FIKSI.NET — If you have played the The Last of Us (TLOU) and watch the series adaptation on HBO, you surely realize there are some significant changes in the show. But before we begin this article, let me give you a warning:
This article contains MAJOR SPOILER for THE LAST OF US Part II and Season 2 of the HBO Series! This blog post was written after the Episode 1-3 of Season 2 aired. When I was writing this, I don’t know what’s going to happen in Episode 4 Season 2 forward. {alertError}
So, you know what to do if you don't want any spoiler. You can come back later after you have played the game or watch the full season 2.
Alright, where were we? Ah! Yes, some significant changes in the show. I think the way it handles—or even alters—iconic game scenes are really interesting to analyze. It makes me wonder if the ending or certain plotlines will differ from the game.
Let's start speculating about it one by one, shall we?
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The difference of Tommy's arc in the series vs the game
If you have watched Episode 2 and 3 from Season 2 of TLOU series on HBO max, and you've played the game, you will quickly noticed how different Tommy's arc in the story of the series than what we know from the game.
In the game, Tommy was with Joel when they were ambushed by Abby and her friends. People who played the first game, was confused why Tommy and Joel—who knowingly had a lot of enemies—would easily reveals their real names to strangers.
When Joel was killed by Abby in the game, Tommy was the one who came to Ellie and told her that he was going seek Abby and get revenge. His arc is very significant in the game, since Tommy was the one who sneaked to Seattle first, then Maria—Tommy's wife—found out. And then Maria asked Ellie to look for Tommy and go back to Jackson with him.
In the series, Tommy in Episode 2 Season 2 was fighting the infected along with the citizen of Jackson. He didn't go with Joel for patrol, instead Dina was with Joel. At the end of the fight, we could see Tommy embraced and kissed her wife, Maria, almost crying because of the possibility of them loosing each other. That scene was very telling how Tommy is going to react on Joel's death, as the safe haven they have built are crumbling and people are dying left and right.
Then, 3 months after the incident, the killing of Joel by Abby and her friends, we could see Ellie woke up and recover. Tommy however, looked busy re-building the city with Jesse and other citizens. Unlike the game, Tommy in the series, chose to stay and help his community. And when he visited Joel's body, he even said to him, "send my love to Sarah." That dialogue indicates that he somewhat accepted his brother's death, and vengeance was only an option that he doesn't see worth pursuing.
This is where everything gets really interesting for me. I think, if Tommy is going to Jackson in the series — possibly with Jesse — he is going there to pick up Ellie and Dina. My assumption came from the dialogue exchange between Tommy and Ellie in Episode 3 Season 2. When Ellie met Tommy, Ellie asked why Tommy acted so chill about everything, and Ellie even mentioned that if it were Tommy, Joel will run to Seattle and avenge him. However, Tommy corrected Ellie by saying, "yes, he would, but to save me."
That conversation between Tommy and Ellie were very contrast to what we have in the game. Tommy in the game was the one who thirst for vengeance, while Tommy in the series consider his community and his family even more. I also got the feeling that with Joel now gone, Ellie is her responsibility to protect. So, it is possible that Tommy is going to Seattle with Jesse, only to bring Ellie and Dina back home to Jackson.
I'm interested to see this new arc for Tommy in the series. I hope we got to see more of him in the next episodes or season. And the story will definitely turn differently from the one we know from the game.
The dynamic of Dina and Ellie's relationship in the game vs the series
Many had argued that Dina and Ellie's relationship in the game was already doomed from the start. Ellie being so closed off to Dina makes everything worse for their relationship. If you played the game, you will be able to read Ellie's journal where she admits that she had a crush on Dina, but Dina was with Jesse. So, Ellie had a relationship with another girl instead — a girl named Catherine or Cat for short.
There is a video essay on YouTube detailing how Dina and Ellie's relationship is doomed in the game. You can watch the full analysis here:
In the series, however, not only Dina was with Joel when they were ambushed by Abby and her friends, Dina was also the one who gave Ellie a pack of cookies as a peace offering. She is replacing Tommy's place that we know from the story in the game.
Dina and Ellie’s motivation to go to Seattle
Both of Dina and Ellie then sneak out from Jackson with the help from Seth (the guy who had a fallout during the new year's party) and go to Seattle with a solid plan; find Abby and her friends. This is where I notice that relationship dynamic between Ellie and Dina is going to be different from what we know in the game.
