The return of “The Last of Us” reminds us that there is still room for video games on screen

It only took one episode of the second season of The Last of Us to make peace again with the world of video games in audiovisuals, which had been sorely tested by A Minecraft Movie. It's true, it's achieving stellar results at the box office, bringing people into theaters, and it's always a sign of good health when a title does so well that it pulls in a massive number of viewers and revenue. But it's equally undeniable that the phenomenon of the sandbox video game developed by Mojang moves on a track independent of cinema or any other medium not directly connected to the original open-world. The success of the film has also sparked various controversies among Minecraft game fans due to the treatment of movie theaters, left dirty and devastated — all because (though not only) of the phrase «Chicken jockey», which seems to have triggered wild and exaggerated reactions from the audience, including people who even brought real chickens into theaters.

An attitude that does nothing to help elevate a video game universe that has been trying for years to legitimize itself on the big screen. Not that it truly needs to, since in today’s landscape, the video game market appears to have a much brighter future in terms of profits and entertainment possibilities for the viewers of tomorrow. Nonetheless, attempts to bridge the gap between cinema and TV series keep coming, and a project like The Last of Us, already overflowing with narrative and emotional content in its original playable form, is the most complete and successful result. You only need one look at the first episode of its return to realize it. Meanwhile, the adaptation by creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann – the latter also being the creative director of the Naughty Dog video game along with Bruce Straley – welcomes the audience by following all the rules of re-entering a world.

The opening picks up right where the previous season ended, the conflict that will unfold during the second season is planted from the very beginning, and the first image we see of Bella Ramsey’s Ellie is during a fight, reminding us that this girl knows how to survive. Five years have passed since she and Pedro Pascal’s Joel left behind the Fireflies and sought refuge in a community that finally seems to allow them to live a normal life. And the relationship between this surrogate father and his surrogate teenage daughter unfolds in the most classic of family dynamics, burdened by weights and secrets that will lead to grim consequences — a bond through which the series promises to reveal the most painful cracks.

What instantly captivates in the second season of The Last of Us is its ability to speak with and for serialized storytelling. The show first establishes the narrative architecture of the season and then focuses on how to amaze the viewer, weaving the first threads of connections that will define the various characters, reminding us where they started and how they got to this point. The tension builds from the beginning, promising to explode as the story progresses. And in a time when A Minecraft Movie seems to tell us that chaos is the only rule to satisfy audiences, The Last of Us tells us we can desire more as viewers, that we can demand quality — whether we’re fans of the video game or just of the TV adaptation. It also reminds us not to fear stories that aim to hurt, because entertainment doesn't always have to be numbing. Sometimes, it can be a wound that won’t heal, a bite that sinks deep into the flesh, piercing all the way down to the soul.