Loneliness, old movies, and interrupted discos — we recap the premiere episode of the new season of 'The Last of Us'.

'The Last of Us' returned not as loudly or triumphantly, perhaps, but with dignity. We meet our beloved characters in snowy Wyoming and immediately dive into the specifics of post-apocalyptic life. About how communism is built after the end of the world, how people go to a psychologist, and how they celebrate New Year — in our recap of the premiere episode.

Warning: spoilers for Episode 1 of Season 2 of 'The Last of Us' follow.

The episode begins with a sad scene from the finale of the first season: Ellie (Bella Ramsey) doubts Joel's (Pedro Pascal) story, and he swears he didn't do anything. Understanding him is still possible — even two years later. Not everyone has the strength to tell the teenage girl he saved exactly what price was paid for her salvation (Joel, recall, shot up an entire cell of Fireflies who were planning to use Ellie to develop a vaccine).

Next, we move to Joel's small personal cemetery, where the Fireflies he killed are buried. They were, of course, not just revolutionaries, but also someone's friends or maybe relatives. The five Fireflies gathered at the graves swear revenge, though some just want to survive. The most active in the quest to find Joel is Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), thirsting for blood, but the thoughtful young man Owen convinces her to prepare better and head to the cell in Seattle for now.

Five years pass.

In the town of Jackson, where Ellie and Joel went after the events of the first season of 'The Last of Us', everything is fine. As fine as anything can be in a post-apocalypse. Refugees are arriving, and there's almost nowhere to house them. The council governing the settlement pressures Joel, who is in charge of construction, but he jokes, hinting at the unreality of their demands. Joel was warned that they were building communism in the snows of Wyoming, but not so literally, of course. The problem is that the council is headed by Maria (Rutina Wesley), Tommy's wife, and jokes (which both brothers like) don't fly with her. She reminds her brother-in-law that he too was once a refugee who came seeking shelter.

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Open material

However, it's not just work problems that worry Joel, but also his radically deteriorated relationship with Ellie. The girl ignores him, greets him like a stranger, and avoids any help from him. It's gotten so bad that Joel — the self-sufficient loner we remember — went to a psychologist, paying her with packets of herbs.

During the session, he talks about his problems but doesn't find much support. The psychologist Gail (Catherine O'Hara, a brilliant appearance), having had a drink ahead of the New Year, admits she hates her client. He killed her husband a year ago. Gail acknowledges it was necessary, but she hates Joel for how he did it (obviously, there will be a flashback about this in future episodes). Nevertheless, Gail wants to help Joel, but for that, he needs to be honest, and he's clearly hiding something. Was there violence on his part? 'No,' Joel whispers, shuddering. Then what? 'I saved her.' The steely notes in Joel's voice are frightening even through the screen. He leaves.

If Joel has gone gray in five years and started wearing reading glasses, Ellie has grown up and learned to fight. We find her in a wrestling training session, and later learning to shoot a sniper rifle under Tommy's (Gabriel Luna) guidance. It seems these trainings are for her the same way of reconciling with herself as therapy is for Joel. For her recklessness on a previous reconnaissance mission, Tommy wants to put Ellie on gate duty, but she, threatening to reveal her immunity (which is kept secret), forces him to keep her on patrol. Tommy phlegmatically notes that Ellie and Joel are one person in terms of stubbornness.

Getting ready to go out on patrol, Ellie listens to 'Love Buzz' by Nirvana. In the good tradition of the series (and the game), the characters listen to the best music left from the old world. Ellie is interrupted by the arrival of Dina (Isabela Merced), her best friend, for whom the girl has feelings. Looking Ellie over with a rifle case on her back and in full combat gear, Dina notes that she looks like Curtis from the 'Curtis and Viper' film series, an action movie franchise that Joel loves.

'Curtis and Viper,' the local version of 'Lethal Weapon' and 'Rambo,' comes up not for the first time, and we are made to understand that Joel really loves this franchise (and watched the movies with his daughter). This was especially emphasized in the game. What makes this reference additionally sad is that in the first part, Curtis is a former commando, and the ninja Viper is a ten-year-old boy. The relationship between Ellie and Joel in the first season in a certain sense played out the same plot in a new way. Instead of the fun of the eighties, the restrained melancholy of the new time.

