This is a piece I've been waiting to post since March, 2024. A great moment from the game I wanted to recreate. My artwork has very much so improved in the last year and I plan on recreating this with the show as reference. Huge fan of The Last of Us and hope to create some more fan art as Season 2 continues.
The last of season 2 episode 2 thoughts and feelings
SPOILERS GUYS SPOILERS FOR GAME AND S2EP2
Holy fuck I'm shaking
Wow ok wow
Ok so
Major changes from the game to the episode.
Firstly, we have more reminders of why Abby is doing what she's doing and it's repeated a lot at the beginning, and then again when she kills Joel.
I don't like this
I think it's so unnecessary, and I think it honestly would have been better if tv audiences didn't know why Abby did what she did until later on, as it is in the game. It gets rid of this whole layer, and so many feelings as an audience member. It immediately justifies abby, and honestly I think it's better when you do hate her (major clarifying here, THE CHARACTER ABBY, not Kaitlyn Denver or Laura Bailey, THE CHARACTER)
you feel this rage when you don't know why she's done what she's done, this horror at how aggressively and brutally she kills Joel, and the lack of explanation makes you feel all these things that you just dont feel watching the tv series now, because it's been explained to you about 3 times why Abby killed him, in detail.
So yeah, the explanations over and over again weren't for me, but I can also maybe understand why that choice was made.
When the last of us games originally came out, actress Laura Bailey got SO much hate and stuff for playing Abby and for playing someone who killed Joel and maybe they didn't want that to translate over to the series with Kaitlyn Denver.
The fact that she's immediately justified and you can sort of be like "in her position I'd do the same" right from the get go helps make sure the same issue doesnt happen again with tv audiences as it did with some players. But with the games you start of feeling all these negative feelings towards the character, and then she slowly wins you back when you begin to undertsand why she did what she did and then you end up sympathising with her and liking her. Also I don't want this to be confused with justification for the hate. I do not condone any of the shit that went down with the last of us 2 (game) to do with abby or anything else. But because that all happened, it makes me understand why they made the choice they did with the series, in hopes that you wouldn't yet again have more assholes sending hate towards actors and creators.
So I can understand the choice, but yeah I definitely preferred the story telling of not knowing until much later.
In regards to the changes with Dina going with Joel and Jessie and Ellie going on patrol. Mostly just why?
Where they that desperate to not have the scene between Dina and Ellie in Eugene's old hide out? They could still have went on patrol together?? Yeah don't understand this choice at all and didn't like it. Also that scene had so much character building between Dina and Ellie, with Ellie admitting her bitemark and the two of them bonding. Sucks that we missed out on all of that.
In regards to the change with the hoard coming for Jackson. I liked this much more than other changes in this episode. It gave a reason for Tommy to be remaining at Jackson which makes things less complicated for later on in the series. It also was just insanely cool like hello?
The cordiceps travelling through the pipes and it getting triggered as a reason the horde don't follow abby, dina and Joel all the way back to the lodge? Excellent story telling. Tommy's fight with the bloater? Brilliant. HE HAD A FLAME THROWER CMON.
Bella Ramsays acting in this episode, especially at **that** part, PHENOMINAL OUT OF THIS WORLD INCREDIBLE OH ME OH MY. Yeah genuinely can't understand how people don't think they're the perfect Ellie, they are. And this proves it.
Little things;
ASHELY JOHNSON IS THAT YOU POOKIE, ugh her voice and that song were a perfect end to that episode.
Enjoyed the homage to the bong gas mask in the game.
I enjoyed ellies interaction with Jessie at the beginning of the episode, stuck pretty loyally to the game and eased that tension. Making the shit that happens later hit that much harder.
Overall - 7/10
It's still great TV, I just feel like some changes take it a step down and I can't help but compare it to the games when they're so outrightly different in these regards.
