The first season of The Last of Us was so beloved partially for its dedication to the source material. Aside from a few expansions on the story, the HBO series adapted the Naughty Dog game to the letter, featuring whole episodes that felt ripped from playthrough. Given the simpler story at the heart of The Last of Us, a faithful retelling made a lot of sense. But the rules of engagement change in a major way with The Last of Us Part II, a bigger, meaner, and altogether more controversial story. Season 2 has a lot more material to adapt, and thus a few more opportunities to get creative with the narrative fans know and love.
The Last of Us showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin didn’t waste much time experimenting with the form of Season 2. From its very first episode, our story remixes canon, fleshing out the conflict between leading man Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) and Abby Anderson (Kaitlyn Dever), a stranger set on revenge against him. It also reverses the roles that key characters play in the story, leaving some fans to worry that Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) would be left out in the cold. This week’s episode of The Last of Us takes something of a risk with that character, but it does open the door for what could be a richer story down the line.
