Episode 1: “Future Days” (aired 4.13.25)
Minor spoilers ahead for The Last of Us Part ll (the game)
Last week was a bit confusing for fans of The Last of Us. Naughty Dog president Neil Druckmann announced that Part lll is “probably not gonna happen” and the release of The Last of Us Complete, a PlayStation bundle that includes the PS5 remastered editions of both games as well as numerous other things in the physical edition (set to release in July). It is strange that this news of a seeming finality came so close to the premiere of the second season of the HBO series, which luckily seems to have broken the string of ill news for fans.
The video game opens up with a sequence in which Joel recounts the events of the first game, coming clean to his brother Tommy about the drastic actions he took to save Ellie. The show forsakes recreating this opening, instead immediately jumping forward five years to show where our characters are after the first season. The introductions of our new characters, specifically Dina and Jesse (portrayed by Isabella Merced and Young Mazino), are pleasant to watch and feel like accurate translations of their game counterparts. The show also makes a point to introduce new (Gail, played by Catherine O’Hara) or unseen (Eugene, Cat) characters that will no doubt have more of a purpose later on.
Like most of the first season, “Future Days” is not an incredibly action-packed episode, and makes a point to effectively establish characters before anything else. That said, the grocery store sequence (complete with clickers and a stalker) is a prime example of the show’s ability to translate gameplay sequences in non-gratuitous ways. The scene is also just long enough to energize a bit of slow-burn episode.
Perhaps the biggest cause of criticism this week has been Bella Ramsey’s portrayal of Ellie, which like their work in the first season, is not a recreation of Ashley Johnson’s work in the games. When we catch up with Ellie in the game, she is essentially a shell of the formerly pompous and loudmouthed fourteen-year-old we spent time with in the first game, quieted by her experiences with David and his cannibalistic group. However, Ramsey’s performance takes Ellie in the opposite direction, making her even more angry, impulsive, and angsty. This angle has attracted controversy by viewers, with some lauding the decision and others lambasting it. It will work for some, and it does work within the context of the show, as Joel is tormented by his apparent “poor fatherhood”, when in reality it is just Ellie growing up. But the problem, for fans of the game, is that her character is such a far cry from who we spent time with in the original story. Yet despite this criticism, it is too early in the season to accurately judge this decision on the part of the writers, positively or negatively.
The Last of Us Part ll was incendiary on release, both in acclaim and controversy, and it appears that its television adaptation will be no different. As a season premiere, “Future Days” packs enough story, character, and action to be satisfying, and even if its new directions aren’t exactly what we wanted to see, they might end up being what we needed to see. Time will tell.
Episode 2 will air on HBO and Max channels on Sunday, April 20.
