The Last of Us drops bombshell scene in emotional penultimate episode

The Last of Us may have just delivered its most emotional episode ever – which is saying a lot. But one scene may have felt out of place.

Spoiler warning for The Last of Us, through to episode six of the second season

There is one scene in the latest, flashback-heavy episode of The Last of Us, that series co-creator Neil Druckmann says is “fundamental” to the story.

As is typical of most such scenes in this show, there is neither action nor danger. It’s just two people, Joel and Ellie, having a quiet conversation on a porch.

In The Last of Us Part II, the game upon which the show’s second and (yet to be filmed) third seasons are based, this porch flashback comes right, right at the end of the story. And it conveys one final, emotional wallop of information that’s been withheld from the player for more than 20 hours. The credits roll barely a minute afterwards.

That wallop, in short: Ellie did talk to Joel one more time before he was murdered.

The scene in the game. Picture: Naughty Dog

And its equivalent in the show. Picture: Max

Their conversation, which we watch in a flashback, includes two important revelations.

One: Joel tells Ellie that, given a “second chance” at the moment when he decided to mow through a hospital full of Fireflies to save her life, he would “do it all over again”. Knowing that it was not what she wanted. And knowing that it would wreck their relationship.

Two: Ellie says she’s unsure whether she can ever forgive him, but adds that she’d “like to try”. So the pair were going to attempt to reconcile – only to be robbed of that chance when he was killed a few short hours later.

Druckmann, who directed both episode six and the video game, and series co-runner Craig Mazin have shifted the scene way forward here, to just before the halfway mark of the plot. They’ve given viewers that critical information much sooner. Why?

Pedro Pascal with some typically resonant acting. Picture: Max

Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Picture: Max

“It actually wasn’t a very difficult choice to move it,” says Druckmann.

“When we were making the game, we knew we wanted that scene. We didn’t know where that scene should land, and for a long time, it lived in a different part. It wasn’t at the end of the game.

“Only once we were working on the very, very end of the game, our editorial team at Naughty Dog (the game studio) had this idea to put it there, and it worked. It worked great for the game.

“However, in the show there were different kinds of considerations than you have when you make a game.”

The splitting of The Last of Us Part II into a pair of seasons, necessitated by its far longer runtime than the original game, was definitely a factor.

“Because we knew we wouldn’t finish the story this season, then there is potentially a multi-year gap until that story continues. And it felt too long to have certain setups here with Joel and Ellie, especially once people see where the story goes to, then wait to get the pay-offs of the porch scene years later,” says Druckmann.

“It just became very clear to me that it makes sense to pull it up, as we enter this climactic part of Ellie’s journey in Seattle. To give the additional context of what Ellie knew.”

Neil Druckmann. Picture: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO

He mentioned that a couple of the story’s themes are reinforced by said “additional context”, those themes being “trauma” and “forgiveness”.

I want to skirt around that disclosure a bit, rather than dive fully into it, in the name of avoiding spoilers for elements of the story going forward.

Let’s just say this: the marketing for Part II, back before the game’s release in 2020, gave people the impression that its dominant theme was vengeance, and the cycle of violence it creates. That was an oversimplification.

Its themes do, as Druckmann said, circle around forgiveness, including self-forgiveness. Just something to keep in mind as you head forward into the finale, and then into the third season, particularly during more confronting moments.

“There are certain things I could tell you. It’s not just going to be action-packed, because that is not The Last of Us,” Druckmann says, carefully, when asked what viewers should expect in the show’s next season.

“The Last of Us is drama. We use even the action to move the drama forward.”

Translation: it’s not about the action. It’s not about the violence. Those are storytelling vehicles. It’s ultimately about what is going on inside the characters’ heads.

Which is why the porch scene’s placement will jar with existing fans, who understand its deeper meaning.

Whether the shift works, or ondoes some of the story’s thematic work, we shan’t be able to judge one way or the other until the next season’s finale in a couple of years.

Twitter: @SamClench

The Last of Us airs on Max, with new episodes releasing each Monday

Originally published as The Last of Us drops bombshell scene in emotional penultimate episode