Article by: Showmax
The Last of Us S2, IMDb‘s most popular show on TV globally, screens on M-Net and Showmax on Mondays.
Last year, the post-apocalyptic series won seven Critics Choice Super Awards, including Best Horror and Best Superhero Series, as well as Best Actor (Pedro Pascal) and Actress (Bella Ramsey). The HBO show also collected eight Emmys and is one of IMDb’s highest-rated series of all time.
One of the most anticipated series of 2025, Season 2 has lived up to the high expectations, with a 95% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Isabela Merced, one of IMDb’s Top Stars to Watch in 2025, joins the cast this season as Ellie’s love interest, Dina. You’ll recognise her as Izabella in Transformers: The Last Knight, Isabel in Sicario 2, and Dora in the live action Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
“My first impression of Isabela was that she was so extroverted compared to me,” says Bella (Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones). “I’m quite shy and she’s so easy to be around, funny and great at talking. Just a real joy. She has such an energy that carried me throughout the whole season. It’s so important to have someone like that on set; someone who just brings a levity and wildness. She’s quite unhinged (Laughs). In a really good way! And I’m not. She helped to loosen me up a bit; she definitely is the life of the party.”
Bella believes this dynamic spilled over into their characters’ mutual attraction. “They really balance each other out, similarly to me and Isabela. Ellie has sort of a hard heart, and her emotions are quite repressed; Dina’s aren’t as much. Dina brings out a lightness to Ellie that I think taps back into her childishness and kid joy. I love how their relationship blossoms and develops.”
“I can’t wait for people to see Ellie and Dina’s relationship develop over this season,” says Emmy winner Craig Mazin (Chernobyl), the show’s co-creator, executive producer, writer and director. “Bella and Isabela together are just magical; it’s quite a thing to watch. People talk about chemistry… boy, they’re fun. And boy, do we need a little bit of that in a show like ours.”
He’s quick to point out their unique context. “Ellie’s in an interesting position. The world essentially ended in 2003; it hasn’t experienced the progress that we’ve experienced in the last 22 years,” says Craig. “And even though Ellie is not ‘closeted,’ she has never lived in a world where there are pride flags. In fact Ellie and Dina encounter the flags this season and have no idea what they are. Dina also doesn’t quite know what to do about the fact that she doesn’t have a sexuality that everybody seems to call normal. So the two of them are struggling their way towards something.”
“Ellie is impulsive, but powerful. She is fearless. She has a superpower, which is immunity. She is decisive and that is attractive,” says Craig. “Dina is a lot of other things. She’s smart, fun, charming, shrewd, careful and strategic. They need each other. They complement each other. Beautifully. “
Other new cast members this season include Oscar nominee Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction), Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), Emmy nominees Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable) and Young Mazino (Beef), and Ariela Barer, Danny Ramirez, and Tati Gabrielle, three more of IMDb’s Top Stars to Watch in 2025.
The Last of Us Season 2 premiered on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) at 21:00 on 14 April 2025, with new episodes on Mondays, express from the US. It’s also available to stream on Showmax.
Watch the trailer, which has over 34m views:
