The most heartbreaking moments in The Last of Us season 2 will be in safe hands thanks to a brilliant director joining the show from a different Emmy-winning HBO drama series. The Last of Us season 1 was the brainchild of Neil Druckmann, the creator of the video game franchise, and Craig Mazin, the mastermind behind Chernobyl (the miniseries, not the disaster). Druckmann and Mazin co-wrote the entire season without the assistance of a writers’ room as a more or less straightforward adaptation of the first game, with a few minor tweaks along the way.
But as they begin to tackle the gargantuan nonlinear narrative of The Last of Us Part II in season 2 and beyond, they’ve brought in some additional help. They’ve opened a writers’ room with Halley Gross, the co-writer and narrative lead of Part II (who understands these characters better than anyone besides Druckmann), and Bo Shim. They’ve also brought in some exciting new directors for The Last of Us season 2, like Loki’s Kate Herron and Watchmen’s Stephen Williams. There’s one new director in particular whose involvement means the season’s most hard-hitting scenes are in good hands.
Mark Mylod's Work On Succession's Best Episode Proves He's Perfect For The Last Of Us Season 2
"Connor's Wedding" Is One Of The Greatest TV Episodes Ever Produced
Throughout Succession’s acclaimed four-season run, Mark Mylod directed 16 episodes. But the crowning achievement of his tenure on the show is season 4, episode 3, “Connor’s Wedding.” This episode earned Mylod the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, and not only is it widely considered to be Succession’s best episode; it’s been lauded as one of the greatest episodes of television ever produced. This episode depicts the moment that the series had been building towards from the very beginning: the death of Logan Roy.
“Connor’s Wedding” first aired on HBO on April 9, 2023.
Rather than showing Logan’s death on-screen, Mylod instead focuses on how his four children react to his passing. All of Logan’s kids have a raw, emotional, unique reaction to his demise that’s perfectly in line with their character: Connor says his dad never even liked him, Kendall gets on the phone and tries to fix it, Shiv regresses to her childhood self, and Roman unsuccessfully tries to hide his feelings behind a thick wall of denial. Mylod directs the episode with an almost documentary-like sense of realism that makes “Connor’s Wedding” perhaps the most accurate on-screen portrayal of sudden loss.
There Is One Specific TLOU Part II Moment Mylod Would Be Perfect For After Succession
Mylod Already Handled One HBO Patriarch's Shocking Death Scene
As this point, it’s unclear which episode of The Last of Us season 2 will be directed by Mylod, but “Connor’s Wedding” proves he’d be the perfect director to handle the delicate matter of Joel’s death. Since Mylod already nailed the shock and grief following a different HBO patriarch’s death, he’d be a great choice to handle The Last of Us season 2’s most tragic scene. Much like in “Connor’s Wedding,” The Last of Us Part II’s big character death happens mostly off-screen. Seeing the heartbroken reaction of the character’s daughter is much more affecting than actually seeing them die.
The most heartbreaking part of Joel’s death in the game is Ashley Johnson’s harrowing portrayal of Ellie’s trauma. The emotional devastation that will gradually consume her soul throughout the game is on full display as Ellie is held down and forced to watch her adoptive dad get beaten to death. Mylod managed to get poignant, powerful performances out of Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong, Alan Ruck, and especially Kieran Culkin as their Succession characters dealt with the news of Logan’s death. He could surely coax a similarly heart-wrenching performance out of Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us’ brutal death scene.
There Are Plenty Of Other Last Of Us Part II Moments Mylod Could Pull Off
Mylod Has Proven He Can Handle Action, Horror, And Character Drama
There’s still a chance that Mylod isn’t directing Joel’s death scene and he’s been hired to helm a different episode for The Last of Us season 2. Mazin might want to handle the premiere episode like he did for season 1, or Druckmann might want to direct the scene like he did for the game. If that is the case, there are plenty of other moments from The Last of Us Part II that Mylod could pull off. His varied body of work demonstrates a lot of directorial range.
Mylod’s latest feature film, The Menu, proved he has a good sensibility for horror, so he could helm one of The Last of Us’ many encounters with the infected.
Mylod’s work on Succession proved he can handle character drama, like Joel and Ellie’s discussion on the porch or Dina’s ultimatum at the farm. His work on Game of Thrones proved he can handle action, like Ellie’s many shootouts with the Wolves and the Seraphites or the showdown at the theater. Mylod’s latest feature film, The Menu, proved he has a good sensibility for horror, so he could helm one of The Last of Us’ many encounters with the infected.
