HBO’s The Last of Us has only aired three of its episodes with a fourth coming our way this Sunday. The series has set television alight with what many are describing as the best video game adaptation ever. The hype around the series has been so intense HBO has already renewed the post-apocalyptic, Cordyceps-infected show for a second season – much to our collective joy. Despite the first season being some way off from wrapping, one could be forgiven for already looking ahead to what season two might be, and Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie, is already doing that.
Based on the video game of the same title by Naughty Dog, the second season of the show is expected to look toward the events that transpired in The Last of Us Part II, the game’s second installment. Speaking on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ramsey spoke about the prospects of the sophomore season. “I'm really excited to be honest for the Ellie Dina story,” the Ellie actress said. “I've watched a cut together, someone's made a phenomenal - I don't know how they do it - like an amazing edit of just like the gameplay, like Ellie and Dina's love story. So I'm excited to play that out.”
With the tragic death of Tess (Anna Torv) in the second episode, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie have just each other and Ramsey speaks to the complexity of that relationship in the season to come. “And also the complexity of her relationship with Joel and how that gets decidedly more complex, and I'm looking forward to that,” Ramsey says. “And the violence that ensues is thrilling in a way, to get to maybe explore that in a really safe environment. It will be cool. But I am nervous about it too. Like I'm nervous about, because I know what happens in the second game and I'm nervous about being potentially without Pedro for a while. It's gonna be really sad.”
Looking closely at the comments indicates that for a portion of the second season, Joel and Ellie will become separated from each other. In Joel’s absence, the show should have more of a central focus on Ellie and it would be good to see how she gets by in the wilderness. Audience members who have played the games can look forward to the addition of Dina to the second season, and given how well the series has done with emotional scenes so far, it is worth anticipating the development of that relationship.
Episode 4 of The Last of Us will air on HBO and HBO Max this Sunday at 9 PM ET. Check out the rest of the podcast below: