This might end up being an unpopular opinion, but the much anticipated return of Pedro Pascal’s Joel to The Last of Us via flashback this week left me mostly cold. Now, that’s not the fault of Pascal, who was acting his ass off throughout the episode, but more so the fault of Craig Mazin and the writing staff, who opted to wait until the penultimate episode of the season to explain just what led to Ellie and Joel’s estrangement in the opening episodes of the season – a key point in the season arc that took us back without providing us with any information that we didn’t already know (or couldn’t have already deduced), while also giving us all the character development we’ve been desperate for throughout the season in one fell swoop late in the game.
And that complaint simply circles back on the major issues I’ve had with the season as a whole. By withholding information about characters and their motivations, it leaves us, the audience, twisting in the wind and unable to really understand the larger picture we’re seeing. We’re on the doorstep of the season finale and I couldn’t tell you anything about the Wolves or the Seraphites – with whom we’ve spent precious little time and whose true connection to Ellie’s side of the story remains tenuous at best – yet they’re being set up to be two of the major big bads in the story’s final season. Joel’s death – for those of us who haven’t played the game and weren’t spoiled – was a shock in terms of how and when it occurred in the structure of the season. But you know what would have made that death hurt even more? Giving us this flashback episode in the season premiere. Show us how the relationship between Ellie and Joel was shattered and how it was starting to take the smallest steps forward*.
*I was incredibly frustrated with the smash cut to Joel and Ellie in the closing moments of last week’s episode and I was even more annoyed by that scene this week when it became clear that the flashbacks had no real connection to Ellie herself. This wasn’t her remembering. This wasn’t Nora sparking those thoughts – because multiple moments occurred without Ellie in them. That choice was just a ploy to get people who might have jumped ship after episode two to not only watch last week but to come back for this episode.
Because, you know what? Pascal and Bella Ramsey have so much chemistry together and Ellie and Joel work so much better as a duo than as a solo act (for either of them), that giving us this time up front would make the loss of Joel hurt even more. And we would understand just what Ellie is feeling in those moments. I thought she was lamenting the chance to say sorry, to tell him she wanted him back in her life. But now we know she had already done that – that she and him were working toward a détente. There was hope in their relationship that wasn’t evident back in episode two when we didn’t have the whole story. And that cheapens the storytelling, it cheapens the character development, and it cheapens the relationship between the writer and the audience. This would have been such a great season premiere. It would have taken us back into this central relationship, shown us the trials and tribulations they worked through and how they were coming back to each other, and then set us up for such a terrible shock to cut through all that hope we had for the pair.
But nope, we get the episode here, where it stops whatever momentum the series might have been picking up in terms of trying to center Ellie as our POV character and reminds us just how thin Ellie is as a character without Joel to buttress up against her. Again, not Ramsey’s fault, but the fault of the writing, which hasn’t taken the time to explore who Ellie has become until this episode. I’ve had multiple conversations with people about how much Ellie has turned into a petulant brat, quick to anger and quicker to make rash decisions, without much grounding into how she’s gotten to be like this. Sure, some of it is simply being a teenager. But a lot of it stems from everything that’s happened over the last five years – something we weren’t privy to until tonight. And I think that choice, to keep this information from us until now, hurt how we see Ellie as a character in ways that might be irreparable.
A flashback episode can be a great tool for exploring the inner life of a character – usually a supporting one – and giving them a chance to shine while also revealing key plot that couldn’t be known without that look into their life. Think the Gemma-centric episode of Severance. But this wasn’t that kind of episode. This was key information about our central characters that should have been known much earlier. And the choice to unspool it now didn’t impact the plot of the series. Ellie ended up exactly where she would have been had this episode not been spliced in between her killing Nora and returning to the theater. I may be harping on this a bit much – and apologies about that – but it’s just such a strange decision for Mazin and co. that I can’t wrap my head around.
As for the episode itself, well, it was great. Pascal was heartbreakingly good. Ramsey finally got the chance to show us Ellie’s evolution from the cheery girl we knew back in season one into the dour, hardened woman we see today. The flashback to Joel’s childhood was also enlightening – and the appearance by Tony Dalton as Joel’s father was a pleasant surprise (and my god, Dalton looks shockingly like Pascal). Understanding Joel’s desire not to be like his father was an important piece of the character’s puzzle. Joel makes mistakes along the way as a father, but he never once makes the same “mistakes” his own father made. One might argue that lying to one’s child is just as egregious as laying a hand on them, but Joel had to learn from his mistakes just as his father did.
Having the death of Eugene be the straw that breaks the relationship between Ellie and Joel was a surprise. We all know Joel killed him – and I think we all presumed he had been put down after getting bit – but knowing that Ellie was lied to and then opted to tell the truth to Gail? Yeah, that’s the rare situation where I can see both sides of things. I understand Joel not wanting to risk bringing him back, but I can also understand Ellie wanting to make sure everyone knew that Joel was lying. It would have been one thing to have to kill Eugene and then lie to Gail to make it easier to digest. But to lie to Ellie? Yeah, I understand her anger – compounded by her sneaking suspicions that Joel mowed down a host of Fireflies to save Ellie.
Now, the revelation that Ellie was okay with being a sacrifice? I’m not sure I buy that. She seemed fine with helping create the cure when she thought it was a simple procedure that she would wake up from. But I’m not sure how much of the “Then I would have had a purpose!” outburst was the result of genuinely being okay with that result and how much was an emotional overwrought 19-year-old just yelling out what came to mind at that moment. I would appreciate that revelation a bit more if we got to see Ellie talk about that. Have her explore the idea that had Joel not unilaterally acted to save her life, she might have cured the world. That’s a heavy piece of knowledge to carry, something that would weigh on someone that young. But the series doesn’t seem to have the time or the desire to wrestle with that. Maybe when Ellie finally meets up with Abby again? But I doubt it.
And that takes me back to what is frustrating me about The Last of Us this season. Yes, I’d prefer to have Joel and Ellie together still. But since that can’t happen, I would settle for a coherent and cohesive story that laid out who’s who and what’s what while continuing to delve into the emotional depths of the characters like it did back in season one. Instead, this mismash of storytelling and lack of character development has stymied what could have been a truly interesting look at the power of revenge to corrupt and destroy those who seek it. And this episode, as good as it was, only served as a reminder that this show could be great.
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