At the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards, there were quite a few critical darlings that didn’t fare nearly as well as they had in previous years. HBO’s The Last of Us, the most celebrated video game adaptation of the last half-decade, falls into this category big time. While the first season earned 24 nominations and 8 wins during Emmy Award season in 2023, the second season took home just one.While that disparity can be attributed to some of the luster wearing off as the show enters its second season, a clearer reason why season two didn’t reach the same mark is the lengthy narrative of its source material and the decision to split it into two disjointed parts.Before breaking down the issues with season two, it's important to break down why exactly The Last of Us season one was such a revelation for new viewers. The show follows Joel and Ellie, two flawed but likable characters who build a believable relationship over the course of an arduous journey. That relationship builds to a crescendo that pulls the rug out from under the viewer with a disturbing choice that recontextualizes what viewers may have felt about its older male lead.The simplicity of the first game is what made it a slam dunk for television. | Naughty DogThe Last of Us may be derivative of post-apocalyptic stories like The Road. But it represents one of the best cinematic narratives in gaming, one that needed little tweaking when translated for the small screen. Leaving the viewer with the open-ended question of whether Joel was justified in his actions is as masterful and effective as it was in 2013. Expanding on certain characters like Bill was also a wise decision for the television adaptation, adding more humanity to the dire setting in a way the game never could.The Last of Us season 2 was never going to have that pitch-perfect simplicity on its side. From the very start, it was tasked with adapting a much more ambitious narrative of 2020’s The Last Of Us Part 2, which isn’t as focused and TV-ready as its predecessor. It juggles Ellie’s quest for revenge, a full breakdown of the circumstantial doppelganger Ellie is hunting, and the larger conflict between two new warring factions in the Pacific Northwest, before reaching its brutal ending.The Last of Us Part 2’s story just barely fits into its 30-hour runtime, let alone the typical 10-episode arc of a modern television show. I don’t envy the showrunners trying to come up with a solution to this problem. But how they ultimately decided to tell this story wasn’t the success it needed to be.The Last of Us season two follows the plot of the second game very closely, to a fault. | HBOSeason 2 takes the first third of the sequel game, which tells Ellie’s part of the story, and stuffs it into just seven episodes. Sure, this allows Ellie’s trauma and slow descent into madness to breathe. But there’s something noticeably weird about it all: The season introduces Abby early on, but does basically nothing with her until the final moments of the season. Ellie’s emotional journey so far is impactful, but it does little to move the plot forward. Instead, it lays the foundation for understanding who Ellie is as an adult, something that won’t pay off until much later in this story.Other shows like Squid Game have proven that a truncated season that ends on a cliffhanger can work. However, that show had just six months between its two concluding seasons. The Last of Us isn’t expected to return until 2027. That’s a preposterous two-year gap after season two spent most of its time setting things up for the big conclusion. It’s even more ludicrous when you consider a big chunk of the next season will likely spend most of its time delving into Abby’s background and recounting the exact same events of season two from her perspective (with a few Seraphite-filled detours, of course).The showrunners have confirmed that the show is planned for four seasons. If the game and this show’s incredibly long production cycle are anything to go by, The Last of Us may not provide a proper ending to this story until 2028 at the earliest. Even by television standards, this is a lot of downtime.Just to be clear, the issue here isn’t the content of this story. While The Last of Us Part 2’s unorthodox storytelling has its issues, it mostly succeeds as a video game. However, the show doesn’t have the best stealth and combat mechanics of the decade to fill in the downtime. Dividing this saga between three seasons accentuates the cracks in this shaky foundation. It exposes just how little this story moves forward despite how many events take place. The second season doesn’t feel like a cohesive story told through television like the first. Instead, it feels like a setup for much better television to come. It’s very watchable, as the performances from the cast are as electric as ever. But when up against shows like The Pitt and Severance, The Last of Us takes a noticeable step back from what worked the first time around. Only time and future seasons will tell if this will all be worth it.The Last of Us returns in 2027.