The last of us第二季昨天完结了。我是开播之前先一口气补完了第一季，然后每周追更第二季。 跟网上大多数人的评价一样，我觉得第一季明显好于第二季。

在大结局的幕后花絮里，主创有提到，这部剧的核心是人物之间的relationship。也就是说，故事推动的核心是情感的深化，所有剧情都是在为这一点服务。 比如人物与感染者之间的战斗，一方面当然提供了奇观化的场景，刺激观众分泌肾上腺素，但是最终的目的是让角色们之间互相依赖，建立更深的战斗友谊，而这个羁绊的建立过程也是第一季之所以吸引我的原因。

人物之间的情感依赖是需要慢慢建立的，所以第一季的故事节奏很慢，每集一个小时的时常里只讲一件主要事件。而且虽然标题里的us并不局限于两个人，但是第一季大体上只围绕Joel和Ellie的关系展开。

比如前两集先铺垫世界观，Ellie和Joel离开波士顿，此时Eille还完全只是一个孩子。 第三集只讲Bill和Frank的感情，让观众得以窥见末世中尚存的温情。 第四五集又只讲Ellie和Joel在堪萨斯城遇到的黑人小哥俩，直到这时Joel才第一次同意Eille拿枪。 然后第六集他们终于到达杰克逊，没呆多久就继续上路，Eille此时已经完全依赖Joel。结尾时Joel受伤，Eille第一次需要肩负起让两个人活下去的责任。 在这个生死存亡的紧要关头，第七集闪回到过去，讲Eille是怎么第一次失去她的朋友的。 这段情绪延续到第八集，包括在堪萨斯城又一次失去黑人小弟弟，Eille拼死屠杀邪教村，完成了从孩童到成人的飞跃。 第九集他们到达盐湖城，Joel血洗医院，开启第二季的剧情。

对比之下，第二季的焦点不再只是Joel和Ellie，而是扩展到了很多人物关系，比如Eille和Dina之间的爱情，她们俩再加上Jesse之间的三角关系，Joel死后顶替上来的Tommy，当然还有Joel和Ellie之间没解开的心结。 如此多的出场人物，再加上整季缩短到只有七集，导致每段关系的篇幅都很有限，经常是以切片的形式直接告诉观众这两人目前处在什么关系中，略过了感情萌芽和升温的部分。

而且每对人物之间的互动中，难免总是会有强弱的对比。在第一季里这个对比非常合理，Joel作为成年人当然比Ellie战斗力要强。 但是在第二季里，一方面剧情告诉大家在过去的几年Ellie刻苦训练，也成为了一个身经百战的战士，但刚到西雅图的时候是Dina在领导她，后来又是Jesse突然冲出来救了她， 最后一集里Tommy更是能一人单抗WLF一只小分队。 这显得Ellie只能无能狂怒，没头脑和不高兴两样全占了。

当然作为观众反思自己，我肯定也是被传统思维所局限了，总是期待一个完美的主角人设。其实Ellie不过十九岁。 当我十九岁的时候大概还在听苏打绿唱“当你需要个夏天我会拼了命努力”，Ellie其实就是这么做的，所以也没有什么好值得指责的。

其实要是能玩游戏，肯定会对这个故事有更深的理解，但是真的太花时间了。我尝试了一下第一季，结果刚出波士顿就放弃了，现在在b站上看up主打第二季下饭。

7/12更新：

刚听了这期播客，里面提到一点：在二代游戏发售的时候，剧情就已经被玩家吐槽。所以在改编成第二季电视剧的时候，制作团队一定是知道继续按游戏剧情那么拍是不会讨好观众的，但是他们依旧选择这么做， 背后的考量是什么呢？

The Last of Us Season 2 just wrapped up yesterday. Before it started airing, I binged Season 1, then followed Season 2 week by week.

Like most people online, I also feel that Season 1 was much better than Season 2.

In the behind-the-scenes of the finale episode, the creators talked about how the core of the show is the relationships between characters. In other words, the story is driven by the deepening of emotional bonds, and all the plotlines are in service of that. For example, the fights with infected—sure, they create spectacle and adrenaline rushes— but the real purpose is to push the characters to rely on one another, to forge battle-tested friendships. That slow build-up of emotional connection is exactly what drew me into Season 1.

Because these emotional ties take time to develop, Season 1 moved at a slow pace. Each hour-long episode usually focused on just one main event. And even though the “us” in the title isn’t limited to just two people, Season 1 mostly centered on Joel and Ellie.

The first two episodes set up the world, with Ellie and Joel leaving Boston—Ellie still very much a child. Episode 3 was entirely about Bill and Frank’s relationship, showing the lingering traces of warmth in a post-apocalyptic world. Episodes 4 and 5 followed Joel and Ellie’s time in Kansas City and their interactions with the two Black brothers, ending with the tragic loss that marked Ellie’s first taste of grief in the journey. In Episode 6, they arrive in Jackson but soon move on. By then, Ellie has become emotionally dependent on Joel. Then Joel gets injured, and Ellie must take on the responsibility of keeping both of them alive. Episode 7 flashes back to her past—her first heartbreak, her first loss. That emotional echo sets up Episode 8, where Ellie slaughters the cult village and completes her transformation from child to survivor. Then comes Episode 9—Salt Lake City, the hospital massacre, and the bridge to Season 2.

Now compare that to Season 2. The focus broadens beyond Joel and Ellie to include multiple relationships—Ellie and Dina’s romance, the love triangle with Jesse, Tommy stepping in after Joel’s death, and Ellie and Joel’s unresolved conflict. But with only seven episodes to cover all of this, there’s barely enough time to develop each bond. A lot of relationships just jump from A to B, like snapshots—we’re told they’re close, or in conflict, without getting to see the slow burn or emotional buildup.

Also, many of the interactions set up this dynamic of one character being “stronger” than the other. In Season 1, this worked fine—Joel’s a grown man and naturally more capable in combat than Ellie. But in Season 2, the story tells us Ellie has spent years training and has become a battle-hardened fighter. Yet in Seattle, Dina seems to be taking the lead, Jesse shows up out of nowhere to rescue her, and in the finale, Tommy is somehow a one-man army taking down a whole WLF squad. It ends up making Ellie look like she’s just helplessly angry, both “clueless” and “grumpy,” like she can’t catch a break or take control.

Of course, as a viewer, I have to admit I’m probably still stuck in that traditional mindset—always expecting the protagonist to be some perfect, larger-than-life figure. But Ellie’s just nineteen. When I was nineteen, I was still listening to Sodagreen singing, “When you need a summer, I’ll fight with all my might.” That’s basically what Ellie is doing too—so who am I to judge?

Honestly, I bet I’d have a much deeper understanding of this story if I played the game. But it’s such a time sink. I tried playing Part 1, and gave up right after leaving Boston. Now I just watch Bilibili creators do playthroughs of Part 2 while I eat.

Update on July 12th:

I just listened to a podcast that brought up an interesting point: when Part II of the game was released, the storyline already faced a lot of backlash from players. So when it came time to adapt it into Season 2 of the show, the creators had to know that sticking closely to the game’s plot wouldn’t win over the audience — and yet, they chose to do it anyway. What was the thinking behind that decision?