Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for The Last of Us: Part II and potentially the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us.
Life-long The Last of Us fans rejoiced upon hearing the news that the HBO live-action adaptation had been greenlit for another season that almost certainly adapt the events of The Last of Us: Part II, the sequel to Naughty Dog’s 2013 original that released in 2020. Although Part II was a gaming experience unlike any other, it received a plethora of mixed reviews as fans turned against it for one particularly brutal scene as well as the abundance of attention given to the new antagonist, Abby Anderson, whose voice actress and face model both endured bouts of backlash. Gamers who have completed the entire story thus far will have the exact scene in question spring to mind whenever someone mentions the “hardest” moment to play through: Joel’s death.
Let’s keep this little secret between ourselves for the clueless HBO followers who are none the wiser as to what’s coming. There’s no need to go around spoiling every major event — which tends to happen far too often in this fandom — so let’s allow them to experience it for themselves before blabbing all over social media. Remember the first time you ever played through Part II? We want to generate that same level of raw emotion for the television viewers among us as well. Not everyone is an avid gamer, so they’ll be in the dark about all this.
That being said, Reddit have decided to pick apart the scenes they’re most and least excited for ahead of the second season. It isn’t difficult to guess what the common consensus points towards for the least exciting, but as far as the most exciting, the opinions are much more varied. There’s some interesting contenders here, all of which we hope to see brought to life in the future.
Aside from the obvious one being Joel’s demise, another popular ‘least excited’ moment (or moments, in this case) seems to be the entire Ellie vs. Abby storyline that drives Part II. There’s a number of reasons as to why, but there’s a lot of blood spilt and allegiances tested as Ellie and Abby feud for revenge. We lose some characters along the way (not naming names), but ultimately, it’s just insanely difficult to watch two strong, independent women brawl with one another with such hatred in their hearts. On one hand, it’s fantastic to see two female leads, but on the other, it’s heartbreaking to witness the lengths these women will go to just to see the other perish. There’s also mixed feelings concerning the Seraphites, whom a Redditor refers to below as the “whistling bad guys” whom Lev (Abby’s companion) dishonors due to his wish to undergo a gender transition from female to male.
Despite the hate that Abby seems to receive, there’s still some love for her segments of the game, especially where Lev is concerned. We might be looking at another Joel/Ellie partnership blossoming between those two, particularly if Abby and Lev are cast correctly.
Aside from the negatives, the scenes that viewers are most anticipating are — unsurprisingly — a lot of Joel and Ellie moments, especially the most infamous scenes shared by the pair; the giraffe scene (where Ellie meets/interacts with a giraffe for the first time); the space museum scene (where Joel surprises Ellie with a trip to the museum for her birthday); and the scene where Joel and Ellie sing together/separately when reminiscing about one another.
On Abby’s side, it seems the sky bridge scene — featuring Lev — will be the most engaging, particularly as the whole encounter preys on Abby’s fear of heights.
Similar sentiments are shared by others, particularly in regards to the Ellie vs. Abby narrative that causes so much heartache. On a more positive note, we also see Ellie and her girlfriend Dina interact much more in Part II, including some intimate scenes that are certain to please the LGBTQ+ community.
On the topic of the sky bridge scene, one user mentions how it will look “beautiful” and “atmospheric” if adapted correctly, plus it would develop the relationship between Abby and Lev, which is one of the more redeeming qualities of Abby’s character — how she cares for Lev.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter which scenes you’re most looking forward to — you’ll still need tissues at the ready for any and all occasions.