Summary
- The Last of Us Season 2 introduces a clever, creepy variant of infected with stealth-like behavior.
- Ellie faces off with a stalker in the premiere, encountering a new type of infected she's never seen before.
- Stalkers in The Last of Us are smarter, plan out their moves, and are identified by groaning sounds and fungus sprouts.
The Last of Us season 2 premiere has already gone off to a flying start in terms of introducing at least one (so far) of its variations of infected as Ellie faces off with a terrifying stalker. Season one of the post-apocalyptic series saw a few other types, like clickers, bloaters and runners, but it seems as though this time around, viewers will get to witness a much cleverer and creepier variant of the infected for The Last of Us' highly anticipated second season.
In the Season 2 premiere of The Last of Us, Ellie and Dina head off into an abandoned market after finding a group of dead infected and a savagely killed bear nearby. Although Kat (who happens to be Ellie's ex-girlfriend) isn't too keen on the pair leaving the patrol to explore the store, they head in anyway and kill two clickers who had made their way inside. However, afterward, Ellie ends up falling through the floor to the ground below, finding herself trapped in a dimly lit warehouse. Although Ellie initially thinks she's the only one around, an infected creature crawling on four legs has been watching her from one of the shelves. As Ellie's back is turned, viewers finally get to witness what this creepy figure is before it scurries off to hide before jumping back out and grabbing her. This type of infected hasn't been shown before in the series, although players of the games will certainly recognize its sinister groans and stealth-like behavior.
‘It Was Such a Relief They Showed It’ The Last of Us Fans Celebrate Game’s Wholesome Easter Egg in Season 2 Premiere
Fans of The Last of Us Season 2's first episode are overjoyed at the show including this wholesome image from the game.
Bella Ramsey Opens up About the Stalker Scene in The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 1
Talking with Collider, Bella Ramsey reflects on Ellie's terrifying scene with a stalker in the first episode of The Last of Us season 2. Ramsey mentions that Ellie is pretty cocky as she walks around the warehouse she has fallen into, believing that she is alone, and she's seen everything before, so nothing really scares her. However, things take a dark turn for the brave teenager as she comes face to face with a dreaded stalker type of infected that she's never witnessed before, leaving her getting bitten on the stomach. "...the Stalker really comes out of nowhere and freaks Ellie out because it’s not behaving in a way that any of the other Infected she’s ever come across have behaved," said Ramsey.
"It’s so typical. Dina is like, 'Stay where you are. Don’t move.' And Ellie is like, 'Yeah, got it.' And then, goes in and has a wander around, obviously. She’s just surveying and thinking about what this place would have been like, back in 2003, before the world as we knew it ended."
Ramsey recalls how "creepy" the stalker is and how Ellie didn't know what to expect from it but revealed that "filming that was a lot of fun and kind of spooky." However, it wasn't just Ellie who looked scared senseless, as Ramsey also found the entire experience frightening when they watched it back when the sound was added in. "Watching it, I find scary because, obviously, the sound wasn’t in. The way that it’s been edited together makes it literally a thousand times scarier. When I first saw that, my heart was racing, for sure, even though I knew what was about to happen."
Stalkers in The Last of Us are usually easily identified by the strange groaning sound they make, even when they are trying to remain hidden. Physically, stalkers also normally have fungus sprouts that grow straight out of their heads, covering over one of their eyes. Although similar to runners in terms of aggression, stalkers are a lot smarter and seemingly plan out their next move with precision. Showrunner Craig Mazin previously said that Season 2 will see more Cordyceps-infected types, including more of these terrifyingly creepy stalkers who players of the video game will shutter at the mention of. "All I’ll say is that for the people who want to see more of the infected... Buckle up!”, promised Mazin.
New episodes of The Last Of Us Season 2 will premiere on HBO at 9 pm EST every Sunday until May 25.
‘It Was Such a Relief They Showed It’ The Last of Us Fans Celebrate Game’s Wholesome Easter Egg in Season 2 Premiere
Fans of The Last of Us Season 2's first episode are overjoyed at the show including this wholesome image from the game.
- Release Date
- January 15, 2023
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Craig Mazin
Cast
-
Pedro PascalJoel Miller -
Bella RamseyEllie Williams
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
- Writers
- Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin, Halley Wegryn Gross
- Franchise(s)
- The Last of Us
- Creator(s)
- Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin
Source: Collider