The last of us achieved the impossible: a video game adaptation that received unanimous applause from critics and even made it into the most prestigious television awards ceremonies. He was able to leave the Golden Globes empty and at the Emmys he had to settle for eight technical statuettes but the merit, being the first season, was to have entered the conversation.
Now, when the first anniversary has passed since its premiere, the creation of Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann faces the production of the second season, which can be assumed to be a descent into hell. Joel (Pedro Pascal), to save Ellie (Bella Ramsey), whom he considers a daughter (and, in a way, a substitute for the daughter he lost at the beginning of the mushroom-men epidemic), made a drastic decision. which could affect your psychological journey.
And what do we know, for now, about the new episodes?
The first season had a clear driving force: Joel was tasked with transporting Ellie through the infested United States. The teenager could be the cure for humanity by being infected but not developing the cordyceps fungus until she became a zombie. And, along the way, a friendship developed as the viewer was able to learn about the characters’ past, the traumas they carried, and how the country functioned after PHAEDRA, the national disaster response agency, formed a dictatorial government. to control the epidemic and the population.
In the second season, the dynamic between Joel and Ellie is expected to change with the introduction of a new character: Abby. Technically called Abigail Anderson, she is a young woman in her twenties who, like her father, had been part of the Firefly militia and her life led her to have to learn to survive alone. As video game lovers know, she is the daughter of Jerry, the doctor who was going to operate on Ellie. How can a relationship of friendship and companionship evolve with the baggage they carry?
The creators’ idea is to remain faithful to the reference material, the video game developed by Druckmann, while finding their own way of telling the story. It is only worth remembering the chapter dedicated to Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) to understand how Druckmann and Mazin explore the fictional universe without leaving the path set by video games.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who were nominated for the Golden Globe, the Emmy and the SAG awards from the actors’ union, will continue to lead the HBO production that was born “in opposition to Resident Evil”, as Druckmann explained, by carrying the zombie survival genre to a more intimate terrain. I wanted to address the intimacy of human relationships and everything that could come from the unconditional love that a father feels for a daughter.
Looking ahead to the new section of the story, the key signing is who will play Abby. It will be Kaitlyn Dever, known for series such as Believe Me or Dopesick, who had entered the pool to play Ellie although she was too old to play the role.
“Our casting process for the second season has been identical to that of the first: we looked for world-renowned actors to embody the souls of the characters,” explained Mazin and Druckmann. “Nothing matters more than talent, and we are excited to have an acclaimed actress like Kaitlyn to join Pedro, Bella and the rest of the family,” they communicated after the signing.
It is not the only signing. Also confirmed is Isabela Merced, singer and actress especially in voice work, who will be Dina, Ellie’s romantic interest and a brilliant, warm, wild, fun, moral and dangerous woman. And, as Dina’s ex, there will be Young Mazino as Jesse, a pillar of the community accustomed to looking out for others. Mazino’s hiring comes at his best professional moment: he was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Bronca.
The other signings already announced are those of the directors who will be behind the cameras in the second season. Mark Mylod, who won the Emmy for best direction for the final season of Succession, will be on the payroll as will other HBO veterans such as Nina Lopez-Corrado (Perry Mason) and Stephen Williams (Watchmen) or Kate Herron, who captained Loki’s address.
They join Peter Hoar, who directed the much talked about episode of Long, long time (the third, the one with the romantic story in the middle of the apocalypse), and Mazin and Druckmann themselves.
Next February 12 will be the day that Pascal and Ramsey will begin recording scenes for the second season in Vancouver (Canada). Mazin and Druckmann were lucky that, when the Hollywood writers’ strike was called in May, they had already structured the entire second season and had written the first episode. So, when they resumed professional activity on September 27 after the end of the strike, they were not starting from scratch.
HBO, for the moment, rules out releasing the season in the coming months: they have already warned that it will go directly to 2025.
