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S02.E01: Future Days

AimingforYoko

By AimingforYoko
in The Last Of Us

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AimingforYoko

AimingforYoko

Quote

Five years after the events in Salt Lake City, a now 19-year-old Ellie makes a discovery while on patrol with her best friend Dina. Back in Jackson Hole, Joel seeks help to mend his relationship with Ellie.

I wonder how much of the rift is Ellie being 19 and how much is Joel carrying the weight of Salt Lake. I do love the way they did exposition. It was almost Justified-level.

  • Like 2
peridot

peridot

Ellie annoyed me a bit, I don't get why she isn't listening to what her Captain says and ignoring her squad leader.  That arrogance is probably going to bite her.  Her passive aggressiveness with Joel has been going on for years? If she figured out he lied to her, I'm not sure why she just didn't move off his property completely.  She should spit out her grievance instead of living in limbo for years.

The new type of clicker is very creepy!  I'm looking forward to see how they evolved.

I was surprised to hear that Joel's therapist blamed him for her husband's murder, but I can't remember who Eugene was. 

Even though the first season was great, I can't rewatch it so I have no idea where all the Fireflies in the beginning came from.  They've been hunting for 5 years, yikes.

  • Like 6
iMonrey

iMonrey

I wonder why the five-year time jump. Was Season 1 actually filmed five years ago? It aired last year.

I know this had some table setting to do but I can't honestly say it was an auspicious start to the season. I think it's obvious Ellie knows Joel lied about the Fireflies because his story was that there were a lot of other people immune and they had been all tested. Yet here we are five years later and it's impressed on us that she still has to keep her immunity secret.

I'm not particularly interested in the new love interest, Dina. YA romance is not really my thing. And I'm on the fence about the Fireflies who are after Joel. I assume they were the sole survivors of the massacre Joel was responsible for when he rescued Ellie.

Looks like the newer, smarter infected are going to be to driving force of the season, so that's something I guess.

I don't know. Sometimes a show can be a victim of its own success. Because it often means bigger budgets and bigger casts and bigger set pieces. But a story can be more compelling when it's a smaller world with fewer characters. Walking Dead got worse and worse the bigger it grew. I hope the same doesn't happen with this show.

  • Like 7
iMonrey

iMonrey

7 minutes ago, SeanC said:

Among other things, they don't have to pretend that Bella Ramsey isn't an adult.

Yeah but was she an adult last year? She doesn't seem that much older, they could have jumped one or two years. Five seems like a lot. 

12 minutes ago, AimingforYoko said:

I'm pretty sure if Ellie knew the truth, things wouldn't be frosty between them, they'd be over.

She definitely knows or she wouldn't still be keeping her immunity a secret. I can understand she feels betrayed because she made Joel swear he was telling the truth, but on the other hand he did save her life so it's got to be conflicting.

Ellie and Joel's relationship was the heart of Season 1 so I'm not crazy about this rift.

  • Like 3
Dev F

Dev F

17 minutes ago, peridot said:

Ellie annoyed me a bit, I don't get why she isn't listening to what her Captain says and ignoring her squad leader.

I think it's partly because her squad leader is her ex and it doesn't seem to have ended great.

Quote

I was surprised to hear that Joel's therapist blamed him for her husband's murder, but I can't remember who Eugene was.

New character. Gail says it's her first birthday since the death of her husband, so Eugene died about four years into the five-year time jump.

 

  • Like 2
SeanC

SeanC

9 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Yeah but was she an adult last year? She doesn't seem that much older, they could have jumped one or two years. Five seems like a lot.

When the show started filming she was 18 playing 14. For Season 2 she was 20.

But beyond that, the time jump is from the source material, and we already see that Ellie being an adult is part of her newfound independence from Joel.

  • Like 2
  • Useful 3
WaltersHair

WaltersHair

I re-watched the first season this past week in preparation for this one. The chemistry and eventual love between Joel and Ellie-being angry, arguing, laughing and surving-was the best thing about that season. On the road shows are usually great. Lots of scenery and new challenges. It appears we are stuck in Jackson.

This distance between Ellie and Joel feels wrong and it kills the momentum of the story (for me). It's not a good sign for a show to throw in a whole bunch of new characters that we need to get familiar with so we feel good about them or bad if they get killed off.

