The Last of Us Is Back and Maybe Better Than Ever

Over two years have passed since Joel, Ellie, and the infected world of The Last of Us graced our television sets, and while the wait was long, clearly it was worth it. The season two premiere is here and it drops us right back into the world, introducing new characters, updating old ones, and reminding us just how special this show can be.

That started in the opening scene, featuring a slew of brand new characters discussing a common goal: to kill the show’s main character. The scene takes place three days after the events of the season one finale, when Joel wiped out a hospital full of people to save Ellie. These strangers, led by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), are the friends and loved ones of the deceased, and they want revenge. They don’t know, or at least don’t want to believe, why Joel did what he did, and they don’t have a lot to go on to find him. But finding him is something they plan to do. They decided to regroup with the rest of their friends in Seattle and figure things out from there, but only after everyone agrees they’re going to kill Joel. Eventually. And do it slowly. The scene is packed with information and set up that’s clearly important, as it’s the scene showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann decided to come back with.

Five years later, we’re in Jackson, Wyoming and Ellie is a badass. Of course, we already knew that, but now at age 19, she’s been training in mixed martial arts with Jesse (Young Mazino) and can beat up someone twice her size. Later, we see her and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) firing a sniper rifle from the top of a mountain, picking off infected. It’s clear that five years have made Ellie into a much more capable person which is why she wants to go on dangerous patrols and probably why she and Joel are having problems that everyone knows about.

Joel, on the other hand, seems like he’s a little slower. Definitely a little grayer. And as he tinkers with some electrical junk, he’s visited by Dina (Isabella Merced). She’s Ellie’s best friend and tries to talk to Joel about them, learning in the process that Joel has been going to therapy. He makes her promise not to tell anyone.

Jackson, it turns out, is doing very well though. More and more people are coming every week, and the leader, Maria (Rutina Wesley), tells Joel they need to start building more and faster. He jokes about how that’s impossible and then doesn’t joke about how maybe they should stop letting people in instead. That they should look out for each other before looking out for everyone else. It’s the same selfish mindset that led him to kill all those people, so we know Joel hasn’t changed. Maria reminds him that he too was a refugee, however, and had to be let into Jackson, so maybe he should be more sympathetic.

Joel visits Gail, his therapist, played by Catherine O’Hara. It’s her birthday, she’s drunk, and Joel pays her in marijuana. Basically, a perfect Catherine O’Hara character… except this is The Last of Us, not Schitt’s Creek. She can’t be happy. She has to be sad. So Gail reveals this is the first birthday she’s spent without her husband Eugene in 41 years. She also turns on Joel when he continues to complain about Ellie being a normal teenager. Gail knows there’s more to Joel’s anger and, to try to get it out, she decides to try something scary. Something she’s scared to say out loud, which is why she knows she should. She reveals that Joel shot and killed her husband and that she hates him for it. She resents that he’s in her home and is ashamed to feel that way, but it’s true. The honesty and vulnerability allow Gail to try and get something similar out of Joel. Did he do something to Ellie? Did he hurt her? No, he said. He saved her. Gail doesn’t know what he means, but we do, and that Joel alluded to it at all feels like a big step for him.

Dina picks Ellie up to go out together on patrol. Jesse is in charge and sets the ground rules but, clearly, Ellie and Dina aren’t taking it seriously. They talk and gossip as they ride their horses down snow-covered streets, joking about how Ellie should take Kat to the dance tonight because she’s “the other one” and they’ve hooked up. Ellie asks if Dina is taking Jesse but, apparently, they broke up too. It’s all fun and games until they see a trail of blood and decide to investigate against Kat’s wishes.

Now, up until this point, The Last of Us season two premiere has reminded us what we love about these characters and the world but did it in a rather understated way. Once Ellie and Dina find a bear that was eaten alive, though, that’s about to change. Against everyone’s wishes, the pair go into a mysterious building where they think they’ll find some infected. Which they do. But after taking the kill a little too lightly, Ellie falls through the floor into the ground level and encounters something she’s never seen before: a smart infected person.

This new infected stalks Ellie and, eventually, gets on top of her before Ellie is able to kill her. However, Ellie didn’t get by unscathed. She was bitten on the stomach and is forced to hide it because none of these people know she’s immune. It’s not even a possibility to them. So,  revealing a bite would be a death sentence. She conceals it and, later in the episode, connects the teethmarks with her knife, making the wound look more like a normal cut than a bite.

Ellie and Dina report the new findings to the Jackson council but are largely met with disbelief. Plus, it’s New Year’s Eve and everyone wants to party. Back home, Ellie writes about the day in her journal, making it clear she has a crush on Dina, when Joel comes in. It’s a brief, awkward exchange that ends with him mercifully leaving to restring Ellie’s guitar.

At the dance, we see that it’s about to be 2029 and Dina is dancing up a storm. She eventually gets Ellie in on the action and after a few sweet, flirty moments, they kiss. One of the townspeople, Seth, sees it and makes a rude comment, and just as Ellie is about to pummel him, Joel intervenes. That is not what Ellie wants. She doesn’t want a protector. And when they go home, it looks like Ellie ignores Joel before going to bed.

The already jam-packed episode then wrapped up with two huge final teases. First, one of the Jackson folks drops a sparkler near an exposed pipe, and some of the weeds grow toward it. They’re alive, aware, and directly related to the infected. This is, to put it mildly, not good. Potentially worse, though, is that five years after vowing to do it, we see Abby and her friends nearing Jackson. They’re armed and know that’s where Joel is.

The premiere of The Last of Us season two had everything. Action, humor, scares, romance, and lots of teases for what’s to come. It’s an episode that, after you finish the whole season, you’ll look back at and notice so many things you didn’t pick up on the first time. Trust me on that.

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