It's been an incredible journey, but HBO's The Last of Us is drawing to a close, with just one more episode to go. Thankfully, though, fans don't need to be too upset as HBO has already confirmed that a second season of The Last of Us is in the works. Much like the first season, it's presumed that the second season of The Last of Us will directly adapt the events of The Last of Us Part 2, but there's more than enough content there for another season or two at least.
Over the last few weeks, The Last of Us' showrunner, Craig Mazin, has made several comments about how difficult it would be to condense down the events of The Last of Us Part 2 into just one season, and he's right. The Last of Us Part 2 not only has more characters, story beats, themes, and content than its predecessor, but it also has a multi-act structure that naturally lends itself to a multi-season adaptation.
The Last of Us Part 2 Can Easily Stretch to at Least Two Seasons
With just one more episode to go, it seems safe to say that HBO has really knocked it out of the park with The Last of Us, especially when it comes to adapting the source material. For the most part, The Last of Us show has managed to strike a perfect balance of pacing throughout its first season, with each episode coming in at the perfect length, with just enough action sequences and plenty of engaging dialogue. No episode has felt too fast or too slow, and every major plot beat from the first game has been delivered expertly. On top of that, HBO's adaptation has even managed to find the time to flesh out side characters like The Last of Us' Bill and Frank, all while feeling authentic and true to the game, like it was always supposed to be there.
From a general narrative perspective, the first Last of Us lends itself perfectly to just one season of TV. While it's one of the best in gaming, The Last of Us' story isn't exactly complicated, and the nature of its point-to-point journey leads the way to a clear and easily adaptable story. And as long as the core relationship between Joel and Ellie is really honed in on, then the rest can just fall into place. The Last of Us Part 2 is a different beast altogether.
The Last of Us Part 2 is going to need more than one season in order to feel just as fleshed out as the first game's adaptation. Generally speaking, The Last of Us Part 2 is a fair bit more complex than its predecessor in terms of themes, characters, and story beats, and all of that needs a significant amount of screen time to feel natural and compelling. For a start, The Last of Us Part 2 jumps forward in time by five years. While the game features several flashbacks, HBO's The Last of Us may want to run the series in chronological order, meaning that the five-year time gap will feel a little more natural. Doing this would also give fans more time to spend with Joel and Ellie before the inevitable tragedy strikes.
The Last of Us Part 2 also features a much more complicated set of central relationships. While the first Last of Us features a ton of side characters, only a handful play a pivotal role in the central relationship between Joel and Ellie. In The Last of Us Part 2, however, there are a good few characters that impact this relationship, including Dina, Tommy, Jesse, and of course Abby. This core dynamic needs to be fleshed out properly in HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us, and that might take up some significant screen time.
Thankfully, The Last of Us Part 2 already has a structure that lends itself well to multiple seasons. The most obvious structure would be to follow Ellie's journey through Seattle in the first season, and then swap to Abby's perspective for the second season, just like the video game does. From there, HBO could do a few things. HBO could decide to do one more season, this one adapting the conclusion of The Last of Us Part 2, where Ellie goes on her final hunt for Abby. Or, perhaps a more interesting route would be for HBO to create a special one-off feature-length episode that concludes the story, just like El Camino did for Breaking Bad.
The Last of Us Part 2 is available on PS4.