The Last Of Us Season 2 Premiere Watchalong: I'm Talking Joel And Ellie Awks, Video Game Moments, That Kiss And More

Welcome, sports fans, to a show that is pretty lacking in all things sports-related. It's time for THE LAST OF US SEASON 2!!! I wish my house had this lighting scheme happening right now.

Not that I live in a house that big. But who cares, the show is starting, and I thank you all for joining the ride!

Jayzus H. Yikes. Kicking off with "The Lie" is such a brutal way to start this season. And without a hint of reassuring music.

But then...hell yeah, look at all those giraffes!

Our first look at Kaitlyn Dever's Abby is a menacing one, with the new group standing around a large batch of graves in the aftermath of Joel's hospital massacre.

Wow, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann did not mess around with shaking up the source material's structure. We get right to mentions of Isaac, as well as our first meets with Owen, Nora, and Mel. And there's a ton of malice dripping off of Abby as she makes this ominous threat:

Fuck yeah, The Last of Us, fans. We're in for some sad, sad chaos.

FIVE YEARS LATER: Ellie doesn't need a safe word, and she doesn't want anyone to pull punches. She might have a different request for Abby if they ever knowingly cross paths.

I give this here Caleb fella another 30 minutes before he bites the dust. And not the spores kind.

Hearing Joel call Dina "Kiddo" and then referring to his failures with his own daughter before seeing him talk to Ellie in the current timeline is...not something I want to think too hard about.

As far as "things to say before bringing up a super-awkward subject with Joel" goes, joking about licking live wires was a good line. We can definitely expect for Joel's electricity lesson to come into play at some point, hopefully in the most positive way possible.

Boo on Joel for not being proud to be in therapy. How many people have to die before that's normalized?

Ellie and Tommy's sniping lesson is taken straight out of the video game, from the location to the crosshairs P.O.V. Love that.

I sure hope Dina is better at hiding Joel's therapy sercret than Ellie was when she screamed out:

It seems like anyone in walking vicinity would be able to hear her. Even if they would assume she was lying or joking around.

I know we're probably not going to get a whole lot of Pedro Pascal as Joel in "Snappy Businessman" mode, but there's something very heartwarming about him joking about the existence of a Constructo-meter, especially since it happened right before he get all cute and cuddly with his adorable li'l nephew Benji.

So much cute family time right up top can't be good for anyone's health down the line.

There was a time where I admittedly theorized that Catherine O'Hara's therapist was a figment of Joel's traumatized imagination, but that's clearly not the case at all. And I also didn't predict that she'd be a boozy marijuana enthusiast. Or at least whatever is passing for marijuana in this universe.

It would have been wild to take on Joel in The Last of Us Part II where his inner thoughts kicked in and he just started griping about Ellie and Dina all the time.

When it comes to original characters created for the live-action adaptation, Gail is quite the complicated mix. She's in the unique place of knowing that Joel killed her husband, and has clearly forgiven him enough to the point where she's able to provide him with these sessions. And is clearly one of the few people who can call him out on his bullshit without fear or any other reluctant feelings.

But once she tried to extract the truth of out him after sharing her own harsh opinions, his openness disappeared. Naturally. I'm legitimately curious to see if she can get it out of him eventually, though, probably with weed and liquor involved.

I love seeing Dina and Ellie's burgeoning relationship on display, even if their eventual status will rock Young Mazino's Jesse when he finds out. Dina still says "for now" when referring to their broken-up nature. Silly gal.

Note to self: put this band on your/my radar:

• Britney and the Jug Boys

Other note to self: do note eat attempt to crowdsource a bear-becue restaurant. Although I'm strangely hungry for sausages right now.

It's a small touch, but seeing Ellie jump onto the front of a vehicle and climb on top of the back half to reach an open window is such a trademark of the video games. As is sneaking into a new location quietly, though the made-up hand signals is sadly not a game staple.

Ellie and Dina's recon supply run is full of great touches from the video game. I love that we get to see a beer bottle used as a distraction ahead of Ellie leaping on the Clicker's back and stabbing its nasty head a bunch.

And the tackboard of notices, along with the lineup of Employee of the Month photos is also right out of the game. No need to use any picture info to open a safe in the show, I guess.

