That One The Last Of Us Season 2 Scene Was Always Going To Be Hard To Get Right

The Last of Us Part 2 got a lot of reactions from people when it launched in 2020 – people were impressed, upset, and angry. But more than anything, everyone was devastated at one particular moment.

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE LAST OF US PART 2 AND HBO’S THE LAST OF US SEASON 2 EPISODE 2

The Importance Of An Emotional Reaction

There’s something so beautiful about storytelling and the ways in which a story can bring out reactions from its audience. We’ve seen video games walk this line of quality more and more as they evolve and stake their claim alongside film, literature, and television as a cultural force.

The Last of Us Part 2 remains one of the most significant examples of this. I’ll stop putting it off because if you’re still reading, you know: Joel’s early death was something no one was expecting. It wasn’t for shock value; it set the emotional anchor for a story of pain, anger, and revenge mirrored against another person’s feelings of the kind.

There was a level of misdirection within the game’s pre-launch trailer, showing a scene with Ellie and Joel, whereas in the game, the scene was with Ellie and Jesse.

The reaction from fans was wildly varying. Some will swear they hate the direction of it, some blame Druckmann and Naughty Dog, and some will hate the game as a result. But all of that hate and blame is grief, and that’s the point – we don’t know where to direct it, and that’s why it works. People unanimously had to deal with the death of someone beloved in an incredibly complicated way.

You can try to tell me ‘it’s not grief, it’s a bad story’, but someone died, and in real life, we don’t get to decide when someone gets taken from us. Death doesn’t arrive on our terms. We just have to deal with it.

But all of that hate and blame is grief, and that’s the point

Bella Ramsey Carries The Weight Of That Grief

Bella Ramsey has performed as an outstanding version of Ellie throughout the show, but this exact moment of Season 2 was pivotal. It’s one of the most significant moments for the character, and one that would need to carry through for the rest of the show. While we have yet to see that follow through, Bella’s devastation in this scene could be felt through their performance to an incredible degree.

Not only did we see the scene we were all expecting, but in an extended moment, we saw Ellie drag herself over to Joel’s lifeless body, desperately clinging onto him for the last time. The shock, pain, and anger Bella displayed were not only representative of Ellie in that moment, but of everyone who knew this moment was coming.

The desperate hope that it wasn’t real, that things would be different, even just the short second where Joel’s head began to lift as he attempted to get up for her before the end. A final act of love. But it isn’t enough. The moment passes. And with it, so does he. It’s in that reactive performance by Bella – tragic and painfully human – that the weight of the loss truly lands.

As the series continues to bring these moments to life, it’s clear that the emotional impact hinges not just on the writing but on the strength of its performances. Bella has fully claimed the role of Ellie as their own, and if they continue to carry this performance in the show at the same quality, then it’s going to be a devastating story all over again, in the best way it could possibly be.