{"id":659731,"date":"2025-03-31T18:42:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T15:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/season-2-is-our-empire-strikes-back-season\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T18:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T15:42:14","slug":"season-2-is-our-empire-strikes-back-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/season-2-is-our-empire-strikes-back-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Season 2 Is \u2018Our Empire Strikes Back Season\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe Last of Us<\/em> showrunner has a different vibe this time. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen we sat down with Craig Mazin three years ago to talk about the upcoming debut of his HBO drama \u2014 which he created along with Neil Druckmann, who developed the PlayStation game<\/a> the series<\/a> is based on \u2014 the Emmy-winning writer-director still seemed a tad uncertain, as any longtime veteran of this business should have been. Was this post-apocalyptic mashup of undead action and intensive character study that\u2019s based on a video game really going to connect with a broad audience?<\/em> This time, sitting in a hotel lounge in Austin during the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival earlier this month, Mazin radiates creative confidence. The second season of The Last of Us <\/em>is a banger, and he knows it.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat first season, which turned out to be a massive and award-winning hit for HBO, focused on two roadtrip<\/a>ping plague survivors, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). The new season\u2019s scope has greatly expanded. There\u2019s a larger main cast, far better special effects, more epic action sequences and so much going on that hasn\u2019t even being hinted at yet, despite the season only being seven episodes. When we point out that the footage in the trailers (below) gives off serious Empire Strikes Back<\/em> vibes, Mazin replies, \u201cIt\u2019s true.\u201d The first season, Joel and Ellie got away with a lot. This time, \u201cThey aren\u2019t getting away with shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about that a lot \u2014 because I love The<\/em> Empire Strikes Back<\/em>, and I think everybody should,\u201d Mazin says. \u201cWe love that one because the second act is the tough act. That\u2019s when everything is challenged and characters go through these moments where they can\u2019t be who they used to be, but they\u2019re also not ready to be who they\u2019re supposed to be. There\u2019s a sense of feeling lost. And I love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNot to mention, he adds, \u201cWe were filming in Alberta in the dead of winter, which was very Hoth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tYou mentioned at the SXSW panel how you guys really figured out how to do the show this season. Aside from pacing out the action, what did you learn from the first season that you app<\/a>lied to the second? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tMaking a first season of television, especially one of that size, is like building a plane in the air. We learned how to improve our process, which means basically more efficiency. Combined with more money from HBO, we could do a lot more. We certainly got much better at portraying the Infected. Our two core actors, Pedro and Bella, now occupy these characters completely. And we assembled this other group of actors who fit right in \u2014 maybe that\u2019s because [the new cast members] had seen the first season, so they were coming into a show they understood. Whereas in season one, there was no show to come into. Also, I learned also about myself.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat did you learn about yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThe way I do this isn\u2019t really the way most people do things. [Fargo<\/em> showrunner] Noah Hawley, who I\u2019m about to have lunch with, is the guy who inspired me in the first place to think, \u201cHey, what if I just wrote this all myself and I direct the first episode?\u201d That meant I\u2019m prepping the season by prepping the first episode. Then I work with the rest of the directors very closely. I\u2019m [on set] every day and it\u2019s important to me to have that constant conversation with them. So I was able to share with our directors that were coming on, \u201cNow that I\u2019ve done a season of TV, this is how I work. Fair warning: I\u2019m going to be there. And if you\u2019re not looking to collaborate like that, this is not the show for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNot that your show needs more hype, but what excites you most about the new season? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThere are a lot of duos. Our show seems to be live in this duopolistic world where you have Joel and Ellie Henry and Sam, Ellie and Riley \u2026 It\u2019s always this interesting duopoly where everything gets shrunk down to these twosomes. This season we introduce more of these duopolies that I love \u2014 by the way, the word is \u201cpairs\u201d or \u201cduos,\u201d I don\u2019t know why I\u2019m saying \u201cduopoly,\u201d that\u2019s ridiculous. Watching Joel and Ellie is special in this season, but our community of Ellie and Gina [newcomer to the show Isabela Merced] is special. Ellie and Jesse [newcomer to the show Young Mazino] have this remarkable friendship. I can\u2019t wait for people to experience our world through these new twosomes.<\/p>\n

