'The Last of Us' Season 2 Navigates the Moral Minefield of a Broken World

WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead.

Over the past few years, Hollywood has been scouring the world of video games for its next big hit. Finding success in an adaptation isn't an easy feat, and nobody has discovered the exact formula to create a franchise that appeals to both its original fanbase and the wider audience.

Enter Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the duo that struck gold with Max's adaptation of Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic video game franchise The Last of Us. The first season was already critically and commercially acclaimed, but moreover, it opened up the franchise to those who have never even touched the video game before. Its ability to walk the fine line between creating a carbon copy and straying too far from the source material spurred on a resurgence for a video game series that first came out 12 years ago. The Last of Us' impact was already undeniable, with the second installment taking home the coveted Game of the Year award, but its return to screens transformed it into more than just a game. That type of success isn't something that's achieved often.

“Ellie is like a beautiful storm. She’s very fierce and very mature and stubborn, but also has this sensitivity beneath the hard exterior of her heart. She kind of mirrors Joel in that way.” — Bella Ramsey

Now in its second season, we follow the storyline of The Last of Us Part II video game and jump five years into the future. Audiences last saw Joel (Pedro Pascal) lie to Ellie (Bella Ramsey) about the Fireflies failing to develop a cure from the others who were also immune to the mutated Cordyceps infection. Ellie remains immune and the two are now settled in Jackson, Wyoming, with their community is made up of other survivors including Joel’s younger brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and his wife Maria (Rutina Wesley), Ellie’s friend/love interest Dina (Isabela Merced) and her ex-boyfriend and budding leader Jesse (Young Mazino).

While Ellie proved to be tough even as a young teenager in the first season, there’s now a certain maturity — and even brutality — to her strength. The cruelty of being raised during the mutated Cordyceps pandemic is shown through the protagonist’s growth, not only with the fear of living amongst the infected, but also the complexities of interpersonal relationships and being a functioning member of what’s left of society. In order to return to Ellie as an older character, Ramsey had to understand what really happened to her during those five years. Creators Neil Druckmann (who also helmed the video game counterparts) and Craig Mazin were able to break it down for the actor, unraveling Ellie’s natural progression and how she’s been forced to grow during those vital years. Ramsey even spent two months training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in preparation for their reprisal of the role.

“Ellie is like a beautiful storm. She's very fierce and very mature and stubborn, but also has this sensitivity beneath the hard exterior of her heart. She kind of mirrors Joel in that way,” Ramsey says, but also notes that she gets “very dark and intense” due to her vengeful anger and need for justice. Striking that balance between Ellie’s harshness and silliness has been the hardest part for the actor. “But it still feels like the same character,” they continue, “like she's still the same person that she was at 14. Just matured and grown, and now knows a bit more about the world.”

With her growing pains also come the rising tensions between her and Joel. The TV adaptation allows for a deeper examination of their father-daughter dynamic in comparison to the video game and adds another layer of complexity to the burdensome themes. Ellie, who is now 19 years old, yearns for more independence and her own identity as she learns more about herself. Meanwhile, Joel attempts to rebuild their fractured relationship while trying to come to terms with the possibility that he robbed the world of a cure. He sums it up almost perfectly in the first episode: neither he nor Ellie ever reached this age with their biological family, so they’re forced to figure it out against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world.

Thankfully, Ramsey and Pascal’s strong off-camera relationship served as the foundation for them to dive into this tricky family connection. “We have so much trust and love for each other that we were able to play this shifted dynamic in a way that was actually quite painful for both of us,” they explain. “It didn't feel natural to be cold with each other, or it's more of Ellie being cold to Joel. Joel is really trying his best, which is even more sad. There’s a real shift with Joel and Ellie, but with me and Pedro, everything is the same way. There’s maybe more in love than ever, so it was really nice to find that with him.”

Caught in the middle of Ellie and Joel’s tumultuous relationship are Dina and Tommy. Dina proves to be a loyal friend and becomes the love interest of the former, but her levelheadedness also allows her to understand the gripes of the latter. She believes in Ellie, something that the character desperately needs, and Joel trusts her. This allows Dina to take away some of the pressure on Tommy who now has responsibilities as a community leader and family man. Luna explains while Tommy is the youngest of the two brothers, he’s had to rise to the occasion without losing his youthful disposition. “Maria is definitely the leader, the general — our president, if you would, here in the community. Tommy's the first gentleman who has to wrangle himself into his duties as a father, as a protector and as the head of the Security Council,” he says. “It was really fun to not neglect and abandon the spirit and the nature of the character, but still be able to show him in a more poised and mature era of his life.”

Sharing Ellie’s angry desire for justice is newcomer Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who is briefly introduced to audiences in the new season’s first episode. A Washington Liberation Front (WLF) soldier, she actively seeks out Joel in order to exact revenge over the death of her father, Jerry. Her grit and determination to hunt him down is evident right off the bat, and while some may suggest that her judgment is still cloudy from the violence and loss, a little sympathy will give viewers the opportunity to understand this part of the story through her lens. “I think it's fascinating,” Dever says. “They can easily call Abby a villain for what she did. Yes, she's a flawed person, but I think you could say the same thing about a lot of the characters and how all of them aren’t that different from each other.”

Dever reveals she was aware of how divisive her character was upon the release of The Last of Us Part II; Abby, after being labelled as an antagonist, was one of the other playable characters in the game, and her muscular physique became a point of unwarranted criticism. Motion capture actress Laura Bailey even received online death threats over her portrayal and Naughty Dog had to step in and publicly condemn the digital mob. “I can't even imagine what that must have been like for [Bailey] to have to deal with,” Dever says. The confidence that Mazin, Druckmann and Dever had in each other allowed the actress to separate her work from those conversations, however, and it became clear to her that doing Abby justice was the most important thing. “I guess my hope is that when people watch season two, they're able to separate the character from the person in real life,” she adds.

The series adaptation also introduces audiences to Isaac, with Jeffrey Wright reprising his role from the video game. The formidable and enigmatic leader of the WLF, he’s the no-nonsense type that will do anything to ensure the survival of him and his people. He’s an authoritative commander at the core, but his humanity is what separates him from being a bloodthirsty tyrant. With his entry to the Max series, Wright and Mazin made sure that Isaac wouldn’t be used as a scapegoat for unnecessary gore. “There can be a temptation with a character like this where he's just overboard and out of his mind. That's not what we were looking for,” Wright clarifies.

He continues, “We were trying to find something, as you suggest, that's a bit more human. He's making choices that are pretty brutal, but at the same time, he feels are justified in that he's out to serve his interests and the interests of his group.” Wright coyly adds, “Maybe being human could be what makes him even more alarming.”

“They can easily call Abby a villain for what she did. Yes, she’s a flawed person, but I think you could say the same thing about a lot of the characters and how all of them aren’t that different from each other.” — Kaitlyn Dever

If season one focused on the cost of love, season two is about what that love leaves behind. Endurance and survival were always its focal points, but now, The Last of Us carefully dissects the deadly cycle of vengeance, the devastation it leaves behind and the difficult road to healing. The franchise’s overarching theme of morality in a post-apocalyptic world is what continues to ground these characters, all of whom must make difficult choices for the greater good — all the while dealing with infected that are evolving into more sentient beings.

Episode one closes out with Abby and the remaining Fireflies closing in on the Jackson settlement. In her eyes is a volatile mix of agitation, anticipation and cold resolve. It’s New Year’s Eve, and the road ahead is buried in snow. A reckoning is on the horizon.

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