The Last Of Us Season 2: It's the end of the world as we know it

It’s definitely boom time for game adaptations. The quality of the first season of The Last Of Us in 2023 was regarded as breaking new ground, and following the acclaim for Amazon’s adaptation of Fallout last year, HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama is back for a hotly anticipated second season.

Once again, middle aged Joel (Pedro Pascal) and teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are attempting to survive on the road in the US, where hordes of zombies are on the loose. And to be sure, this is a harsh landscape, where you can scarcely move without being pursued by hideous monsters with their brains falling out (think canvassing TDs during a general election and you’re getting there).

Set five years after the first season, the new series finds increased tension between the two main characters. Season one concluded with Joel rescuing Ellie from an operation by surgeons, who planned to use her immunity to cure the plague. However, the procedure would have resulted in her certain death, leading Joel to take action and kill people as he escaped with Ellie – events which he then lied to her about.

As the friction grows between the two, the drama is also simmering elsewhere. The action has now relocated to an enclosed town called Jackson, which has the character of an old western movie. As a mysterious group look on from the hills above the town, other characters enter the explosive mix. These include Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who’s on the hunt for Joel as she seeks vengeance for his hospital attack (revenge being a key theme in the new season).

Then there’s Dina (Isabela Merced), who’s just broken up her boyfriend, and who ends up on a dangerous road trip with Ellie, with whom she appears to enjoy a growing attraction. Also adding to the intrigue are Joel’s loyal brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Catherine O’Hara as the town’s therapist, who enjoys some wickedly funny lines even as she grieves for her late husband.

While the first season may have focused more on drama, and particularly the relationship between the two leads, this time around The Last Of Us dials up the action thrills. There’s a bravura set-piece early in the season, when the Jackson inhabitants attempt to fight off the zombies as they storm the town and unleash havoc.

Aside from its rip-roaring mix of action and character insight, season one enjoyed acclaim for its musical choices, with memorable needle drops from the likes of Depeche Mode and Erasure. There’s more brilliant use of music this season, as first flagged in the advance trailer, soundtracked by the Nirvana deep cut ‘You Know You’re Right’ (though it was an obligatory orchestral reworking, of course).

The Nirvana choice was particularly fitting, given that the action this season ends up in Seattle. Early reaction to the season suggests it’ll be another zeitgeist-defining hit, with enthusiastic responses from reviewers and audiences alike.

HBO was sufficiently confident to order season three before the new series had even premiered, though it remains to be seen how long the show will ultimately run for. While the first season adapted the original game from 2013, the creators envisioned the adaptation of the 2020 sequel spanning not just the second series, but additional seasons. Craig Mazin, co-creator of the series along with Neil Druckmann, has noted that he doesn’t want the TV show to outstrip the game.

Regardless of how future seasons pan out, the second series offers another tour de force of high octane entertainment. But it’s so much more as well – it’s the end of the world as we know it. Enjoy.

• The Last Of Us is on Sky Atlantic Mondays at 9pm.