Is The Last of Us woke?
TV Show · 2025
The Last of Us has a wokeness score of 8/10, which we rate as Strongly Ideological. Woke messaging is very prominent and often feels forced or shoehorned in. Characters and plot are primarily shaped to serve the ideology. Many viewers feel the agenda overshadows the entertainment.
Key points
- Ellie and Dina’s lesbian relationship and ‘gonna be a dad’ line push gender role subversion as a core plot driver.
- Diverse casting and character focus emphasize identity and representation over traditional survival narrative.
- Revenge and trauma themes reframed through progressive lenses on morality, family, and sexuality.
Wokeness analysis
Season 2 of The Last of Us adapts the controversial elements of the video game The Last of Us Part II, amplifying progressive messaging around identity, relationships, and gender dynamics in a post-apocalyptic setting. The central storyline revolves around Ellie’s lesbian relationship with Dina, including intimate scenes and dialogue that emphasize non-traditional family structures, such as Ellie declaring she will be a dad. This framing has drawn significant backlash for prioritizing identity politics over survival horror and character-driven narrative. Casting choices and character portrayals further highlight diversity in a manner that critics argue feels forced, with strong female leads and queer representation positioned as central rather than organic to the story. Conservative viewers and reviewers have described the season as agenda-driven, with themes of revenge, trauma, and moral ambiguity twisted to serve ideological points about gender roles and sexuality. The messaging often interrupts the pacing and tension, making entertainment secondary to social commentary on modern progressive values. While the source material contains some of these elements, the HBO adaptation intensifies them through expanded dialogue and visual emphasis, leading many to view it as heavily ideological rather than a straightforward adaptation focused on story and action.
Plot
Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie have settled in the community of Jackson, Wyoming. Their relationship strains under the weight of Joel’s past lies about the events at the hospital. Ellie, now a young adult, begins a romantic relationship with Dina. Conflict escalates when Abby, seeking revenge for her father’s death at Joel’s hands, attacks their community. Ellie and Dina pursue Abby to Seattle, leading to a cycle of violence, loss, and moral reckoning amid infected threats and rival factions. The season explores themes of revenge, loyalty, and survival in a collapsing world.
Analyzed by AI on July 26, 2026