Five years after the events in Salt Lake City, a now 19-year-old Ellie makes a discovery while on patrol with her best friend Dina. Back in Jackson Hole, Joel seeks help to mend his relationship with Ellie.
Gail declares that Joel has the most boring problem of the apocalypse. He's in therapy to find ways to get his surrogate daughter to connect with him once more. It's a struggle because he did so much to save her. In fact, he found a renewed sense of purpose in protecting her. He doesn't know who he is beyond that simple impulse. Five years have passed since he killed all the Fireflies at the facility in Salt Lake City. He couldn't let them kill her even though it promised a potential vaccine. She just came into his life. He wasn't willing to let her go. He swore that the story about raiders attacking the facility was true. Ellie could sense that it was a lie. She needed to believe it was true because she came to value Joel as a surrogate father. He looked out for her in a way no one else had. And yet, this central lie completely disrupted their dynamic. All of their current tension stems from that decision. Immediately, it's clear how distant and foreign the two are to each other. That's strikingly different than the first season. As such, the audience shouldn't be so quick to dismiss Gail's assessment of Joel's problem. Of course, she also sees how this current estrangement is part of a larger problem between them. He refuses to share the truth. He can't bear to speak it out loud. Instead, he continually has to convince himself that he saved her. He can never move pass that. That's the only thing keeping him stable at the moment even though he has essentially lost Ellie in the process.
Joel's actions have consequences far beyond his bond with Ellie. The season premiere opens with more Fireflies finding the facility and seeing what Joel did. They bury their allies. They also pledge revenge. Abby quickly wants to hunt Joel. It's impossible for him to be too far ahead of this group. And yet, these Fireflies don't know which direction to go. One proposes Seattle as a place of refuge. There, they will have the community and resources to figure out what to do next. Abby still makes a pledge to kill Joel slowly for what he did. This personal animosity fuels her for years. It's not until the end of the premiere that the audience sees this group has finally found Joel. They track him down to the peaceful community in Jackson, Wyoming. This place has been welcoming to all refugees. Maria wants the place to be as open and accepting as possible. It's growing at a faster pace than the infrastructure can handle. That's the job Joel carries out. He's no longer hunting down people. He kills when no other choice is available. However, he isn't the one going out on patrols. Instead, Tommy and Ellie operate with that responsibility. Joel aims to repair failing systems. He wants appreciation for his actions. And yet, he can't escape the pain of his past. That will always catch up to him.
Gail is angry with Joel. She strives to help him as a therapist. It's her professional duty to identify his problems and provide him with the tools to improve himself moving forward. Yet it's hard to escape the past. Gail celebrates her first birthday without her husband. Eugene was killed by Joel. She can never forgive him for how he did it. She knows death was necessary. Something traumatic obviously happened. Details aren't forthcoming. This informs this new dynamic. Joel seeks clarity. He continually lies to himself. He wants to be there for Ellie. However, he likes her new best friend Dina more. She is willing to engage in conversation with him. She shows an interest in what he is doing. She seeks to learn from him. Ellie is distant. She isolates herself in the garage. Every gesture is rich with tension. Joel doesn't want to make any obvious mistakes. He finds himself making a bunch. It's all wrapped up in his inherently violent nature. That forces Ellie to confront what she knows is the truth about Salt Lake City. She can choose not to acknowledge it. It remains at the heart of this tension. The lies have been conditioned into their relationship for years. Ellie isn't even allowed to talk about being immune. That information remains dangerous. She's meant to accept that the Fireflies have stopped looking for a cure. That removed agency from her life. She has had to find purpose elsewhere. It happened on Joel's terms. That's no longer good enough.
Everything in Jackson largely remains peaceful though. The audience is aware of the threats on the horizon. Tommy orders a recon mission fearing a hoard of infected are coming. Ellie and Dina are part of the mission. They forge ahead and disobey orders. Ellie does so because she's immune. That provides her with confidence. She doesn't fear for her life. Dina doesn't know that. The two understand each other. They have similar senses of humor. Dina is more active in the community. She is just as willing to challenge authority. They work as a team. Anything could go wrong at any moment. Ellie learned that the hard way when she was first bitten. She has lost so much. She continues to survive. She examines the world as it used to be. She looks at the employee of the month display and a People's Magazine. She's fascinated by what previously existed. That world is decaying. She falls through a floor. She ultimately discovers an infected that is smart. The creature won't run towards anything it hears. Instead, it's strategic. It waits for the right moment to pounce. Ellie is bitten once more. She inflicts more trauma onto her body to cover up this fact. She must maintain her secret. It can never be known even by the people she trusts the most in this world. She gets her message out. She warns Maria and the city council about what she experienced. It's worth considering. The infection has evolved after twenty years. Civilization has barely held together. With this new threat, any sense of normalcy may be lost for good.
Ellie's confidence in the field attacking infected stands in sharp contrast to her hesitation over romantic feelings for Dina. It's written all over her face whenever they interact. It's obvious to the audience. Ellie doesn't want to ruin this friendship. Yet she feels this attraction. People know about her sexual orientation. Kat is the only other open lesbian in town. But Ellie has fallen in love with her best friend. Dina is in an on-again/off-again relationship with Jesse. He wants the hunters to serve as role models in the community. Ellie believes it's inevitable that Dina and Jesse will get back together. Yet it's hard to process when Dina is direct about her reciprocating these feelings with Ellie. They kiss. It's fueled by drugs and alcohol. As such, plenty of uncertainty looms too. Plus, it's disrupted first by Seth's homophobia and then Joel's violence. Once more, Joel feels it is his duty to protect Ellie. She declares that she doesn't need his help. He only made the situation worse. It was embarrassing and irrational. It didn't actually help fix anything. Plus, it deprived Ellie and Dina of the time to process all that they are feeling. Instead, Joel and Ellie return home as strangers more or less. That's so startling. That's the effect lies have over time. In the moment, Joel thought he was right. But now, he has to accept responsibility of all the trauma that befalls this community because he chose one person over all of civilization. Everything will only get more intense as the fungus has invaded Jackson's broken pipes and Abby's crew has tracked down Joel.
