{"id":93677,"date":"2025-04-21T02:46:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T02:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/the-last-of-us-season-two-through-the-valley-recap-well-that-happened\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T02:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T02:46:11","slug":"the-last-of-us-season-two-through-the-valley-recap-well-that-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/the-last-of-us-season-two-through-the-valley-recap-well-that-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last of Us season two 'Through the Valley' recap: Well, that happened"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Spoilers follow for <\/em><\/strong>The Last of Us <\/strong>season two, episodes one and two<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

HBO\u2019s The Last of Us <\/em>showed viewers in season one<\/a> that it would lean heavily on the source video games for major plot points and general direction of the season while expanding on the universe, and season two has followed that to the most extreme end possible. Episode two sees Tommy and Maria lead the town of Jackson Hole against a massive wave of Infected, the likes of which we haven\u2019t seen in the show (or video games) yet. This was a complete invention for the show, one that gives the episode Game of Thrones<\/em> vibes, or calls to mind a battle like the siege of Helm\u2019s Deep in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.<\/em> It\u2019s epic in scale, with the overmatched defenders showing their skill and bravery against overwhelming odds; there is loss and pain but the good guys eventually triumph.<\/p>\n

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That mass-scale battle is paired with the most intimate and brutal violence we\u2019ve seen in the entire series so far, as Joel\u2019s actions finally catch up with him. His death at the hands of Abby and her crew of ex-Fireflies from Seattle is truly upsetting, even if you know it is coming \u2014 and that in the twisted world that Joel and Abby inhabit, it was a form of \u201cjustice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, it was pretty obvious after the first five minutes of episode one<\/a> that this is where Abby\u2019s journey would take her, but it sure happened fast. You could say the same thing about when Joel dies in the video game, but ever since the HBO series was announced I\u2019ve been wondering about just how Craig Mazin would choose to tackle the events of the second game and Joel\u2019s death. Part of me wondered if we wouldn\u2019t know for sure Joel was dead until near the end of the season, or if we might not find out Abby\u2019s motivations until much later. But after two episodes, we know that Abby\u2019s dad was the doctor Joel killed at the end of season one to save Ellie, a fact that makes her disturbing lust for vengeance more understandable to the television audience. In the game, on the other hand, players didn\u2019t find that out until much later \u2014 a move that cast Abby in the role of "villain" that made Ellie\u2019s own desire for revenge more relatable for the player<\/p>\n

\"The
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Photograph by Liane Hentscher\/HBO<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

But what works in a game<\/a> doesn't necessarily work in a more passive adaptation. I do think there was a way for the writers to save the full reveal for Abby\u2019s motivations for later, but I didn\u2019t really bump on how things played out here. Similarly, I wasn\u2019t really bothered by the introduction to Abby\u2019s crew and her desire to find Joel that happened at the beginning of the season premiere. But I do know a number of people who played the game feel like this has robbed the show of some mystery and changed the momentum in a way that didn\u2019t work for them, and I can appreciate that argument.<\/p>\n

For anyone who hasn\u2019t played the games, though, I\u2019m sure that seeing the co-lead character killed off in the second episode of the season was a bit of a shock, no matter how much it was hinted at \u2014 particularly after Joel went out of his way to save Abby from certain death. In another world, you could imagine that blunting her need for revenge, or at least having her forgo the extended torture of a helpless Joel. But she\u2019s clearly captivated by the opportunity in a way that even her friends are a bit horrified by. Ellie being there to find Dina unconscious and then forced to watch Abby deliver the final blow is the cherry on the disaster sundae that is this episode. It\u2019s even harder to swallow when you consider their last interaction was Ellie\u2019s extreme rebuff of Joel at the dance the night before.<\/p>\n

\"Bella
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Photograph by Liane Hentscher\/HBO<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s truly a wild choice for such a high-profile show, even though there was nowhere else for it to go. Pedro Pascal has been everywhere the last few years, and The Last of Us<\/em> could have been his signature role. Joel\u2019s death doesn\u2019t fully diminish that, but obviously even if we see him in flashbacks in this season and the next, it won\u2019t be the same as him leading an episode. To let such a marketable and popular star go must have been a tough pill for HBO to swallow, though chances are that the network knew from the beginning of negotiations that would have to happen. Regardless, it\u2019s a move up there with the death of Sean Bean\u2019s Ned Stark in terms of subverting audience expectations about who is going to lead the show going forward. That\u2019ll fall to Bella Ramsey for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

I will say that Mazin and director Mark Mylod did a great job of balancing the many stories and cast members in this episode. Kaitlyn Dever gets her first extended amount of screen time and captures Abby\u2019s barely-contained ferocity in a way that feels like a great tribute to the game source material, despite the fact that she is not nearly as physically ripped as Abby is in the game. Her scenes with Joel and Dina are absolutely chilling, even before she has Joel on the ropes; big credit to Pascal and Isabela Merced, again, for showing a major range of emotions as they help Abby escape from the Infected only to be betrayed.<\/p>\n

\"Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn Dever in HBO's The Last of Us<\/figcaption>
Photograph by Liane Hentscher\/HBO<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Ramsey, meanwhile, shares a lot of time with Young Mazino\u2019s Jesse as they go on patrol and frantically search for Joel; back in Jackson, Gabriella Luna and Rutina Wesley as Tommy and Maria keep Jackson from falling to the Infected. It\u2019s a lot<\/em> of threads to tie together, and the fact that this episode includes the biggest battle we\u2019ve ever seen as well as Joel\u2019s capture and death without feeling overstuffed is a testament to the writers, directors and cast.<\/p>\n

Speaking of that Infected battle, I wasn\u2019t fully sold on it when I saw teases in the trailers for this season, but it was a thrilling delight. I loved seeing the preparations Jackson put into place, like the oil barrels coming down from the walls and the flamethrower brigade surrounded by snipers up on the buildings. Of course, all the best-planned defenses fail once the Infected get through the wall and all hell breaks loose, and the show successfully had me questioning whether the town would make it even though the idea of it fully falling seemed like a deviation too far from the game. It definitely felt like a response to the criticisms of a relative lack of Infected action in season one, but it worked, and the juxtaposition of the disaster befalling Jackson at large as well as the smaller-scale loss of one of its most important citizens added another layer to the grief.<\/p>\n