'The Last of Us' Season 2, Episode 6: The root of Ellie's anger and estrangement

This communicative contains galore spoilers for “The Last of Us” Season 2, Episode 6.

The infected person learned to stalk and sprint. The Cordyceps fungus is present airborne. And Joel (Pedro Pascal) isn’t immortal. The archetypal 5 episodes of “The Last of Us” offered up respective caller threats and astatine slightest 1 large death. Deep into its 2nd season, HBO’s bid adaptation of the fashionable video crippled remains existent to its namesake by sending its protagonist Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and her spouse Dina (Isabela Merced) connected a revenge ngo from their fortified compound successful Wyoming to the wilds of Seattle. Their purpose is to find Joel’s killer, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). But the Pacific Northwest presents challenges beyond cauliflower-headed soma eaters and deadly mean girls. The brutal struggle betwixt the Washington Liberation Front and the primitive spiritual cult the Seraphites makes Ellie’s ngo each the much unsafe and analyzable — and the show’s imagery much gruesome.

Episode 6 brought Joel backmost from the dormant successful a bid of flashbacks that gave penetration into his unsocial parenting skills, revealed the lawsuit that triggered the rift betwixt Joel and Ellie and uncovers what happened to therapist Gail’s (Catherine O’Hara’s) husband, Eugene (Joe Pantoliano). While connected patrol, Eugene was bitten by the infected. Ellie made Joel committedness helium would not termination Eugene until helium had the accidental to accidental goodbye to his wife. But erstwhile Ellie leaves for a infinitesimal to retrieve their horses, Joel breaks the promise.

Like Episode 3 of Season 1, Sunday’s installment of the bid was the uncommon occurrence that deviated from the game’s communicative to archer a deeper communicative astir the characters. Beginning astatine Ellie’s 15th day and moving done consequent ones, the occurrence chronicled the shifting dynamic successful the main characters’ father-daughter relationship, from a choky enslaved betwixt orphan and her adopted protector to adjacent estrangement.

Lorraine Ali, Tracy Brown and Mary McNamara gathered to sermon the latest occurrence of the spore-filled thriller.

The root of hostility betwixt Gail (Catherine O’Hara) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) is revealed successful Episode 6.

(Liane Hentscher / HBO)

Ali: “The Last of Us” features flesh-eating zombie-like things and death-worshipping cults, but I emotion that the existent panic astatine the bosom of Season 2 is the imaginable of parenting a teen. The taxable astatine the halfway of Episode 6 was mostly centered connected the fraught father-daughter dynamic betwixt Joel and Ellie and the dangers of passing down generational trauma. We adjacent get immoderate backstory connected Joel’s unsmooth childhood, though I privation determination had been much connected that front.

What we bash get a batch more of is Ellie’s hostility toward Joel, and it’s exhausting successful ways that the showrunners astir apt ne'er intended. Naturally determination is plentifulness of ire successful Ellie arsenic she hurtles toward adulthood successful a hopeless hellscape with an assassin/guardian who’s repeatedly lied to her. But present that she’s the pb quality of the series, I request much from Ellie than conscionable 1 oregon 2 gears of rage and scorn, particularly fixed the complexity of their relationship.

Joel killed to prevention her and doomed humanity successful the process! A enslaved forged successful specified calamity should animate a truckload of emotions, adjacent successful a defiant teen who’s inactive clumsy astatine expressing her feelings. But that extent oregon nuance conscionable wasn’t determination for me, adjacent erstwhile the bid cued america up for specified moments. The flashbacks to Ellie’s day celebrations with Joel felt similar explainers of however the 2 grew isolated arsenic opposed to affectional snapshots that captured the roots of their estrangement. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the astonishing extent and quality of Season 1? I miss the panic and joyousness of that abandoned mall.

Brown: It’s absorbing that you notation the abandoned mall, Lorraine, due to the fact that I deliberation that’s what it each comes backmost to for Ellie. I don’t cognize if it’s due to the fact that I’ve spent galore hours playing arsenic Ellie successful “The Last of Us” games, oregon due to the fact that I recognize what it’s similar to beryllium an angsty teen overmuch much than being a parent, but I thought Episode 6 did assistance shed immoderate airy connected Ellie and Joel’s behaviors and dynamic.

Back successful Episode 4, portion trying to explicate her immunity to the Cordyceps fungus to Dina, Ellie mentions that determination are a batch of the times she wishes she wasn’t immune. In this latest episode, we larn that 1 of the reasons Ellie is aggravated with Joel is due to the fact that helium lied to her astir what happened backmost successful Salt Lake City with the Fireflies. But she’s besides huffy astatine him due to the fact that helium took distant the 1 happening she thought could springiness her beingness and immunity purpose. “My beingness would person mattered, but you took that from me,” she says to him connected their porch, successful what appears to person been their precise past conversation.

We cognize that Joel’s been shaped by the guilt of not being capable to prevention his girl Sarah astatine the commencement of the outbreak. For Ellie, I deliberation the nonaccomplishment that’s affected her the astir is Riley and the guilt of surviving their travel to that abandoned mall. If she wasn’t immune, Ellie would person died that time with her champion person and archetypal love. Because she didn’t, she needed thing to assistance warrant wherefore she’s inactive alive. What greater meaning could idiosyncratic find for their beingness successful a satellite ravaged by a pandemic than to beryllium the crushed humanity is capable to find a cure?

