The Last of Us Season 1 was one of the best video-game adaptations that we have ever seen, so much so, that when the season ended, plenty of fans were looking forward to Season 2 almost immediately. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, this TV show has several features that remind us of the beloved game while also being different enough to stand on its own. But after the premiere of the first episode of Season 2, many fans have been left confused as it has departed from the original concept a fair bit.
This season is set five years after the conclusion of the first installment and gives us a glimpse of the lives of the original main characters Joel and Ellie, now living in Jackson, Wyoming. Since the change in scenery is so vast, we will also get to meet an entire new cast of characters that support their lives there, like Joel’s therapist or Abby, who is both in he games and in the show a major catalyst and plot point.
The Last of Us season 2, similarities and differences until now between the game and the show
Abby is a hardened survivor who is recued by Joel and Ellie in the game from a horde of clickers and take her back to their camp to heal. While the protagonists seem to think that is the end, Abby seems to have a different perspective and vows revenge. Played by Kaitlyn Dever in the show, she is still set up as an antagonist.
The game is set up in a way that is complex, forcing us into certain paths and making us play as different characters in order to give us an understanding of where they are coming from so as to not let us get comfortable with loving or hating any characters. It is a true reflection of life, no one is black or white, we are all morally grey and should be treated as such.
But the show is not as ambivalent, we get to see things from all perspectives, of course, and the end of Season 1 (spoiler) when Joel shoots up a hospital to save Ellie, we are not given a different path or choice in the game or the show, and even while understanding that he did not want to do it (neither did we!) actions have consequences, and in the second installment of the game we are swiftly reminded of that thanks to the Abby character.
She is originally set up as the villain, but as we are forced to play as her and be in her shoes, we begin to find some empathy for her character, and while most of us will still be on Joel and Ellie’s camp, it is a lot harder to hate her after having lived through her experiences that made her who she is.
The show is not nearly as subtle as the game and shows her to us as a direct antagonist. Yes, she is shown to have motives, but as we know Joel had no other choice we do not share the same amount of empathy that we would have otherwise. For those who have not watched, stop reading now, but the opening scene sets up her entire plot for revenge when she is shown along with friends after the hospital massacre burying Joel’s victims.
This lets us know that she is a Firefly and thus a foe, and that she will be seeking revenge against Joel and thus against Ellie as well. This is made abundantly clear with one of her earliest quotes “When we kill him, we kill him slowly”.