The Last of Us really never pretends to be anything but what it is: a tragic tale about how far people will go to protect the ones they love. Every choice Joel and Ellie make is with the other one in mind because they really struggle with the idea of losing each other. That fear, of course, forces Joel to commit the ultimate betrayal by killing all of the Fireflies who intend to use Ellie to make a cure for the infection plaguing the world. Ellie wants to help and for her life to have meaning, but Joel takes that away from her, which drives a wedge in their relationship in The Last of Us Season 2. Spoilers follow!
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The sophomore outing starts with the duo already at odds, and while it takes a while for the truth to come out, Episode 6 finally pulls the curtain back. Ellie always suspects Joel is lying to her about the Fireflies, but it takes her some time to confirm. Ellie confronts him, and the two are never really the same after, which crushes Joel. Fortunately, the rest of the episode shows he got plenty of quality time with his surrogate daughter, including a trip that adapts the best moment in The Last of Us games.
The Vibes Are Immaculate During Ellie and Joel’s Museum Trip in The Last of Us
Season 2, Episode 6 fills in the gaps of Ellie and Joel’s time in Jackson prior to Abby’s arrival. Early on, the two can’t get enough of each other, and Joel plans something special on Ellie’s birthday every year. During one of his patrols, he stumbles upon the Wyoming Museum of Science, which has seen better days. He spends some time fixing the place up, including ensuring that a diorama of the solar system is working, before bringing Ellie over. The first thing she sees outside is a dinosaur statue that she climbs up because she can’t contain her excitement, but the real fun is in the museum.
While the show skips over some of the gameplay features that ask players to find a way inside, the result ends up being just as great. Ellie makes her way to the space exhibit and takes it all in. However, Joel quickly ushers her to a real landing pod that blows Ellie’s mind. She picks out a spacesuit and gets inside as her father figure plays her a recording of the Apollo 11 launch. For a few moments, Joel transports Ellie to a different world, one where there are no infected or raiders.
The point of the museum section in The Last of Us Part II is to show how strong Ellie and Joel’s bond was before everything started to unravel. There are other ways to do that, though, so the HBO series didn’t have to bring it to life. Fortunately, it chooses to honor the source material by juxtaposing a great moment in Ellie’s life with her darkest.
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HBO Knows When Not to Take a Big Swing With The Last of Us
Some of the changes in The Last of Us Season 2 are controversial, to say the least. For most of the season, diehard fans of the games have been waiting for Ellie to lose control and begin to go on a warpath in the streets of Seattle. However, Ellie’s journey is different from the one in the game because of Dina’s place in the story. Rather than just being a shoulder to cry on, Dina is actively part of the mission, and it takes her getting hurt for Ellie to lock in and remember what she’s truly fighting for.
All of the memories with Joel come flooding back to Ellie when she finally corners Nora. She remembers the bad, such as when Joel kills Eugene instead of allowing him to see Gail one last time, and the good, including the moment on the porch and the trip to the museum. The door is now open for Ellie to let her dark side take over, and it’s only possible because HBO knows what parts of The Last of Us games matter most.
The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming on HBO Max.
Do you think HBO’s The Last of Us did justice to the museum sequence from the games? What other moments are you looking forward to seeing the show adapt? Let us know in the comments below!
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