The Last of Us TV series has not been shy about changing big pieces of the hit Naughty Dog video games when bringing it to HBO. Though moments exist where it sticks pretty stringently to the source material, the series has found ways to expand on pieces of the game that were never revealed to players. The first season of The Last of Us did this in a big way with its Frank and Bill centric episode, and Season 2 has followed it up in perhaps the most explosive way possible, literally. With the latest episode of The Last of Us TV series a giant assault on Jackson was brought to life, and it made the story even better. Spoilers follow for The Last of Us Season 2’s second episode, and minor spoilers for The Last of Us Part II game.
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The Last of Us TV series and video games do a lot to set up how much of a fortress the city of Jackson really is. Within the games though this isn’t really explored all that much, in part because the plot itself is so propulsive that you only spend a limited amount of time in that location as a player before you’re off on Ellie’s bigger journey. The TV series however not only had the opportunity to color in those lines a little more and add more details, but to show it in action.
Since the first episode the series has been teasing not only patrols outside Jackson, a major fixture of the video game, but also guards posted on the wall to watch for the “monsters” on the outside, as Tommy’s son says. A similar set up can be found in the games too, but the show takes it a step further by not only showing how they’re preparing for some kind of assault but how their larger plan works in action.
The Last of Us’ Assault on Jackson Offers a Major Improvement on the Games
Guards are posted not only across the giant wall that separates Jackson from the outside, all of them naturally armed to the teeth, but barrels filled with explosives are also present to be dropped on the unsuspecting horde of infected making their way toward the door. Those unable to fight are confined to basements of major buildings in the town, while others are posted on the roofs inside the town in the event of a breach. Naturally, the show doesn’t go out of its way to give us all these details and plans without then following up to show it all in action, unlike the game which just uses this as larger world building.
The first episode teased the spread of the cordyceps fungus into the pipes within Jackson, setting up the entire town as a target for the frozen horde of infected that were buried under the snow outside the town. Abby may have woken up this pissed off collection of monsters, but when the growth in Jackson sends an alert out to them they move their sights from chasing her to trying to destroy the entire town. As we see in the episode, they very nearly manage to do that, only with the help of a coalition of very good dogs and Tommy’s flamethrower are they able to finally subdue the threat. In the end though, there were still causalities inside the community and necessary repairs needed in order to maintain the safety and security that made Jackson appealing anyway.
The Last of Us’ Big Battle Fundamentally Changes the Story
The assault on Jackson in The Last of Us Season 2 is not only a major departure from the source material, but it’s one that actively improves upon the narrative of The Last of Us Part II video game. Not only are we given a reminder about how fragile any kind of sanctuary really is in this world, but yet another firm notice about the threat that the large groups of infected carry on the outside.
In the game, the circumstances of Joel’s death are wrapped around the fact that a blizzard happens to roll into the area, cutting off not only Joel and Tommy from returning to Jackson but preventing help from getting to them and perhaps saving his life. By adding this infected assault into the mix, The Last of Us TV series has now cemented its story in a place where there’s no lingering requirement to explain why no one could come and save Joel. The series makes the separation of the action in the town and what happens to Joel have distinct places in the larger narrative, but also makes sure that they exist because of each other as well.
There’s another change in the mix here that fundamentally alters the story for one character though. By pairing up Dina with Joel on their patrol, and having her be present for his death rather than Tommy, The Last of Us TV series has put him on a unique path moving forward in the narrative. We can assume that Tommy will have feelings about his brother’s death, but the version of the character that was gung-ho and eager to run off to Seattle for vengeance may not be the one that we see in the TV Series.
By adding this major action sequence, The Last of Us TV series has managed to achieve two major feats: Satisfy the TV audience by giving them an explosive moment that is fun to watch, but also tied it into the larger plot machinations of their season arc. In achieving both of these things, the series has put a notch in its column when comparing it to the video game as this is far and away an improvement from what the game itself does. Though both are clearly operating from the distinct viewpoint of the type of media they are, The Last of Us series used its latest episode to prove that it was capable of perusing paths that are uniquely its own.
Preferences will still abound for fans naturally, but the strength of the series is in finding places where it can expand and become its own thing, which it has embraced in Season 2 in a major way.
New episodes of The Last of Us air Sundays at 9 PM ET on HBO and MAX.