“The Last of Us” was HBO’s most watched debut season of all time. So what’s in store for this one, which premiered on Sunday night?
In Season 2 of “The Last of Us,” we rejoin Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), now living in a survivor settlement in Jackson, Wyoming, and meet a salty crew of soldiers, led by the steely Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). Clickers abound.
We chatted with the creators and stars about what to expect this season (with new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. on Crave).
The series will continue to make fun nods to the video game
The sets looked so eerily similar to the game that Isabela Merced, who plays Dina in “The Last of Us” Season 2, would occasionally open drawers, expecting to find things in them, like in the game. While she hates fighting in video games, she was thrilled to pull a signature move of throwing a bottle to distract a clicker so she could shank it. “It’s just like you’re living your dreams, literally!” she said.
We will meet more survivor groups
“It’s going to be really interesting to meet some of the factions outside of Jackson once the story progresses, and you meet these groups of people who have responded to this post-apocalypse in their own way, whether it’s through a cult, whether it’s through a paramilitary group,” said Young Mazino, who plays Jesse, who’s part of the Wyoming group.
“And it also reveals the kind of intricate human undertones of these groups. I know in the game they may seem like just bad guys versus good guys, but it’s a lot more morally grey.” Fun fact: Jeffrey Wright will reprise his role as militia leader Isaac from the video game.
New addition Kaitlyn Dever has been involved with the project for a decade already
Over 10 years ago, there was talk of a “The Last of Us” movie and Dever was approached by the showrunners about playing Ellie. She even toured the video game studios when “The Last of Us: Part II” was being made. “For it to come back around in this way was so cool. It really felt like it was meant to be and that I was doing the role that I was always supposed to do.” (Her own father is also a hardcore fan of the game, she said: “He just plays it at night all the time. I’m not even kidding, like he plays it over and over again. He’s obsessed!”)
And she’s well aware how much many people hate her character from the game
According to Collider, extra security was hired for Dever due to how much hatred her character got online — but she remained undaunted. “I was definitely aware of the discussion surrounding the character online and people’s reaction to meeting Abby,” Dever said. “I guess that might be nerve-wracking, but ultimately I wasn’t super scared of it, and I hope that people are able to separate the fact that I’m playing a character.”
Ellie gets a love interest
Merced’s Dina is a no-nonsense survivor who starts to crush on Ellie. “I wish I could kiss girls onscreen all the time!” Merced said. “It was really just so comfortable and safe.”
There’s therapy in the zombie apocalypse?
Shrinks can outlast even a mushroom monster epidemic. Whoever thought we’d get Catherine O’Hara of “Schitt’s Creek” on “The Last of Us”! Joel’s therapist is played by the Canadian treasure, who stars as the wife of Eugene from “The Last of Us: Part II.” Neil Druckmann, co-creator of both the series and the video game, said that, with therapy, “it’s just as interesting to see what they confess to and what they lie about.” Joel is, he said, potentially in denial about the source of conflict between him and Ellie. “But … he’s willing to put himself in this very uncomfortable position to try to figure out why this relationship is as strained as it is,” Druckmann said. “And he really wants to fix it.”
