EntertainmentTVDrama ShowsThe Last of Us TV showThe Last of Us season 2 first images have left game fans worried about the timeline of the HBO showWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentTVDrama ShowsThe Last of Us TV showThe Last of Us season 2 first images have left game fans worried about the timeline of the HBO showWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: HBO)
Warning! This article contains fairly mild spoilers for The Last of Us: Part 2. If you haven’t played the game, and don’t want to knowanythingthat happens, turn back now!
HBO has finally revealed thefirst look at The Last of Us season 2, and one of the images has already sparked debate amongst fans of the games.
“You alright, kiddo?” Joel asks in the game, to which Ellie replies: “What’s wrong with you?”
“He had no right,” Joel replies, as she snaps back: “And you do?! I don’t need your f***ing help, Joel.” (If you’ve played, you’ll know that things have been super frosty between them since she learned two years earlier that he’d lied about the cure and his reasons for taking her from the Fireflies).
It’s no secret thatThe Last of Us: Part 2is alonggame that covers a lot of time and ground, and with season 2 of the adaptation set to be only seven episodes – two episodes less than season 1 – it seems safe to assume that HBO andNaughty Dogare planning to extend the story beyond just two onscreen chapters.
But some gamers, knowing that the above scene is a flashback that is shown towards the end of Part 2, are now worried that the show will show said sequences in chronological order instead.
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(Image credit: HBO)
“[It] would be a huge mistake,“said one doubter on Reddit. “It kneecaps so much of the meaning and makes Ellie’s time in Seattle even darker than it already is.
“That said, they could bring the dance scene specifically up without moving other scenes. I don’t think that changes too much, and IIRC the game script had the dance at the beginning for a long time anyway. But the museum and the porch scene absolutely have to stay as flashbacks, IMO.”
“There’s absolutely no way they can do it in chronological order and have the story still hit the same. It just doesn’t work,” wrote another.
Others are more optimistic about the potential changes to the narrative structure, though, and argue that creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann earned trust with the stellar first season.
“A lot of genuine criticism of the game is the chronology of the story,” said someone else. “I personally love it before I get downvoted; and I think it’ll translate to screen 100x better than the game but I’m sure it’s something the team have deliberated and may adjust quite a bit.”
“I think it’s going to be a case of changing the order and showing the dance in real time,” replied another Reddit user. “As well at it works in the game, I think bringing it forward will help us buy into Ellie/Dina’s relationship with the kiss as well as getting across just how pissed Ellie is with Joel. They can still keep the why Ellie is so pissed at Joel a mystery for late in the season.”
“Let them tell this version in whatever way they think is best, and then decide if the changes ruin the story,” added one more. “These are different mediums here, and they might find certain elements of Part II’s structure work better for TV if altered a little. That’s the point of an adaptation, after all.”
The Last of Us season 2is set to premiere sometime in 2025. For more, check out our list of the bestnew TV showscoming your way in 2024 and beyond.
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