It's hard not to draw comparisons to TWD, but the show is following their playbook. Which means they're going to rip my heart out and then I'm gone.

 

  • Like 8
aghst

aghst

1 hour ago, Is Everyone Gone said:

Well ... either Ellie is acting very 19-year old (petulant and whiny) or she's mad at Joel because he made that executive decision to save her rather than have her sacrificed for science. 

 

1 hour ago, AimingforYoko said:

I'm pretty sure if Ellie knew the truth, things wouldn't be frosty between them, they'd be over.

 

1 hour ago, Is Everyone Gone said:

She might not know the truth but she might sense it, the way people who are lied to often do.


I think she senses it but doesn’t know.  They keep replaying the scene at the end of season 1, where Ellie asks Joel to swear.

Presumably she will learn the truth when Abby and the vengeance crew start trying to kill Joel and she will have to take sides.  Even then she might still be mad at him for lying to her, though he chose to save her.

Ellie is not only reckless, maybe she has a poor memory?  After the tragedy at the mall with the girl she liked dying, why would she lead Dina into that warehouse, like they’re going to play a game?  She has a Get out of Jail card but Dina doesn’t.

 

Joel says they shouldn’t let too many outsiders into their camp so quickly.  Looks like there will be multiple threats to this place, including some infighting, like the guy who hurled a slur at Ellie and Dina.

  • Like 5
txhorns79

txhorns79

It's nice to see that even in a post-apocalyptic world, there's still someone who feels the need to make a scene over two women being intimate.  I just want to be like: "Dude, most of humanity has been killed off or transformed into monsters.  Perhaps it's time to just let gay people be." 

1 hour ago, peridot said:

Ellie annoyed me a bit, I don't get why she isn't listening to what her Captain says and ignoring her squad leader.  That arrogance is probably going to bite her. 

Didn't it already?  Wasn't that why she was trying to clean up the bite mark?  I agree that her behavior with the ride leader was surprising.  I get teenagers imagining they are invincible, but I'd be surprised she wasn't at least suspended from further missions until she was more respectful and under control. 

  • Like 7
Dev F

Dev F

21 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

What? Your previous post said he died four years ago. It's five years later, it's her first birthday since he died. So you agree he died less than a year ago. Why did you say he died four years ago?

I definitely did not say that. I said the same thing both times: "Eugene died about four years into the five-year time jump." You can go back and read my unedited post.

  • Like 4
  • Love 1
thuganomics85

thuganomics85

The Last of Us has returned with a five year time jump, because it at least has the awareness to realize that Bella Ramsey doesn't really look like a young teenager anymore, and nineteen is more manageable (I can't wait for whenever Stranger Things finally comes back and they try to act like the "kids" aren't almost thirty at this point.)  Also good to know that even after the majority of the human race has been wiped out and zombies run around like cats and dogs, some things never change like therapists still charging for sessions (but at least you can pay with homegrown weed!) and homophobes will never fully go away, sadly.

Ellie was definitely acting even more brash and reckless, and might end up getting someone killed if she isn't careful.  That said, I think it is clear that this isn't just normal brattiness, but connected to how Joel arguably broke his promise to her and massacred the Fireflies in order to save her instead of try and make a cure.  Either she found out the truth some other way or she knew all along that he lied to her face years ago, and really hasn't forgotten that.  I wonder if we'll get some flashbacks over how their relationship fell apart.

Enjoying Dina so far and Isabel Merced was a great fit for her.  Her star seems to be on the rise lately, and I imagine this will continue it (I'm sure she'll be forgiven for her involvement in Madam Web!  A lot of talented folks got tangled up in that web!)

After getting past the jokes about Moira Rose somehow surviving the zombie apocalypse, I quite liked Catherine O'Hara as Gale, and I'm curious to learn more about her.  It sounds like Joel killed her husband, but she knows he isn't fully to blame.  I'm guessing he was bitten and had to be put down.  But she also said she hated the way Joel did it, so maybe he was too blunt or brutal with his approach?  Curious...

Jesse seems nice, if a little boring right now.

Poor Tommy.  Both Joel and Ellie seem to to know how to press his buttons and make him fall in line just so he won't have to deal with the drama!

Not much action this go around, but the cat and mouse game in the grocery store was intense and fun.  Sounds like the zombies are evolving?  Uh oh!

