The Last Of Us: Season 2 Episode 1 “Future Days” – Recap & Review (With Spoilers)
Joel and Ellie return, and after a five-year time jump, their relationship has become estranged, and it seems terrible things are on the horizon.
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Episode 1 “Future Days” Details
- Available On: HBO
- Public Release Date: April 14, 2025
- Director(s): Craig Mazin
- Writer(s): Craig Mazin
Episode 1 “Future Days” Recap (With Spoilers)
Every Win Means Someone Loss: Abby
While Joel got to save Ellie, it meant killing a whole team of fireflies, leaving only a handful of teens, maybe young adults, who couldn’t fend for themselves enough to maintain what was established. Abby, being one of them, doesn’t have the desire to move on and take this loss on the chin. She wants revenge; she wants Joel to have a slow death, and the frustration that he took so much from her and gets to ride off to some semblance of a happy ending infuriates her.
But without the required resources, revenge can’t be quick, so she joins her friends and heads to Seattle to bide her time.
5 Years Later: Ellie, Joel, Gail, Dina
In Jackson, Wyoming, Joel has become foreman, dabbled in therapy, and is estranged from Ellie. She lives in the garage full-time and doesn’t talk to Joel much. Luckily, her best friend Dina spends time with him and gives him purpose outside of his construction skills, but there are times when it can be questioned how many layers of one person standing in for another can be fulfilling.
After all, Ellie was a stand-in for Joel’s biological daughter, now Dina for Ellie. But, at least Dina seems interested in spending time with Joel and learning from him, without it seeming like she is just doing so for if or when he dies.
Let it be clear, though, just because Joel is in therapy with Gail, doesn’t mean things are getting better. He might be learning terms, but Gail is tough on him. He did kill her husband, which she still has gripes about, and the weed he gives for payment isn’t the best. However, she tries to get him to be honest about what is going on and why Ellie is upset. Joel acts like he doesn’t know, and it is clear it won’t be resolved quickly, but maybe Joel will learn his gestures won’t compensate for much-needed conversations and thorough apologies.
You Gotta Be Smarter Than That: Ellie, Joel, Gail, Dina, Tommy, Marie
So what is Ellie doing if not spending time with Joel? Well, Tommy is training her to shoot with long-range weapons, she does recon with Dina, and she is killing clickers. But, as to be expected, Ellie isn’t doing things the safest way. With Dina right behind her, she investigates dangerous situations and places, seemingly learning nothing from her past, and in the episode, she gets bit.
Now, she kills the clicker, one that uses more strategy than what she is used to, and Dina doesn’t see her get bitten, but with Joel and Tommy being the few who know Ellie is immune, every lack of precaution Ellie exhibits is her getting one step closer to being exposed. Thankfully, though, no one examines her, and all she finds herself doing is getting chastised by Tommy and Marie, who find themselves questioning whether clickers are getting smarter and what threat that poses to them.
For Marie, though, it isn’t just the clickers but space for refugees who have lost their homes. Joel is the head foreman and is expected to make new places to live, as he fixes schools and more. He feels a bit overwhelmed and unable to really do what Marie wants. This leads to some issues between them, as Joel wants to focus on those who are already there, and Marie finds herself having to remind Joel he was a refugee, too.
That is all set aside, however, for it is New Year’s Eve, and despite Ellie thinking there was only one other gay girl in town, Dina reveals her feelings for Ellie. This comes with a dance and a kiss, and the kiss causes some drama, which Joel handles poorly – trying to defend Ellie.
But, with Abby within rifle scope, the fungus within the walls of Jackson, and more clickers gravitating to the town, it seems New Year’s 2029 might be the peak of Ellie and Joel’s post-apocalyptic life.
“The Last Of Us” Character Guide
New Cast and Characters
Abby (Kaitlyn Dever)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Abby is the daughter of the doctor that Joel killed, and is a firefly. Her focus is far less on Joel destroying humanity’s hope for a cure or immunity, and more so on him taking away someone she loved. Not knowing in pursuit of revenge, she would potentially start an endless cycle.
