The Last Of Us Season 2 Deleted Scene Shows Game-Accurate Owen And Mel Fight

Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 aheadThe Last of Us Season 2 hasn’t gone down as well with fans as the first season did. While it’s easy to assume that this is because the game it’s adapting was also very controversial at launch, many of the complaints actually stem from how it strays from the source material, with fans of The Last of Us Part 2 disappointed with this take on the story.

Many are pointing to a crucial scene in the finale as emblematic of everything wrong with this adaptation – Ellie’s confrontation with Owen and Mel. The show made quite a few changes, with Owen and Mel’s deaths playing out very differently. However, this wasn’t always going to be the case.

Unused Take In The Last Of Us’ Season 2 Finale Shows Ellie Fighting Owen

Footage of an unused take of the scene shows Ellie physically fighting with Owen, just as she does in The Last of Us Part 2. In the end, showrunner Craig Mazin decided to go with the take we saw in the finale, in which Ellie shoots Owen (and Mel, inadvertently) as he reaches for his own weapon.

Mazin had already explained why he changed this confrontation in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Ellie is not really capable of killing Owen – you look at Bella [Ramsey] and you look at Spencer Lord, he’s 6’4″ and just incredibly imposing,” he explains. “A physical struggle wasn’t going to go well, and she’s not there to kill them. She just wants to kill Abby.”

There’s been a lot of backlash to this change, but Mazin was pleased with it at the time. “I remember saying to Neil [Druckmann] that as f**ked up as that moment was in the game, I think it can be more f**ked up.” He then points to Ellie failing to save Mel’s child as a positive change that kept the scene’s dark tone intact.

Mazin’s explanation has left fans even more confused, since the showrunner would have been perfectly aware of Bella Ramsey’s short stature going into Season 2. If this was the concern, then they could have cast a shorter actor to play Owen, if they feared that the fight would be less believable with the height difference. Season 1 also showed a younger Ellie fending for herself, both against humans and infected, although this would have been a two-on-one fight with little room to get behind cover.

In any case, The Last of Us continues, and it looks like we’re getting at least four seasons in total. We’ll have to wait and see if Season 3 can turn things around and get fans back on board.

First Episode Air Date

January 15, 2023

Cast

Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey

Where to watch

HBO Max