The Last of Us Season 2: How HBO Could Have Fixed Fan Complaints for a Better Show

HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2, which premiered on April 13, 2025, has left fans divided, with a 95% critic score but a dismal 47% audience Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes.

While the first season was a near-perfect adaptation of the beloved Naughty Dog game, The Last of Us Season 2 has sparked heated online debates over its narrative choices, pacing, and character handling.

From X posts to critic reviews, fans have voiced clear ideas on how creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann could have improved the season. Here’s a deep dive into the internet’s top suggestions for making the show a stronger follow-up.

Why Did Fans Feel the Narrative Changes Fell Flat?

A major grievance centers on The Last of Us Season 2’s deviations from The Last of Us Part II game. Fans on X, like @metaplexmovies, criticized the show for abandoning the game’s tight point-of-view storytelling, introducing jarring cuts to the WLF and Scars that disrupted Ellie’s journey.

The decision to reveal Abby’s (Kaitlyn Dever) backstory early, including a “villain’s monologue” before a pivotal scene, robbed the story of its emotional weight, per Pajiba.

Solution: Stick closer to the game’s structure, delaying Abby’s perspective to maintain suspense and player-like investment. Kotaku noted the game’s strength was its “intentional disconnect” between player and protagonist, which the show over-explained, patronizing viewers. Keeping Abby’s motives mysterious longer could have preserved the game’s bold narrative impact.

How Could Pacing and Episode Count Have Been Improved?

With only seven episodes, The Last of Us Season 2 felt rushed to many. IGN highlighted that splitting Part II’s sprawling story across multiple seasons led to an “incomplete” feel, leaving viewers bewildered rather than intrigued. X user @iamrobtv called out “horrible pacing,” arguing the season crammed too much into too few episodes.

Solution: Extend the season to 9–10 episodes, mirroring Season 1’s length, to give key moments—like Ellie’s emotional arc and the Seattle conflicts—room to breathe. TIME criticized the show for filling space with “empty calories” like extended zombie battles, suggesting more focus on character-driven subplots, such as Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie’s relationship, could have added depth.

Did Casting and Character Portrayals Miss the Mark?

Casting complaints, particularly around Bella Ramsey’s Ellie and Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby, surfaced frequently. Forbes reported fan backlash over Ramsey not resembling an older Ellie post-time jump, with some calling for a recast.

Abby’s portrayal drew ire for softening her character; unlike the game’s muscular, unsympathetic antihero, the show made her less physically imposing and overly explained her motives, per @NaughtyNDC on X.

Solution: Enhance casting fidelity to the game’s designs, especially Abby’s physicality, to retain her intimidating presence. For Ellie, Ramsey’s performance was praised (Variety lauded their “heavy dramatic lifting”), but makeup or styling could have better reflected her aged-up look. Fans also suggested keeping Ellie’s darker, conflicted game persona rather than the show’s more upbeat tone, as noted by Forbes.

Could the Show Have Avoided Over-Emphasizing Moralizing?

The Last of Us Season 2 leaned heavily into themes of vengeance versus mercy, but critics like Inverse found its “both-sides” moralizing heavy-handed, especially in Seattle’s WLF-Scars conflict. The show’s explicit dialogue, such as characters justifying revenge, felt patronizing, per Kotaku, stripping away the game’s nuanced silence. X user @DiscussingFilm noted the show removed complexity to avoid upsetting new viewers.

Solution: Trust the audience to interpret moral ambiguities, as the game did. The game’s power lay in forcing players to grapple with Ellie and Abby’s actions without spoon-feeding conclusions. Reducing expository dialogue and focusing on visual storytelling, like the game’s haunting flashbacks, could have restored subtlety, as suggested by Aftermath.

How Should the Show Have Handled Joel’s Role?

Joel’s (Pedro Pascal) reduced presence, especially a key traumatic moment, disappointed fans. Pajiba criticized the handling of this scene, noting Abby’s expanded dialogue and smug expressions diluted its gravity.

X user @SweetPeachGames questioned why the show altered such a pivotal game moment, leaving fans disconnected.

Solution: Preserve the game’s raw, minimalist approach to Joel’s arc, letting the scene’s brutality speak for itself. Vulture praised quieter Joel-Ellie moments, like Ellie’s acoustic “Take On Me” cover, suggesting more focus on their bond could have grounded the season’s emotional core. Expanding Tommy’s (Gabriel Luna) role, as in the game, could also have added narrative weight, per Forbes.

Was the Show’s Focus on Action Over Character a Mistake?

The season prioritized spectacle—zombie hordes, a Helms Deep-like battle—over character depth, per IGN, overshadowing crucial story beats. TIME noted that extended action sequences replaced the rich supporting characters of Season 1, making the show feel like “watching someone play a video game”. Fans on X, like @lockmort, felt these choices ruined the atmosphere.

Solution: Balance action with character-driven stories, as Season 1 did with episodes like “Long, Long Time.” The Hollywood Reporter missed Season 1’s “sprawling humanity,” suggesting more time with characters like Jesse (Young Mazino) or Dina could have enriched the world. The game’s focus on intimate flashbacks could have guided the show to prioritize heart over chaos.

Did “Woke” Backlash Reflect Real Issues or Bias?

Some negative reviews, especially on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, cited a “woke agenda,” targeting Ellie and Dina’s queer romance, per Out.com. These echoed the game’s 2020 review-bombing, with terms like “political agendas” dominating user scores (47% Popcornmeter vs. 95% critic score). However, legitimate critiques, like those from

@cosmicbooknews, focused on writing and character issues, not ideology.

Solution: Ignore baseless “woke” complaints but address valid storytelling concerns. The show’s queer elements were true to the game, and Season 1’s gay-focused episodes were Emmy-nominated. Focusing on tighter writing and game fidelity, as fans like @NaughtyNDC suggested, would have silenced detractors by delivering a stronger story.

Some Closing Thoughts:

The Last of Us Season 2 had the potential to match its predecessor’s brilliance but stumbled with rushed pacing, heavy-handed moralizing, and narrative missteps.

By staying truer to the game’s nuanced storytelling, extending the episode count, and balancing action with character depth, HBO could have won over divided fans.

As Season 3 looms, Mazin and Druckmann have a chance to learn from these critiques and deliver the epic conclusion fans crave.

For now, the internet’s passionate feedback shows just how much this story still matters.