{"id":4781,"date":"2025-04-16T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=4781"},"modified":"2025-04-17T18:19:34","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T18:19:34","slug":"the-last-of-us-season-2-is-already-changing-things-from-the-game-and-thats-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/the-last-of-us-season-2-is-already-changing-things-from-the-game-and-thats-good\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Of Us season 2 is already changing things from the game and that\u2019s good"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Kaitlyn\t<\/div>
Kaitlyn Dever makes a strong first impression as Abby (HBO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far The Last Of Us<\/a> has offered few surprises in its translation to the small screen, but the second season<\/a> is already making some divisive and compelling changes. <\/p>\n

Video game adaptations are more financially lucrative than they\u2019ve ever been, thanks to the likes of Sonic<\/a>, Mario<\/a>, and the recently released Minecraft<\/a>. But despite their commercial success, their critical reception has been largely the same as every other video game movie in history.<\/p>\n

HBO<\/a>\u2019s The Last Of Us<\/a> represents a different kind of success; the moment a gaming adaptation overcame the quality curse and became an acclaimed darling among the prestige TV elite – rubbing shoulders with The Bear and Succession<\/a> on the awards season circuit. <\/p>\n

The show\u2019s success felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Last Of Us<\/a> game, in its presentation and tone, already felt like prestige TV in video game form – thanks to the industry-leading animation and polish that developer Naughty Dog is synonymous with. So while the first season was well made, by sticking so close to the original the story never really gained anything.<\/p>\n

With the exception of the excellent episode revolving around Bill and Frank\u2019s love story<\/a>, the show\u2019s transition to TV felt like a creatively redundant flex. A retread of the same story, with many scenes, many of which were non-interactive in the first place, shot in the exact same way.<\/p>\n

With season two<\/a>, The Last Of Us has an opportunity to broaden its ambitions and you can already see that in the first episode. The original game might be beloved by most, but its sequel is a somewhat divisive beast, with a lengthy 25+ hour running time, a large influx of new characters, and several big swings few sequels dare to shoot for.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s plenty of signs that the show has found the confidence to untether itself from the tracks of its source material, in ways which are both exciting and somewhat concerning.<\/p>\n<p>For proof of this newfound confidence, look no further than the very first scene. In a complete upending of expectations, we\u2019re introduced to Kaitlyn Dever\u2019s Abby from the get-go, prior to the five-year time skip.<\/p>\n<p>Abby is mourning the loss of her Firefly allies – brutally massacred by Pedro Pascal’s Joel in the finale of season one – and already planning revenge with her small group of friends, including Spencer Lord’s Owen.<\/p>\n<p>They know Joel is the culprit but despite Abby\u2019s determination to see him dead the group convince her to head to Seattle first, so they can stock up on supplies and plot the best course of action. <\/p>\n<p>Just before the scene ends, we\u2019re given a chilling note to stew over. ‘Slowly,’ Abby says of Joel. ‘When we kill him. We kill him slowly.’<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"410\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22917444 lazyload\" alt=\"Pedro Pascal as Joel in The Last Of Us season 2\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_247729521-c859.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>A storm is brewing for Joel (HBO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For anyone who\u2019s played <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2024\/01\/16\/last-us-part-2-remastered-review-definitive-edition-20123502\/\">The Last Of Us Part 2<\/a>, the reveal of Abby\u2019s motivations so early on – even in somewhat vague terms – will seem very strange. In the game, you gradually come to learn about Abby\u2019s backstory through extensive sections where you play as the character, switching between her perspective and Ellie\u2019s throughout the game. This builds towards the reveal of why Abby wanted to kill Joel, which serves as one of the key twists in the story. <\/p>\n<p>The TV show plays that card in season two\u2019s very first scene. Speaking in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/tv\/sci-fi\/the-last-of-us-abby-tv-show-changes-explained-exclusive-newsupdate\/\">interviews<\/a>, showrunner Craig Mazin has said the rationale behind the decision was due to the mechanical differences between games and TV, where ‘it was important to give people enough context’ in order to connect to the character, in the absence of long gameplay stretches with her. <\/p>\n<p>While we\u2019ll have to see if the decision succeeds in future episodes, for fans of the games this is exactly the kind of narrative tailspin season one was sorely lacking. With Abby\u2019s motivation out there, there\u2019s a sense the show has to have something else in store to replace the satisfaction of that revelation, or deliver another kind of gut punch which might be unique to the show itself. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"410\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22917311 lazyload\" alt=\"Gail in The Last Of Us season two\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_247728579-10a7.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Gail is an entirely new character (HBO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are also signs of a new direction with the character Gail, Joel\u2019s bitter therapist, played excellently by Catherine O\u2019Hara. Gail is entirely new for the show but she\u2019s grounded into the series\u2019 lore through her husband Eugene – a character who died from a stroke in the game and is only seen through photographs in his secret weed farm. <\/p>\n<p>Like the Abby switcharoo, Eugene’s backstory has been slightly adjusted. He\u2019s still dead, but this time it\u2019s at the hands of Joel, as we discover in a venomous speech from Gail who, while under the influence, loses her patience with his whining about Ellie.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I hate you for it,\u2019 Gail tells Joel, in reference to her husband\u2019s death. \u2018I know you had no choice. I know that. I know I should forgive you. I\u2019ve tried but I can\u2019t because of how you did it, and looking at your face, sitting in our home, makes me so f***ing angry.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The assumption is Eugene became infected and had to be killed, but why is the show setting up another potential threat to Joel? Is she in cahoots with Abby? Could Gail be a surprise player in <em>that<\/em> particular scene? Her inclusion is intriguing, and with Eugene set to be played by Joe Pantoliano in a future episode, presumably in a flashback, the show is clearly mining these minor characters for a larger significance. <\/p>\n<p>The first episode ends with a familiar scene from the game, as Abby looks out at the settlement in Jackson, Wyoming from the snowy mountains. It\u2019s designed to instil dread for what many are already expecting, but the great thing is, after this episode, I\u2019m not entirely sure what\u2019s coming. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"410\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22917310 lazyload\" alt=\"Dina and Ellie in The Last Of Us season two\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_247728578-1277.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>This could easily be a scene from the game (HBO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><em>Email <a href=\"mailto:gamecentral@metro.co.uk\">gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a>, leave a comment below, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GameCentral\">follow us on Twitter<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/newsletters\/\">sign-up to our newsletter<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To submit Inbox letters and Reader\u2019s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff page here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For more stories like this, <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/entertainment\/gaming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">check our Gaming page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kaitlyn Dever makes a strong first impression as Abby (HBO) So far The Last Of Us has offered few surprises in its translation to the small screen, but the second season is already making some divisive and compelling changes.  Video game adaptations are more financially lucrative than they\u2019ve ever been, thanks to the likes of Sonic, Mario, and the recently released Minecraft. But despite their commercial success, their critical reception has been largely the same as every other video game … <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/16\/the-last-of-us-season-2-is-already-changing-things-from-the-game-and-thats-good\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> “The Last Of Us season 2 is already changing things from the game and that\u2019s good”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4781"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4781"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4787,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4781\/revisions\/4787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}