Hell, Ellie even fell through a floor, which is also something that happens on more than one occasion in The Last of Us game. I can't recall her finding any Jennifer Aniston-emblazoned issues of People, however.

So yeah, The Last of Us' stalkers are 100% just as unpredictable and nerve-rattling as they are in the game. The noises alone are enough to made me want to mute the TV, and then seeing the plant tendrils coming out of the beast's face somehow DIDN'T MAKE ANYTHING BETTER.

Good on Ellie for being the one to name it, at least unofficially.

The stalker scene's video game connections were immediately followed by a scene that the games did not get to dig into: Tommy and Maria heading up Jackson's city council, as it were. Gotta love that there's someone on board who reacted to Ellie and Dina's stalker-related experience with a Lily Tomlin quote.

I want to be at the next meeting for sure.

Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh. And a few more ughs before and after that.

Joel and Ellie's first big scene together after that "swear it" opening was just awkward and ended with him brusquely taking Ellie's guitar for a restringing. I think we all know SOMEONE who needs his bass string recoiled, or something.

But enough about Joel. It's the video game's extremely adorable and first dance between Ellie and Dina, and Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced could not have cuter chemistry.

The Kiss! The Kiss! The Kiss!

And then came the bigotry, with Robert John Burke's Seth ruining the fun by calling out the girls' PDA and called them a slur that I won't repeat.

It's all straight out of the game, the way Joel steps up and decks Seth without a second thought, and the way Ellie chastizes him for it.

The first big Season 2 threat is introduced in the form of the cordyceps tendrils seen within the pipeline running beneath Jackson. Along with a fire nearby. But I can't imagine that burning this particular threat will work, as it would likely only bring more monsters to the city. So, in other words, everybody here is probably boned.

If that seemingly safe situation can go belly-up, are there any cities in the country that could safely avoid all invasions of infected matter?

The second and more sentient threat of the season returned, with Abby and Owen catching sight of lights in the far distance, a surefire sign of bustling life to the vengence-seeking duo.

It's not like anyone could have warned Tommy and Maria to turn everything off just in case someone was looking from atop a high mountain, but I can't imagine Abby's arrival will be good news for anyone, and especially not Joel.

So, I obviously knew going into the Season 2 premiere that it was just over an hour long, and it's been just over an hour and I feel like we should still have roughly 45 minutes left to go in the episode.

All in all, I'd give "Future Days" a solid A. From the time-jump exposition to introducing a wide variety of new characters, the show's creative team piece a lot of moving parts together in ways that still hit some horror-driven high notes. I still can't quite believe that Joel's biggest scene was an angst-oozing therapy sesh, even though I kind of love that it was. But more so if we get to see him destroy a lot of things in the next episode.

Thanks to everyone for joining us for the premiere watchalong! Hope you enjoyed your time with both the episode and with me, your pal Nick. Until we meet again, I'll be stalkin' ya! (But not really.)

More To Read From The Last Of Us

1. After Bella Ramsey's Latest Last Of Us Comments About Joel And Ellie In Season 2, I Need To Soak Up Their Happiest Moments - 'So Look Forward to That'
2. Kaitlyn Dever Almost Played The Last Of Us' Ellie In A Movie, And I'm Shocked By How Many Spoilers She Learned Years Before Joining The Show
3. The Last Of Us EP Explains Why Season 2 Switches Up How Abby’s Backstory Is Introduced, And I Honestly Think It Makes Sense
4. Bella Ramsey Revealed The Hilarious Way They Prepare For The Last Of Us' Saddest Scenes, And I Don't Know If I'll Be Able To Watch Without Laughing Now

How The Last Of Us' Season 2 Premiere Did In The Ratings

Incredibly enough, The Last of Us' second outing managed to top the stats of the very first episode that hit HBO and Max back in January 2023. Across the whole of Sunday night, "Future Days" was watched by more than 5.3 million people when both HBO's replays and Max's viewer data are combined, according to THR.

That total beats out the already impressive 4.7 million viewer tally that "When You're Lost in the Darkness" earned during its first Sunday night, for a 13% increase. That still doesn't match the series-high 8.2 million-strong audience that had been amassed by the time the finale aired. But it does seem like the Season 2 opener may eventually crest the peaks that Season 1 achieved.