I’ve enjoyed this season of The Last of Us a lot, more than I enjoyed the first season, but it has been plagued by recurring flaws that come to a head in this episode and leave me feeling disappointed. 

The main problem for me is that this episode doesn’t feel like a finale. It feels more like filler with unnecessary and frankly bizarre conflicts between Ellie and Jesse that sour the episode while also setting up Abby’s part of the story with a couple of blindingly out of place scenes featuring Isaac and Seraphites that make absolutely no sense in Ellie’s part of the story – the scene where she’s captured by Seraphites and promptly let go when they hear alarms sounding has no weight, impact or relevance. It was a strange little detour, and she’s back on the path to the aquarium in no time at all. 

It’s jarring to say the least, and while I understand the desire to set up some connecting tissue for audiences to segue into Abby’s side of the story, it has no bearing on Ellie’s side of the story. The scenes about the Wolf-Seraphite conflict just had me twiddling my thumbs waiting to get back to Ellie. 

I also, to an extent, understand why Ellie and Jesse had conflict. Ellie and Jesse separating to pursue their differing objectives make sense for their characters but the depths of their anger are almost uncomfortable in consideration of the fact that the two are supposedly pretty good friends. It feels like Jesse was made to be angrier in the show to set up this confrontation and make the separation more believable but my question is why did there have to be a big argument in the first place? 

It’s indicative of a bigger problem I’ve noticed throughout the season in which the creators of the show seem more concerned with telling and not showing. They also seem to have forgotten that less is more. It felt like the episode’s entire stakes were hinged on the discordant relationship between Ellie and Jesse when the real climax should have been in her confrontation with Owen and Mel which was relegated in the show to a dingy looking backroom of the aquarium like they were shuffled into the episode as an afterthought. 

“Convergence” – THE LAST OF US. Pictured: Young Mazino as Jesse. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO ©2025 HBO

I didn’t particularly like how this encounter played out either, which is a shame because I liked the way the show did the Nora encounter earlier in the season. For starters, they forget that less is more again and instead of having Ellie realise in horror after Mel’s death that she’s pregnant, there’s a long drawn out scene of trying to save the baby that drags needlessly when the emotion would have had just the same weight without all this extra effort. 

I also wasn’t a fan of how Owen was written in parts of this scene. His move to grab a gun felt like it came out of nowhere, especially with his more peaceful and pacifistic characterisation in comparison to the more militant members of Abby’s crew. There is a possibility it was an attempt to protect Mel but this slight change in Owen’s death still ends up ringing a little hollow – a feeling that I’m optimistic will be rectified when Abby and her friends get a chance to shine in the next season.

“Convergence” – THE LAST OF US. Pictured: Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Photo: Liane Hentscher/HBO ©2025 HBO

Speaking of Abby, the finale at least ends on a strong note with her arrival at the theatre, Kaitlyn Dever acting her heart out with the bare minimum she’s been given this season. We also get a nice hook into the next season as we’re taken all the way back to the beginning of Abby’s ‘Day One’. 

I really do wish I’d liked this episode as much as the ones that came before but it feels like the ball was dropped on Ellie’s story in the final stretch. Here’s hoping that season 3 is a strong return to form and Abby’s story is given the care it deserves. 

What did you think of the season finale? Sound off in the comments below!