Non-Avid gamers, Pay Shut Consideration To These 6 Moments In The Final Of Us Season 2, Episode 1

There are some key moments in The Final of Us’ season 2 premiere that may not appear too essential now, however viewers who didn’t play the online game ought to take note of and keep in mind. The Final of Us season 2, episode 1, “Future Days,” picks up 5 years after the season 1 finale. Joel and Ellie are totally settled into their new residence in Jackson, Wyoming, and a gaggle of surviving Fireflies with a grudge are coming to actual revenge. The episode deviates wildly from the online game, however the sequence continues to be telling the identical story at its core.

Some scenes within the season 2 premiere are ripped straight from the sport, like Ellie and Dina’s sweep of a stalker-infested grocery store and the New Yr’s Eve celebration at Jackson, the place Dina kisses Ellie for the primary time. The season begins off fairly gradual, but it surely has numerous essential plot factors to arrange — and this episode is all setup. Since all the numerous exposition is ingeniously buried in naturalistic dialogue between the characters, it may be arduous to inform which data is crucial with out figuring out the place the story goes. So, I’m right here to assist.

6

Dina’s Historical past With Jesse

Though the season premiere establishes a extremely heartwarming romance between Ellie and Dina, it additionally introduces their exes. Dina’s ex-boyfriend, Jesse, is the chief of all of the patrols, and Ellie’s ex-girlfriend, Kat, is the chief of their specific patrol. Kat is talked about in dialogue and journal entries within the sport — and he or she seems in one of many “misplaced ranges” on the PS5 remaster — however she by no means truly reveals up on-screen. Jesse, then again, has a serious function in The Final of Us Half II, and his romantic historical past with Dina is an enormous a part of it.

As Ellie begins her relationship with Dina, Dina’s long-standing intimacy and emotional reference to Jesse makes her insecure and jealous. Within the sport, when Jesse and Dina are in a room collectively, Ellie awkwardly leaves, as a result of she appears like she’s getting in the way in which. Jesse and Dina have had an extended, on-and-off romance that’s formally over now, however that relationship will nonetheless have large ramifications on the story going ahead, so don’t neglect about it.

5

Tommy’s Sharpshooting Abilities

Early on within the season premiere, Tommy is seen giving Ellie a sharpshooting lesson together with his sniper rifle, educating her how one can decide off stray contaminated from afar. That is similar to a sequence from the sport that seems as a flashback midway by Ellie’s playable adventures. There are even a number of strains lifted straight from that stretch of the sport, like Tommy’s recommendation to compensate for the bullet drop. A very powerful factor to remove from this sequence is that Tommy is a extremely good shot who is aware of his manner round a long-range firearm.

There’s a sequence arising that may put Tommy’s sharpshooting abilities to good use. It doesn’t occur till actually far into the sport, so the TV present most likely gained’t get round to adapting it till season 3 (if in any respect). Nevertheless it’s a jaw-dropping second within the sport, so simply keep in mind that Tommy is a gifted sniper. Season 1 established that Tommy is a Gulf Warfare veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm, which arrange why he’s such an incredible sharpshooter.

4

Gail Mentions Her Husband, Eugene

The season 2 premiere introduces a brand new character who didn’t seem within the video games: Joel’s therapist Gail, performed by Catherine O’Hara. She mentions her husband, Eugene, who additionally didn’t seem within the video games, however was talked about a number of instances. Within the premiere episode, Gail mentions that she resents Joel for killing Eugene. It’s implied that Joel put Eugene down after he received contaminated, but it surely’s additionally implied that Eugene’s demise was suspicious, so that may not be the case in any case.

Joe Pantoliano has been forged to play Eugene within the present, so a future episode will undoubtedly return and present what Joel did to Eugene in a flashback. Within the sport, it’s established that Eugene is humorous, lonely, an electronics knowledgeable, and a weed fanatic. However most significantly, it’s revealed that he’s a former Firefly who served with Tommy. That most likely had one thing to do with why Joel killed him.

3

Joel Takes Ellie’s Guitar To Get New Strings

Joel and Ellie solely share a few transient interactions within the season premiere, they usually’re all fairly heartbreaking. One of many subtlest moments of heartbreak is when Joel stops by Ellie’s storage for a go to and finds her guitar mendacity in a pile of junk on the ground, lined in mud. He tells her the strings must be changed and shortly leaves to interchange them for her. He doesn’t wish to present it, however Ellie’s disregard for this instrument devastates him. That guitar is an emblem of their bond, and he or she’s deserted that image.

It isn’t clear from the scene within the premiere episode, however Joel gave this guitar to Ellie and taught her how one can play it. In keeping with The Final of Us season 2’s trailer, we’ll get to see this heartwarming second in a flashback in a future episode. Within the sport, it’s one of many earliest scenes — it occurs even earlier than the time bounce — and it’s probably the most touching scenes. Keep in mind that this guitar means lots to Joel, and put together to cry tears of pleasure when he offers it to her.

2

Abby’s Moments With Owen

Within the sport, gamers don’t discover out that Abby and her mates are surviving Fireflies till midway by the story, when it’s revealed in a flashback at a vital juncture. However the TV present offers it away upfront. Within the second scene of the premiere episode, Abby and her mates are seen grieving their loss as they bury the useless Fireflies outdoors St. Mary’s Hospital. Whereas the others are centered on discovering a brand new residence, Abby vows to kill Joel slowly to make him pay for killing all their mates and colleagues.

Abby is shut with all her mates right here, however she’s proven to have an particularly shut bond with considered one of them particularly: Owen, performed by Spencer Lord. Owen is the one who talks Abby down and reaches a compromise when she swears vengeance, and he’s the one she locks eyes with as they lastly arrive in Jackson on the finish of the episode. Pay shut consideration to their interactions, as a result of Abby and Owen have an extended and sophisticated historical past collectively that the sequence will dig into.

1

Ellie Sees Joel On His Porch

On the New Yr’s Eve celebration, after Dina kisses Ellie, Seth makes a homophobic comment, prompting Joel to step in and provides him a shove. Joel expects Ellie to thank him for saving her, however she simply will get indignant at him. Ellie has spent the entire episode attempting to get out of Joel’s shadow, and he simply put her again in it, so she tells him she doesn’t want his assist and he leaves. Later that evening, when Ellie returns residence, she sees Joel enjoying guitar on his porch, however she doesn’t communicate to him.

There’s a bit extra to that interplay that the season 2 premiere leaves out. Within the sport, we don’t get to see the complete model of that interplay till the very finish, and it recontextualizes the whole epic tome that got here earlier than it. The Final of Us’ TV adaptation won’t wait that lengthy to disclose the remainder of this scene, so hold it in thoughts.