The Last Of Us - Season 2 - Episode 01 - Future Days Review
*It’s rare that we at Player 2 cover anything that isn’t in the video game realm, but with its roots firmly in gaming, and the prestigious talent involved in it, HBO’s adaptation of The Last Of Us is an incredibly fascinating project. So join us, each week as we dissect the newly released episode, from the series’ first to its last. Now it’s time for Season 2.*
After I happily declared the original season of The Last Of Us to be the single best adaptation of a video game ever, we’ve seen the realm of game adaptation continue to flourish. Sony itself has put out the popular Twisted Metal, Fallout has gone on to achieve acclaim, and sweep up awards similar to what The Last Of Us achieved, and now even Minecraft is a box office tornado of chaos, and so The Last Of Us Season 2 returns to a very different climate. Being simply a great adaptation doesn’t cut it when the competition hasn’t gotten more fierce, making the challenge of adapting the far more complicated narrative of The Last Of Us Part II even more difficult. While some of the big narrative beats of Part II (if you know, you know) remain before us following the first episode of Season 2, I feel confident in what Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are in the process of delivering a second season that is equal to, if not capable of exceeding, the quality of the incredible original season.
Season 2 begins by reminding you of the significant decision Joel made at the end of Season 1, lying to Ellie about what occurred at the Firefly base while she was unconscious, but quickly the audience is introduced to Abby, a new character for the show, but one who is steeped in thought, surrounded by a group of allies, and a series of graves of fallen Fireflies from the hospital that Joel shot up. As the group farewells the fallen they begin to discuss their next plans, but Abby has only one thing on the mind, vengeance. She wants Joel dead, and in time the gruop comes to accept this as their eventual goal too. The opening credits are begin as Abby declares that she wants Joel to die painfully and slowly.
We return to the present day with Ellie in Jackson receiving combat practice. Jackson has become a bustling community that needs regular defending from hunters, infected and other threats – Ellie, Joel, and the many others we’re soon introduced to are all playing their part. Joel is in therapy and we soon learn that he’s grapplling with the intent of the sessions, unable to completely open up. As it turns out it is Gail who herself opens up to Joel revealing that her husband Eugene was killed by Joel and that she resents him for it, she presses Joel about what he did to Ellie only for Joel to storm out yelling, “I saved her.” Daily operations in Jackson require those who are able to go and eliminate infected that have entered the area to prevent future threats. Joel heads out on duty but requested that Tommy prevents Ellie from heading out (to protect her), Ellie protests and eventually finds her way off gate duty and out on a separate patrol.
The time we spend in Jackson gives us time to understand the web of relationships that have formed and even degraded over the years. Ellie has formed a tight relationship with Jesse and Dina, with a complicated love triangle beginning to rear its head, while the relationship with Joel has weakened due to Ellie’s doubts over Joel’s honestly. Tommy’s in a difficult position between the support he needs to provide his wife, Maria, his brother Joel, and then of course, Joel’s priority of protecting Ellie, while Ellie just wants to be an independent teen. As we see Ellie go on patrol with Dina we see the sparks of romance, and the humour of Ellie get reciprocated by Dina, but when the pair find themselves hunting and hunted by infected, they’re both also incredibly protective of each other, and performing their roles to the highest standard. Ellie also happens upon an infected that behaves unusually, stalking her rather than recklessly attacking as others have done, and when the pair return from their patrol this is reported to Tommy, Maria, and other leaders of camp. Ellie was also bitten by the stalker, however her immunity ensured no harm and she managed to keep this from Dina and the rest of the group.
On the eve of New Year’s 2029, Joel arrives at Ellie’s home and they bond over playing the acoustic guitar. Joel convinces Ellie to go to the party, something she wasn’t overly enthusiastic about. This leads to an iconic shot of Ellie, overlooking the party, fairy lights dressing the room as drinks are flowing and party-goers dance the night away. Drinks are shared, Dina has too much and starts flirting with Ellie. Ellie is oblivious and points out that she’s no threat to the masses of guys in the room oggling Dina. Dina proclaims, “Oh Ellie, they should be terrified of you” before they kiss on the dancefloor. One older party attendee protests at the public display of affection at a family event, before making a homophobic slur, prompting Joel to burst in from the side, attacking the bigot. Ellie is once again upset with Joel because she doesn’t want his help, and all parties leave the event. The scene ends with Ellie walking by Joel’s home only to see him playing guitar on the balcony, she avoids him as the camera pans across to a clogged pipe where we begin to see tendrils of infected protruding from the pipe.
With one threat already emerging within the walls of Jackson, another approaches from a distance, as Abby and her group have narrowed down Joel’s location to Jackson, as the group nears the township, and the episode comes to a close setting up an enthralling second episode.
Future Days does a sensational job of both honoring the source material, while also injecting a bit of its own canon into the story to flesh it out for the televsion audience. The inclusion of Gail to pull at the emotional strings of Joel is important in setting the stage for the current-day landscape, while the Season 1 inclusion of the infected tendrils creates some additional suspense for the coming episode. In most other ways, this is the opening act of The Last Of Us Part II as players remember it, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The Last Of Us Season 2 so far has had no problems meeting the extremely high bar of the prior season.
The Last of Us is available to stream now on Max, with new episodes every Monday. This episode was reviewed with early access kindly provided by Max.
