The Last Of Us Season 2: Episode 1 (Future Days) 7 Ups & 3 Downs
7. Up - New Characters
Enough of the Downs, let's get to what made this episode an overall success, starting with the new additions to the show. Joining the likes of Joel, Ellie, Maria, and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) were a handful of strong characters brought straight across from the source material.
The first to be seen was Jesse, a role in which Young Mazino appears to have been perfectly cast. He runs the thin line between being friends with Ellie and kind of her boss and authority figure; a tough balance to find.
Then, there is Dina. Isabela Merced's character right out of the gate looks to be a show-stealing highlight, and there's no reason to think this will change over the course of the season. She is funny, she gels incredibly well with Ellie, and it's a relationship that will, of course, evolve in time and is utterly charming. Incredibly similar to her counterpart in the game.
The surface was barely scratched on the likes of Abby, Owen, Manny, Nora, and Mel, which, as said before, may have even been too much in itself, but their time will come.