Spoilers THE LAST OF US (TV Show) - SPOILERS (for all mediums)

[EVA]

I don’t see any way they don’t make it to Abby arriving at the theater. It would be insane narrative structure to introduce a major antagonist and then have them disappear for the rest of the season.

Very little of narrative importance happens to Ellie on Day 3. It’s her finding a boat, piloting the boat to the marina, then doing the deal at the aquarium, followed immediately by the theater scene. You could skip/ffwd most of that and have plenty of episode to spare.

It’s also worth noting that Tommy sniping Manny and the actual throwdown between Ellie & Dinah and Abby don’t happen until the second half of the game (The first half cuts to black shortly after they come face to face). Given how tightly the show has followed the structure of the game (in terms of sticking with Ellie’s POV), I don’t think we’ll see either of those things. Also Lev or Yara are at both of those events, and neither of those roles were cast this season, as far as we know.

[NoFistsJustFlips]

If Lev wasn't casted yet then he can't be there to tell Abby no when she's about to slice Dina's throat. So at the very least they aren't getting that far.

Edited May 12, 2025 by NoFistsJustFlips

[Brandon Bones]

On 5/12/2025 at 4:08 PM, NoFistsJustFlips said:

If Lev wasn't casted yet then he can't be there to tell Abby no when she's about to slice Dina's throat. So at the very least they aren't getting that far.

IIRC

Spoiler

In Ellie’s version of events in game.  Lev isn’t seen at the point of Jesse getting blasted coming through the door.  Probably to avoid any confusion over “Who the fuck is that?” Prior to the proper introduction.
 

[Casey]

Correct. Lev isn't seen at the theater until you play through Day 3 as Abby. That's where the game lost a lot of people that stuck around after Joel's death, since you're Abby and you're fighting Ellie.

On 5/12/2025 at 3:08 PM, NoFistsJustFlips said:

If Lev wasn't casted yet then he can't be there to tell Abby no when she's about to slice Dina's throat. So at the very least they aren't getting that far.

tbf they could easily end the season on the image of Abby holding a knife to Dina's throat, and S3 picks up right there with Lev telling her not to do it, and then we go back to Day 1 from Abby's perspective.

There's just A LOT of trauma piled on top of each other once you get to that part. You, as the player, murdering a pregnant woman. Seeing Abby murder Jesse and (seemingly) killing Tommy, then having to play as her and fight Ellie, and then your avatar in Abby is brutally beating the fuck out of Ellie & Dina and almost killing Dina. It's so much. I'm kind of curious as to how they handle it all in a TV format since it moves a lot quicker than a video game.

Edited May 16, 2025 by Casey

[Craig H]

This is the lamest and most limp dicked revenge hellride ever. It was a good/great episode that highlighted the glaring weaknesses with the game and the tv series. Everything is just so uneven and narratively out of order.

And because I’m dumb and watched the preview for next week I’m extra confused about next week because it looks like they speedrun to the theater, Lev, and the end of the game to where it makes me wonder if S3 is all Abby. I’m beginning to even wonder if…

Spoiler

They even kill Jesse and shoot Tommy this season.

 

[Casey]

12 hours ago, Craig H said:

This is the lamest and most limp dicked revenge hellride ever. It was a good/great episode that highlighted the glaring weaknesses with the game and the tv series. Everything is just so uneven and narratively out of order.

And because I’m dumb and watched the preview for next week I’m extra confused about next week because it looks like they speedrun to the theater, Lev, and the end of the game to where it makes me wonder if S3 is all Abby. I’m beginning to even wonder if…

  Hide contents

They even kill Jesse and shoot Tommy this season.

 

18 seconds into next week preview is most likely MOMENTS before it.

It looks like they're doing the Manny section, which leads to the aquarium, then they go back to the theater and it probably ends either THAT death or "You killed all my friends... we let you both live... and you WASTED it." Also, interestingly, since Dina was there for Joel's death instead of Tommy, they might switch out the two for that scene possibly. Especially if they don't want yet another scene of a pregnant woman getting beat up or killed (just non-fatally shot, that's all!) What you think is scenes from the ending/Santa Barbara beach is probably just more backstory on the WLF vs Seraphites. The scene with Ellie being grabbed by some of the Scars is probably in the lead-up to the Tommy section, since they're still in the forest section before finding Tommy at the end of Episode 5.

