Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 6.
The Last of Us Part II game, as Ellie is charting a warpath through Seattle in pursuit of revenge, a handful of flashbacks gradually reveal how her relationship with Joel soured before his death. The flashbacks are intermittently sprinkled throughout the game, but in the TV show, all those flashbacks are shown back-to-back in a single episode, structured via Ellie’s annual birthday celebrations.
A lot of the shows Ellie how easy it is for Joel to lie to her, confirming that he lied about the Fireflies. But one key flashback from the game was skipped entirely in the TV show — a chapter dubbed “Finding Strings” — and it’s a shame, because that’s one of the game’s best sequences.
The Last Of Us Season 2, Episode 6 Skips An Action-Packed Video Game Flashback
In The Game, Joel Slays A Bloater To Save Ellie
In the game, after Ellie has bumped into Jesse on her way through the Seattle suburbs and they’ve narrowly escaped from the Wolves, they retreat back to the theater. Dina is elated to see Jesse, and Ellie slinks out to give the two former lovebirds some time alone. During this interlude, she reminisces about a fateful day with Joel two years earlier. It started off innocently enough, as Joel took Ellie to an abandoned music store to get some new strings for her guitar. But from the offset, it’s clear that something is bothering Ellie, and she won’t say what.
Imagine how awesome it would’ve been to see Pedro Pascal’s Joel do that.
The path to the music store is flooded, so they cut through a motel. This motel turns out to be full of infected. While sneaking through a wall, they’re attacked by a bloater. After putting up a good fight, Ellie is grabbed by the bloater and the game starts to go through its standard death-by-bloater animation. But then, Joel steps in and hacks the bloater to pieces with a machete. Imagine how awesome it would’ve been to see Pedro Pascal’s Joel do that.
The "Finding Strings" Flashback Highlighted How Protective Joel Is (& Why He Did What He Did To The Fireflies)
Joel Is Capable Of Superhuman Feats To Keep Ellie Safe
Seeing Joel hack a bloater to death with a machete is a really cool image, but it also underlines how protective Joel is as a father, and how he’s capable of superhuman feats to keep Ellie safe. In The Last of Us universe, it’s usually a death sentence to get so close to a bloater. But when Ellie’s life is in danger, Joel sees red and starts slashing away until the threat has been neutralized and Ellie is safe. It’s the same thing he did when the Fireflies told him they were going to kill Ellie to create a cure.
The Last of Us is available to stream on Max.
On the surface, this sequence is typical action gameplay, so it’s understandable that the TV producers decided to skip it. But, as is often the case with The Last of Us’ action gameplay, there’s something deeper going on. It gives us a better understanding of Joel’s fierce paternal instincts, and why he did the terrible thing that would ultimately get him killed.
The Last Of Us Season 2, Episode 6 Found Another Way To Show Ellie's Growing Distrust Of Joel
The Whole Ordeal With Eugene Got The Same Point Across
The real dramatic purpose of the “Finding Strings” flashback is to show Ellie’s growing distrust of Joel as she starts to question his story about the Fireflies and the possible cure. In the game, seeing two young Jackson runaways dead from an infection at the motel is what prompts Ellie to finally ask Joel for the truth about the cure. But in the TV show, the whole Eugene sequence showed Ellie a repeat of Joel’s signature style of lying, and took her right back to the moment he swore the Fireflies couldn’t create a cure and got killed by raiders.
The Last of Us season 2’s Eugene sequence, complete with a fantastic performance by Joe Pantoliano, was a great way to get the same point across. But it’s a shame we didn’t get to see Joel and Ellie’s futile quest for guitar strings. I would’ve loved to see Pascal’s Joel slaughter a bloater.
The Last Of Us
- Release Date
- January 15, 2023
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Craig Mazin
Cast
Joel Miller
Ellie Williams
WHERE TO WATCH
The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic drama series set two decades after a global catastrophe. It follows Joel, a seasoned survivor, who is tasked with escorting Ellie, a teenage girl, across a desolated United States, transforming into a harrowing journey of survival and companionship.
- Creator(s)
- Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
- Seasons
- 2
- Streaming Service(s)
- MAX
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