SERIES REVIEW – After an overall strong first season, the second season of *The Last of Us* kicks off with a disappointingly dull, predictable, and lifeless premiere. The acting is surprisingly flat in many scenes, and — perhaps even more puzzling — action is in short supply, despite trailers (and foreign reviews) suggesting otherwise. At HBO’s press screening, we were shown only the first episode, and sadly, it was lackluster on nearly every front.

It’s hard to talk about Season 2 without spoilers — and we’ve only seen the first episode — but it already managed to undercut our expectations in every possible way. I’ve always preferred the first game, though I had plenty of admiration for the second as well, especially thanks to its atmospheric, unforgettable opening and the pulse-pounding, well-structured sequences that followed — all building toward one of the most infamous moments in modern gaming. Say what you will about Neil Druckmann (I certainly did at the time…), but it’s hard to deny how masterfully he introduced Joel’s final arc and established Ellie’s emotional journey. What we’re given in this episode, however, is anything but a compelling starting point — the kind of opening scene that, in music, we’d say “sets the tone” for what’s to come.

Premature revenge motives…

It’s a weird place to be: trying not to spoil either the show or the game (especially since the PC version was just released), yet the series itself drops a major spoiler right out of the gate — in a sequence that honestly felt like a fan-made YouTube project in both tone and execution. Instead of an emotionally intense, professionally delivered opening where a guilt-ridden Joel explains the tragic ending of Season 1 to his brother Tommy, we get Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) tearfully barking orders to her team by her father’s grave — a forced performance that lacks depth. Fans of the game will recognize most of the characters, though their TV counterparts are watered-down shadows of the originals. What’s truly disappointing, however, is how Abby outright spills the narrative beans right away: she’s heading to Jackson to find and kill Joel — the man who murdered her father. Slowly. So he’ll suffer.

This not only kills any sense of tension or buildup — which was masterfully handled in the game — but also confuses newcomers as to whether these are even protagonists or antagonists. Gone is the subtly suggestive exchange between Abby and Owen that hinted at deeper motives. Instead, we get the exposition spoon-fed in the most ham-fisted way imaginable. Abby and her crew are heading to Jackson to kill Joel. Right from the opening scene. *“You killed my father! Prepare to die!”* — yes, that exact cliché practically echoes in your mind.

Pedro Pascal’s sad puppy dog eyes…

After the weak start, things only get worse. With the exception of one moderately thrilling encounter between Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and a new kind of infected, the rest of the episode is devoid of any real action. Some might argue that a season premiere is meant to reintroduce characters and lay down narrative foundations, but this episode does so in a sluggish, uninspired fashion, dragged down by unnecessary or overextended scenes. Case in point: shoehorning in a therapist (played by Catherine O’Hara) so Joel can have a heart-to-heart — effectively neutering the powerful scene from the game where he confesses everything to Tommy. What we get here feels more like a soap opera moment than a grounded post-apocalyptic drama.

And no, we’re not spared the eye-roll-worthy teen drama tropes either. Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie’s kiss — which only appeared in an early game trailer, not in the actual game — makes its full debut here, along with hints of Dina’s past with Jesse (Young Mazino). All these romantic entanglements felt unnecessary in the game and even more so here. Speaking of Jesse: while his visual resemblance to the game character is uncanny, his personality is flat, humorless, and reduced to delivering bland dialogue with no spark.

Still holding out hope…

After the end credits, HBO showed a sizzle reel of what’s coming later in the season — and those scenes looked genuinely action-packed and engaging. Which only makes it harder to understand why the premiere was such a letdown, and why critics weren’t provided access to more episodes in advance. I’m the kind of obsessive viewer who watches every screener — sometimes without subtitles, sometimes in lower quality — just to get a complete picture of the show. But with only this limp first episode to go on, there’s not much to praise. It’s a feeble start, unworthy of both the brilliant games and the generally well-made first season.

Still, I remain hopeful. As the saying goes, “it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” And based on those post-credits glimpses, there’s still a real chance Season 2 could find its footing and rise to the occasion.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-