McNamara: I’m grateful for the occurrence if lone due to the fact that it gave my ain teenagers what they wanted astir — much Pedro Pascal. (I miss him excessively but with overmuch little passion.) But arsenic you say, Tracy, survivor’s guilt is existent and present Ellie is eyeing different affectional load — Joel was killed for actions helium took to prevention her life.

Revisiting Ellie’s birthdays was precise touching, bridging the changes successful some characters. How the hard-edge Joel from Season 1 became the softly anguished therapy diligent of Season 2. Why Ellie was truthful rude and dismissive toward him. She knew each on that helium had lied to her astir Salt Lake City, and helium suspected she knew — the presents, particularly the travel to the subject and earthy past museum, seemed arsenic motivated by emotion and penance.

On 1 of Ellie’s birthday’s, Joel takes her to a subject and earthy past museum.

(Liane Hentscher / HBO)

I besides loved their clip successful the the abstraction information of the depository due to the fact that it underlined the vagaries of quality past — this is not the archetypal precocious civilization to fall, leaving ruins behind. Joel remembers erstwhile humans traveled to the stars (and had the resources to physique museums); for Ellie, a travel from Wyoming to Seattle is conscionable arsenic fraught. They were ever fundamentally time-travelers successful each others lives.

But astir important for me, this occurrence resolved conscionable however Ellie had near it with Joel earlier Abby ruined everything. The information was yet spoken — some Joel’s and Ellie’s. That she didn’t deliberation she could forgive him but she wanted to try. That helium was taken from her earlier she could find her mode to forgiveness indispensable surely thrust immoderate of the rage, no?

Ali: OK, I officially consciousness hard-hearted, particularly since we’re discussing an occurrence designed to plumb the characters’ and viewers’ emotions. I’m gladsome Season 2 is connecting with you both, and millions much HBO and Max subscribers. Or is it HBO Max? Or plain aged HBO? Regardless, this circular of the bid is not resonating with my adult, parenting aforesaid oregon my interior sullen teen, i.e. the portion of my being that guides galore of my rash decisions and dictates my slouchy posture. That said, I bash emotion the chemistry betwixt Ellie and Dina. Their emotion and fierce loyalty toward 1 different is simply a precocious constituent of Season 2. And it looks similar they’re present going to beryllium parents.

Brown: As Ellie says, she’s going to beryllium a dad! The mode Ellie and Dina’s narration developed implicit the people of the play has been 1 of my favourite differences betwixt the amusement and the game. But speaking of the game, the day travel to the depository and the structure speech wherever Ellie tells Joel she wants to effort to forgive him that Mary mentioned are some large flashback moments straight adapted from “The Last of Us Part II” with immoderate insignificant changes. In the game, Ellie and Joel walk clip checking retired a dinosaur grounds earlier getting to the abstraction exploration exhibit, which I admit I’m a small bittersweet we did not get to see. And Ellie confronting Joel astir the information of what happened successful Salt Lake is simply a abstracted infinitesimal agelong earlier the structure speech successful the game.

Eugene (Joe Pantoliano) is changeable by Joel aft helium is bitten, breaking his committedness to Ellie to fto him unrecorded to accidental goodbye to his wife, Gail. It’s a alteration from the video game, wherever the quality dies of earthy causes.

(Liane Hentscher / HBO)

One large quality betwixt “The Last of Us Part II” and the amusement is the storyline involving Eugene and Gail. The Eugene successful the crippled was a nonmigratory of Jackson who lived retired his beingness until helium died of earthy causes successful his 70s, which is thing the younger procreation tin lone imagination of. Gail, connected the different hand, is an archetypal character, and my effect to her instauration was mostly “hooray Catherine O’Hara, hooray therapy.” Catherine O’Hara is ever a delight and it’s wide everybody surviving successful the satellite of “The Last of Us” could usage immoderate therapy. But successful Episode 6 we spot that Eugene and Gail’s communicative besides serves arsenic a flashpoint successful Joel and Ellie’s estrangement.

We already knew Joel had killed Eugene from his therapy league with Gail earlier successful the season, but what did you deliberation astir that full sequence, Mary? Did it impact your knowing of Joel oregon Ellie successful immoderate way?

McNamara: Well, I person to accidental that was an illustration of atrocious parenting. The patrol has rules, pugnacious but indispensable for the information of the community. Ellie (who is, hello, freaking immune) wanted to crook them. Classic parent/child face-off. But alternatively of conscionable saying “no” to her and “any past words?” to Eugene earlier shooting him, Joel allowed her judge she was getting her way, which was conscionable dumb. Of people helium was going to sprout Eugene; helium had to sprout Eugene. But it honestly did not marque consciousness to prevarication astir it, particularly erstwhile the prevarication would beryllium exposed astir instantly. Sometimes a genitor conscionable has to beryllium the atrocious guy, adjacent if it means making Catherine O’Hara truly huffy astatine you.

And though I hold with you some astir the vigor of Ellie and Dina offering emotion successful spot of vengeance during their excursion to Seattle, I privation the writers could person figured retired a mode to bring O’Hara along.