The Last of Us’ Season 2, Episode 1: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

The Last of Us” began with a prologue that set up everything about to happen, in the episode and in the series. In a scene set in 1968, a scientist explained that his greatest fear was that a warming planet would provide the perfect incubating conditions for a mind-controlling fungus that could turn humans into brainless killers. There is obviously more to “The Last of Us” than just, “What if there were mushroom zombies?” But that idea put the plot in motion.