One of the best parts of HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us is that it avoids being a shot-for-shot remake. The powers that be know that the games have been out for years and that a decent number of their viewers have already played them, so they decide to keep everyone on their toes. The most obvious way they do that is by exploring characters who didn’t get a lot of love in the games and giving them new allies or enemies. A great example is Eugene, who’s dead by the time Season 2 of the HBO series begins and lives on through his wife, Gail. While she doesn’t appear in the games, she’s a great addition to the cast and fills an important role, just like another character who debuts in Season 2, Episode 4, “Day One.”
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The beginning of “Day One” focuses on Isaac Dixon, a FEDRA sergeant who gives up his power and joins the Washington Liberation Front, aka the WLF. He shows how ruthless he is by killing nearly all of the soldiers under his command with a grenade. However, he gives one a choice, and that moment sets up a major return later on.
Isaac Shows All of His Cards in The Last of Us Season 2
The Last of Us is never shy about showing how cruel people can be. David is ready to do unspeakable things to Ellie in Season 1, while Season 2 proves how twisted the conflict between the Scars and the WLF is becoming in Seattle. “Day One” also spends time with another ruthless group, FEDRA, in the past. A group of soldiers, led by Isaac, is in an armored vehicle and cracks plenty of jokes about the people they’re supposed to be protecting. The power has gone to their heads, and Isaac calls them out on it before he departs the vehicle and meets up with his contact with the WLF. However, before Isaac dooms them all, he asks one soldier, Burton, who clearly has some humanity left in him, to come outside with him. Isaac kills everyone and allows Burton to choose whether to join the WLF or die. The show cuts away before Burton picks a side, but a quick moment later in the episode shines light on the situation.
In modern-day, Isaac is at the top of the food chain, torturing a Seraphite for information about their upcoming attacks on the WLF. He’s clearly even more disillusioned with the world than he was in the flashback, which makes him incredibly dangerous. The look on the face of one of the soldiers outside the door proves as much, but when he looks to his ally nearby for reassurance, he doesn’t get it. The other soldier turns out to be Burton, who isn’t the same kid from his FEDRA days eleven years prior.
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Survival Comes at the Cost of Humanity in The Last of Us
While the first season of The Last of Us doesn’t show any of it, Joel makes it clear that he and Tommy had to do messed-up stuff in the early days of the outbreak. It got so bad that Tommy left behind the only loved one he had because he just couldn’t take it anymore. Joel turns over a new leaf eventually, but that dark side is always with him, and it becomes part of Ellie, too. The world of The Last of Us doesn’t allow good people to survive, and whether Burton realizes that at the time, his chances of living if he doesn’t go with Isaac are close to none. However, even though he makes the right choice for his own survival, Burton essentially makes a deal with the devil.
When the show catches up to Burton in modern-day, the light in his eyes is no longer there. He feels nothing after he hears the gunshot from the other room and even refers to the Scar Isaac kills as an “animal.” It’s a hard moment to watch, but it serves its purpose because Ellie finds herself in a similar conundrum to Burton at the beginning of the episode: take the high road or give in to the darkness.
The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming on Max.
Were you surprised that Burton took Isaac’s deal in The Last of Us Season 2? Do you think Burton will return in a future episode? Let us know in the comments below.
