Scorchin' Summer Streamin' 25 - The Last of Us - Season Two

I have had a major HBO season of catch-ups this week (and last) completing, I Love LA, IT: Welcome to Derry, The Chair Company and now second season of post-apocalyptic hit series The Last of Us.

Originally streaming between April & May, however I had just returned from holidays and backed up! Like I would be after a long haul flight.

So again based on the video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog, the season is set twenty-five years into a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, which causes its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures and collapses society. 

The second season, based on the first half of the 2020 game The Last of Us Part II, follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) five years after the events of the first season, after they have settled into Jackson, Wyoming, with Joel's brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Ellie's friends Dina (Isabela Merced) and Jesse (Young Mazino).

HBO renewed The Last of Us for a second season less than two weeks after the series premiered in January 2023. 

Critics felt the season reinforced The Last of Us as the best video game adaptation, praising the action sequences, direction, performances, production design, and writing, though some criticised the pacing and considered the story to be incomplete. 

The season was nominated for several awards, including 17 Primetime Emmy Awards. 

The series averaged almost 37 million global viewers per episode. HUGE. The Last of Us could be HBO's biggest series right now. Apparently season three will land in 2027.

Part of the third season, will be the group travelling to Seattle to track down Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who is set to be the focus of the third season.

So how did season two end you ask? Don't read on, like me if you are behind AF. This is the time of the year though to catch up right! Like I am doing now on the horny Canadian series Heated Rivalry also streaming in Australia on HBO.

Ellie regroups with Dina and Jesse, shaken by her own brutality against Nora. She shares a clue from Nora about Abby's location, then divulges the story of Joel's massacre. 

Dina suggests they return home. Jesse and Ellie search for Tommy, but Ellie deduces that Abby is hiding in an aquarium and leaves to pursue her. Ellie is captured and nearly executed by the Seraphites, but escapes to the aquarium to find Owen and Mel. 

She holds them at gunpoint and demands Abby's location. When Owen grabs a gun, Ellie fatally shoots him and the bullet strikes Mel, who reveals that she is pregnant; she asks Ellie to save the baby via a caesarean, to no avail. Jesse and Tommy recover a devastated Ellie and bring her back to the theatre. 

Later, Abby ambushes them, killing Jesse, injuring Tommy, and holding Ellie at gunpoint. A gunshot rings out. Three days earlier, Manny wakes up Abby, having both been summoned by Isaac.

This season was awesome, heartbreaking and action packed! Bring on the third season which is meant to be longer! Also a fourth season is expected, which is no surprise with the numbers it's pulling. Impressive!

Till next time, happy holidays!