Can you believe we’re finally here again? The Last of Us is back on HBO after a successful first season, and ready to move on to an adaptation of its incredible sequel. While I generally really liked the first season, there were some interesting choices that certainly left room for improvement, and while comments from showrunner Craig Mazin left me hopeful, you still need to see those improvements happen before you celebrate.
Grab your knives, your rifles, and your best dancing shoes while we take a look at the first episode of The Last of Us’s second season, titled “Future Days.”
A considerable benefit of adapting a video game is the newfound space to explore ideas you couldn’t explore within the original work. Video games, for the most part, are a gameplay-based experience where you build everything around the action, and all story and worldbuilding content largely come second on the list of priorities.
This was even more true of The Last of Us Part II compared to the first game, as it built upon the foundation of the first game to make one of the best third-person action games I’ve ever played. It was clear that Naughty Dog put a major focus on the gameplay, and as much of a cinematic game as it was, the gameplay still reigned as king.
A TV show, obviously, gives everyone involved free reign to just focus on the story, and so “Future Days” was packed with stuff any fan of the sequel wanted; more of Joel and Ellie living in Jackson. We get Uncle Joel with his nephew Benji as he argues contracting work with Maria and collects a new daughter in Dina. We get Ellie doing sniper bonding with Tommy and the friendship/crush she has developed on Dina. We see the town living its life and get even more of a sense of its daily routines and struggles.
As a result, we also get more time suffering in the tension between Joel and Ellie that results from Joel’s lie about the Fireflies. Ellie is clearly in a terrible place, letting her bitterness and loss of purpose drive her towards self-destruction. She acts recklessly and invites danger at seemingly every turn. It is made clear that everyone can see the hostility she’s feeling, and what it is doing to her, and I’m intrigued by where this season may take it. I wouldn’t quite call it suicidal, but she doesn’t seem terribly far away.
It’s clear that Ellie really needed the cure to work, because she needed to feel like her immunity, and therefore her survival after Riley’s death, had a purpose. Regardless of whether the Fireflies were full of it or not, Ellie needed to believe in it, and in her mind Joel has stolen this from her. Now all of that need for purpose is left drifting aimlessly, and she needs to blame him. All that’s left is survivor’s guilt that has her acting recklessly.
Of course, thanks to Ellie’s recklessness and Dina’s enabling, we also got something in this episode that fans of the first season/game really hope for from The Last of Us this season, as they come across a Clicker and a Stalker while on patrol.
There were undoubtedly moments in the first season that begged for more contact and action with infected, and Mazin admitted as much. Hopefully this scene was a sign that we will see more action, as what we did get in “Future Days” was really good. The Stalker, in particular, was utterly terrifying, from its mannerisms and noises down to the makeup design itself. These things are my least favorite thing to fight in either Last of Us game and this episode did them plenty of justice. It’s also interesting that these are apparently a new type of infected that Jackson’s council hadn’t heard of before. Maybe none of this means anything regarding the rest of the season, but I’m hopeful.
Meanwhile, as Ellie lives her life on the edge, Joel is trying to work his way back towards normalcy.
It’s so strange and yet deeply appreciated to see more of this Joel, the guy who found a reason to live again and is trying desperately not to lose it. It’s clear that while Jackson is at least a little uncomfortable from the tension between him and Ellie, Joel has become a beloved part of the community. He’s loved by his workers, has a family, and even has a rebellious teenage daughter.
He’s even going to therapy, with his session with Gail (played by the always wonderful Catherine O’Hara) standing out as a highlight of the episode. Joel is trying, but he is going to be held back so long as he cannot admit what he did. He’s clearly trying to make peace with Ellie, but it’s a peace that doesn’t quite acknowledge the extent of his actions or lies. He won’t say it out loud, so he can’t heal.
For all his changes, you can still see the same guy who will put himself and his own needs ahead of anyone else as he argues with Maria about Jackson not accepting so many refugees.
Gail’s confession about hating Joel for killing her husband was also an important one, as the ability to forgive, or rather the inability, is a central theme of The Last of Us Part II. Joel is trying to start anew, but as we saw with Abby and her friends at the beginning and end of the episode, that is going to be tough to do. It’s difficult to just start over, with no baggage of the life you lived before, and both Joel and Ellie are examples of this. They each have so much in their new lives to appreciate. Joel has a new family and a place in a community. Ellie has friends and a father and a budding new romance. Things should be good, but the past hovers just behind them.
(Yes, I can say so, so much about Abby’s scene, but I think I should wait.)
Ending the episode with the dance was an excellent choice, showcasing how Joel and Ellie have this new life that is tainted by their past one, and how neither of them has ever truly dealt with it.
“Future Days” did a terrific job adapting scenes from the game, the dance especially standing out, while also teasing events to come and including little lines and moments that really hit harder if you “know” what to expect. There are many opinions flying around right now about adaptation choices. While I understand them, it feels too early to comment on any of them too much. There’s nothing I would call egregious, and so far I think the new characters (Dina and Jesse especially) feel spot on. Different in some aspects, but with all the things I enjoyed about their characters from the game.
So don’t mind me. I’ll just be over here basking in good old family life in Jackson while I can, and remembering why The Last of Us is one of the better video game adaptations we’ve seen so far.
Images Courtesy of HBO
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