The Last of Us • Season 2
TV-MA
92%37%
After five years of peace following the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie's collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.
Hipster ZOMBIE reviewed
May 26, 2025•
Like the video game sequel it’s based on, The Last of Us Season 2 fails in its attempt to move the series forward and becomes aimless in its own virtue signaling.
Don’t get me wrong TLoU2 video game was fun…when you were able to skip the annoying and weakly written cutscenes and just play the game. Sadly, in the live-action series you don’t get to skip the boring parts and have to sit through Bella Ramsey (Ellie) and Isabela Merced (Dina) forced awkward chemistry and convince us that Ellie is going to be a “dad.”
But it’s not all one big woke fest, we get introduced to Abby played brilliantly by newcomer Kaitlyn Dever who actually looks more like Ellie from the game than the hulkish Brock Lesnar body builder Abby is presented as in the game.
And circling back to the first two episodes, the siege on the safe zone was magnificent to behold just as the death of Joel (Pedro Pascal) at the hands of Abby.
Sadly, just like the game, the narrative of the show falls apart once Joel is no longer around. Ellie already wasn’t that great of a character overall lacking much depth and character development from the first game to the second (becoming gay shouldn’t be the main thing that defines Ellie but due to the poor storytelling it is) and now the showrunners are putting the entire show on the shoulders of Bella Ramsey and she quickly buckles beneath it. It will be interesting to see how audiences take to Dever’s Abby being the main focus of season 3 and if the show can rebound with a stronger character in Abby and better actress in Dever.
Overall, TLoU season 2 is a let down.