I agree that the game did the narrative structure of all this much better, but it would be jumping all over the place multiple times per episode and might get hard to keep track of. This could have been perfectly fine if they just gave this season one more episode, and slightly longer runtimes. But, if you think about it - even in the game, Ellie's revenge tour was kind of weak. She doesn't kill Nick, Manny or Leah. Nora is questionable, we never see it. That leaves Mel & Owen, and one of those was by accident. Tommy straight up murders Nick & Manny (and other WLF named soliders), and Leah is killed by the Seraphites.

I'm choosing to look at this show like I am Daredevil: Born Again - it's one half of a larger season, and both will be better when you can binge both seasons together (or, if you're a freak, I'm sure you can do something like S2E4 and then S3E1 or whatever for an accurate timeline viewing).

[AxB]

Craig Mazin is now saying "We need at least 4 seasons". So either they're going to be pacing themselves pretty slowly as they go through the plot, or they're going to continue the story beyond the ending of the second game.

[Casey]

S2: Ellie's side

S3: Abby's side

S4: Expanding on the farm house and Santa Barbara sections

Maybe? But, like, goddamn man, it'll be close to like 2029 when S4 finally happens.

[NoFistsJustFlips]

That's actually good tho isnt it? It means they're taking their time and not surpassing the source material. I think we're all assuming there will be a TLOU 3 game. By 2029 I would think it'd be out and season 4 or 5 of the show can pick up where the third game does.

[Casey]

8 hours ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

That's actually good tho isnt it? It means they're taking their time and not surpassing the source material. I think we're all assuming there will be a TLOU 3 game. By 2029 I would think it'd be out and season 4 or 5 of the show can pick up where the third game does.

Unless they're keeping it extremely hidden, there's no TLOU3 in the pipeline. Naughty Dog is working on two games, one being the previously announced Intergalactic, and the other was just recently confirmed by Neil himself and he's only a producer. It's possible they're working on it, but three games for that studio would be pushing their limits. They barely got Uncharted 4 done with the entire studio doing crunch, and it was still delayed. The same happened with TLOU2, I believe. Intergalactic probably won't even be out until 2027, and it's already been in development for 5 years.

Is it a good thing? That remains to be seen. There's probably a way, with more episodes, to make a very complete S1, and tell the complete story of the second game in two seasons. It's starting to feel like they're just keeping the show going because it's a critical hit, and HBO really doesn't have much else right now in the way of TV series - especially since the Righteous Gemstones just ended for good, and there's no word of a S2 for The Penguin.

If they're going to expand on the farmhouse and Santa Barbara sections for S4... I don't know that it's necessary, to be honest. The Rattlers aren't meant to be a big focus, they're just a random militaristic faction in California that's probably meant to draw parallels between them and the WLF - it's more about Ellie finding Abby & Lev. It'd be nice to see how they were captured, sure, but I don't think the endgame needs to be expanded on personally. You can cover all of that in two episodes, tops.

I wouldn't be shocked at this point if they go past S4 and that's our TLOU3, since video game development takes so fucking long these days. I don't know how Sony would feel about that, but it's not unprecedented for an HBO show based off currently existing media to go past the source material.

EDIT: I suspect S3 will follow the structure of S2 more or less, with it covering Abby's 3 days in Seattle up until the point where the game jumps ahead in time. It wouldn't make sense for them to tell Abby's side and then the rest of the game if they're going for a fourth season, with presumably no TLOU3 on the horizon. If they did that, and there's no new game, then S4 would effectively be TLOU3 like I mentioned. And even if there WAS another game out by 2029, it would be extremely weird to have the show adapt a brand new game that quickly.

Edited May 21, 2025 by Casey

[Craig H]

Are they still making the TLOU multiplayer game?

[Casey]

1 hour ago, Craig H said:

Are they still making the TLOU multiplayer game?

Nope, Naughty Dog announced they were stopping development on it in December 2023.