Dina in the series was willing to go with Ellie to Seattle because she was also closed to Joel. Joel and the psychologist also had a conversation about it — about Dina seems more like her daughter than Ellie for the past couple of years. In the first episode of Season 2, we could see that only Dina who treat Joel as a person, while Tommy and Ellie tried to keep things from him. The closeness between Dina and Joel is playing part in Dina's personal motivation. Even before Dina revealed the information about Abby and her friends to Tommy, she made sure to let Ellie know firsthand.
I don't recall the dialogue between Dina and Ellie, when Dina said, "where you go, I go" from the game replicated in the Episode 3. But I think I've seen it in the episode preview, but it's nowhere in the final cut of the Episode 3 Season 2.
I do think that the dialogue is important to show us what Dina's real motivation. In the game, Dina’s motivation was driven by her upbringing, growing up with mentally unstable sister and losing her mother when she was so little. Dina ALWAYS wants to be useful for the person she loves and cares about. In that case, Ellie is the person she loves and cares about. She knows how close Ellie and Joel was, which makes her decided to go with Ellie to revenge Joel while finding Tommy to take him back to Jackson.
However, in the series, everything is different now. Dina and Ellie embarked on their own Journey, not to find Tommy, but to find the person who killed Joel and get revenge. Both have close relationships with Joel. Both Dina and Ellie had stories with Joel. So, I think the dynamic of their relationship is going to be different in the show.
The Pregnancy and Ellie’s Immunity
The difference was shown in Episode 4 Season 2, when Dina revealed her pregnancy to Ellie.
In the game, the way Dina reacted to Ellie’s immunity was so dismissive. She told Ellie that she was pregnant instead. She also told Ellie that she had suspected it weeks prior, but she didn’t want to tell Ellie because she doesn’t want to be a burden. And Ellie, knowing that Dina is pregnant with Jesse’s child, said that Dina is a burden. The scene was so heart breaking in the game. It showed us how Ellie was so blinded by her quest to get revenge. Also, Dina being so afraid to not be useful for the person she loves.
Meanwhile in the series, in Episode 4 Season 2, prior to Dina’s revelation, Ellie took a bite from the infected to protect Dina and had to explained that she is immune. Dina couldn’t believe it, so she pointed her gun to Ellie, just in case Ellie turned. The reaction from Dina was much more convincing for me as the viewer. I mean, if I were her, I would do the same.
When Dina finally figured out that Ellie was really is immune, she then revealed to Ellie that she is pregnant and move forward to kiss Ellie. They have a passionate love scene afterwards. When finally they woke up the next morning, Dina said that she was so afraid that the future she imagined with Ellie would never happen. Ellie then told Dina about the scar she hides behind the tattoo on her right arm. This is similar to the conversation Dina and Ellie had early in the game. But the writers of the show decided that it’s more suitable to placed here, during the revelation of Dina’s pregnancy and Ellie’s immunity.
The way Ellie responds to Dina’s pregnancy is better here than in the game—in my opinion. She said to Dina, happily, that she is going to be a dad. I don’t know if you noticed but there was a conversation between Tommy and Ellie in the early Episode, that indicates Ellie and Joel are the same person. They are very alike in so many ways.
Even though I understand that it didn’t show us Ellie’s descent to madness and blinded by revenge, it shows us about something else… It shows that maybe Ellie in this series had learned a lot—perhaps too much—from Joel, her father figure. Perhaps there is some truth in Ellie’s speech during council meeting before they leave Jackson, that she is going to have something more than revenge Joel and more than herself to protect.
Final Notes: Too Early To Judge
Something about on going series like TLOU, it’s always too early to judge. We still have more Episodes and Seasons to come from The Last of Us in HBO Max. I would rather wait until it is finished before I give my final opinion on it.
I understand the frustration from some of the audience and the fans of the game. They feel like this new alteration in the Season 2, changes the core of the story. They also dislike how Ellie responded differently to Dina’s pregnancy that is different from the game. But their points of frustration are the reason why I want to wait the next episode and the next season to come. I think it’s interesting to see how the story of the series is going to play out without actively comparing it to the game.
In The Last of Us production podcast, they mentioned that they hope for the actors and actresses not playing the game before they read the script, because the story is going to be very different. And they admit that it’s different.
I’m not being paid by anyone producing the show—oh I wish…lol. I simply looking at these media with a simple mind and not taking it to heart. If I enjoy it and it interests me, then I watch it. If I don’t, I will leave it and put my attention to something else.
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