Everything You Need to Know About ‘The Last of Us’ and How to Stream Season 2

We’ve seen a lot of apocalyptic movies and TV shows over the last 20 years or so, but the best of them all might be “The Last of Us.” The series is based on the story from a popular video game where humans must try to survive in a world of zombies who have been taken over by a deady fungus. Season 2 debuts Sunday, April 13 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO – you can stream it at the same time on Max. 

Season 2 is just 7 episodes; it runs April 13-May 25.

If You Haven’t Watched Season 1…

If you haven’t seen the first season, jump on Max and binge it now!

We won’t give too much away, but here’s what you can expect. Imagine the world descending into absolute chaos as a deadly outbreak suddenly triggers in your neighborhood.

Joel (Pedro Pascal) is a single father to 14-year-old Sarah. One day, all hell breaks loose as suddenly infected neighbors begin killing people. Joel and Sarah try to escape the bloodbath, but tragedy strikes.

Twenty years later, Joel is a shell of the man he once was. Humanity is scattered as the deadly outbreak has decimated the world. But hope arrives in the form of a 14-year-old girl named Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who may be the only person immune to the fungus and the monsters who spread it.

From then on, Joel dedicates himself to protecting Ellie, who may or may not be humanity’s last hope.

What Happened in Season 1 (Spoilers)

If you don’t want to learn what happened in Season 1, stop reading now and start watching.

Spoilers lie below…

During the chaos of the outbreak, Joel’s daughter is shot and killed – a trauma that Joel relives frequently as he grows to care for Ellie.

When we discover Ellie shows immunity to the cordyceps fungus, Joel sets out to escort her to some doctors working on a cure. Joel also hopes to reunite with his brother Tommy.

In the critically praised third episode, “Long, Long Time,” we see the love story of Bill and Frank, a pair of gay survivalists who manage to live a semi-normal life, despite the raging apocalypse. Bill and Frank end up dead, but when Joel discovers their bodies, he discovers they’ve left him well supplied with a truck and weapons.

As the season rolls on, we get the sense that Ellie enjoys weapons and violence a bit too much.

Joel and Ellie duck through a dangerous Kansas City where they meet a pair of young brothers, Henry and Sam, who help them escape the bloodthirsty resistance leader, Kathleen. A giant horde of the infected rip through Kansas City and kill Kathleen and her supporters. In the chaos, Sam was bitten and turns infected. Henry kills Sam and then kills himself out of grief.

Eventually, Joel and Ellie make their way to Wyoming and Joel reunites with his brother Tommy in the safe community of Jackson. As Joel tries to find the group that can lead him to the doctors, a group of raiders attacks him and he suffers a severe stab wound.

Ellie acquires penicillin for Joel’s wound in a trade with a group of survivors. But the group captures Ellie and puts her in a cage. We discover the group has turned to cannibalism, eating their dead to stay alive. Ellie manages to escape the cannibals, but the ordeal leaves her traumatized. Thanks to Ellie’s medical intervention, Joel recovers from his wound.

In the final episode, we learn Ellie’s immunity is the result of her mother being bitten by the infected just before her birth. In the present, Ellie seems prepared to sacrifice herself if it means saving the world.

A group called the Fireflies captures Ellie and Joel. They tell Joel doctors believe the cordyceps fungus may have been growing in Ellie’s brain since birth, and that the only way to a cure would be removing the brain entirely. Joel snaps and murders dozens of Fireflies on his way to rescue Ellie from the doctors about to operate on an unconscious Ellie.

Joel lies to Ellie when she wakes up, saying the Fireflies had found other people with immunity, but were unable to synthesize a cure. Ellie seems skeptical, but Joel swears it’s true.

Where Season 2 Picks Up

We begin Season 2 five years after Ellie’s rescue. Joel and Ellie are back in Jackson. A now 19-year-old Ellie bristles at Joel’s overprotective nature.

If you want to know what happens next, the video games are several years old, so it’s not hard to find spoilers online. I want to go into the series blind, so I’m not looking further.

The show has been renewed for Season 3, so we expect the horror and tragedy and drama to play out following the game’s crucial plot points.

I’m super excited for the return of one of the best shows on TV. Although I haven’t subscribed to Max in a while, I’m rejoining to follow Joel and Ellie through that zombie-infested wasteland. Let’s go!