Sacred Symbols+, Episode 459 | The Last of Us (HBO) Review Discussion and Spoilercast (Season 2, Episode 7)
Added 2025-05-26 22:17:07 +0000 UTCWe've made it! With seven episodes behind us, The Last of Us' second season on HBO has concluded, and we now eagerly await the third, which is unlikely to roll out before 2027. So while we wait a good long while, what are our reflections on what we've been given so far? How do we feel this episode wrapped things up as the story segues to Abby, and what are our hopes as this popular adaptation continues? With two-thirds of the viewing audience unfamiliar with the source material, it's safe to assume two distinct groups of fans are starting to coalesce.
Comments
Is this show a PsyOp to make me like the game better?
DeucesBruh
2025-06-10 16:48:42 +0000 UTCHaven't seen a minute of this show. Just here for the dunk.
Frank G.
2025-06-02 09:37:00 +0000 UTCIt wasn’t a second profit but just showing a lot of people just don’t know what she looks like. She’s more of a myth or idea than a real person to most people like most religious figures.
Draven E.
2025-05-30 08:40:04 +0000 UTCIt's been a meme for years. "Neil Druckmann is a personal friend of mine."
D
2025-05-30 05:21:45 +0000 UTCColin doing backflips and jumping through hoops to make himself like this show. Grace he wouldn't give to any other property mind you
Bailey Callis
2025-05-29 22:53:59 +0000 UTCI think Season 1 deviates from the first game just as much as Season 2 does from its counterpart. They both ultimately get to the same destinations, but chart different paths to get there. I embrace the opportunity for a different portrayal of both games’ stories. By the way, I think Kaitlyn Dever is going to be awesome next season and viewers are going to be siding with Abby overwhelmingly by the end. And I suspect that’s the intent.
Chris Fazio
2025-05-29 10:49:23 +0000 UTCI don’t fundamentally agree with Walter White, Nurse Jackie, Don Draper, any of the girls in Yellowjackets, etc. but I find them all compelling and believe in them as characters still. Ellie in this season just didn’t have that. Nobody around her believed in her and all treated her as childish and dumb, even her girlfriend. It’s one thing to portray her as reckless and selfish, but they took it to such an extreme and shifted it to where she was putting others in danger almost against their will that it made it very hard to buy into or sympathize at all with this version of her. In the game you definitely get there with Ellie, but at the end of the journey, not pretty much from the start.
Jared R
2025-05-29 07:59:09 +0000 UTCAfter hearing the spoiler casts and seeing the way people feel about Ellie particularly how she is being portrayed. is their something in that perhaps in TV having a main character that you fundamentally disagree with makes it unappealing to continue to engage where as a game allows for a different approach as your forced to move the story forward to ultimately understand why the characters are doing the things they are doing .
Joshua La Rosa
2025-05-29 02:13:21 +0000 UTCI just wanted to hop in here to say that Micah was on fire. Unbelievably based.
Ember's Arcade
2025-05-29 01:36:53 +0000 UTCAnd ruined by Amazon, don’t forget that.
Michael Thew
2025-05-28 19:13:56 +0000 UTCEveryone seems to be towing the line of I liked it… but proceeds to rant about what they didn’t like about it.
AllTooEasy_
2025-05-28 15:01:25 +0000 UTCI’m convinced they sabotaged this season so bad that it makes people who weren’t fans of the second game appreciate it so much more, like myself. What a shit-show, literally.
Daddy T
2025-05-28 07:48:34 +0000 UTCThank god Micah is a real one and brought up how ridiculously cringe the “I’m gonna be a dad!” line was. Colin avoiding it like the plague was so awkwardly obvious.
Jimmer
2025-05-28 00:55:57 +0000 UTCI agree the TV Ellie is very different from Game Ellie. I remember before Part II came out, I think it was Neil Druckman saying the theme of I is Love & the theme of II is Hate. I don't feel the Hate like I did in Part II. I also wish in the show they didn't tell us why Abby killed Joel.
Robert F Friemering
2025-05-28 00:52:50 +0000 UTCColin. The “Grounded” pun was pardoned. It was pardoned the last 3 times you made it and asked for it to be pardoned.
AllTooEasy_
2025-05-28 00:49:56 +0000 UTCLove it when Micah is destroying Colin!
Alex
2025-05-27 21:42:57 +0000 UTCI read recently someone described her as an actor that can only do very happy or very sad. No in-between at all. She's a wooden plank unless she cries or smiles.