Edited May 21, 2025 by Casey

[Contentious C]

I'm not going to finish this season on time, because my cheap subscription from Black Friday expires, well, today, but that first scene of Ep 6???? FUUUUUUUUUUCK YOU, Pig Miller. "Do a little better"? Doing better is not having kids if all you're going to do is inflict your trauma again. Like listening to my own POS excuse for a sperm donor. To me, it's akin to walking out of the crowd and onto the field of the Summer Olympics High Jump medal ceremony and awarding yourself the Gold because, along the way, you stepped over a phone book.

[NoFistsJustFlips]

I think youre missing the narrative purpose of that scene. Joel's father wanted better for him. Joel wanted better for Ellie. It forshadows the choice Ellie makes at the end of TLOU2 to let Abby go and do a little better for JJ. It supposed to make the viewer think, hmmm is this revenge tour even what Joel would have wanted for Ellie? Is what she's doing right? By extension that means what Abby did was right because she's just did what Ellie us doing.

Projecting our own traumas is something we all do. So no judgement from me on that post. But I don't think youre analyzing it from a clear headed pov.

[Casey]

On 5/20/2025 at 9:43 AM, AxB said:

So either they're going to be pacing themselves pretty slowly

Yeah, this is what's happening. It's already been reset back to Seattle Day One for next season, as expected. It'll probably follow the same structure as S2, with the finale picking up where we left off with Abby & Ellie.

I popped hard for "I let you live, and you wasted it", I'm not even gonna lie. All things said, this is still a great show, but I feel like it'll be viewed more favorably once it's over with. S2/S3 viewed as one big season will be great, most likely. I'm not sure I need a 7-8 episode season about a section of the game that was like 2 or 3 hours tops, but whatever I guess.

[RandomAct]

My thoughts on The Last of Us season 2, is that it was always going to be a challenge adapting this game to screen. There were multiple masters to serve, and it is such a narratively weird story, idk if it was ever going to come out in a fully satisfying way.

The people that loved the game are probably split on how it was changed. The people that don't like the game are going to have the same issues with the show that they did with the game. The casual viewers who never played the game may not care about the story shifting to who they may perceive as the villain.

[Craig H]

I have a few friends that haven't played the game and don't intend on watching season 3. I thought this was bad. You had a really long production time for 7 episodes and a budget that ballooned and the end product was something where you can't even see where that budget went. Infected were far less prevalent this season compared to last. There is also so much happens on a green screen. One of those friends that didn't play the game and is a working actor doesn't see how HBO lets this go on to a 4th season unless S3 viewership is through the roof. I'm inclined to agree with him and we'll probably end up getting a Deadwood-esque ending.

Myself? I don't think I bother with S3. I gave it a fair shot even after episodes 2 and 3, but worse than the game, which just made me mad, this makes me feel nothing. I'd rather this series create a debate among people than just leaving them empty.

I also thought that if HBO was going to give a Sony game such a huge budget then it would have been better spent towards something like God of War. Just go balls to the wall and make a metal as fuck series about Kratos seeking to kill one god after another.

[RandomAct]

3 hours ago, Craig H said:

I have a few friends that haven't played the game and don't intend on watching season 3. I thought this was bad. You had a really long production time for 7 episodes and a budget that ballooned and the end product was something where you can't even see where that budget went. Infected were far less prevalent this season compared to last. There is also so much happens on a green screen. One of those friends that didn't play the game and is a working actor doesn't see how HBO lets this go on to a 4th season unless S3 viewership is through the roof. I'm inclined to agree with him and we'll probably end up getting a Deadwood-esque ending.

Myself? I don't think I bother with S3. I gave it a fair shot even after episodes 2 and 3, but worse than the game, which just made me mad, this makes me feel nothing. I'd rather this series create a debate among people than just leaving them empty.

I also thought that if HBO was going to give a Sony game such a huge budget then it would have been better spent towards something like God of War. Just go balls to the wall and make a metal as fuck series about Kratos seeking to kill one god after another.

Honestly I agree that Sony has other games better suited to a long form series. GoW, Horizon Zero Dawn or Ghost of Tsushima have way more mileage in their stories.