The Last of Us TV show’s Ellie is finally getting violent, and not a moment too soon
The Last of Us season two has been hit or miss for many, but one thing that it has missed big time has been Ellie's tone. Last night's episode was a turning point she desperately needed. Ellie and Dina's journey to Seattle has kind of felt like a road trip with the girlies up until the last few minutes of this week's episode. And then finally, we got a taste of the game version of Ellie, the Ellie who has been so consumed by grief and revenge that she's borderline unrecognizable from the young girl in the first game. Screenshot by Destructoid via HBO/Max The fifth episode of season two, "Feel Her Love," focused again on Dina and Ellie on day two in Seattle, planning out their journey to find Abby's pal Nora at the hospital to give her a visit after she held Ellie down to watch Joel get murdered. In the game, it's a huge moment in the story. By the time Ellie has reached the hospital in the game, you as the player have already slaughtered quite a few WLF members, and even some Seraphites. Where the game had Ellie on her own navigating the forest, the show skipped over this section entirely. And then you make your way through the hospital to find Nora, ruthlessly murdering more WLF on the way. Instead, in the show, Ellie's first visceral, impactful kill is on Nora, and it's like a switch was flipped where she's like, "Oh, I'm actually here to kill everyone in my way." The show's version of Ellie has not been nearly violent enough yet to illustrate the game's themes of revenge and the lengths she goes to to try and find Abby, and unfortunately, I think it's partly because of the translation between mediums. Bella Ramsey at least did a solid job of showcasing how unhinged Ellie has become, but it's overdue, and I feel like it hasn't been enough. Ellie just hasn't felt imposing enough, violent enough, or off-the-deep-end enough for what she's doing. And my issue with Ellie in the show has little to do with Ramsey, who I think is a fine actress, albeit probably miscast for the role when it comes to the game's rabid fanbase. Up to this point in the season, Ellie has been way too lighthearted, and the show has missed the mark in depicting just how unhinged she has become. In the game, we see it through our own actions, but also the little words she mutters in between violent murders in the gameplay portions. https://twitter.com/chrisdadeviant/status/1921745713525936578 You could argue that Ellie not being as violent in the show makes her actions against Nora more impactful, but I think the show lacks the "wow" factor of seeing the innocent girl from TLOU1 turned into a grown woman hell-bent on destroying anyone in her way, regardless of who they are. Maybe this episode will jump-start that. The game depicts Ellie's actions from Abby's perspective, too, which is crucial to show that neither one of them is in the right in their actions. We haven't even gotten to that part of the story yet, and may not until season three. And this is why the game just feels so much more impactful in its method of delivering the story. Backtracking to Seattle day one as Abby, after playing as Ellie in the same time period, felt like a slog at times, but also a necessity to illustrate how the hero of one story is the supervillain in the other. Seeing the wake of Ellie's carnage from the other side's angle is harrowing, and very important. I'm not confident in the show's ability to convey this, considering the way it has handled Ellie's blood-hatred, vengeance-fueled murder spree across Seattle that has fallen flat thus far. Image via PlayStation Game Ellie slices the throats of WLF and Seraphites alike, blows off heads and limbs, kills attack dogs, and is a force to be reckoned with. Show Ellie has yet to feature that same level of violence, but I'm hoping that the death of Nora will be a jumping-off point to showing just how far gone she is by the time the game ends. The show has mishandled Ellie's grief-stricken journey of death and vengeance, and I hope the ship is righted with the few episodes we have left in season two. The post The Last of Us TV show’s Ellie is finally getting violent, and not a moment too soon appeared first on Destructoid.
The Last of Us season two has been hit or miss for many, but one thing that it has missed big time has been Ellie's tone. Last night's episode was a turning point she desperately needed.
Ellie and Dina's journey to Seattle has kind of felt like a road trip with the girlies up until the last few minutes of this week's episode. And then finally, we got a taste of the game version of Ellie, the Ellie who has been so consumed by grief and revenge that she's borderline unrecognizable from the young girl in the first game.
The fifth episode of season two, "Feel Her Love," focused again on Dina and Ellie on day two in Seattle, planning out their journey to find Abby's pal Nora at the hospital to give her a visit after she held Ellie down to watch Joel get murdered. In the game, it's a huge moment in the story.
By the time Ellie has reached the hospital in the game, you as the player have already slaughtered quite a few WLF members, and even some Seraphites. Where the game had Ellie on her own navigating the forest, the show skipped over this section entirely. And then you make your way through the hospital to find Nora, ruthlessly murdering more WLF on the way.
Instead, in the show, Ellie's first visceral, impactful kill is on Nora, and it's like a switch was flipped where she's like, "Oh, I'm actually here to kill everyone in my way." The show's version of Ellie has not been nearly violent enough yet to illustrate the game's themes of revenge and the lengths she goes to to try and find Abby, and unfortunately, I think it's partly because of the translation between mediums.
Bella Ramsey at least did a solid job of showcasing how unhinged Ellie has become, but it's overdue, and I feel like it hasn't been enough. Ellie just hasn't felt imposing enough, violent enough, or off-the-deep-end enough for what she's doing. And my issue with Ellie in the show has little to do with Ramsey, who I think is a fine actress, albeit probably miscast for the role when it comes to the game's rabid fanbase.
Up to this point in the season, Ellie has been way too lighthearted, and the show has missed the mark in depicting just how unhinged she has become. In the game, we see it through our own actions, but also the little words she mutters in between violent murders in the gameplay portions.
You could argue that Ellie not being as violent in the show makes her actions against Nora more impactful, but I think the show lacks the "wow" factor of seeing the innocent girl from TLOU1 turned into a grown woman hell-bent on destroying anyone in her way, regardless of who they are. Maybe this episode will jump-start that.
The game depicts Ellie's actions from Abby's perspective, too, which is crucial to show that neither one of them is in the right in their actions. We haven't even gotten to that part of the story yet, and may not until season three. And this is why the game just feels so much more impactful in its method of delivering the story.
Backtracking to Seattle day one as Abby, after playing as Ellie in the same time period, felt like a slog at times, but also a necessity to illustrate how the hero of one story is the supervillain in the other. Seeing the wake of Ellie's carnage from the other side's angle is harrowing, and very important. I'm not confident in the show's ability to convey this, considering the way it has handled Ellie's blood-hatred, vengeance-fueled murder spree across Seattle that has fallen flat thus far.
Game Ellie slices the throats of WLF and Seraphites alike, blows off heads and limbs, kills attack dogs, and is a force to be reckoned with. Show Ellie has yet to feature that same level of violence, but I'm hoping that the death of Nora will be a jumping-off point to showing just how far gone she is by the time the game ends.
The show has mishandled Ellie's grief-stricken journey of death and vengeance, and I hope the ship is righted with the few episodes we have left in season two.
The post The Last of Us TV show’s Ellie is finally getting violent, and not a moment too soon appeared first on Destructoid.
