If you’ve performed each The Last of Us video games and are watching together with the present, there’s a fairly sturdy probability you’ve been ready to see how the HBO sequence approaches a really specific second — and questioning if that second has been modified in any respect for TV. Well, it didn’t take too lengthy to seek out out.
The second episode of season 2 simply aired, and The Last of Us’ creators made certain to tear the bandage proper off. And not solely did they not tone issues down, they in some way made issues much more intense, whereas additionally utilizing the second as an opportunity to additional increase this post-apocalyptic world.
Obviously, there will likely be spoilers to observe for The Last of Us, which cowl each the second sport and the present up by means of episode 2 of the second season. To be sure you don’t see this pivotal spoiler, right here is one other photograph of Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller within the present. Don’t scroll previous him in case you don’t need to be spoiled on a serious improvement.
Image: HBO
OK, so, sure, that occurred. The inciting incident in The Last of Us’ second chapter, the one which sends Ellie on a ceaseless and questionable quest for revenge, is Joel’s dying by the hands (and golf membership, and shotgun) of Abby. In the sport, it was a brutal sequence that concerned watching helplessly because the protagonist of the primary sport was tortured and murdered, considered by means of the eyes of his surrogate daughter Ellie, who’s the playable lead in The Last of Us Part II.
That brutality hasn’t been lessened for the HBO present. In reality, it feels even harsher in reside motion, notably when Joel is performed by such a captivating man like Pascal. Functionally, the scene performs out largely the identical because it did in The Last of Part II, as do the moments main as much as it. There are some small modifications, like how the characters are paired up when issues go down, however the final result is similar. Which is all to say that it’s wince-inducing, filled with blood, screams, and tears.
What the present does add, although, is a completely new storyline, one which manages to ratchet up the depth to an attention-grabbing new diploma. While Joel is being kidnapped and tortured, and a large snowstorm is brewing, the present introduces one other wrinkle: a completely gigantic group of contaminated who descend upon Jackson, the comparatively secure city the place Joel and Ellie have been dwelling.
It provides a brand new layer of desperation to the second, as — previous to realizing he’s been ensnared in a entice — Joel is singularly centered on racing to get again and assist his group. In reality, one of many causes he’s OK partnering up with a stranger like Abby within the first place is the promise of weapons and reinforcements.
Image: HBO
This new narrative thread is a part of the present’s try and increase the story of The Last of Us past simply its principal characters. In the sport, gamers noticed issues solely from Ellie’s perspective, so there wasn’t any actual focus in town. But within the present, there are a number of viewpoints and, thus, extra alternatives to flesh out the world. Jackson performs an enormous a part of that; within the episode you see the townsfolk utilizing each device at their disposal to fend off the assault, and the devastation to the city afterwards could be very clear. This addition makes the second really feel bigger than Joel and Ellie, whereas additionally including an additional layer of rigidity and violence to an already tense and violent scene.
As co-creator Neil Druckmann, a author and director on each the sport and the present, defined to me forward of season 2: “One of the issues we have been in a position to do within the present that we couldn’t do a lot of within the sport was get to know Jackson as a group, and perceive what’s at stake right here, what are the threats from the skin.”
Yes, the second will seemingly be an enormous shock for these coming in unaware, because it’s uncommon that such a pivotal character is killed off in a TV present like this. But very similar to the notorious Red Wedding in Game of Thrones, for the many individuals who already knew what was coming, they will now calm down and watch the present with out questioning the way it’s going to method the dying sequence, or if it was going to method it in any respect.
Well, calm down a bit — that is nonetheless The Last of Us.
