The Last of Us

First of all I'd like to say that if you haven't played the game before and have the ability to do so, I'd strongly recommend you to experience this story that way first. It's truly one of the greatest games of all time in my opinion and this adaptation does not capture it's magic.

First of all, let's talk about the acting: Pedro Pascal is solid as Joel. He looks the part and embodies the character pretty well but still come off as a bit stiff in comparison to Troy Bakers masterful portrayal.

Bella Ramsay on the other hand is completely miscast as Ellie. She neither looks nor plays the part. While she can't be faulted for the former, I don't think she has the acting range necessary to inhabit the character. Sure, I don't know what directions they gave her on set, but she seems to only possess a handful of facial expressions in total. Where Ellie in the game could come off as nervous, excited and childish, she mostly comes off as bored here. Bella simply fails to instill the character with the sense of life that she has in the game, which is ironic for a live action portrayal.

As for the other actors, they mostly do a good job. There are no standout performances but no really bad ones either, with the exception of Melanie Lynskey (but more on her later).

The major problems of this adaptation however are the pacing and deviations from the source material. All in all, we get a 9 hour long season to cover the event of the first game, which is already pretty tight. The matter isn't helped by dedicating an hour to Bill's gay romance story, which contributes nothing to the overall narrative while deviating completely from the game. The runtime is stretched thinner by adding additional side-characters that at best does little for the story. The worst offender in this category is Kathleen, awfully played by Lynskey in one of the most unconvincing roles I've witnessed. Not in a hundred years could I see her being a leader of a crew like that. I won't go through every little change but the end result is that the story feels very rushed. This, in turn, leads to the underdevelopment of the relationship between Joel and Ellie; the pillar of the story.

Another annoyance I had was the lack of brutality in the show. The violence in the game helped make the world feel bleak and gritty. Here, on the other hand, we get plenty of off-screen deaths and hardly any blood and gore, making the world feel way to sanitized.

Reading through my review, I realize my score may come off as rather generous. But I do think that it's still worth a watch, even if it fails to live up to it's excellent source material.

Season 2 of The Last of Us is a textbook example of how a strong foundation can be squandered. What began as a series marked by emotional gravity, narrative precision, and grounded character choices has devolved into a hollow, melodramatic shell of its former self.

The shift in tone is jarring. Where season 1 built tension through moral ambiguity and careful pacing, season 2 leans into teen drama tropes, complete with romantic angst, overacted grief, and emotional scenes that often defy internal logic. The world these characters inhabit is supposedly brutal and unforgiving - yet their decisions increasingly ignore this reality.

Take the central revenge arc. The idea that two young adults - essentially still kids - would set out on a cross-country revenge mission against a group they barely understand, with no intel on terrain, no backup plan, and no clear objective, is absurd. The only rationale offered is "Ellie is immune" - as if that cancels out every tactical and survival risk. You could chalk this up to youthful recklessness, but the way it's presented lacks nuance, weight, or even basic plausibility. It feels lazy, not tragic.

Some moments are outright implausible within the established logic of the world.

Structurally, the season fails completely. Abby, a central character in the second game, only appears in the final scene - setting up "Day One" in Seattle. The game gained emotional complexity by letting players experience the conflict from both sides. The series opts instead for a full season of one-sided buildup with no payoff. It feels like narrative stalling: all setup, no substance.

I never played the games, but I don't need to. What's on screen should stand on its own - and it doesn't. This season abandons the brutal realism that made the world believable, and instead becomes a stylized coming-of-age story in a world that was never meant to be romanticized.

A generous 4/10 - purely out of respect for season 1, and the world that once was.

So I gave the 5 stars because I really loved the first season of the show. I wanted to give this an 8 but the second season was just so painful to watch and ruined everything for me.

The first season has characters that we care for with a really great story. Every episode had me excited and I would be upset when it was done. I always thought, "an hour was not enough!" And couldn't wait for the next episode to come out. It truly was great tv.

Season 2 took a turn for the worst. I found myself losing my patience with the slow paced episodes and it made me feel like I was watching the walking dead instead. More focus on teen drama and how horrible humans are instead of the conflicts with zombies and surviving.

Somehow logic went out the window for most of these characters. Of all people, Ellie should know better. But they had to dumb her down in order to make their story progress in the direction they wanted it to.

Most of the characters are one dimensional and didn't make me care for them. The only one I was rooting for was Jesse as he had a sense of responsibility and care for others unlike Ellie who seems to forget about everyone else but herself and her quest for revenge.

We hardly saw any zombies except for the second episode. Introducing the more advanced zombies was absolutely pointless as we only get a total of 5 minutes of them being on screen. The weird cult seemed pointless as well, although I'm sure they'll circle back to it in season 3.

Bella Ramsey as Ellie was only good for portraying a kid in season 1, but she isn't a good fit for season 2 in a more mature role. Joel is the only character worth watching and it helps that we have a good actor like Pedro Pascal playing him. Ellie cannot carry the story alone and it's a shame that Joel was taken out so early on in season 2.

In conclusion, season 2 was so bad that I have no desire in watching season 3. It's all about dread and gives no point to anything any of the characters do. I recommend only watching season 1 and completely forget that they made a second season.

Season 2 of The Last of Us is an absolute disaster - a steep, embarrassing fall from the emotional depth and tight storytelling of Season 1. What was once a compelling post-apocalyptic drama is now reduced to a lifeless, teenage melodrama filled with forced dialogue, unearned emotional beats, and some of the most painfully wooden acting on television. The plot is nonexistent, the pacing is dreadful, and every episode feels like filler. Characters drift through meaningless scenes, and the emotional core that made Season 1 so powerful is completely gone. It's a soulless, directionless mess that insults fans of the original season.

Did they really have to do this.. why would the makers of such a great season 1, will infect themselves to ruin everything for themselves and the viewers... I'm so disgusted...please don't watch season 2 or if you do then just stop after first 2 episodes. That's it.. S1 has left such impressive memories of careful writing, acting, direction and everything. Now it has turned into a teen comedy show .. so unnecessary.. they should've stopped at season 1 for it to be remembered as one of the best apocalypse drama.. even the main character of Ellie has lost all its charisma, valour and personality. Just don't watch if you like S1.