Neil Druckmann's Creations Evolve in HBO's Post-Apocalyptic Series
Neil Druckmann, the creator of The Last Of Us games and co-showrunner of the HBO adaptation, once said that the first game was about love, and the second was about hate. That's a pretty good way to summarize the two games, and the shift in tone from Season 1 of HBO's post-apocalyptic series into Season 2 and beyond. Spoilers ahead.
Two really big, really important things happen in tonight's harrowing episode of The Last Of Us. First off, we learn that the cordyceps plague is evolving. Where it once required a bite for someone to become infected with the fungus, now spores carried in the air can infect humans. This is super interesting because in the games, this was always the case. The cordyceps were "nerfed" for the show, presumably because Pedro Pascal didn't want to wear gas masks all the time, having spent so much time hiding his face for The Mandalorian.
The second big moment comes at the end of the episode, when Ellie (Bella Ramsey) breaks off from Dina (Isabela Merced) and Jesse (Young Mazino) to lead the Scars on a merry chase while they make it back to safety. Dina has been shot in the thigh by an arrow and Ellie has to do something to save her, especially now that she knows she's pregnant. Once she gets away, Ellie heads to the hospital on her own to track down Abby (Kaitlyn Dever).
The rest of the episode is mostly about Ellie and Dina trying to track down Abby. Dina is good with math, good at triangulation and so forth, and figures out the best way for them to make the approach. We learn a bit more about her backstory also, and why her tragic childhood makes her so amenable to helping Ellie out with her own revenge quest. It's a nice touch, giving Dina more depth and her reasons for accompanying Dina even more grounding.
All told, another solid episode with some great action and terrifying zombie scenes. I wish I didn't feel so down about the Seraphites, but as I've noted before, they're just way too much like one of the silly factions in The Walking Dead for my taste. A premium HBO show like this should have more nuance. I'm not even against a religious faction, but I'd prefer something a bit less cartoonish and a bit more grounded. These are basically the Amish on PCP.
