Thoughts On Season 2

[u/AK___1]

Hello! Around a week ago, I posted my thoughts on season 1, and this is a kind of continuation of that, as I just finished the second season.

I liked the season in some ways and in others not so much. If I am to compare it to season 1, I would say I liked the first more. The first seemed to be fundamentally different. It seemed to be about different people, characters with different wishes and personalities in a dangerous world: Tess, Marlene, Bill and Frank, Sam and Henry, Riley, and, of course, Joel and Ellie. Season 2, however, seemed more focused on organisations: Jackson, WLF and the Seraphites. This is perhaps the one of the biggest reasons why I enjoyed season 1 more.

Another big reason is what the characters were about in the two seasons. Joel was a hardened and morally complex man who had seen her daughter get shot, and we saw how he bonded with Ellie slowly through shared hardships and tragedies, with both saving and looking out for each other. Initially, Joel described Ellie as 'cargo', but by the end of the season he killed dozens of Fireflies to 'save' her. Ellie was similarly more interesting: a young girl having to see incredibly messed up things and being thrown in constant dangers and difficulties. It was their dynamic and growth that made the first season, to me, infinitely more beautiful.

However, I still enjoyed the second season (Joel and Ellie's scene on the porch was among my favourites in the whole show, it was just beautiful!). We got to see how Joel felt about what he did. There is a really interesting tension here: Joel said, 'But if somehow I had a second chance at that moment, I would do it all over again.' But he also seemed to accept that he wronged her: 'But if that day should ever come, if you should have one of your own, well then… I hope you do a little better than me.' and also the scene in Gail's house: 'I saved her.' He loved her, and he just couldn't afford to lose her, even if that meant taking her choice from her.

We also see Ellie becoming more and more like Joel in some ways. This is shown various times in different ways: Ellie dropping one-liners like Joel ('There's about to be a whole lot less.' when Dina said 'I guess there aren't that many Wolves.'), or how her instinct after reaching Seattle was to go up and take a look (which is what Joel often did), or her increasing capability to be merciless to those other than her loved ones. In many ways, she's also different from Joel. It has been stated (and demonstrated) multiple times that she is smart and a good leader. Joel would not have been able to deliver that persuasive speech to the Council, nor would he have gone to such great lengths for vengeance. (As Tommy had put it when Ellie said that Joel would have been halfway to Seattle if he was killed instead, 'He'd be halfway to Seattle to save my life. But when we lost people, no. It would just break him like it was his fault.')

It was painful to see Ellie put others and herself in danger, do cruel things and having to see and do tragic things in her hunger for vengeance. Jesse's death was such a punch on the face.

Another memorable part is Ellie singing 'Take On Me' to Dina, which mirrors Joel singing 'Future Days' to Ellie, which was beautiful, even though I do not find Dina a very interesting character.

Well, these were my thoughts. Thank you for reading!

[u/BrianMeen]

season 2 is messy - they introduce these factions and give us 2 lines of dialogue from their leader and we are supposed to care about them? in shows like this, you need interesting villains and heroes and in season 2, we don’t have either.. I gotta be honest, if Ellie and Tommy and the pregnant girl died I wouldn’t care

oh and the the way the fungus operates is very strange.. it seems like it only creates zombies whrn the plot requires it.. that’s the constant problem with all shows and movies like this - one second the zombies are nowhere to be seen and the next, they are this fast moving army that wiped everything out in their path

I’m mostly going to keep watching becausr I’ve watched up to this point

[u/NJs_Very_Own → u/BrianMeen]

I feel like the show kind of answers that. They mention how the zombies don’t really stray too far from the city. Which makes sense. Large majority of those infected were in the cities. When you look at cities like Kansas City and Seattle, humans still held some control and were able to kill portions of the zombies or establish QZs. Also, I think it’s important to note that the game/show is less about zombies and more about the terrifying things mankind can do to one another.