ramsey's Ellie in the episodes, and it's almost a guarantee Pascal will not be returning. HBO has yet to set a date for Season 3.
