After experiencing two seasons of TV and thirty hours of gameplay, it’s clear The Last of Us delivers an uneven, hit-or-miss experience. Characters are a strong suit, thanks to impeccable casting by HBO and Naughty Dog plus universally solid acting. However, part II of TLOU — The Last of Us Part II (TLOU2) game and the show after season one — suffers from serious flaws. It feels overstuffed, flattens characterization, and struggles with its darker thematic elements. What begins as an engrossing two-hander with a smart moral dilemma devolves into cruel, anonymous “cycle of violence” genre fodder. (Major spoilers for TLOU ahead.)
Part II’s biggest problem lies in how its main characters — Ellie, Dina, and Abby — feel severely underwritten compared to Joel and Ellie in part I. Character arcs are practically nonexistent. The story skips over reflection and introspection about the impact of these characters’ revenge-fueled warpaths. When such moments do appear, they feel merely perfunctory.
The WLF (Washington Liberation Front) and the Seraphites are another consistent weak point. Neither faction receives enough time or depth in the show or game to elevate them beyond anonymous bad guys for Ellie and her allies to evade and kill. I especially dislike each faction’s over the top depravity. The Seraphites execute their enemies by disembowelment and have cartoonishly large self inflicted scars on their faces. Meanwhile, the heavily armed, neo-fascist WLF readily torture prisoners.
While I have some sympathy for evil factions in a twenty hour stealth action game — a lot of killing demands a disposable supply of enemies — their storylines in a truncated TV season prove to be little more than a distraction. The show wastes precious screen time on watching an anonymous band of Seraphites get slaughtered, WLF leader Isaac’s back story, and a WLF attack on a Seraphite village in the season finale.
By the end of the TLOU2 and the TV series to date, the flat and overwrought screenwriting leaves only a few obvious thematic messages. Violence is bad. Both sides of a conflict contain humans with good and bad intentions. The cycle of violence continues. But drawing out such simplistic messaging alongside flat characterization over a game or TV season isn’t particularly fulfilling for players or viewers.
There’s a smarter approach to TLOU Part II’s storytelling. The creators should simplify and deviate from genre conventions to give the characters more breathing room to shine. Pacing is key.
For TLOU2 game, I wish it featured less combat, more cutscenes, and more interactive moments that aren’t built around killing. Instead of another lavishly produced ambush on WLF territory, I would have preferred to spend more time with Ellie and Dina working through the ramifications of their actions.
For TLOU season two, if production only had room for seven episodes, the show runners should have chosen a simplified, less ambitious screen adaptation that didn’t slavishly cram in every major story beat from the first half of TLOU2. That might have forced the narrative to wrap up well before the time jump back to Abby’s perspective. Alternatively, the show could have pruned the weaker secondary plots like the faction wars and the extended time spent in Jackson. The TV adaptation offers creative advantages over the game (less mandated combat, more flexibility around perspective). Judicious pruning can also give interesting minor characters in Ellie’s orbit like Jesse and Tommy more complexity.
Part II’s overreach becomes even more baffling when you consider that the greatness of part I stems from its simplicity. Part I has no factions, no Jackson town halls, and minimal debate about the moral qualms of the mission. Part I is effectively an escort journey where a smuggler protects a teenage girl across the post apocalyptic, zombie infested United States. While locations and enemies vary, and a few side characters break up the action, it’s Joel’s and Ellie’s story for almost all of its runtime. This gives plenty of time for both characters — each starting the story deeply distrustful and cynical — to grow and bond with each other. Against an otherwise alien zombie backdrop, the quasi father-daughter connection proves familiar, warm, and relatable. Joel’s and Ellie’s casting — Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson in the games, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the show — is pitch perfect. Creator Neil Druckmann also ensures the action narrative doesn’t overstay its welcome and adds a clever twist in the final act.
The richness of TLOU’s characters and acting explains why the TV series’ episode “Long, Long Time” (season one, episode three) is widely regarded as the finest in the series. Serving as an expansion from the game, the episode presents a self contained story of a twenty year relationship between minor characters Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). It has barely any Joel, Ellie, or zombie action. Instead, the action focuses primarily on two characters conversing and falling in love. The acting by Offerman and Bartlett is sensational, a romance that’s equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking without ever succumbing to post apocalyptic misery porn.
The season two episode “The Price” is another show highlight, easily the best part of the season. Serving as a departure from Ellie’s revenge quest, the episode flashes back to Jackson to build the relationship between Joel and Ellie over multiple years.
Both “Long, Long Time” and “The Price” serve as a reminders that the strongest parts of TLOU are intimate and character centric. At its best, TLOU transcends anonymous zombie action to reflect on parental bonds, letting go, and balancing what benefits family and community with the greater good. However, at its lowest moments, the series basically becomes The Walking Dead with cooler combat and production design. While it’s too late for the games, there’s still time for Craig Mazin and other decision makers at HBO to take more creative liberties in TLOU season three and beyond. After a rocky and mostly unfulfilling season two, there’s significant opportunity to right the wrongs of the narrative as the story shifts to Abby and the WLF.