Dina (Isabela Merced)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Dina is Ellie’s best friend, potentially the most desired young woman in Jackson, Wyoming and while she may not try to fight with the guys like Ellie does, she is as adventurous as Ellie and usually is willing to follow her into dangerous situations – even if there might be clickers.
Gail (Catherine O’Hara)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Gail is the local psychotherapist, who, with no medical board to dictate how she does her job, will drink or smoke on the job, maybe not do things by the book – but even after the world has gone to hell, it seems people still need someone to talk to.
Review and Commentary
Highlights
The Clickers Are Evolving [88/100]
While dangerous in numbers, clickers on their own weren’t very dangerous – at least for Ellie. She had the audacity, the courage, the ability to kill, and immunity, which made her formidable. But now with them creeping, planning their attacks, and more? Oh, this should make things interesting, and even though the likelihood of Ellie dying, since it didn’t happen in the games, is slim to none, it makes everyone else’s fate precarious.
Joel and Ellie’s Relationship Troubles [86/100]
In the list of logical fears Joel could have, I can imagine losing someone like a daughter to him is probably one of the top ones. So watching him at a loss, trying to do small gestures like fixing Ellie’s guitar, and grand gestures like defending her when someone calls her something derogatory, is sweet, and it is sad that Ellie doesn’t take that as Joel trying and working with that.
This isn’t to say she should just snuggle up and forgive him, as I’m sure things are complicated. But I must admit, the silent treatment he is experiencing, how he talks about it, by the last gesture, it had me teary-eyed a bit. For I think, at this point, construction is what Joel does, but he wants his purpose to be there for Ellie, and in her denying him this, he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
Which, for men like Joel, lacking purpose is more devastating than anything else that can be thrown at them.
Dina and Ellie [84/100]
Even though all signs point to Dina dying eventually, I feel like it is going to be absolutely devastating to watch Ellie lose another person she loves. Based on the games, we already know someone’s fate is already written, and they will be brutally killed by the end of the season, but it isn’t clear whether this will be a direct adaptation as season 1 was. For in the games, Dina lives, but there are complicated events that make her and Ellie’s relationship strained at times.
But, while it isn’t clear if we’ll get the TV trope of the perfect sapphic relationship ending in a traumatic way or not, at least for now, there is something so sweet about them. It isn’t just a crush that can be seen as innocent and cute, but Dina is trying to bridge the gap between Joel and Ellie. Also, with bonding with Joel, Dina is starting to create a sense of family for him and Ellie as well, and add in Dina will join Ellie when she wants to be adventurous and hunt for clickers? How can you not vicariously swoon a bit and smile for Ellie? While wondering what went wrong between her and her ex, a tad bit?
Abby On The Horizon [81/100]
While Kaitlyn Dever doesn’t have video game Abby’s physique, and doesn’t give the same menacing vibe, there is no denying her past roles could mean the intensity desired could still come about. After all, it’s more about Ellie meeting her match, if not someone who won’t hold back, that matters here. It’s about someone who knows loss, like Ellie, and has rage which has nowhere to go, that puts all of that into hunting Joel, fighting Ellie, and survival that can make it so, while Dever may have initially been an odd choice, she may ultimately win over naysayers.
Overall
Our Overall Rating [84/100]
The return of The Last Of Us seems void of any signs it may have a sophomore slump as it presents viable threats, personal drama, growth, and teases a story that will make it continue to be the show which opens the doors for other video games to be taken serious as tv and potential film adaptations.
Additional Links
The Last Of Us: Season 2 – Review and Summary
The Last Of Us, as it tries to have Pedro Pascal pass the baton to Bella Ramsey, stumbles in ways that qualifies season 2 as a sophomore slump.
The Last Of Us: Season 2 Episode 7 “Convergence” – Recap & Review (With Spoilers)
The season finale of season 2 of The Last Of Us feels like it should be a mid-season finale due to the way it ends.
The Last Of Us: Season 2 Episode 6 “The Price” – Recap & Review (With Spoilers)
The background of Ellie’s beef with Joel is explored from earlier this season.
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