Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II.
Somehow, The Last of Us managed to pull a Game of Thrones in just its second season. Critics and show-only viewers seem to still be enjoying it, but as a fan of the source material who’s used to a much better version of the story, I was very underwhelmed.
Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross, the original writers of the game, conspicuously left the writing staff of the TV series soon after the fan backlash to season 2. They both made diplomatic public statements about leaving the show to give more time and attention to other projects, but Druckmann specifically threw shade at season 2 in a recent interview.
Druckmann said, “My hope for season 3… is to make sure it’s as deeply faithful as season 1 was, because I feel like that is the gold standard for this kind of adaptation.
” He’s acknowledging that season 1 nailed it, which it did, but season 2 was a step down, which it was. But how can season 3 avoid season 2’s mistakes and recapture season 1’s greatness?
Making The Last of Us season 3 better than season 2 is a lot easier said than done. Craig Mazin has to actually figure out a way to turn this crazy, ambitious, groundbreaking video game into a TV show — and now, he has to do it alone.
He can make the TV show his own, of course, but it’s an adaptation above all. He can deviate from the source material like season 1 did, but he shouldn’t actively betray its themes and intentions like season 2 did.
Mazin can expand on interesting concepts that the game didn’t have time to explore, like Isaac’s mentorship of Abby and the rift in Owen and Mel’s relationship, but he shouldn’t go against what makes those dynamics compelling. Ellie being excited about becoming a dad completely deflates the tension; if she’s not worried about the baby or angry about the secret, then it flattens one of the game’s best twists.
The same thing will happen in season 3 if Owen is excited about raising a kid with Mel, and he’s not constantly taking off-site assignments to get away from her. Season 1’s Bill and Frank episode is one of the best episodes of television I’ve ever seen, and a perfect example of what this show can do that the games couldn’t.
In theory, the town council meeting where Jackson’s residents vote on whether to send a revenge party after Joel’s killers is a neat idea for a scene to give us a deeper insight into Jackson’s democratic process and get a wider range of perspectives. But in execution, it just became an excuse for Mazin to vocalize all the themes of the story before the story even got going.
One of the most egregious things that The Last of Us season 2 did was dumb down Ellie’s character. In the game, she’s blinded by vengeful rage, but she’s still a tactical genius. In the TV show, she sets off on a cross-country journey without medical supplies, she throws a tantrum when she doesn’t get her way, and she survives by sheer luck.
Mazin wrote 19-year-old Ellie to be just as immature and impulsive as 14-year-old Ellie; he can’t do the same to Abby. Abby is smart, resourceful, and has incredible courage under fire.
From a writing standpoint, The Last of Us season 3 needs to let subtext be a thing. Don’t just have every character tell the audience exactly how they’re feeling at any given moment. Trust the viewers to pick up on subtle cues in the actors’ body language or in the disingenuous things they say.
Leave some room for nuance. In season 2, Ellie and Jesse are always angry at each other — it’s not believable that they’re actually friends; they seem to despise each other. You need to allow for a more well-rounded dynamic.
Throughout Abby’s section of the game, Mel is disturbed by Abby’s actions and quickly growing resentful of her closeness with Owen, but that doesn’t mean they’re at each other’s throats in every single scene. There’s still room for them to joke around with each other and confide in each other, despite this undercurrent of growing resentment.
Hudson McLeroy has been “working on” things after his breakup with Ariana Biermann. The Next Gen NYC cast member has been hanging out with his friends, focusing on his career, and living his new chapter as he splits his time between his hometown of Atlanta and New York City, according to his Instagram profile.
Hudson took to Instagram on Oct. 23, where he posted a series of photos of an orange sports car. He can also be seen standing in front of the car’s scissor doors, looking down at the ground in front of it. He then took to the caption of the post, where he teased what’s to come from his career. “BTS of what I’ve been working on,” he teased in the caption of the post. “More to come soon.”
Days later, Hudson took to Instagram on Nov. 1, where he showed off his newest form of transportation: a private jet. In the photos, Hudson can be seen walking with his bag in hand, towards the jet, before boarding it, and sipping on a beer while he was inside. He chose not to caption the photos, but let them really speak for themselves.
Hudson continued to share a look at his life these days by posting a photo to his Instagram Story on Nov. 11. In the picture, taken by a friend, Hudson can be seen lying on a couch in the middle of a store, wearing an all-gray and black outfit. He set this to Drake’s song, “What Did I Miss?”
Ariana and Hudson confirmed that they had broken up after three years of dating on Oct. 13. Hudson took to his own Instagram Story on Oct. 15, where he shared his statement about their breakup. “I feel like everyone deserves to hear both sides of our story,” he wrote. “I still and always will love Ariana.”
“She’s been there for me at times when I couldn’t be there for myself,” he added. “I still have a lot of things I need to heal from and deal with on my own to become the person I truly want to be. I appreciate all of the love and support everyone is showing us through this difficult time.”
Learn more about Hudson’s career, his family, and how he met Ariana as a teenager.