RETURN TO DARKNESS

The latest season of The Last Of Us plunges viewers into deeper emotional turmoil and brutal realities

- TATAT BUNNAG

The Last Of Us, created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, has returned for a much-anticipated second season. Based on the iconic and emotionally devastating video game series by Naughty Dog, this HBO adaptation continues to star Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. And please be warned — this review contains mild spoilers for episodes one through three. If you haven't seen the new season, now’s a good time to stop reading and catch up.

Season 2 picks up several years after the end of the first season. Joel and Ellie have both survived, but they’re not the same people we last saw. The trauma of their journey and the brutal choices made along the way have begun to take their toll, especially on Ellie. Now living in the peaceful, self-sufficient town of Jackson, Wyoming, Joel and Ellie are physically safe, but emotionally distant. They've become estranged in a way that feels all too real. Ellie is trying to move into adulthood, pushing against Joel’s lingering fatherly control. Her childhood isn’t quite behind her, but neither is the trauma — and neither is he. They’re clashing, retreating into themselves and hurting each other, sometimes unknowingly.

Episode one mirrors the opening hours of The Last Of Us Part II and fans of the game will already be familiar with where this is heading. Ellie is now the primary protagonist and the show is slowly but surely shifting the emotional centre to her. The second game, controversial as it was for some, was always a bold narrative swing — especially the choice to abruptly remove a beloved main character. I remember thinking when I first played the game: Are they really doing this? And now, watching the show, I asked the same question: Are they really going to go there again?