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The Last of Us Season 2 Finale Review: It's All About Perspective

HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 finale "Convergence" ends on a shocking note as fans prepare to hit a reset of sorts entering the third season.

To say HBO, Neil Druckmann, and Craig Mazin's The Last of Us season two finale hits differently would be an understatement because there is so much going on. As players of Part II can intuitively guess where season three picks up, viewers get to have a mix of everything from the intense drama of a love triangle, atypical gunfight action, and The Wicker Man-level of horror. The following contains minor spoilers for the episode "Convergence."

The Last of Us: A Gut-Wrenching Reunion

When we last left our heroes of Ellie (Bella Ramsey), Dina (Isabela Merced), and Jesse (Young Mazino), the trio were fleeing multiple threats from the infected, obviously, the WLF militia, and the fanatical Seraphites. Dina was shot in the leg, and Jesse carried her safely to their sanctuary, the abandoned movie theater in Seattle, while Ellie buys them time. As the trio reunites, tensions become uneasy as Jesse reveals that he's been separated from Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and they're to meet at the rendezvous point.

As he removes the arrow from Dina's leg before Ellie's return, he's shocked when she refuses alcohol for the pain, as red flags get raised, and he deduces the truth of Dina's pregnancy as neither is being honest with him. As the mission shifts to locating Tommy, we get some interaction between the two before the action picks up again. When it comes to how it sets up where season three goes, we get seeds of that planted when we get some brief interactions from the WLF end, which amounts to largely breadcrumbs. This is understandable because it does feel like a reset is coming, including an appearance from Jeffrey Wright's Isaac. The bulk of the episode is about having an adequate stopping point for season two that makes sense, and "Convergence" pulls that off. Directed by Nina Lopez-Corrado and written by Halley Gross and creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, the episode is almost continuous non-stop action to fill up as much time as possible while it's not filled by the tension of dialogue and uncertainty of what's next.

Ramsey does a wonderful job here, retaining Ellie's humanity as if the character's more battle-hardened. As Gross, Druckmann, and Mazin affirm that line Ellie still won't cross even as bad as things will get, and being as cold as Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), there's still a shred of innocence and humanity left that hasn't eroded away even as the writers pile on the fucked-up scenarios for Ellie, which is perfectly on par with the games.

With season three looming, it's a giant ask for the audience, but they will weather the storm and, at least, let go for now as more of the pieces of the puzzle get filled in. Credit is also equally deserved with Merced and Mazino for making the most of their limited time, even if the series becomes predictable at times, and no, you didn't have to play the games to be intuitive enough. Both seasons of The Last of Us are available to stream on HBO Max.

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 7: "Convergence"

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Review by Tom Chang

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8/10

HBO's The Last of Us series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann knock another one out of the ballpark as tensions remain high throughout the episode - with Bella Ramsey and Young Mazino bearing the brunt of the action and drama. We get a steady run of shocks, twists and turns. While not as satisfying as the season one finale, "Convergence" sets up season three nicely. It will be interesting to see how the change in focus and perspective will b received, but it was in line with what Mazin and Druckmann had previously promised about learning more about both sides of the battle.

Credits

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Director

Nina Lopez-Corrado

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