The Last of Us S2 E1 "Future Days" Review

I don't know about you, but I suddenly feel like playing a round of golf.

The second season of HBO's The Last of Us is off to a strong start with its premiere episode, Future Days, and if the teases are to be believed, it's all downhill from here emotionally, and quickly at that. Whatever you think of some of Naughty Dog's creative decisions concerning the fates of certain characters in the game, it's hard not to empathize with Kaitlyn Dever's Abby in HBO's adaptation, even with how little screen time she has. I see a lot of the same youthful rage in her that I see in Ellie, and it makes me more than a little interested in discovering the angle this show wants to study her character from.

Future Days makes some smart creative decisions, the most notable being the addition of an original storyline featuring Joel going to therapy. Believe me, he needs it. This arc fleshes out his character while still managing to make sense, adding a lot of uncomfortable layers to not only him but his therapist as well, surprisingly enough. Zooming out to five thousand feet, Future Days makes the apocalypse appear far more normalized than in the first season, turning it into a more routine affair. This makes a lot of sense, given that the survivors have adapted to their new life by this point and concocted a bunch of plans and procedures to survive run-ins with the infected. However, Future Days still manages to scare when the plans and the protocols inevitably go awry, and the only thing standing between our characters and death is their decisions.

Visually, this show's commitment to using as much natural scenery and as many practical, real-life sets as possible is an impressive endeavor that is very well-realized and well-executed. It looks utterly incredible so far. A dance scene towards the end of the episode is likely the highlight of Future Days, and looks pulled straight from the game in the very best ways possible.

Future Days is an assuredly strong outing that upholds the quality of season one and even manages to improve on it in a few ways. Granted, it's a world-building episode to the core - as it should be, though it manages to be its own beast as well. For those of you unfamiliar with the story of the game this season is based upon, Future Days prominently features a same-sex romantic relationship, so take that however you may. Being familiar with the source material, I wasn't too taken aback, but ponder it for your own consideration. All in all, I'm personally excited to see how this show continues to adapt The Last of Us: Part II. To give you a vague idea of what's ahead, the second game is a far darker affair than the first, and if this season adapts it well, you'll find a story that pushes our characters to the very fringe of humanity.

The first chapter was about love and redemption. This one is about love and revenge.

1 Timothy 1:8-11