Finally, we also meet this Abby character, who is/was a Firefly that lost someone in Joel's shootout, and now wants to have her revenge!  Careful Joel: Kaitlyn Dever is not to be trifled with!

Overall, a bit of a slow start with all of the new character introductions and Joel and Ellie being at odds hurts to watch, but the final moments have me intrigued over what is to come!

  • Like 7
MJ Frog

MJ Frog

I am enjoying this well enough so far, although Ellie and Dina's recklessness and lack of discipline on patrol is not amusing to me. And I’m sorry, Tommy is right, those two are not on the same level as two strong men who have combat experience. I get that’s how 19-year-olds think, but I hope they get to be more like soldiers soon and less like two kids playing zombie tag.

I am hoping this show does not follow the trope of the humans being worse than the zombies and then devolving into different human factions tearing each other apart. Been there done that. Not interested.

  • Like 5
Haleth

Haleth

9 hours ago, peridot said:

Ellie annoyed me a bit,

She annoyed me a whole lot more than a bit. If she continues to be so sullen, reckless, and irresponsible I don’t think I can watch this. Time to grow up and take the situation seriously. I thought for sure her friend was going to get bitten/killed.

Im sure we’ll find out about Eugene at some point. Catherine O’Hara was the best thing about this episode. Her scene with Pedro was poignant. 

  • Like 9
baldryanr

baldryanr

7 hours ago, txhorns79 said:

Didn't it already?  Wasn't that why she was trying to clean up the bite mark?  I agree that her behavior with the ride leader was surprising.  I get teenagers imagining they are invincible, but I'd be surprised she wasn't at least suspended from further missions until she was more respectful and under control. 

Especially since can't be infected doesn't mean you could survive being ripped to shreds.  The Infected don't try to quickly bite you once and then run off to let you turn, they're trying to tear you apart.  Immunity won't protect you from that!

  • Like 6
Starchild

Starchild

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Catherine O’Hara was the best thing about this episode. Her scene with Pedro was poignant. 

He was amazing in that scene. His face acting wow. The tears in his eyes, the vulnerability, about to tell her what happened. And then the hardening of his expression as he pushed his guilt down far enough to remember why he lied to Ellie. Just wow.

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

Its nice to see the show again, even if I very much needed that reminder of what happened in the last season. The 5 year time jump was surprising but apparently its where we are in the game and it catches us up for to the actual age of Bella Ramsey, who can still play young but they have to also plan for future seasons where her age will become more apparent. 

Ellie and Dina were idiots for going into that dangerous building, especially Ellie. Just because your immune doesn't mean your immortal, the infected can still very much tear you to pieces and you can still die from wondering through a long abandoned building by falling through the floors, which could have happened here. The mold zombie looked cool. 

Seeing Joel and Ellie at odds is really rough, they have been the heart of the show and Ellie being so cold leaves the show in such a weird place. I don't think Ellie knows for sure what Joel did, but she absolutely suspects, and that has really hurt their relationship. Is this a new thing or has their relationship gotten worse? Its hard to imagine this going on for five years and them still living in the same house and everyone saying that its just Ellie being a moody teenager. 

Nice to know that some things, like therapists onloading personal stuff on their parents and homophobic jerks ruining everyone's fun. 

I'm guessing that these people looking for Joel are survivors from Joel's shooting spree, be better beware, you don't ant to mess with Kaitlyn Dever. She immediately fits the shows vibe, I love this shows casting. 

  • Like 3
iMonrey

iMonrey

I'm still of the opinion Ellie already knows Joel lied to her, but I'm unclear on whether or not she knew the Fireflies were going to kill her in order to make the "cure" and whether she was willing to go along with it and sacrifice herself. If so, I could better understand why she feels such resentment towards Joel. If not, I'd think she'd be more grateful he saved her life. So I assume at this point she did know and was willing to make that sacrifice. 

Is this explained in the game? Anyone who knows can message me or put it in spoiler tags. The show did not make that clear at the end of Season 1.

aghst

aghst

Why wouldn’t Joel want a cure?  Well most people can put two and two together.

But Ellie is young so maybe she hasn’t deduced that he prevented them from using her to develop a cure because it was going to harm her.

That would be the most plausible reason that he got her out and away from the Fireflies and lied that there was no cure.