Dina notes that she and Joel are planning to rewatch these movies in the coming days and invites Ellie to join. She changes the subject. Notably, Dina and Joel have an excellent relationship — exactly the kind Joel would dream of having with Ellie. In particular, Pedro Pascal teaches the girl how to fix electrical appliances, and he is, it is believed, one of the few people in the world from whose mouth the word 'voltmeter' sounds truly cool.

During a routine reconnaissance mission, the patrol comes across the corpse of a bear that was clearly killed by cordyceps-infected. This is a frightening sign, and the patrol should return to town and report that the zombies near the settlement are increasing. However, Ellie and Dina, disobeying the squad captain's order, climb into a building near the scene. They joke around and fearlessly (some would say recklessly) kill two infected. Things get complicated when Ellie falls into a basement and discovers another victim of cordyceps there. But unlike the others — intelligent, hiding.

For the first time, it feels like it's not Ellie setting a trap for the zombie, but the other way around. During a brief fight, the infected girl manages to bite Ellie, though she naturally dies from knife blows.

Back in town, at a council meeting, Ellie describes the encounter with the unusual zombie girl and suggests that the infected are evolving, becoming more intelligent. Council members try to convince themselves that everything is fine and there are still very few zombies in the area, but Maria feels that something bad is approaching.

But first and foremost, the new year 2029 is approaching for the characters. Instead of the joy of the president's annual address, they have songs and dances in the church (there are no community centers in America). Ellie arrives at the party already tipsy — otherwise, it's hard to bear the general merriment. Her friend Dina hasn't wasted any time either. She invites Ellie to dance, and their relationship — exceeding even the heroine's wildest hopes — moves to a new level (keep the children away from the screens). However, not everyone is happy about this (and not just because of domestic legislation), and the girls' idyll is interrupted by a local honored retiree with the words 'this is a family event.' He makes some unflattering remarks about the girls, for which he gets a beating from Joel.

Everyone is in shock. Ellie first and foremost — she was already tired of Joel's constant desire to help, but the man's sharp outburst of aggression made things worse. Although it seemed, could it get any worse?

And so the year 2029 arrived for our heroes. As they say, the year of family, love, and fidelity.

The finale of the episode is in three parts. We see Joel sitting with a guitar by the house, and Ellie walking past expressively. We see how in an old, long-overgrown pipe in the city center, cordyceps sprouts have become active. And finally, we see those very Fireflies led by Abby, who have finally reached Jackson. And, apparently, their revenge on Joel will soon be fulfilled.

Impressions

The first episode, frankly, does not impress the imagination. It's a slightly monochrome introduction designed to remind us who these people are and why we're interested in following them. However, the authors' desire for highly artistic understatement makes the latter task particularly difficult. Joel and Ellie have no significant shared scenes, except for the one where he takes her guitar for repair (peak awkwardness) and the one where he knocks down the ill-willed retiree. We roughly guess why they don't communicate (Ellie apparently understands that the story about the Fireflies letting them go and Joel simply taking her away is a lie), but without new facts, this intrigue is tiresome.

Some other, more amusing questions remain: how do refugees find out about the town? If everyone knows about it, why hasn't FEDRA, the totalitarian analogue of the state, come to capture it? This, however, is not so important, but what about alcohol? The characters obviously drink. Who wouldn't drink in their place. However, even with the most moderate consumption, alcohol should have run out in five years. Either Jackson is famous for its winemaking and liquor production, or the characters have to make forays outside the settlement to get alcohol-containing products. Questions demand answers.

Overall, 'The Last of Us' still pleases me personally not with some great originality of plot twists or scary zombies, but with the melancholy of the post-apocalypse. How to live knowing that you have outlived your civilization? How to listen to Nirvana knowing that not only Cobain died, but also the entire world he sang about?

The central theme of the episode is the impossibility of holding on to roots, the lack of strong connections. The inhabitants of Jackson hide behind strong walls, but the foundation of their life is shaky. One of the council members says that reality is the coincidence of collective intuitions. The intuitions of Jackson's residents do not coincide. And under the city, meanwhile, cordyceps is sprouting — at least, it seems so. The only truly reliable and stable system in the world of the series. The only (albeit in some creepy sense) living creature in post-apocalyptic America whose roots hold firmly to the ground.

So the finale is in some sense metaphorical: while Joel and Ellie grow further apart, cordyceps binds all of America ever tighter, breaking through even into its most protected corners.