The Final of Us Season 2 begins off in spectacular vogue because it reintroduces us to HBO’s model of this post-apocalyptic world, full with Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal as Ellie and Joel, who as soon as once more embody their characters completely whereas additionally taking them in new and thrilling instructions that peel again the layers of the characters and add depth to their choices and character dynamics.
I’ve been immensely trying ahead to this season – and those that can comply with – as The Final of Us Half II is one in all my favorite video video games ever and eventually attending to see characters like Abby, Dina, Owen and Jesse come to life has been an electrical expertise to this point.
| “Future Days* – THE LAST OF US. Pictured: Isabela Merced as Dina. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO ©2025 HBO |
Isabela Merced, in particular, shines as the warm and luminous Dina who adds a lot of light and heart to the show and is an instrumental part of allowing the audience to see a new side to Ellie. Dina brings out the brightest parts of her and this first episode has a very laid back and relaxed feel to it as we just get to see Ellie live and exist in Jackson, with fight practice, ex-girlfriends and romantic dance scenes galore. Honestly, it’s as peaceful as it gets in a world defined by raging hordes of infected.
Of course, new threats arrive and are set up over the course of the hour. My personal least favourite variety of infected, the Stalker, makes its debut live-action appearance in a genuinely unsettling and nail-biting sequence, and a moment towards the end of the episode reveals that some infected tendrils have made their way through a pipe within Jackson, promising a brutal fight for survival in the next episode.
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| “Future Days* – THE LAST OF US. Pictured: Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Photograph: Liane Hentscher/HBO ©2025 HBO |
Future Days’ can also be bookmarked by scenes that includes Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby and her mates, Owen, Mel, Manny and Nora. Whereas she doesn’t get an excessive amount of to do within the episode, Kaitlyn Dever is already placing in a magnetic efficiency. It’s been stated that the main target shall be extra on the drama than on the motion scenes so I’m excited to see Dever sink her tooth into the flesh of the character over this batch of episodes.
Spencer Lord as Owen, and Younger Mazino as Jesse, additionally impressed even with their extra restricted roles, and it actually felt just like the characters I’ve cherished for practically 5 years have come to life.
The guts of this episode although is, as all the time, the core relationship between Ellie and Joel. However it is a coronary heart that’s been break up in two. Ellie is harbouring plenty of anger in direction of Joel, and so they spend a lot of the episode break up aside, their solely scenes collectively packed stuffed with pressure. Pedro Pascal has all the time been efficient at pulling Joel’s feelings to the floor and the scene he shares with Catherine O’Hara’s Gail the place he merely states, ‘I saved her’ when speaking about Ellie was equal components chilling and heartbreaking.
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| “Future Days* – THE LAST OF US. Pictured: Pedro Pascal as Joel. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO ©2025 HBO |
All in all, this episode was very a lot the calm earlier than the storm, organising the foundations for future character dynamics between Ellie and Joel, Ellie and Dina, Ellie and Tommy, in addition to the core friendship group of Ellie, Dina and Jesse with all three of them having nice chemistry collectively.
The ultimate scene reveals Abby and her mates arriving above Jackson, fuelled by the vengeful mission talked about within the opening and the strain makes the look ahead to the second episode virtually insufferable.
What did you consider the episode? Hold forth within the feedback under!