CriiWolf
2025-05-27 21:29:55 +0000 UTCMicah’s roast of Colin was fucking brilliant lmao. They’re perfect for each other. ♥️
Adam Martinez
2025-05-27 21:11:46 +0000 UTCThe writing would probably be different if they casted a different ellie, sometimes you do have to write around a person's look and delivery
Ankit patel
2025-05-27 18:09:26 +0000 UTCHaving digested the episode more, I have a few thoughts. There are definitely moments of writing for Ellie that take me out of it. I think Bella Ramsey was a fine casting choice, but the writing hurt the character this season. I also, think the scene of Mel and Owen’s end was very rushed and not given justice. I also have no clue why they chose to add the scene where Ellie almost gets killed by the Scars. Wild decision. Overall, I enjoyed the season, but the main reason it struggled was because the pace of a tv show is just way too fast to sit and breathe in these moments and set pieces.
king_ryan_james
2025-05-27 17:44:58 +0000 UTCYeah bro trying to find good Ramen in the south....good luck. East TN aint no better
lazer_josh
2025-05-27 17:11:21 +0000 UTCThe rogue wave was the dumbest part of the show
Omar Rosa
2025-05-27 16:26:41 +0000 UTCMicah taking Colin out behind the woodshed was a top 3 moment in the history of LSM. Right there with George Washington’s hair, Brad dropping a 7 hour podcast, and the entire “He’s gay for you, Dutch” arc
Tom Gentry
2025-05-27 16:08:16 +0000 UTCI loved Micah roasting him about talking into a microphone for a thousand podcast episodes and Colin having to sit there and take it 🤣
Tom Gentry
2025-05-27 16:04:37 +0000 UTCShit, I played the game and still didn’t end up liking her lol. I found her story so devoid of anything interesting or worthwhile. Maybe that will change in the show. We’ll see!
Adam Martinez
2025-05-27 15:56:46 +0000 UTCGood casting choice for S1. But the fact that she still looks 14 doesnt help in S2. Maybe Im tainted by liking the games so much, where the difference is much more stark. I do agree that the people regurgitating the "because shes not hot enough" thing are tiring, but theyre kinda balanced out by the endless "she looks like a potato" comments i see spammed across literally every social media site on any post about this show. For them, its not that its not believable, its that they think shes ugly, which isnt productive in any way.
Evan Westendorf
2025-05-27 15:46:25 +0000 UTCI really don’t think people are going to like season 3 much. I think it will be hard for people to care about somebody that killed their favorite character. In the game, the gameplay is so good it makes you want to keep going, but actually just sitting there and watching it? Not too sure about that
Dylan Seidel
2025-05-27 15:43:29 +0000 UTCEveryone talks about the subpar writing, but I also think Bella just isn't the actress everyone says she is. She's known purely for her meme character on GoT (and now as Ellie).
Chris Morton
2025-05-27 15:16:37 +0000 UTCthats the stupidest thing Colin has ever said. Ok my man, I guess Mozart and Bach dont matter, because they were compositional machines, even at the time. Dude, could you stop with your weird ass takes every now and then? Just give it some thought for 2 seconds lol
Pianopower
2025-05-27 15:06:19 +0000 UTCI thought the show would give TLOU2’s story another chance at being likeable for me, but nah. I really just don’t care for this story. Waiting 2+ years just to watch Abby’s side is crazy lol
Adam Martinez
2025-05-27 14:49:48 +0000 UTCShow sucks
Jason
2025-05-27 14:48:49 +0000 UTCNot sure if anyone commented, but The Wheel of Time was originally written by Robert Jordan and finished by Sanderson.
Troy C
2025-05-27 14:02:39 +0000 UTCEllie hit a collateral on Owen and Mel
#1 Brad Ellis Fan
2025-05-27 13:58:25 +0000 UTC#micahwasright
#1 Brad Ellis Fan
2025-05-27 13:45:20 +0000 UTCMicah’s point about Bella Ramsey was spot on. It was a bad casting choice, and the fact that you can’t talk about it without coming off as a creep is annoying. She looks weird, and it’s distracting. Not good, not bad, just *distracting*. Maybe if she was written better it would have made up for that, but the S2 writing was bad for her character. And it’s not about “hottness”, if they had somehow cast Margot Robbie or Ana de Armas as Ellie that would be EQUALLY distracting.
John
2025-05-27 13:29:52 +0000 UTCEvery time I reacted to a change in the show negatively. I kept asking myself do I sound like a book reader right now? The whole time I was watching Game of thrones I just kept hearing about how the books are so much better . they changed this and that. They ruined this character. Same thing with Harry Potter lol That’s the problem with knowing what’s coming already. “ expectation is the thief of joy” That being said still a little disappointed with this season but then it makes me wonder is the second game just not as good as the first game in terms of narrative. Gameplay is obviously amazing in the second game.
