The following contains spoilers from The Last of Us Part 2
Summary
- Fans should anticipate changes in storytelling from the game to Season 2 of The Last of Us.
- Abby is showcased as both the protagonist and antagonist, and the show will have to handle that delicately.
- Season 2 needs to delve into Abby’s motivations early on to avoid losing viewer interest.
When The Last of Us Season 2 hits the airwaves this spring, fans of the video game series will gave a very good idea of what they can expect to see. They have a good idea of the characters they’ll meet. And a relatively good idea of how the events in the series will unfold. What they don’t yet know is just how many changes the show might make to how the story of The Last of Us Part 2 will be told in Season 2 compared to the game.
One character that will be part of The Last of Us Season 2 is Abby who is both the protagonist and antagonist in the game. Kaitlyn Dever has the unenviable task of taking on one of the more hated characters in video game history for various reasons. It turns out that a lot of that hate might be misplaced, but the show will still need to thread a needle to make people understand why she is the way that she is. And to win over viewers, it probably can’t do things like it did in The Last of Us Part 2.
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Why Abby Is Hated In The Last of Us Franchise
For those who have not played The Last of Us Part 2, you should probably look away now. That game opens with Joel and Ellie first bonding and then eventually having the kind of tiff that daughters and fathers have occasionally. Because of that fight Joel and Ellie are off doing their own thing and this tends to be the reason one of the biggest moments of the entire series goes down. It also provides the motivation for the rest of the game.
In one of the early scenes in the game, Joel happens across Abby as she is running from infected and rescues her, only to find out that he was the one she and her friends were looking for and the reason they were out at the old ski lodge. The group was out for revenge and Abby took it, killing Joel brutally by bashing his brains in with a golf club.
Ellie happens across the scene just as Joel is being killed and spends the rest of the game making it her mission to hunt down Abby and her people and exact revenge for Joel. Scenes and settings so far that have leaked from The Last of Us Season 2 show that this moment is going to take place again, though it’s expected that it might happen much later in the season than the game. That makes it even more critical that the HBO Max show handles it perfectly.
Abby’s Motivation Has To Be Handled Differently
One of the most interesting things The Last of Us Part 2 does is hide for at least a little while why Abby did what she did. It’s not hard to figure out that she’s on the hunt for the man who killed a bunch of Fire Flies at the end of The Last of Us but the degree of anger and ruthlessness she shows makes it look like she’s just a terrible person with anger management issues.
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Showrunners |
Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann |
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Starring |
Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Kaitlyn Dever |
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Release Date |
Spring 2025 |
However, it’s eventually shown that Abby’s father was one of the Fire Flies and was not only her father but also a genuinely good man. He wasn’t someone who was about to do what he was to Ellie because he was ruthless and hard, but because he truly believed it would save the human race. And he still had a problem with it. The viewers find all of this out as they play as Abby and really get to know the character. By the end of the game, it’s possible that the players might even feel bad for her considering all the things she goes through.
By the end of the game, it’s possible that the players might even feel bad for her considering all the things she goes through.
In the show, primarily because the scene where Abby kills Joel seems to be near the end of the season instead of the beginning, there’s going to need to be a change in how her story is told, otherwise the HBO Max series runs the risk of having viewers punch out and decide they don’t want to see any more of her on screen.
Instead it’s going to be imperative that what was shown in bits and pieces throughout the game is instead told up front. It could in fact, be the episode that takes place just before the one where she takes down Joel. There needs to be some idea of why Abby is doing what she’s doing. And show that while what she did is reprehensible, she’s not a truly evil person. She’s just someone who lives in this world, where brutality is the norm. Show that she’s someone who is hurting and decided to hurt someone else. And by doing that, The Last of Us Season 2 can keep its momentum into Season 3.
Play the winner of over 300 Game of the Year awards, remastered for the PlayStation®5 console. Relive or play for the first time Ellie and Abby’s story, now with graphical enhancements, new gameplay modes like the roguelike survival experience No Return, full DualSense® wireless controller integration, and more.Five years after their dangerous journey across the post-pandemic United States, Ellie and Joel have settled down in Jackson, Wyoming. Living amongst a thriving community of survivors has allowed them peace and stability, despite the constant threat of the infected and other, more desperate survivors. When a violent event disrupts that peace, Ellie embarks on a relentless journey to carry out justice and find closur
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