There are nights, after my daughter’s gone to bed and the house has gone quiet, when I sit in front of my Warhammer models and I catch myself thinking about Joel from The Last of Us. Not just the badass survivor we see battling clickers and scavengers — but the broken father, the man who lost everything and still found something worth holding onto.
See, I may not have wandered a post-apocalyptic wasteland, but I’ve lived through some hard terrain of my own. Raising my daughter, balancing work, hobbies and caregiving for my mom — some days it feels like I’m scavenging for time and energy the way Joel scavenges for ammo and rations. And just like him, I carry the weight of decisions that never feel easy. Am I doing enough? That question lingers heavy. What about what fierce protectiveness that Joel shows? I know it. I’ve felt it in my bones every time I looked at my daughter and thought, “No matter what, I’ll get us through this.”
Whether it’s surviving long nights of worry or just making sure she still has joy in a world that doesn’t always feel fair — that’s my fight.
It’s been over two years since The Last of Us first debuted on Max and left a lasting impression with its emotional storytelling and gritty, post-apocalyptic world. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the continuation of Joel and Ellie’s journey. Now, as Season 2 has officially kicked off, it’s carrying the weight of some seriously high expectations. With the bar set by a critically acclaimed first season, viewers are hoping the new episodes not only match but surpass the emotional depth, character development and tension that made the original run such a standout in modern television.
Picking up five years after the explosive final showdown with the Fireflies, Season 2 wastes no time showing how much has changed — and how much hasn’t. Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) have found a semblance of safety in Jackson, Wyoming, but that peace is fragile. Joel, still haunted by the choice he made to save Ellie at the cost of countless others, clings tightly to their bond. Ellie, on the other hand, is growing into young adulthood with a restless, rebellious energy that’s as natural as it is dangerous in a world like this.
Now 19, Ellie struggles with authority, expectation and a gnawing sense that something’s been kept from her. She’s angry, curious and desperate to carve out her own place in a world still trying to kill what’s left of innocence. Joel wants to protect her, but as with many parent-child relationships, especially during the teenage years, that desire to shield is starting to feel more like a cage.
This tension drives much of the early narrative, as the cracks in their relationship begin to mirror the cracks in the world around them.
This season is seemingly leaning heavily into the human drama, evoking the tone of the later seasons of The Walking Dead — where the true danger isn’t always the monsters lurking in the shadows, but the people trying to survive among them. The infected still pose a constant threat, and fans will be pleased (and horrified) to see that the creatures have continued to evolve in terrifying and unexpected ways, adapting just as nature always does.
But the heart of the season appears to lie in the emotional and often volatile interactions between Joel, Ellie and the other survivors they encounter.
There’s a clear shift in focus toward the psychological toll of survival: grief, guilt, resentment and the desperate need for connection. Joel and Ellie’s relationship, strained by secrets and unspoken trauma, serves as the emotional anchor. Meanwhile, new characters bring their own baggage and moral gray zones, adding layers of tension to an already fragile ecosystem of trust and survival.
Much like The Walking Dead at its best, The Last of Us emphasizes the fragile thread that holds humanity together in a world gone cold. It’s not just about avoiding death — it’s about figuring out what kind of life is still worth fighting for.
As Season 2 begins to unfold, I find myself watching not just as a fan of the franchise, but as a father — someone who, like Joel, has carried the weight of protecting a child in a world that doesn’t always make sense. I see reflections of my own life in his struggles: the need to shield, to guide, to make impossible choices, all while hoping you’re doing right by the one who means the most. It’s that emotional core that keeps me invested, and why I have such high hopes for this season.
I just hope the showrunners continue to prioritize character and storytelling over spectacle and avoid the trap that so many post-apocalyptic shows fall into — becoming repetitive and losing the heart in favor of the horror.
The Last of Us has always been at its best when it remembers that the real story isn’t just about surviving the infected — it’s about surviving each other and ourselves.