\n\tMaybe the show is that way because you just like writing two-handers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWell, nothing is more exciting, honestly. When my writing day is writing one character talking to another, like in episode one, with Pedro Pascal and [guest actor this season] Catherine O\u2019Hara. Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe relationship tension between Ellie and Joel is teased in the trailer, with Ellie reminding him of the promise he made in the first season finale \u2014 that her immunity couldn\u2019t have resulted in a cure. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThis is the beating heart of this season. It should be because that\u2019s how the first season ended, and that is a bit of the tragedy \u2014 that Joel finally found someone who allowed him to live fully again, to be a parent \u2014 not to replace the daughter he lost, but for Ellie to be a new daughter, to raise and to teach and to protect. But it\u2019s only at the cost of telling her this brutal lie that he knows he has to tell her. Because if he tells her the truth, she\u2019ll walk away. But that lie will not stand. It is an impossible thing to maintain. The question is when, why, and how does that break?<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Ellie\u2019s friend Gina, Isabela Merced jumps off the screen, she\u2019s so charismatic. Is it challenging at all, writing all those scenes yourself, to channel young female characters?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tNot at all. I\u2019m going to be 54 when this comes out, but in my brain, I\u2019m still basically 15. My body\u2019s falling apart, but I am still me. I remember what it was like to be 19 and 20. I\u2019m not a girl, but I\u2019m a human and as a writer, part of my job is to become other people in my head. I do it all the time. I\u2019ve been doing it forever. Isabela, in her first scene with Ellie, she radiates. We wanted somebody that was this contrast, this sunlight, because Ellie is tough and reserved and careful, and we wanted somebody who is radiating sun. We also didn\u2019t want somebody that was 5\u20199\u2033, because Bella is pretty short. It\u2019s one of those things where it gets a little wonky to frame [two actors of very different height], or Gina might feel maternal, like a mom.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou mentioned Bella\u2019s size. There\u2019s been this thing on social media<\/a> where some of the game\u2019s fans say: \u201cBella isn\u2019t right for adapting The Last of Us Part II<\/em> because they\u2019re not big and strong enough to be that character after the story takes a four-year time jump.\u201d I was thinking, watching the first episode of the new season, that somebody appearing physically vulnerable in this world is more interesting and makes you lean in more. Like if a character is in a dark room with an Infected, and they\u2019re built like Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road<\/em>, how worried are you about them, really? I think people discount how vulnerability can be additive. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tCorrect. I agree with you. One of the reasons why we show a fight scene early is to address what I think is a question that gets glossed over all the time by action movies and shows. How does a small person fight with a big person? It\u2019s not going to be karate. It\u2019s not going to be awesome punches and kicks \u2014 they\u2019ll lose. The answer is Juujitsu. I watch a lot of jiujitsu and I\u2019ve specifically watched sessions where a small person is taking down a big person. That\u2019s how that would happen because nobody\u2019s fucking around in this world.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo I understand the difficulty that some people have where they say, \u201cShe looked like she was 14 in season one. She still looks roughly the same to us, even though now she\u2019s 19.\u201d Ellie in the game looks much older. Some people do change quite dramatically and some people don\u2019t. I\u2019m not interested in the physical aspect \u2014 although I\u2019ve been looking at Bella\u2019s face for years while editing, and I can see that she\u2019s certainly grown. I\u2019m interested in the emotional maturity, and the change in personality. I\u2019ve watched Bella grow and become independent and start to find her own two feet separate and apart from her parents, who are amazing \u2014 How do I figure out how to be my own person now and test that full independence?