Ellie’s journey of revenge reaches its messiest point in The Last Of Us episode 7. Our thoughts on the finale.
Warning! Heavy spoilers for previous episodes of The Last Of Us, but none for this week’s episode!
Before we dig into the final episode of The Last Of Us season 2, let’s take a moment to reflect on what we’ve been watching for the past several weeks. The season has been controversial, surprising, not always pleasant or consistent, but it’s certainly been interesting. Co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann can’t be accused of playing things safe this time around and even if not all their choices have paid off, it’s been a season to remember.
Druckmann and Mazin have constantly proved their not afraid to diverge from the game’s narrative and last week’s episode made it clear the pair are interested in more than just the game’s theme of destructive cycle of violence and revenge. Slowly, but surely, The Last Of Us has become much more about parenthood and what we pass on to our kids as proved by last week’s flashback episode.
Despite the fact that we catch up with Ellie, Dina and Jesse back in present day in Seattle, the theme of parenthood isn’t forgotten, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Ellie returns to the theatre somewhat traumatised by what she did to Nora in episode 5. “I thought it would be harder to do,” Ellie mutters as Dina cleans the cuts and bruises on her back.
She is, of course, referring to the fact that she chased Nora down to the hospital’s basement, where the cordyceps fungus covers the walls, turning its victims as part of it, leaving them to exhale deadly spores. Ellie beat Nora mercilessly, torturing her for information. Now, what separates her from Abby? From the Wolves, the Seraphites? Violence is a given in the world of The Last Of Us, but inhumanity is a choice.
Not that Ellie has learned anything from her own cruelty. She’s still completely blinded by her strong, yet misguided sense of justice. She argues with Jesse about saving a Seraphite kid who is dragged away by Wolves and eventually chooses her own need for revenge instead of her family. This Ellie is far from the innocent, lively young girl we met last season.
Read more: The Last Of Us | Craig Mazin confirms that season 4 will happen
Selfishness is another strong theme this season. What makes Ellie such a fascinating protagonist is that we understand her point of view, but we rarely agree with her actions. Director Nina Lopez-Corrado makes sure to often frame Ellie from a slightly higher angle, highlighting how small she is. She might be able to operate a gun, but there’s something inherently wrong about it as her hands shake ever so slightly and her voice trembles as she demands to know Abby’s whereabouts.
Bella Ramsey’s Ellie has largely been more childlike throughout the second season, at least compared to her game counterpart. Game Ellie was fuelled by white hot fury and you were forced to commit horrific violence while playing as her while the TV show emphasises how young she still is, how inexperienced. It’s clearly a choice made by Mazin, Druckmann and Ramsey and it’s understandably annoyed some viewers who were expecting a more familiar character after season 1 adapted the first game so loyally.
If you’re able to get on board with a slightly different Ellie, Ramsey is nothing short of remarkable in this final episode. They pour every ounce of desperation, grief and anger into the character, who can only see one goal; kill Abby. She is willing to sacrifice her own values in order to avenge Joel’s death, but as the episode points out, it comes at a price she wasn’t expecting to pay.
Even with all of its positives, The Last Of Us season 2 finale is still a mixed bag. There’s still a strong sense that Druckmann and Mazin haven’t entirely figured out how to streamline the game’s narrative while still making it a faithful adaptation, at least in essence. The whole season has felt extremely rushed, like they’re trying to get through some necessary plot bits and onto the good stuff which we likely won’t see until next season anyway.
Episode 7 does little to fix that feeling. At 49 minutes, the finale is the shortest episode this season and it shows. It’s over before you know it and major, character-changing moments barely have room to breathe. We’re left flabbergasted, not because of what happens, but how swiftly it’s dealt with. The narrative, thematic weight is there in theory, but we can’t quite get the hang of it.
The Last Of Us season 2 finale sets up the third season before the credits roll. We’re in for another fascinating, character-driven season, but if The Last Of Us wants to be remembered not just as a great video game adaptation, but a great TV show, Mazin and Druckmann need to slow down.
All episodes of The Last Of Us are now streaming on Sky and NOW.