I don’t recall if Ellie saw or learned that Joel fought the Fireflies before he took her away from them.  But it’s not like they said bye to her and Joel and she left the Fireflies amicably.

mcree

mcree

1 hour ago, diebartdie said:

Thing is, the giraffes Ellie and Joel saw were in Colorado.

No. Salt Lake

  • Tommy in Jackson, Wyoming tells them to go to Colorado
  • Joel is injured in Colorado; they confront David's group
  • They make it to the Fireflies in SLC, Utah
  • Drive back to Jackson
7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I assume at this point she did know and was willing to make that sacrifice. 

Is this explained in the game?

The show follows the game very closely at the end of season/part 1: "Swear to me.... OK." At that point, right after the event, you might read that Ellie suspects Joel is not telling the whole story. After five years (four in the game, but probably not a meaningful difference), what does Ellie know or suspect? The game explains it all, in an interesting way.

 

  • Like 1
Dev F

Dev F

(edited)
6 hours ago, mcree said:

The show follows the game very closely at the end of season/part 1: "Swear to me.... OK." At that point, right after the event, you might read that Ellie suspects Joel is not telling the whole story.

Yeah, and it's quite suggestive that just before demanding the truth, she's running down a list of the people she knows who have died. Although (very mild dialogue spoilers for that scene in the game) . . .

Spoiler

. . . it's actually clearer in the game, which includes an extra line that was deleted in the show: "Her name was Riley, and she was the first to die. And then it was Tess. And then Sam. I'm still waiting for my turn."

Honestly, one of my worries about the way the show is setting up the story this season is that it seems like they might end up plottifying the source of Ellie's resentment too much, making it more about specific things that have happened in the five-year time jump when it'd be more meaningful for it to be presented as the inevitable result of Joel's choice and Ellie's long-simmering suspicions.

Edited by Dev F
tv-talk

tv-talk

Oh wow, I sure hope there is way more Pedro and a lot less Ellie and her girlfriend moving forward. Bella Ramsey has this role because she was a kid actress on GoT, I'm not sure as a grown women she is such a great actress. I mean compare the scene with the therapist and how it ends with Pedro steeling up and saying "i saved her" to basically the rest of the show with Ellie and I personally am left wanting a lot more Pedro.

Did not like this episode however do think it's possible future episodes that fill in backstory of past 5yrs could be very good, fingers crossed.

  • Like 6
tennisgurl

tennisgurl

I am still confused by what is going on with Ellie and Joel, they cant have been like this for all five years right? If she's hated him for five years I feel like he wouldn't be so stressed about it now and she might have even tried to move out, but if we assume this is more recent, why is Ellie just now mad? 

No matter what, I hope that Ellie stops being such a brat soon, I did not sign up for a show where we have to watch one of the leads spend the whole time being whiny, sullen, and making stupid choices. 

  • Like 9
tv-talk

tv-talk

39 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

No matter what, I hope that Ellie stops being such a brat soon, I did not sign up for a show where we have to watch one of the leads spend the whole time being whiny, sullen, and making stupid choices. 

Yeah that would make the show unwatchable. Obviously though she is going to screw something up and get someone killed or infected, probably her new gf, and then learn a deep lesson that way. At least that is what I'd expect though have zero knowledge of the source material so cant really say.

 

The thing is with everything she has been through and whatever you can assume happened over the past 5yrs- hard to envision how she'd end up such a careless, bratty teen. Surely she of all people would know how dangerous any situation outside the compound can become and not be so cavalier about risking her and others lives.  

  • Like 2
Dev F

Dev F

2 hours ago, tv-talk said:

The thing is with everything she has been through and whatever you can assume happened over the past 5yrs- hard to envision how she'd end up such a careless, bratty teen. Surely she of all people would know how dangerous any situation outside the compound can become and not be so cavalier about risking her and others lives.  

I dunno, it seems pretty coherent to me that by both knowing she's uniquely immune to the great danger of the age and either discovering or suspecting that her father figure prevented her from turning that immunity into something truly meaningful, Ellie would develop a particularly reckless combination of an invincibility complex and a death wish.

