The Last of Us

So I gave the 5 stars because I really loved the first season of the show. I wanted to give this an 8 but the second season was just so painful to watch and ruined everything for me.

The first season has characters that we care for with a really great story. Every episode had me excited and I would be upset when it was done. I always thought, "an hour was not enough!" And couldn't wait for the next episode to come out. It truly was great tv.

Season 2 took a turn for the worst. I found myself losing my patience with the slow paced episodes and it made me feel like I was watching the walking dead instead. More focus on teen drama and how horrible humans are instead of the conflicts with zombies and surviving.

Somehow logic went out the window for most of these characters. Of all people, Ellie should know better. But they had to dumb her down in order to make their story progress in the direction they wanted it to.

Most of the characters are one dimensional and didn't make me care for them. The only one I was rooting for was Jesse as he had a sense of responsibility and care for others unlike Ellie who seems to forget about everyone else but herself and her quest for revenge.

We hardly saw any zombies except for the second episode. Introducing the more advanced zombies was absolutely pointless as we only get a total of 5 minutes of them being on screen. The weird cult seemed pointless as well, although I'm sure they'll circle back to it in season 3.

Bella Ramsey as Ellie was only good for portraying a kid in season 1, but she isn't a good fit for season 2 in a more mature role. Joel is the only character worth watching and it helps that we have a good actor like Pedro Pascal playing him. Ellie cannot carry the story alone and it's a shame that Joel was taken out so early on in season 2.

In conclusion, season 2 was so bad that I have no desire in watching season 3. It's all about dread and gives no point to anything any of the characters do. I recommend only watching season 1 and completely forget that they made a second season.

Season 2 of The Last of Us is an absolute disaster - a steep, embarrassing fall from the emotional depth and tight storytelling of Season 1. What was once a compelling post-apocalyptic drama is now reduced to a lifeless, teenage melodrama filled with forced dialogue, unearned emotional beats, and some of the most painfully wooden acting on television. The plot is nonexistent, the pacing is dreadful, and every episode feels like filler. Characters drift through meaningless scenes, and the emotional core that made Season 1 so powerful is completely gone. It's a soulless, directionless mess that insults fans of the original season.

The first Season was awesome to watch, a never seen disease turns into a pandemic causing havoc around the world and now a smuggler and a immune girl (only hope for humanity) must survive the infected people, a dictatorial system and some rebel groups to find the cure for the survival of humankind.

The first season of this apocalyptic survival drama is one the best I came across with each character has their own character development story and how they have survived all the events unfolding around them.

The Second season is more on revenge, pretty high on emotional quotient and less on survival and finding cure, which will probably be extended into season 3. A perfect survival drama has turned into a series for personal vendetta and revenge.

Since the Last of Us part II game itself has uncertain ending, I hope Craig Mazin finds the magic pen to write a perfect ending be it in Season 3 or Season 4 or beyond, otherwise another series which has perfect start will end like Game of Thrones.

The first season was undeniably phenomenal. One of the best series I've seen in a long while. The characters were developed well, the storyline was amazing, and the drama spectacular. Based on season one alone, I rated the series as a 9 overall. Therefore imagine my surprise when, upon viewing/completing the second season, the overall quality of the series, took and unobstructed nose dive off a cliff. What happened? It couldn't be the death of Joel alone (as he was still used in flashbacks). My biggest gripe is the dumbing down of Ellie. She went from an intelligent and cunning character, to a ignorant annoying little girl in constant need of rescue. This series could have been great, but evidently the creators settles for decent. With season 1 at a rating of 9 and season two a rating of 5, combined the series gets a generous 7.

Season 1 was excellent-emotional, intense, and well-acted. I'd give it a solid 8/10. It stayed true to the heart of the game and delivered a compelling story. Unfortunately, Season 2 fell flat. It dragged, lacked real plot progression, and didn't add anything meaningful. I'd give it a 4/10 at best. The shift in tone and pacing just didn't work. Overall, I'd rate the series a 6/10. Like others have said, stop after Season 1. It tells a complete, satisfying story, and going further honestly just weakens the impact. It's really I give it a low rating because season 2 after the first 3 episodes was just boring!