The Last of Us returns with its second season, not only with explosive action mixed with violence, but with emotional moments that are quieter, more introspective, and has the potential to be far more devastating in the future. The season’s premiere episode, “Future Days,” is not only a direct reference to the Pearl Jam song featured in The Last of Us Part II video game, but a thematic statement that fits what’s about to be revealed this season.
About five years have passed since Joel (Pedro Pascal) chose to rescue Ellie (Bella Ramsey) from the Firefly hospital, killing all the people there and preventing the possible creation of the cure. The Last of Us season 2 will explore the repercussions of his decision and everything that happened that day.
[Warning: Spoilers from the season premiere are below!]
The Last of Us season 2 premiere: “Future Days”
The passage of time has changed the world and the people in it. Joel and Ellie now live in Jackson, Wyoming, together with Joel’s brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna). There are community events, education programs, electricity, and enough peace for children to be born and grow up not remembering the world as it once was. A lot has changed when it comes to finding out what our main characters were up to. Joel tries to pick himself up after all his tragedies in life. In the first minutes of the episode, we find him in therapy with a woman named Gail (Catherine O’Hara), who is a new character never introduced in the second game.
These therapy scenes work on two levels. First, they offer viewers a little insight into Joel’s depression and scarred psyche, letting us find out about the things he would never say to Ellie or Tommy. Second, they prove that Joel tries to fit in with the healing rhythm of Jackson’s society and his role in it. He’s not just a gun to hire anymore. He’s a man being asked to live with himself and accept everything that happened.
Meanwhile, Ellie is older now, wiser, and noticeably overwhelmed by some things. For her, the immunity she has become a burden rather than a gift, and the cure she once believed in has become a symbol of betrayal of the one man she trusted the most. We can see her internal conflict of trying to be a rebel teenager, but what we can see is a young woman keeping all the anger inside herself and using it against others.
The story of “Future Days” isn’t about a conflict or sudden plot twists. It’s about building up the groundwork for the entire season. It’s about the long, slow setup that will make the eventual emotional events of this season feel earned. Because this season adapts only the first half of the second game, there’s a lot of room to explore other things. Jackson is introduced in full, not just as a small city where characters stop for a second and then just continue their journey, but as a character itself. Its snowy streets, guarded gates, and community spirit all play into the narrative of regaining hope and trying to grasp that old life, even for a second. Ellie and her girlfriend Dina (Isabela Merced) go on patrols through the surrounding wilderness and try to be a part of the society.
We see the evolution of their relationship in this episode. It is one of the most important parts of the main plot throughout the whole story of this season and the next one. Their New Year’s Eve kiss becomes a highlight of the episode, and it’s very important. It is not just for the sake of their emotional arc, but to show the way the community reacts to it. A drunken, homophobic insult from Seth (Robert John Burke) starts a heated moment in the dance hall, and Joel’s intervention only makes things worse. Ellie, furious and humiliated, lashes out, not just at Seth or the community, but at Joel, whose protective instincts weren’t needed. She doesn’t want to be saved, even by him, especially after everything that happened in the season 1 finale.
This scene gives us one of the most remembered moments from the game. In The Last of Us Part II, the incident at the dance is part of many flashbacks and recalls in fragmented memories or through the dialogue. The show chooses to end the episode with it instead, and it’s a smart choice.
The episode also introduces Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and her crew approaching Jackson through the snow-covered wilderness. Their appearance is short, their motives explained, but tension and something more are in the air. From a storytelling point of view, this is another major adaptation shift compared to the game. A new variant of the infected is also introduced during Ellie and Dina’s patrol, which is a stealthy, more intelligent strain of Cordyceps hosts that seem to hunt in silence, called the Stalker.
But the final moments of “Future Days” hit hardest. The interaction between Joel and Ellie is to maintain their emotional connection and cement it as a symbolic moment for the season. It’s a small, thought-through peace offering, a proof of caring, and a moment of fighting for what’s right. And that’s what this episode was really about.
What to expect in the rest of the second season
The Last of Us season 2 is set to be a war of ideologies as much as a war of weapons through the common pain. The central conflict between Ellie and Abby will go further than just a physical confrontation, it will be a show of mirroring pain, vengeance, and loss. Both are young women who experienced something that broke them. Both are fueled by rage. And both believe themselves to be justified in what they do.
Ellie’s relationship with Dina will become increasingly important throughout the season, not only as a romantic connection but as a moral compass. As Ellie goes deeper into obsession and retribution, Dina will be the one trying to pull her back toward humanity and to stop her. The infected will evolve this season. There is no longer any illusion that they are the main threat in this world because the humans are. As seen in season 1, if prepared enough, the infected can be stopped and even removed from the cities. Ergo, the biggest monsters that are still in this world are humans. But the Cordyceps will still serve as this part of existential terror, reminding us that nature itself is the antagonist that no one can outrun.
New characters from the game, including Jesse (Young Mazino), Yara (Victoria Grace), Lev (Ian Alexander), Isaac (Jeffrey Wright), and the rest, will bring with them new perspectives, cultures, moral dilemmas, and dark sides that we haven’t seen yet in the show. The showrunners have already hinted that the Seraphites, who are an apocalyptic cult from the game, will play a major role this season. This will open up the show’s door to allow them to explore how belief systems, fear, and isolation, if not controlled, can morph into extremism.
Final thoughts on The Last of Us season 2 premiere
With “Future Days,” The Last of Us once again shows its commitment to emotional storytelling and richly portrayed characters. It could have easily opened this season with explosions, fighting off infected hordes, and bloodshed. Instead, it chose a quiet song, a kiss at midnight, a therapy session, and a small reconnaissance. These are the moments of its greatness, snf moments that feel painfully real in a world that’s broken.
Pedro Pascal continues to deliver another great performance of the remarkable, broken, depressed, and emotional man that Joel is. He is trying to rebuild his relationship with Ellie, which he knows is broken because of his choices. Bella Ramsey gives a performance that captures Ellie’s rage and internal anger. Her dynamic with other characters is now different. Sometimes it’s more mature, but sometimes it’s…way too emotional.
This season won’t be easy. If the source material is adapted 1:1, it will be emotionally devastating, tense, and thrilling in its deconstruction of heroism, and it will create new ways to make viewers emotional. But that’s the brilliance of The Last of Us. It doesn’t tell you who to root for. It tells you what they’ve been through, and then it asks you to decide whether you want to be a part of this world.
What did you think of the premiere of season 2? Let us know on social media @mycosmiccircus or @TheCosmicCircus.com on Bluesky!
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