There’s no way around it: The second season of “The Last of Us,” HBO’s hit adaptation of the acclaimed post-apocalyptic video game, was always going to be controversial. “The Last of Us Part II,” the game on which it’s based, was, to put it mildly, divisive. To put it less mildly, the game became a dumpster fire of online discourse that turned into death threats and hate speech hurled at the developers and actors.
With the second season now upon us, the show enters its own perilous waters in terms of fan response, in large part due to a bold choice that is central to both the game and its adaptation. In line with the story of the second game, Joel, the gruff survivor played by Pedro Pascal in the TV series who viewers spent the entire first season growing to love, dies.
