The beauty and the horror hasn’t worn off yet in HBO’s “The Last of Us” as it returns for a long-awaited second season. It’s gory and gorgeous, viciously violent and vividly brought to life. It is the prestigious, mature series fans loved in Season 1. But it also feels like there’s something missing this time around.
The critically acclaimed and Emmy-nominated series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey has a lot to live up to in its sophomore year. “Last of Us” is credited with reviving the zombie genre, has become the definitive example of a successful video-game-to-Hollywood adaptation (it’s based on the popular 2013 game) and helped make Pascal a household name and universally beloved father figure to a generation of fans.
Producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann deliver a laudable and epic Season 2 of “Us” (Sundays, 9 ET/PT, on HBO and Max, ★★½ out of four). The acting is still impeccable, particularly from leads Pascal and Ramsey, the world is yet again meticulously rendered and the pacing and excitement is unparalleled.
But it’s hard not to finish the seven-episode season without feeling somewhat dissatisfied, an itching in the back of your mind that there is something missing. The new season saves big reveals and explanations for potential future installments at the expense of what fans are watching now. By the finale, which ends with a major cliffhanger, you’re left wanting more, but not necessarily more new episodes; you’ll wish the episodes you just watched had more meat on their bones.
Season 2’s premiere picks up right after the final moments of Season 1, when weary smuggler Joel (Pascal) has “rescued” his surrogate daughter Ellie (Ramsey) from a group that wanted to kill and dissect her to manufacture a cure to the fungal-based zombie virus that ended the world. (Ellie is uniquely immune to the infection). Joel killed everyone in his path to save Ellie, a grisly fact that he hides from her. But his rampage has immediate consequences as we see the poor kids who remain from the organization bury their comrades and vow revenge on Joel, hilariously described as “in his 50s and handsome.”
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The series then jumps five years into the future, when the pair have made a home in the relative safety of a Wyoming walled community. Though their relationship is tense and fraught, Ellie has best friend/crush Dina (Isabel Merced) to keep her company, and Joel is in therapy with the only shrink left, played with drunk wit by the ever-wonderful Catherine O’Hara.
After a series of events and catastrophes I won’t spoil, their safe world is turned upside down, and our heroes are drawn to the ruins of Seattle, where a militia and a cult are in the midst of a bloody war.
That is a frustratingly vague description, but the best moments of the season rely on shock and awe, and it would be criminal to rob viewers the chance to experience that. The first three episodes are propulsive and arresting, full of the lightning and spark that was apparent throughout Season 1.
But then “Us” begins to lose its way. The season introduces big stars in new roles, including Kaitlyn Dever as vengeful antagonist Abby and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, the militia general, but fails to develop them over the episodes beyond a few cursory scenes. It feels like a huge waste of major talent.
Season 1 was a collection of linked but self-contained episodes, but Season 2 has one major story thread stretched over the seven installments. That’s not inherently a bad choice, but in this instance the overarching story feels both overlong and underwhelming as tiny pieces of the narrative are introduced without being fully explained. The militia/cult war is utterly devoid of emotion or stakes, but the fight dominates much of the season’s second half.
If you have played the games, the structure makes a bit more sense, based on what my friends with better hand-eye coordination have told me. It seems as though all might be explained in future seasons, particularly the fleshing out of Abby and Isaac’s characters and backstories. But just as HBO’s “Game of Thrones” did not require summer reading to understand it, “Us” has to stand on its own as a TV show without requiring viewers to buy a PlayStation. The intentionally half-baked approach to Season 2 foreshadows an overstuffed and potentially controversial third season, the emotional effect of which will be dulled by the likely long hiatus (Season 1 premiered in January 2023).
I may have judged a lesser show more kindly for pitfalls like this. And indeed, there are few of its peers with the ambition to create art on this scale. But “Us” doesn’t just deserve an A for effort, and because it’s got the biggest budget and handsomest stars around. We should demand more from the art we consume, challenge back as much as we are challenged as viewers.
I want big scary zombies, bloody good violence, well-drawn characters and thoughtful plotting, all at the same time. So I’ll wait for a potential (inevitable?) third “Us” season, and hope I get that again.
