"Do better." This has become one of the leitmotifs of the TV adaptation of The Last of Us 2. In fact, these words are repeated throughout Episode 6 of Season 2 of the HBO series, giving the characters a new direction. What's more, it's not spoken by just anyone, which offers a much deeper perspective on our heroes, and Joel in particular.
The Miller family is growing in season 2 of The Last of Us
No new episode of The Last of Us tomorrow... Season 2 ended last week on a cliffhanger that certainly won't have surprised fans of the game. However, the 7 new episodes of the series were not short of surprises, especially episode 6 entitled "The Price". Before the slew of flashbacks, mostly taken from Part 2, it opened with a scene taking place well before the post-apocalyptic events, within the family of Joel and Tommy Miller. In fact, we find the two brothers in 1983, still teenagers. Except that tensions are brewing under the Miller roof. Tommy, the younger brother, has made a big mistake that has earned Joel, the older brother, to come to his defense with a punch. However, both fear the repercussions of their actions... from their father, Javier, played by Tony Dalton (Better Call Saul), who we will also see again in Intergalactic, the next game from Naughty Dog.
We then discover an abusive father, who tends to be heavy-handed. However, he does not deny his past actions and regret is felt within him. Even more, he knows where this brutality comes from: from his own father, who beat him even more harshly. With this unprecedented staging, Neil Druckmann, the father of the franchise who directed and co-wrote episode 6 of The Last of Us, extends the theme of the cycle of violence already developed in the games. The violence that inhabits Joel thus finds its roots in this family context.
But, at the same time, the HBO teams initiated this desire to break the cycle. Javier surprises his son by abandoning blows for words. He confides to Joel that he is trying to "do a little better than [his] father", encouraging him to do the same in turn. We know what happens next. Our hero, who appears on screen as Pedro Pascal, is far from having abandoned this brutality. However, whether it's Sarah or Ellie, it's not towards her children that he turns her, but entirely towards external threats.
A symbolic legacy for Ellie
There's a bit of the authors in this introductory sequence. In the official podcast for season 2 of The Last of Us, Neil Druckmann remembers that his father could slap him at times. The same goes for Craig Mazin, the other showrunner of the series. But both are aware that their grandparents were even harder on their children. For their part, it wouldn't occur to them to touch a hair of their own in our time. It's this evolution through the generations that inspired them here. Javier encourages Joel, who, in turn, hopes at the end of the episode that Ellie will do better than him.
But, earlier in the season, we know that she sees Ellie has chosen. In fact, episode 6 reveals a well-kept secret about a favorite object of Joel's: his watch certainly belonged to his father. Before leaving the room, Javier places his hand on his son's shoulder. That's when we recognize it on his wrist. This is the same one that Sarah had repaired twenty years later, in season 1, in preparation for her father's birthday and which she never left after that.
Now, remember episode 3 of The Last of Us. After cleaning his deceased brother's body, Tommy kept his watch. We realize that he then leaves it as an inheritance to Ellie. The young woman finds it in a box on the bed in Joel's room. But, rather than grab it, she prefers to leave with the gun of the man she considered her father. So she chooses violence, the same violence that bound her to Joel from the moment they met.
Players already know the outcome of this story depicted in TLOU 2. Viewers, for their part, will have the opportunity to see how the young woman will fare in the sequel to the HBO series. The series has already been officially renewed for a season 3. Everything suggests that production would begin in 2026 for a release sometime in 2027. A fourth and final part could even be necessary to complete the adaptation of the game. One thing is certain: you're not done with The Last of Us.
Source: HBO Max.
0 Comments