The actor’s take on a damaged young soul fighting for autonomy is a punchy, watchable delight. The second season is slower and narrower in scope, but it is just as gutsy and thoughtful
Season one of The Last of Us was a lot. It must have surprised some viewers to find that an adaptation of a video game was among the best dramas of 2023 – although it wasn’t too unexpected for anyone who noticed that it was co-created by Craig Mazin, writer of the magnificent Chernobyl. More to the point, The Last of Us was relentless, constantly shifting and weaving to deliver devastation and heartbreak in brutal new ways. On its return for a second season, it has earned the right to take a breath and slow down.
A quick recap. A fungus-based pandemic has splintered civilisation as we know it, turning the millions of “infected” into groaning, lurching sub-humans who are not undead but are still monsters whose only impulse is to bite the healthy. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a man whose 14-year-old daughter died at the start of the outbreak 20 years ago, has travelled from Massachusetts to Wyoming with Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who was also 14 when they met and is one of the very few who are immune to the fungal lurgy. Season one’s cross-country odyssey ended with the conclusion of Joel’s quest to deliver Ellie to a resistance group who were working on a cure; when he realised the procedure would involve experimenting on Ellie’s brain, sacrificing her for the good of humanity, he killed everyone in the building to save his adopted child.
