Anyone else need more time to recover?
We’re going to jump straight into the story on this one so if you don’t want spoilers now is your only warning to turn away!
SPOILERS!
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HBO, where do I send my next 3 therapy bills?
It’s the episode everyone who played the games had been dreading and whilst the outcome remains the same, the approach is different. For everyone who didn’t play the games or didn’t know this was coming, how’re you doing? You alright?
Abby’s intentions are made pretty clear from the outset that she’s out for vengeance against Joel after the events at Salt Lake with the Firefly’s. There are a few changes from the game in this episode, such as the attack on Jackson and swapping out Tommy for Dina for Joels capture. Something I appreciated being changed, the relationship between Dina & Joel in-game is nearly non-existent so seeing them get sometime together is a nice change,
What this episode does well is the real sense of dread and fear the show gives the audience in anticipation of Abby and crew finding Joel, the horde of infected out in the snow, and the incredible action set piece of the horde attacking Jackson. The sense of dread was palpable up until the moment it happened. The last 15-minutes felt like my heart was in my throat I was praying the show didn’t go down the same path as the game, but then of course, out came the golf club.
The cast for this episode all brought out their a-game but there are somethings worth praising and noting and there are two cast members I want to talk about. The anguish and anger that Kaitlyn Dever shows towards Joel is something the audience can feel through the screen and should be commended for her display of realistic rage & grief. The tortured fear and dread that Bella Ramsey shows in Joels final moments are likely to haunt many viewers with those pleads and cries. A few key changes though; in-game Abby is built like a John Cena stand-in and that display of physical strength leads to a sense of real danger, and fear for the characters wishing to hunt her down. This is something I’ve found lacking in show as Kaitlyn Dever seems less like a force of nature, but whilst less intimidating I feel this Abby is more human right away, which will compliment Abby’s story later in the show. Bella Ramsey still feels like a young child-like Ellie, not the grizzled fighter that we come to see in the game but I feel that’s deliberately done in this episode specifically. Displaying Ellie as this fun child-like individual makes the horrible events at the end of the episode more impactful. It really helps convey the feeling that Ellie was stripped of her innocence and childhood, I’m interested to see in the coming weeks if Ellie’s childish nature displayed in this episode is gone in later episodes to show that shift to pure rage.
Moving into our next episode the one cast member I’m wanting to see more from is Gabriel Luna. In this episode we got to see Tommy in action some more, something we’re sure to see more of. But as of right now Luna’s Tommy has been a more laid-back performance, and whilst we’ve seen Tommy fight we’ve not yet seen Tommy vengeful. This is certainly something we know they can do but we’ve not yet seen in The Last of Us. I’m confident that Bella Ramsey and Kaitlyn Dever will deliver nuanced performances as things progress, but I’m curious to see how Gabriel Luna plays Tommy in the coming weeks.
Despite how genuinely horrific this episode was, and how much I really understand people wanting to call it an end to their time with this show after this, all I ask is that you persist. Give it time. Despite how horrible things are currently, and how many more gut punches are coming, the story at its core is immensely important. The Last of Us from the outset has played with the idea that no single person is purely good or purely bad, everyone operates in shades of grey, everyone can mostly be understood. We know why Abby killed Joel, and whether or not you like it or not, we all can understand why she would feel like the hero in her story. Give it time, it’s painful now but the story of grief is one everyone will experience at one-point or another, and this season’s story is about empathy for others just as much as it is about the consequences of one’s past.
Lastly, my biggest concern in all of this is the reaction the actress of Abby, Kaitlyn Dever will receive. Video game performance actress, Laura Bailey, played the role of Abby and received multiple death threats to her and her at the time infant child. No one at all should receive that for just playing a character in a show or game. I hope significantly the shows audience can separate the actress from the character and not treat her the same way Laura Bailey was treated.
