SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Season 2 finale of HBO‘s The Last of Us.
The Season 2 finale of The Last of Us makes it hard to continue rooting for Ellie.
What started as a quest to seek vengeance for Joel has, at this point, spiraled out of control. Even as Jesse and, eventually, Tommy try to convince her it’s time to go home, she’s fueled by (and blinded by) this hatred for Abby.
As a result, by the end of the episode, Ellie is inadvertently responsible for the deaths of at least three more people. She kills Mel, who is pregnant, and Owen while trying to interrogate them about Abby’s whereabouts. Eventually, she gets what she’s asked for when Abby arrives at the theater to confront her — and kills Jesse in the process.
“All of these people are dying around her, and now her loved ones, because of her monomaniacal need to kill Abby. I think she’s starting to just realize how her actions are affecting her entire life,” Bella Ramsey told Deadline of Ellie’s headspace as this final episode progresses to a pretty jarring cliffhanger.
In the interview below, Ramsey tracks Ellie’s descent over the last few episodes that leads her to such a dark place that it’ll be difficult to come back from.
DEADLINE: Before we get to the finale, I want to ask you about the scene at the end of 205 where Ellie is torturing Nora. How do you think that moment gets her to where she is in the finale — and what she does?
BELLA RAMSEY: I mean, it happened a bit in Season 1 when she attacked David with the axe after he attacked her, and that sort of unlocks new levels of violence, I think, that they didn’t know that she had. And similarly…torturing Nora, I think there’s an element of it in the moment where she is getting some sort of gratification from it, but then afterwards just hates herself, like, truly hates herself. I think that leads into dissent. She can’t really feel remorse. I think after, it’s more of just like a deep loathing for oneself, which then I think contributes to this downward spiral of like, ‘Well, I’m this person now, and so therefore the next actions that I’m going to take, that’s just who I am.’ The damage is definitely severe, and I think that that moment is like a tipping point into the depths, for sure.
DEADLINE: In the beginning of the finale, Ellie tells Dina what Joel did at the hospital and why Abby came after him. Dina seems to accept it pretty easily, but how do you think this impacts their relationship?
RAMSEY: I think that Ellie is terrified to tell Dina that, and Ellie expects that once she tells Dina this, that that’s it. Dina will leave. Everything that she’s built with Dina will go away. Because I think that Ellie feels so ashamed of all of that, and, I think, just expects that Dina will too. And Dina obviously has a reaction, but it’s very gracious, and I think that that is something that they will they work through. I think that Dina ultimately — to me anyway, how it felt playing it with Isabela — is that there is a level of understanding, and there’s a level of like, ‘I love you so much that I’m gonna try and understand why you haven’t told me this before, and thank you for telling me now.’ I think that was sort of more of the consensus.
DEADLINE: There are so many big moments in the finale, including when Ellie kills Mel and Owen. How is that moment different for Ellie than when she tortures Nora? Her reaction to their deaths is much more visceral and less accepting. She’s clearly very shaken up by it.
RAMSEY: I mean, this definitely feels very different to the end of Episode 5, nearly killing Nora. There was something deliberate about that. There was nothing deliberate about this. Something that we played around with on the day is that when I’m counting down, like, ‘321,’ every number that I go down, I’m like begging them to just do as I say so that I don’t have to shoot them. I think Ellie really, truly doesn’t want any of that to happen. Obviously, seeing that Mel is pregnant, I think all that Ellie’s seeing in that moment is Dina, and that is pretty bad. So she reverts to being like the tiniest of children in that moment. I think she just feels so lost and afraid and the way of her whole journey up until then, I think, crumbles onto her in that moment.
DEADLINE: How is that feeling compounded by Abby killing Jesse?
RAMSEY: That grief is so immediate and there’s almost no time for her to process it, but obviously they’ve just had that conversation before where they’ve reached sort of a mutual understanding, because Ellie has always been aware of Jesse not agreeing with her for a lot of the things that she’s done. I think there’s that instant shock, but I think once she starts to process that issue — she’s not very much from a processor, to be fair — but I think she really feels like she’s the reason for all of this. All of these people are dying around her, and now her loved ones, because of her monomaniacal need to kill Abby. I think she’s starting to just realize how her actions are affecting her entire life.
DEADLINE: Is it enough, though? Can she be snapped out of it, or is her overwhelming need to seek revenge against Abby still driving her at this point?
RAMSEY: I think that both things are still true. I mean, when she comes running and sees Abby, and Abby’s holding the gun to her, that scene was so complicated to film, emotionally, for me, because I go from like immediate grief to being terrified for Tommy to being terrified for my own life, but at the same time, this is the person that I’ve been waiting for, and here she is. It’s such a weird, crazy moment, and I think that Ellie’s need for revenge and vengeance doesn’t just go away. I don’t think it ever does.
DEADLINE: What scene stands out to you this season as the most emotionally impactful?
RAMSEY: Oh, I honestly think it is that Mel and Owen scene. I think that was definitely the most impactful for me. That’s probably one of the scenes I’m proudest of in the season. She goes from being sort of a villain to just a lost human being who you kind of hate and kind of feel sorry for.
DEADLINE: What are you most looking forward to about continuing the story in Season 3?
RAMSEY: I’m really excited. The second game is so brilliant, so what a joy to have the space and the time of more seasons to explore all of that and get into it. The same way, after Season 1, I was so excited to get back into Ellie’s skin for Season 2, I’m excited again for that again in Season 3.
The post ‘The Last Of Us’ Star Bella Ramsey Discusses How Ellie’s “Monomaniacal Need To Kill Abby” Leads Her Down A Dark Path Throughout Season 2 Finale appeared first on Deadline.