<\/em> And I feel that in Ellie completely. So I understand where people are coming from, but when they watch this year, I think they\u2019re going to see the difference.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast season had that amazing standalone third episode, \u201cLong, Long Time,\u201d focusing on a couple characters who are not in the main story. Maybe I\u2019m wrong, but looking at the trailer this season, and considering it\u2019s seven episodes instead of nine, it feels you\u2019re just focusing on the urgent story at hand. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tThere is an episode that\u2019s \u2014 not a detour \u2014 but it takes a pause and reexamines things from a different perspective. It\u2019s not because we\u2019re interested in every season of The Last of Us<\/em> having a Very Special Episode. I think next season will actually afford us more opportunity in that area. There\u2019s one story in particular I\u2019m just excited to dig into and tell. But this season, it didn\u2019t make sense to just stop and go, \u201cYou know what? Let\u2019s do a whole episode about [O\u2019Hara\u2019s character] Gail.\u201d Now having said that, and having worked with Catherine O\u2019Hara, maybe that\u2019s the dream.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom the trailer, you have an incredible snow fort battle sequence against the Infected along the walls of Jackson, which naturally brought to mind some battles in Game of Thrones<\/em>, which have been considered some of the best battles ever staged. What was your thought in terms of how you\u2019re going to make this your own thing and also, if possible, make it even better than what we\u2019ve seen before? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tCertainly as a Thrones<\/em> fanatic, I remember from watching \u201cHardhome\u201d and not thinking about how complicated and impressive the action was. What I remembered was how moving and important the things that were happening inside the action were. That Wildling woman [Karsi], seeing her get turned, and seeing The Night King raise the dead and being like, \u201cHey, you and me, Jon Snow, we\u2019re on a collision course, my friend, and the more you fight me, the worse it gets for you.\u201d The desperation, the total loss.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat is really our philosophy about action. What\u2019s the point?<\/em> So in building this sequence, we were very ambitious because we just wanted to show how bad it could get. But always the question was: Why?<\/em> What is this about, what does this change, and what does this mean for our people moving forward? Jackson is, as we see in episode one, is growing, it\u2019s expanding. There is a certain cockiness. They don\u2019t seem particularly worried about the trouble outside. They\u2019ve gotten a little complacent. They have a New Year\u2019s Eve dance. They\u2019re going to therapy,. They\u2019re refurbishing homes. They\u2019ve got patrols down to a science<\/a>. On the other hand, you\u2019re like: Guys don\u2019t you know you\u2019re living in a TV show?<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tNeil suggested there isn\u2019t going to be a Last of Us Part III<\/em> video game. Previously, the idea was the show would never get ahead of the game. You were eyeing two seasons for Part II<\/em>, maybe three. So does that mean season 3 could be the end? Or are you considering, \u201cWell, maybe we do go past the game?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI am not going to go past the game. I\u2019ll just say that flat out. So if people are thinking, \u201cOh, these guys are planning the old cash grab thing\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not necessarily cash grab if you genuinely think you could have a better ending \u2014 especially considering that Neil was long considering doing more story with another game. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m basically setting a decade of my rapidly dwindling life on fire to tell this story. The show is so hard to make. It has to have an end. So I\u2019m not going to go past. Who knows me, there might be a Dunk and Egg The Last of Us<\/em> show that happens that somebody does. But for me, the only question is: Is it going to be one more season or will it require two more? If this can happen all in one more season, great. If we feel like it makes sense to break it into two, then we will do that.<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, I can certainly imagine HBO\u2019s preference. Speaking of Dunk and Egg, has HBO done any spin-off whispers along those lines? Could there be a Chronicles of Joel<\/em> prequel or whatnot? <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAs a fan of The Last of Us<\/em>, I\u2019d totally watch that. That would be fascinating to see. But no. They\u2019re very respectful. They\u2019re, in a loving way, saying, \u201cKeep doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Last of Us returns for season two on Sunday, April 13 at 9 p.m. E.T. on HBO and the Max. Read <\/em>THR\u2019s season two preview.<\/em><\/p>\n

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