The Last Of Us Season 2 Premiered, And As A Game Fan, There Was One Change I Loved

Let's discuss The Last of Us Season 2 premiere because, oh my God, do I need to.

I am a massive fan of The Last of Us video games. I have been for many years, and I am likely going to be a fan of them for the rest of my life. By now, I automatically sign up for anything related to the franchise.

So obviously, I've been anxiously awaiting Season 2 of HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us, and now the first episode has finally premiered. Guys, I am just as happy as a duck in a pond because it was everything I wanted and more. However, there was one thing that they changed from the games in Season 2 that I am just a massive fan of – and I know I have to talk about it.

I'm A Huge Last Of Us Game Fan, So I Pretty Much Know The Story Inside Out

As I said in the introduction, I am a huge fan of the games. This basically means I know the whole story inside and out. I'm pretty much a walking encyclopedia for all things The Last of Us.

I know there are some people out there who probably don't believe me, but trust me when I say this game was my hyper-fixation back in 2013 when it first came out, and I knew it was going to stick with me for the rest of my life. Now, years later, due to this adaptation, I'm finally able to share that love with way more people—and that's just fantastic to me.

As a fan of the games who knows the entire story, I wanted to see several moments from The Last of Us Part II in the second season. Some have been included so far, others have not – and the latter are left up to chance because who knows where they're going to take the story.

However, there's one thing they have already changed from the games in Season 2, as of the premiere, that I absolutely adore, and I have to talk about it.

The Show Dives Much Deeper Into How Jackson Works As A Community, And It's Everything

Personally, one of the best parts of any show about a zombie apocalypse is when we get to visit communities and see how they work. I am absolutely fascinated by this because it's humans learning how to make society whole again after everything has been torn to shreds—literally and figuratively.

That was something that was severely missing from the games if you have never played them—that sense of community. Sure, we love Joel and Ellie, and they are the leads of The Last of Us cast, but at the same time, there's a lot more to surviving in the apocalypse than just two people.

They may be the core of the story, but I'm always here for everything else that is happening around the main characters that we love. In the games, we really don't get much of Jackson. We see a little bit of how the raids work, and that they have social gatherings and all that – just like the dance in Episode 1 – but other than that, we really don't meet many different people.

Heck, even in the games, we hear of a Cat – Ellie's ex-girlfriend – but we never meet her. In Episode 1 of the TV series, at least she has a face now; we've heard her speak as a character.

The television show allows us to explore Jackson in a much more familiar way, and I totally support that.

More Time In Jackson Means We Get To See More From Joel's Life

With this new take on Jackson as a whole, we get to see way more of Joel.

I won't spoil anything that happens to his character in the games. Still, I'll only say that Ellie becomes more of a central figure within the universe rather than a compelling companion to the grumpy old man.

We're already getting more with Joel in terms of personality than we did in the game. Heck, I never imagined that Joel Miller, of all people, would attend therapy sessions—but of course, he does in the television series with a new addition played by Catherine O'Hara.

Pedro Pascal is a big name, and because he's portraying Joel they seemed to want to find ways to include him a lot more. That's something that I can totally agree with as someone who loves his character. It really is an absolute delight to see him way more than I ever thought we would in the season.

We're Also Seeing More Of Ellie Training To Become The Killer We Know She'll Eventually Become

If you've also played The Last of Us games, you know that Ellie goes on a bit of a killing spree—a major killing spree, really. While in the games, it felt easier to believe because there's more of a distinct change between how Ellie looks in the first game versus the second; we didn't see her train to become that way.

In the show, we actively see Ellie training in Jackson, learning how to fight. We know that she's trying to become stronger and is attempting to separate herself from Joel more. While, yes, some of it can be attributed to a moody nineteen-year-old who just wants to live her own life, it's so rewarding to see a character like her actively train and not automatically become a killer.

It's stuff like that that makes The Last of Us one of the best HBO shows—it takes the raw material from the games and transforms it in a way that makes the show utterly loveable, maybe more so than the games.

Making Jackson Feel Like A Real Community Means Its Eventual Destruction Will Be All The More Painful To Watch

I think the best part of exploring Jackson more in this show is that it will make its demise that much better—and more painful—to witness on our screens.

Jackson doesn't get destroyed in the games, there attacks that create chaos and mayhem. Judging from the trailers of the show we have seen thus far, some attacks seem to directly hit this lovely community.

If we hadn't had this chance to really explore Jackson and get to know the people in it and the community, watching it be attacked really won't mean anything. But now, with a background of faces and an idea of how this new home for Joel and Ellie works, if it falls, it's going to hurt. And that's the kind of TV I like.

While there are still six episodes of The Last of Us Season 2 left, I'm eager to see where it goes with Jackson – and you know I'll be watching on my Max subscription each time a new episode drops.