  • Like 2
magdalene

magdalene

I suspect this second season is not meant for me. I seriously considered not watching the second season period but since Pedro Pascal is on the show I couldn't resist. I am not a gamer and the second game means nothing to me to put it bluntly. The sudden vilification of Joel is both baffling and infuriating to me.  To me the doctors who Joel killed had it coming for intending to kill and cut up a child, a child who couldn't consent to any of this - no matter what Ellie thinks or not thinks. I have no empathy for Joel's "victims" or for the woman who wants to kill Joel slowly. If she does kill Joel I am not sticking around. Ellie is not enough reason for me to stick around.  The whole concept of the show is too gruesome for me if my reason for watching is gone.

  • Like 2
Blakeston

Blakeston

Ellie may not care about her own life, but she should care about Dina’s. (Especially after what happened to her last girlfriend.)

Speaking of a different character, I realize we’ve barely seen Abbey (Kaitlyn Dever’s character), but what we were shown makes her seem an awful lot like Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey’s character) last season - a grieving woman who cares about brutal revenge far more than she cares about leading the survivors.

  • Like 2
Jodithgrace

Jodithgrace

As soon as I saw those roots clogging the pipes, I thought they reminded me uncomfortably of the tendrils of the infection, and sure enough….

I don’t play games like this, so this show is all new material for me. I was so stressed during that supermarket scene I had to take a break. When that pretty girl clicker attacked Ellie, for one moment I thought it was Dina, but I realized she wouldn’t have transformed that quickly, and then Dina showed up. Whew. 
 

The tension between Ellie and Joel seems to be of a more recent vintage, since everybody seems to think it typical 19 year old behavior, and not a long standing issue. I assume we’ll find out the cause at some point. 

  • Like 2
tv-talk

tv-talk

19 hours ago, Dev F said:

it seems pretty coherent to me that by both knowing she's uniquely immune to the great danger of the age

She's not at all invincible and can easily be killed by these monsters or a random bad person. Being immune to the infection doesnt make her an immortal by any stretch. 

As far as what she knows happened in hospital...I suppose we will see via flashbacks if things happened over the years that tipped her off as to how Joel saved her or if she's just a 19yr old raging at her 'Dad' unfairly (and normally).

17 hours ago, magdalene said:

To me the doctors who Joel killed had it coming for intending to kill and cut up a child, a child who couldn't consent to any of this - no matter what Ellie thinks or not thinks.

I cant recall, did they actually have a cure or vaccine and needed to kill her to make it or did they not know if it would work and were basically experimenting ie going to kill her and possibly get nothing from it?

  • Like 1
iMonrey

iMonrey

31 minutes ago, tv-talk said:

I cant recall, did they actually have a cure or vaccine and needed to kill her to make it or did they not know if it would work and were basically experimenting ie going to kill her and possibly get nothing from it?

They were working from a theory that they could use her cordyceps to manufacture a vaccine, but would have to cut up her brain to get them because that's where the cordyceps grow from.

I'm still not clear on whether Ellie knew this and consented or if she was just put to sleep thinking they'd draw some blood or something else that wouldn't kill her. I guess we'll find out.

  • Like 2
mcree

mcree

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I'm still not clear on whether Ellie knew this and consented or if she was just put to sleep thinking they'd draw some blood or something else that wouldn't kill her.

No; in the show Marlene says, "We didn't tell her, we didn't cause her any fear, there won't be any pain." After in the parking garage, she tells Joel that Ellie would "want to do what's right. And you know it." That first part might be self-serving, but Joel does not disagree.

That's why Joel lies and says there are "dozens" more that are immune, but they couldn't make a cure work, so the Fireflies have stopped trying; all to dissuade Ellie from going back to seek them out.

Not asking Ellie is more humane, and also avoids the quandary if she says no. Turns out it was a mistake not to; Joel would have had to accept it. But that would be a different story (and obviate the final action sequence and the sequel).

2 hours ago, tv-talk said:

I wish Joel would just say "Yeah they had no idea what they were doing and just wanted to dissect her brain on a hunch

It's telling that Joel doesn't go with that lie instead.

 

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iMonrey

iMonrey

5 hours ago, mcree said:

No; in the show Marlene says, "We didn't tell her, we didn't cause her any fear, there won't be any pain." After in the parking garage, she tells Joel that Ellie would "want to do what's right. And you know it." That first part might be self-serving, but Joel does not disagree.

Thanks. I rewatched the entire first season last week but didn't remember that. I assumed she didn't know, but then I started to second guess myself. 

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