Word: This episode incorporates spoilers for The Final of Us season two episode six.
Pedro Pascal‘s return to HBO’s The Final of Us in a flashback-filled episode packed an emotional wallop, filling in a number of blanks in Joel and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) tumultuous relationship. Beginning with a take a look at Joel’s abused childhood, a collection of sequences adopted, set throughout Ellie’s birthdays — for the reason that duo settled in Jackson — and exhibiting what went down on the porch the night time earlier than Joel’s homicide.
The scenes throw all types of advanced lighting into earlier occasions, however maybe most easily, they remind the viewers of Joel’s extraordinary stage of caring for Ellie — exhibiting that the 2 had began down the street of reconciliation earlier than Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) modified their fates endlessly.
Beneath, Neil Druckmann — who co-wrote the PlayStation sport The Final of Us Half II and serves as a showrunner on The Final of Us, directing this week’s episode — discusses a number of the hour’s pivotal moments and tangled ethical and emotional quagmires.
This is likely to be a kind of uncommon episodes of TV the place folks cry repeatedly via the hour, not simply in a single key second.
Effectively, I’m glad it labored for you. Simply to see Pedro and Bella another time; to see their happiest they’ve ever been, perhaps the saddest they’ve been with one another, and the angriest they’ve ever been. And it was such a pleasure to discover all these nuances alongside the best way.
I’m extraordinarily happy with the way it turned out, and I used to be actually nervous. That porch scene, particularly, means a lot to myself, to my co-writers on this episode, Craig [Mazin] and Haley [Gross], and to everybody that labored on the sport and the present. However particularly, after I was engaged on this episode, I had two folks on the entrance of my thoughts, which had been Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, who initially performed these characters within the sport. They gave such good performances for very comparable scenes that I wished to honor what they’ve accomplished, as a result of they helped create these characters.
I simply re-watched the sport model of scene (watch it beneath). For this, I used to be significantly caught by Ellie asking Joel these questions that had been on her thoughts for thus lengthy, and the selection to simply have Joel simply be silent and nod.
Within the sport, Ellie requested these questions at a special level. Right here we took a number of flashback scenes and collapsed them into the one on the porch. So Ellie has to grasp what Joel has accomplished, get offended at him, after which transfer in the direction of forgiveness — all inside one scene. I assumed Bella gave a gorgeous efficiency. I can’t think about how troublesome that will be.
And I bear in mind the day of capturing, I pulled Pedro and Bella apart and talked about how vital the scene is and the way highly effective it may be, and the way vital it’s for his or her characters. Particularly, “That is your final dialog with one another. You’ve been withholding all these things, all these questions, so maintain nothing again.”
If you happen to watch Bella’s Ellie this season, she wears extra of a masks than Ashley’s Ellie within the sport. Right here, the masks are totally off. And now Joel is aware of that she is aware of, and the final reward he may give her is to present her the reality. And since they had been “sure or no” questions, it felt like he wouldn’t even have to say it, he may simply nod or shake his head.
One factor that fascinates to me about this season is the construction, which is clearly taken from the sport, as nicely, the place you lose Joel, after which have these flashbacks and each modifications the way you view their relationship and his loss of life, although they’re way more spaced out.
Yeah, let me discuss to you about our thought course of. You’re proper that within the sport, these scenes are spaced out, typically hours aside. If we spaced out these scenes and planted them all through the season, I imagine they wouldn’t land as powerfully as a result of they’re brief moments and work higher after they’re subsequent to one another and you may simply see the comparability — it’s like their relationship is slowly deteriorating. If we put one in an episode, after which it’s important to wait per week to see the following, it’s important to bear in mind what the final one was, after which wait one other week once more. I feel the present would begin feeling prefer it has a template — “What’s the Joel flashback this week?”
Additionally it was vital that the viewers, just like the characters, miss Joel. So we might kill him early within the season, we determined to not present him again till near the tip of the season. Then it turned a query of the place ought to it land. It felt applicable to land after Ellie has simply dedicated the darkest, most violent act she’s ever dedicated in her life — torturing an unarmed lady to attempt to get details about the place Joel’s killer is hiding. There’s a distinction of “look how far this character has come.” They’re virtually unrecognizable in that scene. Right here’s our reminder of who they had been, and what they’re preventing for — the reminiscence of this particular person.
That makes loads of sense. I did surprise if there was part of you that will have been tempted to carry the porch second to the collection finale, and in addition questioned if the pragmatic subject of not having Pascal signed past season two may need factored into that.
No, however let’s assume we may shoot it and maintain it and reveal it later. Craig introduced this as much as me and I purchased into it instantly: He [pointed out] that while you purchase the sport, you will have your entire story. You possibly can play for the entire thing in two days. We now have to have in mind that the story is being delivered week by week, season by season, with extra story coming probably years later. There could be a excessive threat of the porch scene not touchdown if he held onto it.
After I was trying on the porch scene, one of many feedback learn: “Ellie’s vengeance wasn’t nearly killing the individuals who took Joel from her, however about taking revenge on them for taking away her likelihood at forgiving him.” Is that true, do you assume?
I agree with that interpretation, as a result of we get to see that Joel harm Ellie perhaps the worst means doable — by taking the selection away from her to honor the those who died on her journey to be delivered to the Fireflies. Ellie’s so offended, and he or she means it when she says, “I don’t know if I may ever forgive you for that, however I want to attempt.” She wished to maneuver in the direction of that forgiveness, as a result of I feel she understood that — as a lot as Joel harm her — his motivation was unconditional love, and he or she shares that unconditional love for him. Now she will be able to by no means get the prospect.
Oddly sufficient, the simplistic response I needed to watching the scene was aid — “Oh, they weren’t in fairly as dangerous of a spot, relationship sensible, when he died as we thought.” There’s something oddly reassuring about that.
It’s bittersweet as a result of he was lastly trustworthy along with her they usually confessed their love to one another on in that scene, however they by no means moved again to once we noticed them at their happiest at that Area Museum.
Talking of which, the rocket ship scene was one in every of my favourite cutscenes from the sport. What did that scene imply to you?
I’ve at all times appreciated that Ellie is fascinated with our world, that issues we take without any consideration are like fantasy to her. And by the best way, that high quality of Ellie got here from Ashley Johnson. She cherished the thought of desirous to be an astronaut. So I wrote that to make Ellie extra like her and now it has remained during for one other actor to reinterpret it. To me, it speaks to how youngsters can simply faucet into their creativeness and film they’re someplace else. Ellie needs one thing that she may by no means have on this world, and Joel type of offers it to her.
Joel is so superb on this episode because the World’s Biggest Apocalypse Dad that it additionally precipitated me to really feel some annoyance at Ellie — like, “How will you not recognize this man greater than you do?” Although I additionally perceive that she’s at an age the place you naturally draw back out of your dad and mom and if there aren’t issues to be accurately mad about, you’ll discover causes anyway. And, clearly, he was not good.
There are a number of massive lies my dad and mom have instructed to me that solely now, in my forties, I’m in a position to forgive and transfer previous as a result of I see their motivations had been in the suitable place. And now, as a dad myself, I had this sense of like, “I understand how to lift my children higher than my dad and mom. I’m at all times going to be utterly trustworthy.” And there was a second in time the place I used to be too trustworthy with my daughter when she was too younger and it was about one thing violent and darkish, and he or she was traumatized by it. It speaks to the complexity of being a guardian and the way troublesome it’s — even while you’re doing the suitable factor, you is likely to be inflicting your children to hate you. That’s the selection of the job.