The Last of Us Season 2 (2025) Review

The Last of Us Season 2 (2025) Review

Up until recently, video game adaptations haven’t been the best received both in terms of box office numbers, and critically. With many flops including Assassins Creed , ‘Hitman’, ‘Hitman: Agent 47’, ‘Doom’ and ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ just to name a few. However, in recent years, we have seen a shift in this, with many hits hitting both the big and small screen. Some of these hits included: ‘Uncharted’, ‘Tomb Raider’, ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 1,2 & 3’, ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’,Detective Pikachu, ‘Fallout’, ‘Warcraft’, ‘Gran Turismo’, ‘Borderlands’ and ‘The Last of Us’, all impressing audiences across the globe. This trend has continued into this year, with many of these releases hitting the big and small screen in 2023 and 2024, and many more adaptations and planned sequels on the horizon. 

After the monumental success of HBO’s ‘The Last of Us Season 1', a second season was greenlit almost instantly. Whilst we had to wait 2 years to get it, thankfully it was worth the wait. Season 2 is set five years after the events of Season 1, with Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey), have settled into the relative safety of Jackson, Wyoming. But the peace is short-lived. When a violent act of revenge shatters their fragile sense of stability, Ellie embarks on a harrowing journey across a fractured America to seek justice and closure. As Ellie navigates a world still ravaged by the Cordyceps infection and torn apart by warring factions like the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) and the Seraphites, she is forced to confront the emotional and moral consequences of her actions. Meanwhile, Joel’s past decisions come back to haunt him, straining his relationship with Ellie and setting off a chain of events that will change both of them forever. As a fan of Naughty Dog’s original games and HBO’s adaptation, I was looking forward to Season 2 and it did not disappoint, living up to Season 1 in almost every way.

The strengths of The Last of Us, games or otherwise, has always been its characters. They’re incredibly well-written and well-realised. There is a lot of depth behind each character, bought to life brilliantly by its exceptional cast. The standouts are of course Ellie, played brilliantly by Bella Ramsey and of course Pedro Pascal as Joel. Whilst Joel isn’t as involved in this second season as he was in the first season, his impact is still felt. The history of what’s happened to him and his journey to Wyoming is all expressed through the history on his face. You feel the pain he feels and that is all due to Pedro’s understanding of the character and the writing of said character. Bella Ramsey is also amazing as Ellie. She really comes into her own here. The character establishes her own path and similarly to the first season, all actions have consequences and as the story progresses, we see how Ellie learns from her mistakes and begins to understand the weight of responsibility. The supporting cast are also, all strong here. Gabriel Luna as Joel’s brother, Tommy, Isabela Merced as Dina, Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Young Mazino as Jesse, Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, Danny Ramirez as Manny and Catherine O’Hara as Gail. Their all really good here.

The story itself stays relatively close to the game, making a few changes to help with the flow of the narrative and also assisting with the longevity of the show. Without giving anything away, the show has to make a hard decision early on for the flow of the narrative that could have easily de-railed the entire show. But thankfully, it works for the better, giving each of the characters motivation for their journey’s moving forward, and giving the audience a sense of stakes, that none of these characters are safe. If you’re familiar with the games, you will obviously know what I’m talking about, however, in terms of the show, I think its handled really well. The show, as you can anticipate, does end on a cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

Overall, ‘The Last of Us Season 2’, lived up to my anticipation. Similarly to the game, it may not be as memorable as the first season or chapter in the story, but because of expert craftsmanship from Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann behind the camera, and the talented ensemble lead by Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in front of the camera, guiding the ship. If you’re a fan of the games, then you need to check this show out. It’s really in a league of its own and worthy of all the praise. Be sure to pick-up your copy of Season 2 on DVD, Blu-Ray or 4K Ultra HD, you won’t want to miss it. Available for pre-order on Sanity's website now!

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Christopher Pattison from Oz-Movie Geek wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here