The Last Of Us Season 2 Episode 2 Review

In episode 2 of The Last of Us season 2, Joel learns the hard way that, try as we might, we can never fully escape our past.

This review contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2.

Obviously the technical elements are what you’d expect from a prestigious HBO show, and episode director Mark Mylod shows once again why he’s one of the best TV directors working today. The Infected’s siege on Jackson is the kind of large-scale action that you’d expect from a video game adaptation, but “Through the Valley” has an emotional core underneath those moments, and it’s what helps the episode succeed.

First, let’s talk about how the Infected have adapted into what we see in episode 2. Last week we saw Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) first encounter with a Stalker, a new breed who can actively hunt their prey, rather than just simply stumbling around. Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) finds a kind of “corpsicle” (to use a phrase from True Detective: Night Country) full of Infected in the woods. But they come to life again, almost as if they were luring her into a trap, and they become so overwhelming that she has no choice but to flee. “Through the Valley” is a powerful showcase for Dever, as she gets to show Abby’s vulnerable side when she’s out in the snow while also being in control and terrifying near the end of the episode.

Back in Jackson, another horde of Infected comes together, and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) is left to lead the defenses. But the humans are no match for the overwhelming number, and they break through the walls, led by a Bloater – a massive hulk of an Infected, which made an appearance in season 1. Tommy’s standoff with it is pulse-pounding, but I’m more intrigued by how this attack will shape the Jackson side of The Last of Us going forward. The town did everything right, fortified their defenses, and had plans in place in case of emergency, but it wasn’t enough. The Infected tendrils found their way into the pipe system, which perhaps played into how they could so easily break down their defenses. 

The Last of Us hasn’t fully made the connection yet, but there’s something to be said about how the Infected are evolving while the survivors of humanity are stuck in the old ways, trying to rebuild society as it was before. Maybe this will become clearer once the season is finished, but the game very purposefully evoked how difficult it is to change, in both a micro and macro sense. As Ellie puts it, trying to convince Jessie (Young Mazino) that she and Joel (Pedro Pascal) have patched things up, “I’m Ellie, and he’s Joel, and nothing’s ever gonna change that.”

To that end, I’m reminded of the first times we saw Ellie and Joel last week: she was practicing her fighting skills, and he was tinkering with a piece of technology, trying to fix it. Ellie’s world has been shaped by the violence of a post-apocalyptic life, and Joel’s has as well to some extent, but he had spent a large portion living in a much less violent world. Joel’s death in the game was a watershed moment for fans, and it’s encouraging to see The Last of Us stay committed to the structure of the game and get it out of the way in episode 2 of season 2. Most other shows would find some way to prolong the main character’s death, or to just do away with it completely. 

Joel was a bad person before he met Ellie, responsible for a number of deaths as part of the Fireflies, and it’s no coincidence that he’s spent his time in Jackson trying to make things better for himself (by going to therapy) and his community (by repairing what was broken). But you can’t escape your past, especially when a young woman’s life is upended by the loss of her father. Comparisons will easily be made to “The Red Wedding” episode of Game of Thrones, but that was a show with a wider ensemble, and the deaths there were smaller pieces in a larger puzzle. Joel’s death is shocking (for anyone that didn’t play the games) and brutal, but his absence in The Last of Us will be felt to a greater degree than those characters in Game of Thrones.

Ellie’s immediate reaction when Abby kills Joel is to swear revenge on her and all her friends. Of course, it’s a natural response at the moment, but it says something about who she is and how she’s tied herself to Joel. The Last of Us Episode 2 takes its name from Psalm 23: “yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me”.

Joel was someone who met his end because of his violence, and though he tried to amend that, he knew he’d eventually have to face the consequences (note the look of resignation on Pascal’s face during Abby’s monologue, and the fact that he doesn’t even try to apologize or justify his actions once he learns of the connection). Now, how will Ellie define herself with the loss of Joel? Will she walk through the valley of the shadow of death alone, or will it consume her in the same way it did Joel?

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 2 – Gamer Corner

This is the section where I discuss plot details from the game “The Last of Us Part II”, and how the show could either follow or deviate from that path throughout the rest of the season. Obviously, spoilers ahead.

As with last week, there are moments from episode 2 that were lifted almost verbatim from the game, from Jessie waking Ellie to go on patrol to Abby’s escape from the Infected horde through the chain-link fence. The most notable difference is in the placement of characters as they’re split apart. In the game, Tommy is with Joel and nearly gets beaten to death, but Dina (Isabela Merced) takes his place here. I’m fine with the changes, since Tommy wouldn’t need to be in that room to be motivated to take revenge and venture to Seattle. But I’m curious, with The Last of Us showing how central he is to Jackson, if Tommy will stay behind and the series will change course in that regard.

Now that the big plot development which gamers knew would come has happened, how long until our heroes make it to Seattle, and what will be the demarcation point at the end of season 2? We’ve also heard a weird amount about Eugene, who we have yet to actually meet on screen. Last week, it was during Joel’s therapy session, and this week, it was as Ellie and Jessie visited his secret stash. Perhaps he’ll have his own standalone episode, a la Bill and Frank from season 1. Nevertheless, I would bet that next week will be a time to grieve, and episode 4 will be when Ellie and Dina get on the road, but Mazin & Co. have already shown a willingness to swerve from the source material, so it’s anyone’s guess as to which avenues we’ll go down in the remaining episodes.

Episode 2 of The Last of Us Season 2 is now available to stream on Max.