The Last of Us is an incredible series and an iconic pillar of the games industry. It set a new bar for storytelling, and The Last of Us Part 2 was an amazing showcase of how the gameplay established in the first game could evolve into something truly impressive. There was always going to be a lot riding on HBO’s TV adaptation, but as we found out back in 2023, it pulled it off, now sitting as one of the best video game adaptations we’ve ever seen.
The first season’s third episode, ‘Long, Long Time’, gave us an alternate, extended look into one of the game’s minor characters, making them a major part of the series, and is one of the best episodes of the entire show. It took the opportunity to not only bring the game to new audiences but to deepen the storytelling in unexpected ways.
With The Last of Us Season 2 just getting started, I’m excited to see what extra storylines and side episodes we’ll see, but I’m already wishing for something a little more adventurous. Or maybe less…
There’s No “I” In The Last Of Us
Ellie wanders through an abandoned building with a gun in The Last Of Us season 2
With the second season’s first episode, we get a slightly extended look into life in Jackson, where Joel and Ellie have been living for the past five years between seasons. We see this in the game too, albeit in a slightly smaller capacity, mostly through flashbacks.
But here’s the thing: as much as I love the main plot of the show and am excited to see the journey we know and love adapted for TV, there was something special about the menial conversations of settlement sustainability between a now aging, glasses-wearing Joel and Maria that we got to see in the first episode.
The show highlights these small scenes about the lives of survivors in Jackson, and what life is actually like after people are already settled into this broken world. I think that’s a beautiful thing that should be explored in more than just extra scenes or a bonus episode a la Long, Long Time.
There’s Five Years’ Worth Of Storytelling Left Open For A Spin-Off
I imagine we’ll get to see some of what I want in flashbacks as the series goes on. Even just the mention of Joel killing Eugene, another deviation from the games and something that presumably happened off-screen between seasons, gives me the impression that daily life in Jackson will play a part later on.
Whether it does or not is yet to be seen, but regardless, it just goes to show that major events have happened in the five years we didn’t get to see. Sure, maybe not all of it is as exciting as the events of the first season, but action isn’t what makes something exciting. The Last of Us is known for its writing, even in the mundane, and I think a spin-off show that expands on life in Jackson could be strong and entirely new for the series.
We would never need a game covering these five years, but a TV show is the perfect platform to explore it.
- First Episode Air Date
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January 15, 2023
- Cast
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Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey
- Where to watch
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HBO Max