Last week’s harrowing episode of The Last of Us was one of those that naturally necessitates a massive shift in a story’s focus. This week’s episode, “The Path” had a good deal of work on its to-do list. It had to function both as a goodbye to the old story and a hello to the new one. How did it do?
Well, let’s get into it. Opinions will vary, but The Last of Us was a mixed bag for me this week, and one that worries me about the story moving forward.
Slowing It Down
As you might expect, “The Path” was a slower episode, one left to deal with the aftermath of Joel’s death as each character decided their next step. Characters spend most of the time reacting and talking through what has happened and what will happen. It is obvious from the start that Ellie will want revenge on Abby and her crew, and she wants as much help as she can get. This is what happens in the game, as well, with Ellie wanting Tommy and as many as possible to join her.
Here it all moves too slow, and the story drags. I like the idea of turning the question of whether to go after Abby into a town-wide discussion, but the execution of the scene felt far too heavy handed. Let’s be real, The Last of Us Part II is not subtle in its message, yet it looks like a deft touch compared to having us watch one person give a long speech about forgiveness being good while the homophobe gives his own rant about vengeance being good. We don’t need the themes shoved in our face so much when the story will do that all on its own.
Let’s clear the air here; Seth is not being redeemed. He’s not a good person. That he is the one on Ellie’s side is not a fist-pumping moment making Seth seem like he’s a better person than we thought. When a person like that is on your side, you should think twice, and that Ellie doesn’t think twice when someone she despises is supporting her bad idea is a sign of how in the wrong she is.
Except the story isn’t supposed to be that clear cut, so it’s disappointing to the story take the blurry gray middle ground and make it so black and white. All for seasons that really accomplish nothing that wasn’t already accomplished.
Part of the reason The Last of Us is so slow is the continued focus on side characters while the story continues to stall the journey of its main characters. Why is Gail getting so much focus? Or Seth? Why are we spending entire scenes on these characters just to tell us what was already plain as day? Yes, we know that Ellie is lying her face off when she leaves the hospital, we don’t need to spend five minutes with Gail telling Tommy what he and the audience can all easily see for ourselves.
If we’re going to focus on side characters, give Maria more screen time instead of sidelining her so significantly from her already sparse time in Last of Us Part II. If we actually end up with more screen time spent on a Seth redemption arc, rather than the variety of considerably more interesting stories with characters who should have bigger roles, it will be quite frustrating.
The three-month time skip also created some problems that did not need to exist. Part of the beauty of the big battle in last week’s episode was that it created strong reasoning why no one could go with Ellie and Dina to Seattle. If they want to change the order of events so Tommy follows them rather than leaving on his own first, the battle was also perfect for that. Instead they completely undermined this by giving Jackson time to regroup, recover, and be ready to assist in helping hunt down Joel’s killers.
In the end, the only thing the story accomplishes is wasting time.
I went into my reviews for Season 2 with the idea that I would try my best to avoid an abundance of adaptation talk. There is a time and place for comparison, and I want to at least try my best to judge The Last of Us by the story being presented to me, and not as much by my experience with the source material.
But really, I know where the story should be going, so I can’t help but be disappointed when they are taking such awkward, winding, and plain worse paths to those destinations.
A Fumbled Relationship
Possibly the biggest waste of time, and one directly undermining the story right now, is the will they/won’t they nonsense happening with Ellie and Dina. We’ve already missed out on one of the best scenes in the game when Ellie and Dina hook up the night before Joel’s death. Now they’re in Seattle and they’re not even a couple. Even worse, they took the rate the kiss scene from the game and left out everything sweet from said scene.
The tent scene in this episode was disappointing on so many levels. Rather than bring Ellie and Dina together, it played directly into Ellie’s perception of Dina as just messing around with no intentions. It stalled a relationship that should already be affirmed on both sides, had an insulting “you’re gay and I’m not” dig thrown in, and introduced the real possibility of a love triangle with Jesse that doesn’t exist in Last of Us Part II.
Once again, I’m left wondering why these characters are taking so long to get where they should already be. Are they going to cram all the stuff that should already have happened between Ellie and Dina already into the packed events of Seattle?
People are talking about a slow burn for this relationship, but there’s no need for it. The slow burn is the years of friendship across their formative years that already exists. All this show is doing is wasting time getting these characters somewhere they already were at the end of the first episode of the season. All for…what? Dina to only start a relationship with the murderous psycho Ellie becomes in Seattle?
The same is true of Tommy. We don’t need to waste time getting him to a place where he wants revenge for Joel. Why is the story stalling? What’s the point? If anything it makes more sense now for Tommy to not go at all.
In general, the whole vibe of the story just feels…wrong. Ellie and Dina are trading wisecracks in Seattle like they’re going on a fun road trip. Tommy’s acting like he moved on from Joel’s death. Jackson is largely moving on. I can see why a three-month skip would do that. Problem is it’s undermining the nature of the story being adapted.
I hate that I am spending so much time talking about all the things I didn’t like about “The Path.” I don’t want to speak so negatively. I wish I was spending more time talking about the good scenes in this episode. The opening with Tommy cleaning Joel’s body was beautiful. The introduction to the Seraphites was one I liked. The ending with the WLF on the march was a cold reality check for the audience about the difficulty facing Ellie’s quest to get Abby. I like that Dina is so much more active in the planning for the trip. Ellie walking through Joel’s house was pitch perfect.
Unfortunately, everything I like is being shadowed by adaptational worries that are all too familiar from a lifetime of seeing creators make changes for the sake of changes. It’s so easy to overlook early changes and assume the story will be fine. The snowball effect is easy to overlook when the snowball is small, before it has gained momentum and grown larger. What seem like small, insignificant changes early will have an impact on the story that the creative team has to either see through to their natural changes or ignore and force characters into positions that no longer fit them.
The Last of Us already has a pretty big snowball rolling downhill, way earlier than I would have liked. Part II was always going to be a difficult game to adapt, much more than the first game, and this episode has me worried about the choices they have made. It’s hard not to worry when every character is in a considerably different position than they should be at this point, and it doesn’t help that the writing is treating the audience like we can’t possibly understand the story if they don’t spell out every single narrative moment for the audience.
I hope I come back here throughout the rest of the season and eat my words. More than ever, though, I’m worried about where The Last of Us is headed.
Images Courtesy of HBO
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