Why The Last of Us Season 2 is A Massive Failure

Courtesy of HBO

After the successful first season, the second season of The Last of Us can be officially recognized as a massive failure. The failure to capitalize from an incredible season one is something I can't comprehend. This is only proven by the weak season two finale with a cliffhanger that insults the audiences intelligence. Did the creators of the show forget that this is a video game adaption? Do they not understand that people know what happens already in the final theater scene with Abby and Ellie? To make the audience wait potentially 2 years to see the result of the final scene is mind boggling. It doesn't build the anticipation like they think it will and will alienate the audience even further than it already has. This is shown by a 55% decrease in ratings from season one to season two. If you are losing more than half your audience, you know your show is headed in the wrong direction.

Season two started promising. The death of Joel was truly one of the most emotional and heartbreaking moments in television history. It was the best episode of the series by far. The problem is they did nothing with his death Joel. Ellie's revenge path turned into her being soft and finding love with Dina and becoming a "dad" to her baby. The writers made Ellie a bitch instead of a badass. The character development or I should say lack of has been a huge disappointment in season two. They made the character of Ellie worse. This is something you don't want now that she is your main protagonist. There were also moments where I felt Dina was more of a protagonist than Ellie. Since Ellie was most insufferable, I rooted for Abby in situations I clearly shouldn't have. A show clearly has bad writing when most of the fanbase is rooting for the villain.

Another major problem with season two is the lack of zombies. Season one you felt the danger of the zombies in every episode. Season two was a completely different show. The only major impact the zombies made was when they destroyed the town of Jackson is episode 2. Other than that, there was no impact from the zombies. A show about an apocalypse should at least have some reminders that there are zombies roaming the world now. Instead, we get storylines of boring human conflict with no moments to make the viewer to care. It seems like the writers borrowed the playbook from another apocalyptic show, The Walking Dead. The Last of Us has seemed to forgotten its identity.

HBO plans to make a season three but if it's like season two, they shouldn't even bother. Season three needs to bring back the identity that made season one a must watch on Sunday nights. There needs to be more impact from the zombies. The zombies are a huge part of the video game and to ignore them in season two was a massive mistake. The biggest change that needs to be made is Ellie's character direction. Every time I see her on screen, I cringe. I don't know if that's from Bella Ramsey's wooden acting or it's the writing the character is receiving, but something needs to change. An unlikable protagonist is something a show can't have. It makes you not care if the villain is a horrible person because you hate the hero too. It gives the viewer no one to root for and when there is no one to root for, interest in the show slowly dies. Given the 55% decrease in viewership this season, something needs to change in season 3. Hopefully the writers get it right because if they don't, there won't be a season 4.

What did you think of season two of The Last of Us? Leave your opinion in the comments below.