I Didn't Mind The Last Of Us Season 2 Cliffhanger, But One Other Moment Seriously Irked Me

However, there’s one aspect of the finale that I didn’t like – and it’s probably not what you think. Let’s get into it.

The Fact That The Season Ended With Abby Doesn’t Bother Me

I’ve been seeing a lot of discourse online regarding the cliffhanger of Abby and the appearance of her home base of the WLFs at the end of Season 2. Many have said that it shouldn’t have ended there and instead should have ended on the (unintentionally hilarious) cliffhanger of Ellie possibly getting shot.

I actually could not care less about that, and I’ll tell you why.

As someone who has played the games several times, including both parts and the DLC - just to hurt myself a little more - I don’t mind that the season ended there. In the game, it was honestly just as jarring. Sure, we ended up getting a lot more games immediately after that, and we didn’t have to wait a year for Season 3, but I still think it’s a good way to leave fans hanging.

It begs that question in fans' minds – those who haven’t played the games, the same one that players questioned back in 2020 when Part 2 was released: “Are we going to be following Abby’s story now of those three days? Are we playing as her?”

While we won’t be playing as Abby in Season 3, it’s clear that she will be a bigger part of the story overall, and fans should be prepared.

Sure, ending on the Ellie cliffhanger might have been a fun take, but to be honest, it would have been so average. That’s the kind of cliffhanger that I’m pretty sure we have ended countless times again in so many other TV shows. At least with this take, it’s creative, and it adds a hint of mystery for those who haven’t played the games. I agree with this decision.

However, one thing I dislike is how they portrayed Ellie and Dina in the beginning.

But I Hate That They Made Ellie Talk With Dina After She Killed Nora

One thing I did like about Season 2 is how they divided the episodes into Ellie’s story. I think there certainly could have been WAY more, but putting the breather between Episodes 5 and 7, where we fully get the background information regarding Joel and Ellie, helped us settle into the chaos that ensues in the finale.

But it’s how Ellie arrives back with Dina that annoys and bothers me. I’ve been pretty lenient with the show’s changes over Season 2. I feel that it has taken a lot more liberties than Season 1, which is fine. It’s still, relatively, the same story that breaks hearts over and over again.

However, the decision to have Ellie speak to Dina leaves a foul taste in my mouth. In the games, if you’ve never played, Ellie certainly does beat the snot out of Nora and kills her. But when she arrives back at the theater, she doesn’t speak.

Instead, she sits down in front of Dina, and her girlfriend wordlessly starts to remove Ellie’s clothes to examine her wounds and bruises, her touch gentle and caring – the complete opposite of what Ellie has just done. As Dina takes care of her, all we see is Ellie’s face, how it contorts in silent grief over what she has done, a subtle numbness that morphs into the realization of the horrors she has just committed, but knows nonetheless that she can’t undo.

And will only continue to do more.

All of that is said without words, and yet, somehow, it conveys so many more emotions than what we received in the television show. I don’t want to knock out Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced’s acting performances because I still think they are standouts in The Last of Us cast. However, I think the script they were given was clunky at best and disrespectful at worst to the source material.

Having Ellie comment that she thought it would be harder to kill Nora takes away a lot of the subtlety from the characters in the games, and it doesn’t help that it feels as if she doesn’t feel bad whatsoever. I’m not trying to humanize her, but there was just something in the games that added a lot more to this moment, something that didn’t require words.

It Also Worries Me That Ellie Essentially Told Dina What Joel Did In The Hospital

Something else that I wanted to bring up, as a fan of the games, is that Ellie doesn’t tell anyone about what Joel did in that hospital. Not even Dina – as far as we know. It’s never shown in the games. However, she fully reveals it all to Dina at that moment.

It’s that instance that nearly makes them go home, but it also makes me wonder what that means for the future. If Ellie tells more people about what happened now, could that potentially ruin Joel’s memory of Jackson? Could Ellie get in trouble? I don’t know.

It just feels like this moment was ruined by talking, and that’s something I really wish didn’t happen.

I Wish They Kept More Of The Subtlety From The Games

The Last of Us is still a fun TV show. It’s still an HBO series that has got the world talking and remains very popular. But Season 2 really did take away a lot of the subtlety from the games that I wish was still there.

I’m not saying that Season 3 has to be exactly like the games, and I doubt it’s going to go in that direction. But not everything needs to be spoken out. Not everyone needs to have a dramatic emotional moment. There are a few changes to that which I like, such as Joel and that porch scene in Episode 6, which really added more to the character.

But when it comes to situations like this, where words instead harm the character’s arc, that’s where I draw the line. Showing is always better than telling, and for this script, someone needed to do a second pass.

While it’ll undoubtedly be some time before we see The Last of Us Season 3, at least I have these two seasons to rewatch. Or maybe it’s time for another replay of the games. Where is my PlayStation controller?

A self-proclaimed nerd and lover of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, Alexandra Ramos is a Content Producer at CinemaBlend. She first started off working in December 2020 as a Freelance Writer after graduating from the Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in English. She primarily works in features for movies, TV, and sometimes video games. (Please don't debate her on The Last of Us 2, it was amazing!) She is also the main person who runs both our daily newsletter, The CinemaBlend Daily, and our ReelBlend newsletter.