As far as sticks-to-screen adaptations go, the first season of The Last of Us really was about as good as it gets. While remaining faithful to the source material, the show runners were able to even further expand the borders of this narratively-fertile apocalypse by fleshing out stories barely touched on in the game, or introducing new survivors altogether.
Absolutely anybody who’s played the games will know, however, that the real challenge is going to come from adapting The Last of Us Part II. At release it was a tremendous example of inflammatory, non-linear storytelling that really did veer from the standard template most video games are written against, so to adapt that for serial television feels objectively like a behemoth task.
The second season’s premiere episode, titled ‘Future Days’, reminds us immediately about the cost of Joel’s actions at St. Mary’s Hospital as we’re reminded of “the big lie” he’s forced to tell Ellie to spare her the reality of his monstrous act as well as being introduced to a group of Fireflies, led by Kaitlin Dever’s Abby, who are mourning their dead and drawing up plans against the man responsible. It’s an enticing reminder of where the last season left off, and a sign of things to come. To open with a promise that a reckoning is sure to come is an enticing way to reintroduce us to a world so full of ugly violence.
We then find ourselves in Jackson, five years after the events of the first series. Over the span of the next forty minutes, small excerpts of dialogue serve to build out the last half-decade and paint a picture of where these characters are at. Joel and Ellie’s relationship is still strained to the point Dinah is his first port of call to learn anything about her emotional state, Ellie is seemingly in the wake of a casual affair with Cat which has left her jaded.
I’ll be curious to see the response and discourse around Joel’s sessions in therapy with Catherine O’Hara’s character, who, in a small departure from the video game, is Eugene’s wife. While I expect some to view this laid-bare vulnerability as a further deconstruction of the character’s hardened facade, I think, knowing Joel ends up ultimately, these scenes will stand as further heartbreaking evidence of his hopes of mending fences with Ellie.
And while Joel is tearing himself down over a glass of whisky, Ellie, undoubtedly still angry and feeling betrayed by Joel, is self-destructive, running headfirst into danger. Whether it’s trying to seek attention or mere cocksureness due to her immunity, her character’s set up and mindset should be the perfect tinder box for what we know is coming.
The vocal minority online might still be dejected by some of the casting decisions in this series, and while this premiere feels rather slow and plodding for a season of only seven episodes, there’s no reason to doubt anybody after the performances they’ve turned in to date. We don’t see a lot of Kaitlin Dever’s Abby, although the little we do see gives me hope for her interpretation of my personal favourite character from the franchise.
Unsurprisingly, the set design is incredible. It would appear that no expense has been spared in recreating the Jackson we remember from the game—settlement, outposts, and all. This premiere episode closes out by bringing to life the iconic barn dance sequence from Part II, complete with rustic lighting and bigoted, old white dudes.
More than anything, ‘Future Days’ is a reminder of where we left off, a view of where everyone is at, and a warning that the feel-good, cathartic pay-off we’re so used to getting just isn’t likely in this world. And it’s this kind of slow, emotional introduction that’s necessary when the writers pull the trigger and burn it all down.
