Set five years after the events of The Last of Us season one, the premiere lets the audience be aware of a vengeful storm that is brewing from the night Joel saved Ellie from the Fireflies. Season 2 opens with series newcomer Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, No One Will Save You) swearing her vengeance on Joel directly after the events of the last season, before jumping to present day where Joel and Ellie are now residing in the Colorado mountains with his brother’s commune.

 

This season premiere presents us with how Joel and Ellie have each grown within the last five years - most notably a bitter contention between the both. Ellie is making her rounds helping the commune hunting and scouting out locations surrounding the commune, but we also see a blooming relationship between her and Dina, played by Isabela Merced (Superman, Instant Family). Joel on the other hand is still reckoning with his decision five years prior, however something here we haven’t seen in the game is that… Joel’s in therapy now! Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice, The Studio) joins the cast as Gail, Joel’s psychotherapist which he’s developed a contentious relationship off-screen. 

 

With our brief look at Kaitlyn Dever’s introduction as Abby, a member of the Fireflies whose father was killed by Joel at the end of season 1, we see this is already a much different interpretation of Abby considering Dever’s similar frame to Bella Ramsey, Ellie, as opposed to her buff frame from the video games. Though, we only have a brief time with Abby and co as her presence bookends the premiere episode. Pretty soon viewers will witness the visceral reckoning she will deliver both Joel and Ellie. 

 

This being the premier episode for the season feels a tad concerning. As a fan of the games since release, I’ve had time to mull over my feelings on the first season of this adaptation, which while still a good first season, it did leave some to be desired in the latter half of the season. Same goes for this episode, it does the job at translating mediums for the adaptation well, but it still leaves a bit more to be desired all while seeming to have a different story telling approach than The Last of Us Part II (the game this season is adapting).

 

It’s clear Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann both want to marinate in the human relationships more, but here it feels strangely one note. It’s just setting the stage for the season, but as a fan of the games, with such a short episode count, it’s a little concerning just how much this season is going to cover and if this will divide fans of the show and fans of the games even more.