The Last of Us season two is coming and we can’t get over the excitement. After breaking ratings records on HBO during its premiere in 2023 and captivating audiences beyond the video game fandom, the post-apocalyptic drama, created by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (creative director of the video game), returns on April 13, amid even more anticipation. Once again, Chile’s Pedro Pascal and Britain’s Bella Ramsey will reprise their roles as Joel and Ellie, survivors of an epidemic plague that has wiped out most of civilization. So, get ready to experience once again the shuddering sounds of the “clickers,” which will undoubtedly cause a sharp lump in your throat.
In the first season (which won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Bafta, and swept the Emmys), we met Joel (Pascal), a father shattered by the untimely death of his daughter, and Ellie (Ramsey), an orphaned and isolated teenager, who against all odds, is immune to the fungal infection that affects humanity. Over the course of nine episodes, Joel and Ellie travel across a post-apocalyptic America to have the young girl tested for a cure for “Cordyceps.” The series’ directors have said that the next installment will test Joel and Ellie’s relationship in new and complex ways, using The Last of Us Part II game as source material. Here’s everything you need to know about the second season – without spoilers.
The Premise, Conflict, and New Cast Members
At the end of the first season, Joel decides to save Ellie at all costs. To do so, he sacrifices a possible cure for the world-ending infection, kills the Fireflies’ doctors, and shields himself in a heavy lie. So expect him to face some heavy consequences in this new chapter.
The Last of Us season two begins a couple of years after the events of Salt Lake City, with Joel and Ellie settled in Jackson, Wyoming, living a “new” normal. Life is as quiet as it can be and the two do what they can to give something back to the community that Tommy (Gabriel Luna), Maria (Rutina Wesley), and so many others have painstakingly built. We might think that the plot is going to develop solely around Ellie’s discovery of Joel’s lie, and how this strains the genuine bond they have developed. But, of course, things are never simple in The Last of Us, so there’s also the unrelenting terror of a world full of monsters, disease, revenge, and extreme situations.
While it’s still unclear to what extent the new HBO installment will align with the second part of Naughty Dog’s video game, we can make some important connections. Ellie is now a young woman of 19 and will naturally be plunged into complex emotions when she discovers the acts of violence Joel committed to protect her. The situation will only get worse when a mysterious group led by Private Abby Anderson (Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick) enters their lives. Without spoiling the story, what Abby and her companions will do to Joel, Tommy, and Ellie will have a profound impact and perpetuate an unfortunate cycle of violence. In the 2024 documentary Grounded II: Making the Last of Us Part II, Druckmann explained that Part I of the game is about “the unconditional love a parent feels for their child” and Part II is about “the pursuit of justice at any cost, justice for the ones you love.”
In addition to Dever in her powerful antagonist role, there is a whole cast of new characters with their own stories. New additions include Peruvian-born actress Isabela Merced (Turtles All the Way Down) as Dina, Ellie’s new romantic interest. The talented Jeffrey Wright (Westworld, American Fiction) brings to life Isaac, the Washington Liberation Front’s inclement authority figure. Young Mazino (Opus) embodies community leader Jesse, a valuable ally of Ellie and Dina. And the charismatic Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick) plays Manny, one of Abby’s most loyal soldiers.
“It’s definitely a bigger, far more ambitious and risk-taking season… And, if it can even be imagined, further tests our strength against a world we’re already afraid to be in,” actor Pedro Pascal told Empire.
An Exploration of Survivor’s Guilt and the Cyclical Nature of Violence
According to Mazin and Druckmann, the new season will not adapt all aspects of the video game sequel due to its breadth, but will retain the core elements of the story. This suggests that the show will reflect on life and death, the duality of love, the sins of the father, survivor’s guilt and, in particular, the cyclical nature of violence.
Of course, Ellie will be at the center of it all. Remember, she had found her purpose in the possibility of helping restore the world. When she figures out that Joel prevented the creation of a vaccine, she will be plunged into feelings of betrayal, grief, and guilt that threaten to consume her. After all, back in the first season, Ellie already felt the pang of survivor’s guilt for having been able to preserve her life while the rest of the world was not so lucky.
Just as Joel’s actions will certainly have consequences, so will Abby’s. With these dual plotlines, expect The Last of Us season two to explore the cyclical nature of violence. Everyone has a breaking point, and in this season, violence will be passed from person to person until Ellie also goes down a very dark path. Neither Abby nor Ellie even suspect that they will start a bloody cycle that will be extremely difficult to stop.
I think all of us who love The Last of Us harbor the same desire – we just want the second installment to be as terrifying, painful, raw, and beautiful as the first. And from the looks of it, HBO may just deliver.
