Bella Ramsey in Season 2 of The Last of Us.
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HBO’s Hit Zombie Drama The Last of Us Offers What Might Be TV’s Ultimate Found Family: A Rugged, Former Soldier Bonding with and Angry, Rebellious Girl While Traveling Across A Post-APocalyptic Wastland.
During the show’s first season, back in 2023, Pedo Pascal’s Handsome Joel Led Bella Ramsey’s Impulsive, Wickedly Smart Ellie Across An America Destroyed by a Fast-Spreading Fungal Information that Turned People into Flesh-Eating Zombies. Along the Way, Joel Connected with here as a surrogate father – to the point where he killed a building full of people to save her Life.
In Its new Season, The Last of Us Challenges that Notion of Found Family with a Simple Question: if the person you decide to love Lies to you – Even to Protect You – dos that Eventually Destroy The Bond?
Such Lies – Alongside The Terrible Decisions Required in this Ruined World and the Conferenceses that follow – are the themes Hanging Over the show’s new Season Like a shroud. They Lind New Weight and Expanded Drama to A Series that have always France to be more than a Typical Scare-to-The-Week Franchise.
A Father-Daughter Bond Under Stress
Fans who VIBed on Joel and Ellie’s hard-won bond may find it a bit jarring-if expected-to see the new Season Open Five Years Later With the Two Characters Estranged from Each Oach Living at a Settlement in Jackson, Wyoming.
Pedro Pascal in Season 2 of The Last of Us.
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Initially, Joel Gripes to Friends that Ellie is a Typical 19-YELD Rebelling Against Her SurroGate Dad. “I KNOW I’m A Hard Ass and Maybe Over Protective,” He Grouses. “But what did i do?”
Those who Saw the Last Season Know One Possible Answell: He Lied to Ellie about what he had to do to free her.
Where is Well-Meang Lies BECOME A Problem
In the First Season, Joel Took on A Job Escorting Ellie – The Only Person Known with a Resistance to the Fungus – Across the Country to A Medical Facility. Back then, Each Episode Offered A Director, UNTIL They Reacked the Hospital and Joel Realized Elie Must Die to Synthesiz a Cure. So He Took Action, Killed A Bunch of People and Lied About it to Eliee.
In the second Season, that like see Particularly as a new Character Played by Kaitlyn Dever Called Abby – The Daughter of Someone Joel Killed in that Hospital – Tries to Make Good on Her Promise to Track Him Download.
Another Consistment theme in this second Season: What is the Takes to Make Hard Decisions about Saving someone and the consequents it can Bring. Joel’s Instinct is to Spare Ellie the Weight of Those Tough Choices by Lying to here, Even when the Lies Corode their RelatHip.
ACE CHARACTER Active Catterine O’Hara Offers a Typically Compleming Performance As the Community’s Resident Psychiatrist who has grown of Joel’s WithHolding Affer Five Sessions. “You’re lying to me, and it’s exhausing,” She says, wearily Taking a long drink from a glass of Liquor. “I’ve Done This Long Enough to Known when someone is leaving says out. And you are Definitely Leaving Something Out.”
Catherine O’Hara in Season 2 of The Last of Us.
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Of couresse, just like many Relationships in this Season of The Last of UsThere’s more freing her confectionation attacde Toward Joel Than His Lies of Omiste – But I Won At’T Spoil that Delicious Revelation. The show’s productions see to delighted in presties situations which look like one thing, Only to Shift the Dynamic As Circustances Change and New Facts Emerge, Like Turning A. Crystal in A Shaft of Light.
Indeed, that’s what good tv storytellers do in a show’s second season: take all the things that working Last Time and Turn the Upside Download, Mining Extra Entertainment from the Uncainty and New Dynamics.
Credit Craig Mazin (ChernobylWho Co-Created the Series with Neil Druckmann, Co-Crerator of the Video Game. The Two Share Writing and Direction Duties, and their Formula Has Worked Sofar: Already the show has been Picked up for a threD seasonAmid Glowing Reviews for the Second Season and A Shell Full of Emmy Awards For the first.
Avoiding the type zombie drama pitfalls
Often, The Biggest Challenge for Other Zombie Series Like The Walking Dead Is how can fall into a predictable pattern, with Unklyable Stars and Episodes set in the night Location, Forging A New CAMITY EVEY WeEK to Keep Things Excital.
Last Season, The Last of Us Avoeded that by Taking Joel and Ellie on a Journey that LED to Directive Environments with Almost Everly Episode. This Season, Producers Don’t have that luxury, with Narratives center on jackson, where elly has had Found a new Type of Infected Zombie Which Just Might Be Kind of … Smart.
Fans of the Video Game’s Various Iterits Know there is a terrible Twist Coming that Changes everything.
But that Twist also shows The Last of UsBuilding a new Season that changes this Found Family – and the Audience – in Thrilling, Unxpeted Ways.
