Revisiting the Gut-Wrenching Season Finale of HBO’s “The Last of Us”

Some critics have taken the acclaimed HBO series to task for allegedly abandoning its trademark realism at the close of Season 1. A closer look suggests that such criticisms are unfounded.

ABOVE: Bella Ramsey as Ellie Williams and Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller in HBO’s The Last of Us, a show based on the critically acclaimed PlayStation 3 video game of the same name (created by Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment).

{Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first season of HBO’s The Last of Us.}

The Last of Us may wel…