We are now three weeks removed from the season finale of The Last of Us season 2, yet the debate over its execution still rages on amongst fans.
One need only look at its Rotten Tomatoes score, which boasts an impressive 92% based on 257 critics, but only holds a rating of 37% from over 5,000 user reviews. It should be noted that this not entirely surprising given the reception of the source material for season 2, The Last of Us Part II, which drew the immense ire of a large section of the fanbase, who disagreed with the handling of Joel’s death, having to play as Abby, and/or the inclusion of a trans character, which led to review bombing at the time. It’s apparent that season 2 of the television adaptation has suffered a similar fate, yet some of the criticism is not unjustified.
Allow me to begin by saying that, as someone who has played the video games, I found season 2 to be a creative success overall. I too took issue with the handling of Joel’s death in the video game, but the minor contextual adjustments in the television adaptation made all the difference for me, and to have it take place against the backdrop of an invasion of Jackson by the infected, which was not at all in the video game, made for what I think is the best episode of the season, followed closely by the outstanding penultimate episode ‘The Price’.
However, the primary issues with this latest season derive from certain elements they both changed and kept the same. This was somewhat unexpected, as showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (who is also the creator of the games) consistently made the right decisions in season 1 on where to adapt and where to deviate, with the prime example being Bill and Frank’s romance in “Long, Long Time’, which is rightfully considered one of the greatest episodes of television from this century. This type of brilliance can still be found in season 2, such as the increased focus on Isaac (Jeffrey Wright), yet it also made the rare mistake of veering too closely to the source material at certain moments, most noticeably in the season finale, which ends at the very moment when Abby’s real story begins. This worked in the video game, but only served to frustrate in a television setting, especially for those who had not played the game before.
Yet, the single biggest change for which the season suffered most – when they could have just kept closer to the source material – was its depiction of Ellie.
In the first few episodes of the season, they seemed to be indicating that Ellie would be the badass, albeit cold blooded killer of the video game, as the very first scene in which she appears shows Ellie sparring with a guy twice her size and winning (even though he says he went easy on her at Jesse’s request). This should have been a sign of things to come, but the only thing that remained for the entire season was the sheer amount of unearned arrogance she put on display. Ellie is in almost constant contention with those around her, mainly because they are often speaking sense while Ellie wants to act recklessly, in a manner borders on utter stupidity rather than bravery, epitomized by the moment she almost risked both her life and Jesse’s to save a Seraphite from WLF soldiers, seemingly just to prove a point to Jesse.
Still, she at least bears that unyielding fire for vengeance paired with her honed combat skills seen in the video game, right? Wrong. Despite Mazin and Druckmann making it appear this way early in the season, they bafflingly don’t commit to this depiction of Ellie, as she’s rarely shown in battle, and when she is, she’s not very good at it. And then, when she does kill someone, she usually goes through a period of regret, as if the writers were afraid of making Ellie unsympathetic in the process, even though this is not how Ellie reacted in the video game whatsoever. It’s like a tale of two Ellies, resulting in an incohesive characterization that was often frustrating in the second half of the season.
Her character’s direction is made even more baffling by a comment from Craig Mazin regarding that scene where Abby barges into the theatre, saying that she was able to get the drop on the others because she is “not like Ellie”, in that she’s “incredibly competent”. This flies in the face of Ellie’s video game counterpart, while signaling how deliberate this characterization of her is, even though, as mentioned, it doesn’t even gel with the Ellie we’re shown in the first few episodes. Fans did not appreciate Mazin’s insights here.
Thankfully, Ellie’s character is at least bolstered by an outstanding Bella Ramsey in the role, who nails the role even in the moments I don’t agree with, and I for one think she deserves an Emmy for her performance in season 2, particularly in ‘The Price’. Still, this adaptation of Ellie has been tough to swallow at times, and it’s not likely to change much in season 3, as it has been confirmed to largely focus on Abby’s side of the story, so expect more pushback from fans in the future.