Post-apocalyptic The Last Of Us more timely than ever, say stars

When The Last Of Us — the smash hit series about a post-apocalyptic society ravaged by a mass fungal infection — arrived on our screens in 2023, the real world was emerging from a pandemic.

- ANDREW MARSZAL

Now, season two, which premieres April 12 and hinges on themes of conflict and vengeance, will be equally urgent and prescient, promises returning star Pedro Pascal.

Part of the show's strength is its ability "to see human relationships under crisis and in pain, and intelligently trace political allegory, societal allegory and base it off the world we're living in," said the actor, who plays lead character Joel.

"Storytelling is cathartic in so many ways... I think there's a very healthy and sometimes sick pleasure in that kind of catharsis — in a safe space," he said.