I missed that the episode title "Future Days" was an easter egg for the game players. Just saw the game clip of Joel singing it to Ellie

I think the actor for Abby is gonna be great in that role too. Already impressed with her performance.

Best acting so far imo:
1) Dina
2) Abby
3) Joel
4) whoever O'Hara is playing
5) Jesse
6) Owen
7) Tommy
8) Isaac even though we haven't technically seen him yet
9) Ellie

My first thought after watching this episode was thank God they casted Dina and Abby as way more attractive than their characters in the game.

Second thought was I'm glad they showed the stalker and made it an intense scene. So much about the first (and second) game was the encounters with zombies and how scary that could be. I had to turn it off and take a break at times during my first run through with TLOU part 1. I felt like we got almost no dedicated zombie scenes in the first season so this episode was a welcome change for me.

just watched S2E2 trailer. Looks like there is going to be a lot of flashbacks tied into real-time. If they dive deep on each of those scenes, that is going to be one cramped episode.

1) Abby and crew arriving/integrating with the WLF
2) Joel and Ellie's visit to the museum
3) Intro to the Seraphites
4) NEW to show - horde attack on Jackson (different from game)
5) some scenes shown are teasing the "golfing incident"

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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I think the actor for Abby is gonna be great in that role too. Already impressed with her performance.

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Kaitlyn Dever is a very good actress. She'll be good in the role from just a pure acting and emotional perspective... she isn't even close to Abby's physical presence in the game which may be hard to get over. But that would have always been a pretty tough thing to pull off. But yeah show Abby doesn't look like she bench presses and is about 5'2" - 100 lbs.

Like others I think the casting is just "off"... that's probably because the game performances and designs are just so incredible, that no one would live up to them. Even Pedro Pascal who's a star and a great actor, just doesn't quite feel like Joel to me.

I'm also kind of distracted that Kaitlyn Dever (show Abby) looks waaaay more like Ellie than Bella Ramsay

Speaking of game vs show Abby... sort of comical, but as you recall there was controversy about a trans character in the game prior to the release. I was trying to avoid spoilers, so I didn't know who or what exactly the trans character would be. And I think I also got it confused with the controversy over Abby's character in general... but I spent about 3/4 playing the Last of Us 2 thinking that Abby was a guy... and thought the hardcore sex scene (from behind mind you) was the reason people were up in arms.


When they finally had the throw away line about the Seraphite kid likes to be called he or whatever, I was like "wait a minute..."

Suggest yall listen to the HBO podcast. They discuss casting at length. Agree with the Kaitlyn Dever looks like Ellie comment though.

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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I think the actor for Abby is gonna be great in that role too. Already impressed with her performance.

Best acting so far imo:
1) Dina
2) Abby
3) Joel
4) whoever O'Hara is playing
5) Jesse
6) Owen
7) Tommy
8) Isaac even though we haven't technically seen him yet
9) Ellie

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Isabela Merced, who plays Dina, is perfect casting IMO.

Not to mention in the game Abby had literal pecs! No boobs. I understand the mistake.

Sex Panther said:

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Speaking of game vs show Abby... sort of comical, but as you recall there was controversy about a trans character in the game prior to the release. I was trying to avoid spoilers, so I didn't know who or what exactly the trans character would be. And I think I also got it confused with the controversy over Abby's character in general... but I spent about 3/4 playing the Last of Us 2 thinking that Abby was a guy... and thought the hardcore sex scene (from behind mind you) was the reason people were up in arms.


When they finally had the throw away line about the Seraphite kid likes to be called he or whatever, I was like "wait a minute..."

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I thought the exact same. +1 above to the pecs comment

I thought Abby was very fun to play as, as well. Her brute strength is impressive. Still preferred playing as Ellie because of how vindictive and full of hate every attack is, but Abby's attacks landed with so much more umph.

I mean, if you're working out at Lumen Field facilities every day, you're gonna turn into beast mode

Dever needs some inflatable muscles

Ol Jock 99 said:

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Suggest yall listen to the HBO podcast. They discuss casting at length. Agree with the Kaitlyn Dever looks like Ellie comment though.

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Any big takeaways from the casting discussion?

In the game, they wanted the gameplay between Ellie and Abby to be very different, so they were we built very differently. In the show, that doesn't matter, so they got actresses that best fit how they wanted the characters on the screen.

And they really, really like Bella as Ellie.

Oooooo.

Guess we're about to find out how good an actor for older Ellie Bella really is very soon

Quote:

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I had to turn it off and take a break at times during my first run through with TLOU part 1.

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That part in the basement where you fire up the generator HAS to be one of the situations you're talking about. I died so many times and also had to take breaks.

Now try playing the game on grounded difficulty. That is a kick to the nads hard!

tamuags08 said:

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Quote:

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I had to turn it off and take a break at times during my first run through with TLOU part 1.

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That part in the basement where you fire up the generator HAS to be one of the situations you're talking about. I died so many times and also had to take breaks.

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was that the one where you're having to fight off one of the big guys and a bunch of other baddies while trying to get the generator up and running?

Yep. And when the electricity comes back on everything seems to respawn/converge on you directly.

AvsB said:

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Now try playing the game on grounded difficulty. That is a kick to the nads hard!

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I did Grounded+ on TLOU2. It's easier than Grounded because you can start the game with better weapons, but still very difficult.

The flashback where you fight the hordes in the bar/saloon with Joel was so unforgivingly difficult. This was more difficult than the rat king for me lol

Santa Barbara also highly difficult on Grounded

I haven't played the games, but is Ellie as annoying there as she is in the first ep of season 2? Not sure if it was the actor or character, but she's pretty unlikable.