Kris Guzman
2025-05-27 13:22:59 +0000 UTCNever...and I mean....never have I heard someone assblast a videogame podcaster harder than Michah did RIP 🙏 Colin Moryman. Good luck with the executive producer of the Gamestop Last Of Us commercials running from Q4 2025-Q3 2027
Andrew
2025-05-27 12:45:30 +0000 UTCI don’t think that the structure of the game even allows this to be adapted in any sort of manageable way. TLOU 1 was much more straight forward in its storytelling. TLOU2, with the Abby stuff, is going to be disjointed. 1. The show is so passive, in the game they force you to play as Abby, so it’ll hit differently 2. The “cliffhanger” in the theater isn’t going to go over too well when we have to wait 2 years. In the game you IMMEDIATELY are playing as Abby after that
John
2025-05-27 12:40:21 +0000 UTCSeason 1 isn't all that great either. It's pretty mid. People glazed Season 1 way too much. A big problem I have with modern tv is the extremely short seasons combined with the extremely long wait times between seasons. Season 1 was 8 episodes. One episode was the opening showing the start of the outbreak. One episode was Bill and Frank. And one episode was Left Behind. So we didn't really get enough time with Joel and Ellie in Season 1 to feel like they formed this special bond. It felt rushed. And then Season 2 is only 7 episodes! Part II could be spread across 2 or 3 thirteen episode seasons. 7 episodes a season comes off as lazy. But that's modern television for you: Produce 6-8 episodes (at least 2 of which will certainly be filler episodes) and then make the audience wait 3 years for the next season. Lost produced 121 episodes in 6 years.
Mike Held
2025-05-27 12:27:33 +0000 UTCThey show is a mixed bag just like the game lol
Brenden Ziede
2025-05-27 12:01:21 +0000 UTCOn the podcast, Neil says that it’s scene that was cut from the fake they were excited to add back for the show. I just can’t imagine watching it in the edit and not thinking it should be cut. As far as the TV medium thing, if I hear that one more time, I’m going to scream. This is a case now where it’s a bunch of game players who I guess don’t watch TV at all. There’s a term called “prestige TV” for a reason. I’m glad Dustin said something in this pod too. TV audiences are mature, pretty much more so than game audiences. The idea that TV audiences need to be spoon fed, teased, are impatient, or can’t handle payoff after a setup from a season to two ago is ludicrous. It’s the medium that gets the *most* freedom and can have the *most* audience trust by far. When I listened to Neil talk to Colin about why they moved the porch scene, it made me realize that he doesn’t understand the television audience at all, and he and Craig are actively hurting this product as a result of that misunderstanding.
Jared R
2025-05-27 11:08:12 +0000 UTCYou know that s*** was ass they spent all that time talking about food lol
KItty Crew
2025-05-27 10:29:09 +0000 UTCKnew the Ellie part on Seraphite island would be one of the biggest critiques, as it's such a departure from the game. Everyone is asking "why", whereas it seems obvious to me that this is simply just a tease for non-gamers about this Scar island where the battle will be next season, and shows that this is where they live in their own society outside of the city. Definitely seems like a needless inclusion to anyone who played the game - and personally I wouldn't have cared one bit if that scene was just cut - but at the end of the day 2/3 of the audience are going to have to wait 2 years to find out more about all of this, so this is just a little tease of what is to come. No more, no less imo. Kinda similar to how they show the stadium at the end and signalling that Abby Day 1 is next. I think people who know the game so deeply and are really in the weeds with all the details sometimes forget that this is a different medium and they're going to change things up to suit TV. That doesn't mean all changes are good, or that the story is being told better (it's not - and I think this argument is kinda redundant at this point as it's basically impossible for the TV show to tell as cohesive a story over 2 or 3 season as the game did)
Deemac
2025-05-27 09:43:46 +0000 UTCThey messed it up imo. Hopefully Abby Season is better.
Student Loans
2025-05-27 07:52:15 +0000 UTCI don't understand how Neil can talk about instant payoffs for TV when they're pulling the same ridiculous decision to tell Abby's story before showing what happened at the theatre. That was the worst decision with the game, completely destroyed the pacing. I was optimistic going in but all this season has done is remind me how much I dislike the 2nd game, should have made more use of Tommy and Jessy. Ellie and Dina are awful leads and even worse as a duo.
