HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation was well-watched and drew critical acclaim when it premiered in 2023.
That was largely due to the success of The Last of Us Part I, the video game that inspired the series.
The Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey-fronted take on the post-apocalyptic Playstation video game didn’t stray too far from the source material, which is refreshing by today’s standards.
Far too many adaptations want to make their stamp on a franchise, with the creatives eradicating much of the original work’s DNA.
With Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckman playing a pivotal creative role in bringing Joel, Ellie, and everyone in their orbit to TV screens, the series would inevitably keep the bulk of the story intact.
As an avid video game fan, I was somewhat disappointed by The Last of Us Season 1 because it didn’t challenge my expectations as much as I would have liked it to.
The Last of Us Season 1 Featured One of TV’s Finest Hours
The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 3, which expanded upon Bill and Frank’s relationship, was hands down the best installment. There’s no question about that.
Everyone involved brought their A-game, highlighting how some aspects of the story improved with a more episodic approach.
There are many possibilities in The Last of Us universe. Something that would have helped The Last of Us Season 2 considerably would have been to resume the narrative before The Last of Us Part II’s storyline begins.
HBO has confirmed that the second chapter picks up five years after The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 9, meaning it will effectively follow the timeline of the second game.
The creatives have already been vocal about splitting The Last of Us Part II into multiple seasons, but it would make so much more sense to have a season set in that time jump.
While video game players will know how rough things got for Joel and Ellie, it would have been a terrific way to give those fans something more.
The Source Material Will Run Out Eventually
The TV adaptation will inevitably stray away from the source material at some point because a potential The Last of Us Part III is likely years away, and it’s hard to imagine Naughty Dog allowing the game’s most pivotal plot points to be shown in the TV adaptation first.
Knowing what happens in the third game before its release wouldn’t land well with fans. There was widespread uproar when various plot points of The Last of Us Part II hit the internet months before the game’s 2020 release, so it’s not something Naughty Dog would want to happen. Plain and simple.
Seven years separated the two games, and a similar wait between the second and third is all but certain, so why did the show opt to proceed with a time jump?
Neil Druckman and Craig Mazin are visionary individuals, so there’s faith they will do the second game justice. However, not picking up a bit earlier leaves so many storytelling opportunities on the table.
If the season does follow the game in the same way the first followed the original game, there’s little room for things to change.
A Period of Calm Would be the Best Approach to Season 2
The storyline in The Last of Us Part II is intense from start to finish, but getting a period of calm, even just for a handful of episodes before Abby shows up to upend everything, would be a test of whether The Last of Us can work as a looser adaptation of the games.
Whether The Last of Us Season 2 lives up to its predecessor is very much up in the air, and we won’t know until we watch the episodes.
So much could go right, but as much could go wrong. The Last of Us Part II scaled new heights in storytelling in a video game, and no game has come close to it.
But the game also featured some polarizing storylines that turned many fans off. There’s no forgetting how toxic things got, and I hope more viewers are open to learning more about this universe and embracing its characters.
Kaitlyn Dever’s casting in the role of Abby was interesting, considering she was once considered for the role of Ellie.
Adding Kaitlyn to the franchise is a stroke of genius, but I hope the series finds a way to tell her and Ellie’s intertwining story well.
The game was unique because you could play as much or as little at once and split it into bite-sized chunks. The subject matter is heavy, folks.
The series doesn’t have that luxury, and I worry there won’t be enough time to do the Ellie-Abby dynamic justice.
What are your thoughts on the decision to take a five-year time jump between seasons? Would you have liked to dive into the unknown with these characters to tackle storylines that are not in the video game?
Join me in the comments below.
The Last of Us Season 2 premieres on HBO and Max in April.
Watch The Last Of Us Online
