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The Last of Us Season 2 starts off in spectacular fashion as it reintroduces us to HBO’s version of this post-apocalyptic world, complete with Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal as Ellie and Joel, who once again embody their characters perfectly while also taking them in new and exciting directions that peel back the layers of the characters and add depth to their decisions and character dynamics.

I have been immensely looking forward to this season – and the ones that will follow – as The Last of Us Part II is one of my favourite video games ever and finally getting to see characters like Abby, Dina, Owen and Jesse come to life has been an electric experience so far. 

“Future Days* – THE LAST OF US. Pictured: Isabela Merced as Dina. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO ©2025 HBO

Isabela Merced, in particular, shines as the warm and luminous Dina who adds a lot of light and heart to the show and is an instrumental part of allowing the audience to see a new side to Ellie. Dina brings out the brightest parts of her and this first episode has a very laid back and relaxed feel to it as we just get to see Ellie live and exist in Jackson, with fight practice, ex-girlfriends and romantic dance scenes galore. Honestly, it’s as peaceful as it gets in a world defined by raging hordes of infected. 

Of course, new threats arrive and are set up over the course of the hour. My personal least favourite variety of infected, the Stalker, makes its debut live-action appearance in a genuinely unsettling and nail-biting sequence, and a moment towards the end of the episode reveals that some infected tendrils have made their way through a pipe within Jackson, promising a brutal fight for survival in the next episode. 

“Future Days* – THE LAST OF US. Pictured: Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO ©2025 HBO

Future Days’ is also bookmarked by scenes featuring Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby and her friends, Owen, Mel, Manny and Nora. While she doesn’t get too much to do in the episode, Kaitlyn Dever is already putting in a magnetic performance. It’s been said that the focus will be more on the drama than on the action scenes so I’m excited to see Dever sink her teeth into the flesh of the character over this batch of episodes. 

Spencer Lord as Owen, and Young Mazino as Jesse, also impressed even with their more limited roles, and it really felt like the characters I’ve loved for nearly five years have come to life. 

The heart of this episode though is, as always, the core relationship between Ellie and Joel. But this is a heart that’s been split in two. Ellie is harbouring a lot of anger towards Joel, and they spend much of the episode split apart, their only scenes together packed full of tension. Pedro Pascal has always been effective at pulling Joel’s emotions to the surface and the scene he shares with Catherine O’Hara’s Gail where he simply states, ‘I saved her’ when talking about Ellie was equal parts chilling and heartbreaking.

“Future Days* – THE LAST OF US. Pictured: Pedro Pascal as Joel. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO ©2025 HBO

All in all, this episode was very much the calm before the storm, setting up the foundations for future character dynamics between Ellie and Joel, Ellie and Dina, Ellie and Tommy, as well as the core friendship group of Ellie, Dina and Jesse with all three of them having great chemistry together.

The final scene shows Abby and her friends arriving above Jackson, fuelled by the vengeful mission talked about in the opening and the tension makes the wait for the second episode almost unbearable. 

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments below!

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