Your Boi Nicky V
2025-05-27 07:09:09 +0000 UTCNew to Patreon but old listener and reader. Been reading and listening to Colin since the IGN era. Thank you for all the amazing content and analysis, always great to listen to! I wanted to say that I also think it’s been an issue of writing. The closest I saw to game Ellie from part 2 was the chase scene in the hospital and the final scenes with Nora. Still not exactly the same but the closest. Oh and the porch scene was also very strong. I still think the show overall is good and I honestly think the most important feedback for them will be from the non-gamers since that’s the main audience they are trying to reach. I also find it interesting that I am feeling more interested in Abby in the show than what I did in the game. I wonder if that’s intentional from the writers or is it also because I’ve played as Abby already in the game and I am more open to that now. Probably the latter. I remember in the game being very disengaged when starting to play as Abby. Not only because of the character itself and my connection with Ellie but also because of the feeling of starting all over again gameplay progression wise. This is why I love the game and I think it’s so special. It’s not only about the story, it’s about the rollercoaster of emotions the game makes you feel and experience, even making you reconsider some of your core values. A side note to Colin: I listened to the knockback episode for part 2 which was great as always but there was a small thing I was surprised neither you or Dagan picked up. The sniper in part 2 attacking Abby and killing Manny is Tommy, and I believe this is mentioned in the game in some way and it was also explained in the show. Just for you to know since both of you felt that it was weird that you never get more details on the sniper. Thanks again for the great content and happy to be an official supporter now. Keep rocking!
John
2025-05-27 06:53:23 +0000 UTCColin lands a Neil Druckman interview then Micah immediately buries the show six feet under. Is she jealous of their blooming bromance?
Stephen Lucey
2025-05-27 06:39:12 +0000 UTCGenuine question - How many people did Ellie kill? 3?
Cai
2025-05-27 05:55:22 +0000 UTCI’m so glad this season is over. That’s all I’m gonna say. Lol
Johnny Lamotte
2025-05-27 05:54:33 +0000 UTCMicah off the top rope!! What a roast
Taylor Martin
2025-05-27 05:53:10 +0000 UTCI tune in to Last Stand specifically for moments where a bunch of extraneous shit completely derails the aim of the conversation, so this episode was a real treat
Evan Westendorf
2025-05-27 04:29:17 +0000 UTCEllie's writing on the show is bad? Pretty on par with the game then
BigDumbStupidIdiot
2025-05-27 02:09:35 +0000 UTCMicah is the muthafuckin truth!
Tyrone Yhip
2025-05-27 00:54:50 +0000 UTCI don’t think anyone was complaining that she’s not attractive enough, it’s that she looks like a child
Cyberslut69
2025-05-27 00:43:22 +0000 UTCI echo Micah and Dustin especially on how this season went. Ellie's writing was so subpar and a total disappointment compared to how she was portrayed in the game it really took me out of the season, which is a shame bc I think Dinah, Jesse and Tommy to an extent were all excellent in their performances and writing for the most part. The season had some good moments but for me ultimately was a let down considering the game is a top 3 one for me all time. Funnily enough im actually excited for Abby's POV in season 3 and I would never have said that when playing the game the first time lol. And I think that has a lot to do with how Kaitlyn Dever in her limited time has been fantastic in her portrayal as Abby
peanutbutterloveer
2025-05-27 00:42:29 +0000 UTCMan, Bella is a great actress. Loved her performance this season, I don’t get why people complain about her looks. Ellie was never conventionally attractive imo. The Abby stuff at the end was such a tease, next season is going to be awesome when we get it in 10 years
mudder12
2025-05-27 00:41:51 +0000 UTCI mean, it seems to be that they’re definitely setting up a second, living prophet. It’s like when Brigham Young took the mantle from Joseph Smith, to make it like a real religion like Micah was criticizing. My guess is that she’ll be Lev and Yara’s mom too. Lev will have been the heir, so to speak, letting him mirror Abby who was supposed to take over for Isaac. Neil said in his interview with Colin that they want to do a whole Prophet episode, so I’m surprised he’s surprised they’re focusing on that and laying groundwork. I also don’t want to tell anyone what to do, because I know listening to another hour of content after each episode is a lot, but they seem to have so many questions about the writing motivations of decisions, and most of the time, those questions have answers in the official show podcast. Like it’s Neil and Craig going beat by beat through the episode talking about their decisions. It just seems like something Colin would enjoy, and a lot of the questions he asked Neil in their interview, he’d already answered there, so I think he’d just get a lot out of it.
Jared R
2025-05-26 23:23:20 +0000 UTClol
Roush
2025-05-26 22:49:20 +0000 UTCTLoU show is actually genius. They are forcing fans of the game to experience what the haters of the game felt. Once again making you feel both points of view. An ego death that parallels the one you go through in the game when switching sides.
Panda Junkie
2025-05-26 22:20:41 +0000 UTC
