Preview:

• The strong hatred towards The Last Of Us Season 2 is unnecessary
• Changes made from The Last Of Us Part II are minor and always enhance the storytelling
• The Last Of Us Season 3 will focus on Abby’s journey and introduce key characters that fans are worried will not be included

Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2 below.

‘The Last Of Us’ season one was a massive hit with both critics and audiences, but Season two, unfortunately, cannot say the same. While the Rotten Tomatoes score for both seasons remains similar (in the nineties) for critics, the audience score has dropped from eighty-six percent to thirty-eight percent. Viewers have not been afraid to go to the internet and express their hatred for this latest season, which is completely unwarranted.

As with any adaptation, there are changes from ‘The Last Of Us Part II’ video game. This is often done to expand on the storytelling and allow for things to play out better for a viewing audience versus a gaming audience.

The devastating death of Joel (Pedro Pascal) caused an uproar among video game players as well. Some went so far as to stop playing the game before finishing it, so it was not a complete surprise that viewers felt this way as well. That said, season two is not nearly as bad as people act like it is. While there are some minor changes, they only enhance the viewing experience and set up what is sure to be a fantastic season three.

MovieFone breaks down the most significant changes that are incorporated into ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2, and why they make the story even better.

Related Article: TV Review: The Last Of Us Season 2

Abby’s Backstory Is Revealed Earlier

While Abby’s backstory is revealed at the very beginning of ‘The Last Of Us’ Season two, players do not discover who her father is until much later in the game. As the creators of the series have explained in detail, doing it this way makes much more sense for an audience.

If everyone watching was kept in the dark about why Abby is doing these horrible things, it would be almost impossible to connect with her on a human level. In the game, you are forced to play her, which is when that bond is formed. In the show, you need to understand her motives in order to fully understand where things are going.

An Infected Horde Attacks Jackson

The infected attacking Jackson is easily one of the best parts of the season. It comes in episode two, which is already a highly emotional episode, and adds much higher stakes. The different patrol pairings, Dina going with Joel and Ellie going with Jesse, mean that viewers get to see Dina and Joel’s bond rather than just hear about it, as they do in the game.

At first, there was some concern that key moments between Ellie and Dina would be missing because of this, but the series makes up for it later in the game. Having the attack on Jackson forces Tommy to stay behind and help manage repairs, rather than go off after Abby immediately, as he does in ‘The Last Of Us Part II’. He remains a part of the story, however, as Jesse and Tommy decide to go after Ellie and Dina and end up saving them from likely death.

The Addition Of Gail, Played By Catherine O’Hara

Catherine O’Hara is a great actress, so bringing her into any project is a good decision. She plays a therapist named Gail, who is there to help viewers learn more about what certain characters are thinking. Again, when you are playing them in a game, you grow closer to them and feel that you understand them inside and out. That is more difficult to accomplish in a series if you are not laying it all out on the table.

Not only does the addition of Gail let viewers know what is going on inside Joel, Tommy, and Ellie’s heads, but it also gives more meaning to Eugene. He is only mentioned in passing in the game, but has a key role in the series, as his death is what makes Ellie realize that her suspicions about what Joel did to the Fireflies at the hospital were right.

While the actual confrontation does not happen until later, Joel lying and saying he would not kill Eugene until he could say goodbye to Gail, but then doing it anyway, proved to her that he will lie when push comes to shove.

Joel & Tommy’s Backstory Adds More Emotion To Why Joel Did What He Did

The video game does not offer up any details about Joel and Tommy’s upbringing, so including the scene of a young Joel with Tommy and his father at the beginning of ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2 Episode 6 is a welcome change. It is here that we learn their father abused them, but that he was slightly better than his own father, who once broke his jaw.

The added generational trauma, and the fact that Joel is trying hard to break the cycle himself with Ellie, makes the story that much more emotional, especially when it comes to the heart-to-heart they have on the porch, which is another sequence that was changed for the better.

Not only is this revelation at the end of the game, but Joel never says “I love you” to Ellie. This is still the last time they talk to one another before his death, but in the game version, this was a conversation about forgiveness, as Ellie has known what Joel really did for months at this point in the game.

Joel getting to express his feelings adds a bit of closure that the game did not have. We all know that he thinks of Ellie as a daughter, but for her to be able to hear that from him is satisfying and one of the best changes that was made.

The Scars Almost Kill Abby, Not Ellie, In The Game

Anyone who is worried that Abby’s encounter with the Scars is not going to happen because Ellie was almost killed on Scar Island can put their minds at ease. If you look closely at Abby in the theater scene at the end of ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2, you can see a bruise on her neck.

Without getting into spoilers, there are key characters that come into play during this part of Abby’s story, which we are sure to see play out in Season 3 as we follow what she has been up to those three days in Seattle.

‘The Last Of Us’ Season 1 and Season 2 are currently streaming on HBO Max. The third season has been greenlit, but does not currently have a release date.

What is the plot of ‘The Last of Us’ season 2?

Five years after the events of the first season, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.

Who is in the cast of ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2?

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Buy ‘The Last of Us‘ on Amazon