The new episode of The Last Of Us will have you holding your breath for an hour. Here’s our review of The Last Of Us season 2 episode 2.
Warning! The final few paragraphs of this review contain very minor spoilers. Don’t worry, we’ll warn you again in the review itself.
Where to even begin with The Last Of Us season 2 episode 2? If episode 1 was an introduction to this season’s characters and themes, a relatively slow, soft landing back to Jackson, Wyoming, episode 2 is a full-on attack on your senses and feelings.
The episode begins with Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). She’s roaming the deserted hallways of the hospital in Salt Lake City, where Joel has left nothing but death and destruction. Another Abby appears, instructing herself not to walk into the room where “he” lies with his brains on the floor.
Cut back to the present day where Abby and her crew have found Jackson, but in the light of day, realise it’s a whole city rather than just a little tent colony. The scene gives us a nice glimpse into the group’s dynamics and we also learn the rest of the group are unwilling to continue with Abby’s revenge journey. It’s really special to see Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin devote as much time to Abby as the game does. Watching TV is a much more passive activity than playing the game and it’s easier to just divide your characters into good and evil, but Druckmann and Mazin are making sure we’re getting the full experience.
Meanwhile, in Jackson, the community is dealing with Ellie’s discovery of the stalkers, a new type of infected, in the last episode. There’s also reports that the zombified monsters are using dead ones to insulate them under the snow, implying that these creatures are evolving. It’s something we chatted about in the last episode of The Rest Of Us: The Last Of Us podcast, which you can listen to below.
From here on out, the episode’s time is split between Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Jesse heading out on a patrol, Abby going out on her own and Jackson preparing for an attack. Joel is missing for most of the episode and we’re told he’s out on patrol with Dina (Isabela Merced), but with so much already going on, he’s not missed. If anything, it seems at times that the episode has bitten more than it can chew, but director Mark Mylod manages to pull everything together in the final third of the episode which will leave you gasping for air for multiple reasons.
Mylod also manages to include a lot of nice little details, like a fence cutting into an infected’s hand. It’s these kinds of touches that really sell the brutality of the world of The Last Of Us. The infected themselves were created with a mix of visual effects and practical make-up and just like in the last season, they’re very impressive. The first season was somewhat criticised for not including a whole lot of zombie action, but episode 2 of the second season alone seems to want to fix that and we get our fair share of action.
Now, we’re heading into very, very mild spoilers after this paragraph. We won’t be spelling out exactly what happens but if you haven’t watched the episode and want to go in completely cold, stop reading here.
Still here? Wonderful.
The episode’s final moments are a cruel, vicious affair. Some really fantastic acting from Kaitlyn Dever here who is allowed to play into Abby’s villainy while also displaying all of that rage and despair she’s clearly been bottling up. Pedro Pascal is equally impressive, but this episode is largely not about him, but about the people he has hurt, whether he wanted to or not.
Huge kudos to HBO for going where few TV shows would dare to go and without a doubt, the episode will ruffle some feathers. It’s a move gamers will be familiar with, but the effect is not lessened in any way. Mylod, Mazin and Druckmann valiantly commit to the game’s most affecting scene and we’re left with a hurricane of emotions inside our head. The Last Of Us season 2 episode 2 is masterful in its storytelling and assures us that Druckmann and Mazin aren’t afraid to steer away from the games’ events while still staying true to the spirit of it.
New episodes of The Last Of Us premiere each Monday on Sky and NOW.
