McNamara

To help move us through the five stages of grief, The Times’ “Last of Us” viewers and players Mary McNamara, Tracy Brown and Todd Martens take on the pivotal second episode.

McNamara: Having just attempted to write a second-season review while hemmed in with embargo rules, I confess I am relieved to have this not-very-secret development out in the open — if nothing else, I do not like lying to my daughters, even through omission, as they pelted me with questions about Pascal’s, I mean, Joel’s fate.

McNamara: Paul Reubens, Christopher Lloyd … the list goes on.

McNamara: My first day of work was just after my 10th birthday, and my last was on my 17th birthday.

McNamara: I have long been a fan of creator Mike White’s dark humor — his ability to find grace in chaos and see the corruption lurking beneath a placid and beautiful surface.