Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part I and II, along with the HBO adaptation.
The Last of Us Part II was first released in 2020, launching straight into a chaotic ocean of mixed feelings from fans of the video game franchise. The game became critically acclaimed due to its innovative gameplay, intensely detailed design, and most of all, its riveting storytelling. However, the direction that the story took from the first game inevitably upset many people, almost splitting the fandom in two, with the game even being review-bombed at its release. Season Two of the HBO adaptation appears to be doing a great job of carrying on this conflicting, powerful reception from a new generation of fans.
The Last of Us franchise was born with the first game’s release on the PlayStation 3 in 2013, which would soon leave its mark on the gaming industry forever. It was far ahead of its time, placing a strong emphasis on its story and world building–something that had almost never been seen before to such an extent. It is cinematic to the point where it feels like a movie at times, despite the PlayStation 3 graphics (an element which the recent 2023 PlayStation 5 remake brought to new heights). Even without the remake, the original remains timeless to this day, and will surely stay a gaming classic to look back on.
The first game follows a man named Joel in a twenty-years-post-apocalyptic world, who is forced to escort a fourteen-year-old girl named Ellie thousands of miles to a mysterious rebel organization called the “Fireflies.” Ellie is seemingly the only person immune to the zombie-like fungus that destroys the world, and a certain group, known as theFireflies, believe they can use her to create a cure. The Fireflies are a revolutionary faction rebelling against the unjust rule of FEDRA (the Federal Disaster Response Agency) and seek to restore the traditional branches of the American government.
While traversing the land, both Joel and Ellie deal with tremendous and tragic loss, slowly building a heartwarming father-daughter relationship despite everything. Joel tragically lost his daughter on the first day of the apocalypse, and finds newfound hope and care in the rebellious Ellie.
Joel and Ellie’s journey takes them to a Firefly base in a hospital, where the Fireflies’ best minds are conducting research on a cure. They take Ellie to perform a removal surgery on the fungus in her brain, and soon Joel realizes that in order to make a cure, the Fireflies are going to have to kill Ellie. He immediately rejects this–without even pausing to weigh this decision–and when it becomes clear that the Fireflies won’t negotiate, things escalate drastically. Joel ends up killing almost the entire base of Fireflies, including a defenseless Doctor who tries to get in the way of him and Ellie. The game ends with Joel successfully rescuing Ellie, and bringing her to the safe town of Jackson, Wyoming–but also lying to her about what happened, as she would be devastated knowing her life was saved at the cost of a cure.
When fans discovered that Joel dies early on in The Last of Us Part II, many felt betrayed and review-bombed the game. After all, Joel is the character you play throughout the entirety of the first game–it’s inevitable that the player will grow attached to him. Additionally, for about half of the game, you play as the woman who killed Joel, Abby. You are thrusted into her perspective midway through the story, while only knowing that she is the woman who killed the main character you had grown so fond of.
The second game follows Ellie’s quest for revenge against Abby. And although it is different from the first game, the gameplay, cinematography, and complex character dynamics are just as present.
Season Two of The Last of Us has received a ton of mixed feedback from fans, with many of them inevitably upset about the various changes made to the plot. Ellie in the show is undoubtedly different from the tough, quiet, and nonchalant Ellie portrayed in the second game. In the show, Ellie is immensely more immature, and has considerably more light-hearted moments even after Joel’s death. Additionally, the show made it such that Ellie’s quest for revenge started three months after Joel’s death, as opposed to right after, which removes some of the emotional intensity she dealt with in the game.
For example, one of the most dramatic scenes in the game occurs when Ellie discovers her girlfriend, Dina, is pregnant. In the game, Ellie lashes out, calling Dina a “burden.” After all, they are embarking on an extremely dangerous and stressful journey, and tensions are through the roof. However, in the show, Ellie smiles and says, “I’m gonna be a dad?”
Toward the end of the season, however, the show steers back toward the dark emotional intensity of the game. A scene in which Ellie tortures a woman for information is almost exactly like the game, and suddenly the smiley, childish Ellie the show had given us is gone. Bella Ramsey does a fantastic job of showing not only Ellie’s unique personality in the show, but the pain she goes through and the darker aspects of her psyche as well.
And although Joel dies in only the second episode, his presence remains a vital element of the plot. Pedro Pascal’s portrayal of Joel brings this troubled yet beloved character to life in an even more painful way than the game, somehow. Slight changes are made to the emotional dialogue between Joel and Ellie, and more depth is given to their relationship as more flashbacks were added. These changes made it so that even those familiar with the game may be brought to tears by this tragic father-daughter relationship once again.
The show makes it clear that the differences made from the game are deeply intentional. After all, it does a fantastic job of replicating the scenery from the game; the way the stalkers leap across the screen would give any fan of the games goosebumps. It makes sense that the show would make changes for dramatic effect or to help certain plot points carry over better to television. It is obvious that a one-to-one replica of the game is not what this show is trying to achieve, but instead a slightly different rendition that both fans and non-fans alike will enjoy.
The season ends with a perspective shift to Abby, Ellie’s nemesis and the murderer of Joel. We learn the reason for Abby’s action: her father was the doctor Joel shot in his pursuit to rescue Ellie from the Fireflies’ brain surgery four years prior. The Last of Us 2 focuses heavily on the trope of a never-ending cycle of revenge, which in this case, started with Joel and led back to Ellie. Whether Abby will continue this cruel cycle or carve her own path is a question that will be answered in Season 3.
Abby’s part of the game is just as riveting as any other part of The Last of Us, despite some viewers despising her for her actions. Interestingly, her feature takes place over the exact same three days as Ellie’s, both in Seattle. Abby meets new and intriguing characters along the way, and ultimately comes face-to-face with Ellie, leaving the viewer right back where the Season 2 finale did, chronologically.
Although viewers are already beginning to dislike Abby for her murder of Joel, this only proves that The Last of Us on HBO is doing a perfect job at continuing the controversial yet beloved legacy of the original video game series. Season 3 will undoubtedly do the same through the intensity, drama, and action of Abby’s quest, and I am looking forward to seeing how the show handles its various complex elements.
The show makes it clear that the differences made from the game are deeply intentional. After all, it does a fantastic job of replicating the scenery from the game; the way the stalkers leap across the screen would give any fan of the games goosebumps. It makes sense that the show would make changes for dramatic effect or to help certain plot points carry over better to television. It is obvious that a one-to-one replica of the game is not what this show is trying to achieve, but instead a slightly different rendition that both fans and non-fans alike will enjoy.