The Last Of Us Season 2 Recruited One Of HBO’s Biggest Directors For That Devastating Second Episode – SlashFilm

This publish comprises main spoilers for “The Last of Us” season 2, episode 2.

The second season of “The Last of Us” simply dropped its second episode, and HBO employed their very own private grim reaper to direct one of the crucial harrowing hours in latest TV reminiscence. 

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Followers of the Naughty Canine online game sequence knew this bombshell was coming, however beneath the route of Mark Mylod, a person who’s helmed episodes of “Recreation of Thrones” and “Succession” (amongst different reveals on the premium community), it was significantly brutal to observe the occasions of this episode. Not solely did we see a large assault from a veritable military of contaminated, violent, and ravenous cordyceps zombies on the protected human settlement in Jackson, Wyoming, however that is the episode the place Joel Miller, the story’s ostensible hero performed by Pedro Pascal, is brutally murdered by Abby, a brand new-this-season character performed by Kaitlyn Dever.

There is no query that is probably the most viscerally upsetting episode of “The Last of Us” to this point (which is saying one thing; the present’s not precisely enjoyable and breezy). So what is the significance of Mylod directing this specific installment? I referred to the director and producer as HBO’s grim reaper, however he wasn’t all the time a harbinger of dying on the community’s numerous reveals. He really began out with “Entourage” — which, you recognize, is not his fault! All of us make errors and even work crappy jobs. Ultimately he moved on to “Recreation of Thrones,” the place he tended to direct episodes that arrange main character beats fairly than ones that includes large battles.

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Past “Entourage,” “The Affair,” and each the UK and American variations of “Shameless,” Mark Mylod rose to prominence as a director who may deal with large episodes of TV dramas because of “Recreation of Thrones.” Mylod began directing for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ massively widespread sequence in 2015 throughout the present’s fifth season, helming the episodes “Excessive Sparrow” and “Sons of the Harpy,” which introduce the Excessive Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) and his spiritual acolytes and, within the case of the latter episode, sees a key character dying (Ian McElhinney’s Ser Barristan Selmy, who’s attacked and killed by a violent group often called, properly, the Sons of the Harpy). Mylod returned for season 6 to direct “The Damaged Man,” which reveals that Rory McCann’s Sandor Clegane remains to be alive, and the next episode “No One,” the place Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) leaves Braavos and her faceless murderer courses behind. Lastly, within the present’s penultimate seventh season, Mylod directed the second and third episodes, “Stormborn” and “The Queen’s Justice,” which deliver Jon Snow (Equipment Harington) to satisfy with would-be Queen of Westeros, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), setting off an enemies-to-lovers scenario and constructing one of many present’s greatest late-stage alliances.

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The cause I am going over Mylod’s “Recreation of Thrones” credit like I am a strolling, typing IMDb web page is as an example that none of Mylod’s episodes of the sequence are significantly large installments. In reality, a variety of them are merely installments that put the items into place for large episodes that observe. With that in thoughts, you may be considering that Mylod would not be the apparent selection for the second episode of season 2 of “The Last of Us,” which is likely one of the most vital outings of your entire present so far. That’s the place Mylod’s work on “Succession” comes into play, although. After making his mark on “Recreation of Thrones,” Mylod moved on to a different status HBO drama … and proved that he is the proper individual to direct massively vital episodes.

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Mark Mylod labored on Jesse Armstrong’s universally adored drama “Succession” as a producer for everything of the present’s run, however he additionally directed some significantly pivotal episodes of the sequence. In reality, here is one thing actually outstanding: Mylod directed all 4 of the season finales of “Succession,” and in case you’ve watched the present, you recognize full properly that “Succession” actually excelled at finales. He additionally directed the third episode of the fourth and remaining season, “Connor’s Wedding ceremony,” which is now notorious for that includes the shock bombshell dying of Roy household patriarch Logan (Brian Cox). Armstrong and Mylod labored collectively to create a masterpiece with this specific installment; Logan’s unceremonious dying occurs offscreen as his kids Shiv, Kendall, and Roman (Sarah Snook, Jeremy Sturdy, and Kieran Culkin) react in seemingly actual time as Mylod rigorously makes use of a static location and three terribly highly effective actors to create one of the crucial beautiful hours of tv in latest reminiscence.

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In between helming episodes of “Succession” like “All of the Bells Say” and “Church and State,” Mylod additionally directed the film “The Menu,” which proved that he can deal with brutal violence with type and aplomb. That is all to say that, for the episode of “The Last of Us” that options Joel’s brutal dying, Mylod was an ideal selection, and viewers ought to begin feeling only a little anxious once they see his identify connected to main HBO episodes as a director.

New episodes of “The Last of Us” season 2 air on Sundays at 9 P.M. ET on Max and HBO.