The Last Of Us' Stalkers Explained: What The Smarter Infected Mean For Season 2

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 1, and The Last of Us Part II.

The Last of Us’ season 2 premiere introduces a terrifying “smarter” variant of the infected known as stalkers. The first season of The Last of Us already introduced plenty of frightening infected types, like runners, who are pretty much just regular zombies; clickers, who have been infected for so long that they’ve grown a crusty suit of armor around themselves; and bloaters, who are the Cordyceps equivalent of the Incredible Hulk. But the show isn’t done scaring audiences with different types of zombie. In The Last of Us season 2, episode 1, “Future Days,” Ellie discovers yet another infected variant.

One of the biggest complaints about The Last of Us season 1 is that it didn’t feature enough infected. In the games, the infected are lurking around every corner — they’re a constant threat — but in the TV show, they hardly ever show up. Season 2 is already answering that complaint in its first episode, with Tommy’s sharpshooting lesson and the promise that a swarm of infected is on its way to Jackson. Ellie encounters a brand-new kind of infected in the supermarket sequence, and it could mean big things for the season.

The Last Of Us Season 2 Introduces "Smarter" Infected In Episode 1's Supermarket Scene

When Ellie Falls Onto The Shop Floor, She's Stalked By A Silent Infected

When Ellie and Dina are out on patrol, they follow a blood trail to a bear that’s been ripped apart by infected. They chase the well-fed infected into a nearby supermarket. From the Greenplace Market signage to the canine employee of the month to the beer bottle that Ellie throws as a distraction, this supermarket is full of video game Easter eggs. After Ellie and Dina have taken out the infected on the upper floor of the supermarket, Ellie falls through the floor onto the ground floor, just like she does in the game.

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As Ellie waits for Dina to find a way down to her, she comes to the haunting realization that she’s not alone; there’s an infected in there with her. But it’s not a standard runner or a clicker or even a bloater — it’s something else. This infected moves silently in the background, following Ellie through the store, biding its time as it strategizes. When Ellie spots the infected, she expects it to come running at her like a runner or clicker would, but it just hangs back and stares at her from behind a shelf.

She says it’s smarter than the other infected, and that it did what a human would do: it sneaked around, took cover, and planned its attack.

Later, at a council meeting in Jackson, Ellie testifies that this was a new kind of infected she’s never encountered before. She says it’s smarter than the other infected, and that it did what a human would do: it sneaked around, took cover, and planned its attack. While Ellie, Dina, and the Jackson council have no idea what this thing is, players of the game know exactly what it is: a stalker. Ellie mentions that this infected was “stalking” her around the store, which is likely how its name will be coined in the show.

Stalkers Are The Last Of Us' Second Stage Of Infected

In Between A Runner & A Clicker

Stalkers are the second stage of infected in The Last of Us. The first stage is a runner, the second stage is a stalker, the third stage is a clicker, the fourth stage is a bloater, and the fifth stage — a shambler, essentially a bloater filled with acid spores — has yet to be featured in the TV show. It’s no surprise that the team behind the HBO show waited until season 2 to introduce stalkers. While there are a couple of stalkers to be found in the first game, they don’t appear prominently until The Last of Us Part II.

How Stalkers' Behavior & Strengths Compare To Other Infected In The Last Of Us

Stalkers Are The Worst Of Both Worlds

Aside from bloaters and shamblers, who are essentially mini-bosses, stalkers are arguably the peskiest infected to fight in The Last of Us games. Runners are faster than clickers, but they’re much weaker. Clickers are much harder to kill, but they’re slow and uncoordinated. Stalkers are the worst of both worlds: they have the strength and durability of a clicker, with the agility of a runner. Just like in the TV show, they often hide around corners, staring at you, waiting for the right time to pounce. Frankly, an encounter with 20 runners is preferable to an encounter with three stalkers.

Stalkers are the worst of both worlds: they have the strength and durability of a clicker, with the agility of a runner.

The stalkers’ behavior is much creepier than their fellow infected, too. Runners and clickers usually stand in place until they’re disturbed, but stalkers are much more active. They’re not blind like clickers — they can see in the dark — so they skulk around, looking for trouble. In most infected encounters, the player is required to sneak up behind the infected and catch them by surprise. But the stalkers sneak up behind you, so you have to find a different strategy (standing in a narrow hallway with a loaded shotgun usually works).

What Stalkers Mean For The Last Of Us Season 2

The Infected Encounters Are About To Get Even Scarier

Ellie wrestles with a stalker in The Last of Us Part II

The introduction of stalkers in The Last of Us season 2 won’t have much of an impact on the plot, but it will make the infected encounters even scarier. Runners and clickers fall under the same category as the typically mindless zombies from The Walking Dead and the films of George A. Romero. But stalkers are different; they’re capable of intelligent thought, which makes them much more dangerous and much tougher to defeat.

Some of The Last of Us Part II’s most thrilling action sequences involve stalkers. When Ellie is on her way to the hospital to confront Nora, she has to sneak through a pitch-black office floor infested with stalkers. When Abby and Lev are descending through a bombed-out hotel that’s become a festering hive of infected, they’re constantly surprised by stalkers that have grown into the walls. That last one probably won’t be featured until season 3, but the introduction of stalkers in season 2 means it’s likely to happen.

Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us

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The TV show is making a slight change to the stalkers’ role in the story in that Ellie’s encounter with a stalker seems to be the first time anyone has encountered one. In the games, stalkers are common knowledge, so everyone knows how to handle them. But in The Last of Us season 2, everyone coming face-to-face with a stalker will be green and inexperienced — and they’re already tough enough for a seasoned stalker slayer to take down.