Polygon.com / 05.06.25

The Last of Us' season 2 problems were already obvious in season 1

Season 2 of The Last of Us has faced considerable backlash for its divisive narrative swings and polarizing character arcs. But beyond the bad-faith criticism centered on queer representation or Bella Ramsey not looking enough like her game counterpart, there are deeper, more valid concerns about how the show steadily eroded its lead characters. A lot of the recent conversation has focused on a perceived drop in quality from season 1 to season 2, with viewer ratings for the second season plummeting. But those accusations are missing the point. The issues fans are complaining about didnt suddenly appear in season 2; they were already showing in the series initial season. [Ed. note: Significant spoilers ahead for The Last of Us, the TV series and the games.]   Co-showrunner Craig Mazin has a habit of anchoring his stories around a singular narrative event, whether in his HBO series Chernobyl or (less seriously) his Hangover movies. In The Last of Us, that central event is the murder o...
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