She is somewhat moody/jaded at the start of TLOU2 game

My wife and I were talking about this. We think TLOU2 game Ellie is more mature than the Bella-portrayed Ellie in this first episode of S2. Hopefully Bella's Ellie develops towards that quickly.

Granted it's only the first episode but she is WAY more annoying so far in the show.

In the game we initially see her for a lack of a better word, more "experienced" and with that a little tougher. But she's not this, "oooooo I'm gonna ignore everyone and do whatever I want cause I'm Ellie…."…….seriously the scene where she was shouting, "IM IMMUNE!!!! I WAS BIT!!!!" was so stupid and a perfect example of how they could be screwing up this character….

In the game, your character was constantly having to where gas masks because the fungus would release spores in the air and that's also how the infection spread…they didn't include that in the show because they didn't want the actors faces covered so much and that's fine……..well in the game when Ellie takes that fall from what I remember Dina ends up down there too with there being spores and Ellie puts a mask on knowing she doesn't need it but also knows she needs to keep it a secret…….i feel like this Ellie would've just kept it off and let Dina know without a care in the world.

Also….i think my prediction of when joel gets the axe is wrong and whoever said they think it happens in episode 2 could be right. If you go to IMDB they already show all the episode titles for the whole season…..except #2…..and that could be why….

I'm convinced now and doubling down, he's definitely getting killed off at the end of epi 2 I think. The other thread gonna melt down

I'll never understand the casting choice for Bella Ramsey as Ellie.

I know she got an Emmy nom for this role, I just don't think she's very good at all and doesn't fit in with the rest of the cast.

I dont remember minding it so much last season, but she sticks out like a sore thumb in s2e1

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2025/04/13/the-last-of-us-season-2-premiere-recap-and-review-i-have-some-concerns/

This review echoes many of the same grievances we're all airing here. Biggest one being Ellie. We've got an Ellie problem.

I'm hopeful Bella's Ellie will develop quickly in S2, but if she doesn't, it will be probably the worst fumble for S2 that could be made.

Edit to add: my only disagreement in the review is the comment about Dina. We don't know if her jewish identity has been removed and the review makes it sound like she is as ugly as sin in the game. Sure, Merced is attractive, but Dina is not an unattractive character in the game.

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2025/04/13/the-last-of-us-season-2-premiere-recap-and-review-i-have-some-concerns/

This review echoes many of the same grievances we're all airing here. Biggest one being Ellie. We've got an Ellie problem.

I'm hopeful Bella's Ellie will develop quickly in S2, but if she doesn't, it will be probably the worst fumble for S2 that could be made.

Edit to add: my only disagreement in the review is the comment about Dina. We don't know if her jewish identity has been removed and the review makes it sound like she is as ugly as sin in the game. Sure, Merced is attractive, but Dina is not an unattractive character in the game.

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This article does a great job at conveying some of my concerns as well. I've already said my piece on Bella Ramsey as Ellie in season 2. My concern going forward is to what degree they might have altered this entire show/story to account for her not being capable of being the Ellie in game two. Her actions in episode one make me think there could be a substantial shift in the story to account for how she looks and behaves. I'm still trying to keep an optimistic POV on the season because of how good season one was, but it wasn't the best start.

Alright guys….blue star if you think Joel gets the golf treatment tonight.

And if he does…I'm going to guess that we get the flashback of the "why" also this episode or it'll start the 3rd episode…..from what I remember in the game you had to play through all of Ellie's game and then only after it switches over to Abby do you get the flashback of her discovering her fathers death….think the audience is going to need to see that ASAP or risk a lot of people getting pissed and stopping the show……kinda like what happened with The Walking Dead with Negans intro

Just started this excited for the next few seasons.

Think tonight ends with shot to knee then cut to credits, next week is Abby flashback to build up background before events progress

This was pretty much my original guess….until I discovered the title for today's episode is An eye for an eye

Yes I know the title on IMDB is different but I've read that after some searching so wondering if what's showing on IMDB is fake to not give it away….cause they've changed everything on that site for this show regarding the episode titles….

After the first episode last week the title for the 2nd episode wasn't there but you could see the titles for episodes 3-7….now those are gone and we've got this one title for episode 2 where some sources are saying it's different…

Even still you could be right with how it ends….itll be interesting

Well then, time to strap in for the post-show circus

We are going golfing

Saxsoon said:

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We are going golfing

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FORE!~

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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I think they'll kill him off at the end of next Sunday's episode, and then do flashbacks potentially like in the game (notice the dinosaur museum scene in the season preview last night).

Yea, the stalkers don't show up in the game until you're making your way through Seattle as Ellie (convention center)

Star of the show so far for me is Dina's actor.

That dance scene was very well done, almost a shot for shot reenactment from the game. Just shows how good the mocap directing and production is!

Feel like there was little hype last night compared to S1E1. I'm sure they'll be cooking after next week.

Thought it was interesting they were about to show the best scene from the game imo in last night's episode Joel and Ellie's conversation on the front porch at night after the dance. Bet they save it for a flashback in the finale.

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Do I win anything?

This was an improvement over episode 1. Kaitlyn Dever is a star. Excellent Abby portrayal!

I'm going to wait until episode 4 is over to decide whether or not Bella is a good fit for Ellie this season. She was a little better tonight.

If she can have a radical transformation, which we saw a glimpse of tonight, she may absolutely nail it. We'll see. Her ability to pull it off is my biggest worry about this season.

My biggest gripe tonight is there is no way a person in a wheelchair would have survived this long in this world. Unless this happened to her while she was in Jackson then fine. But that is some forced DEI right there

Maybe Kaitlyn Dever should have been Ellie. That was pretty good