This latest episode of The Last of Us season 2 showcased life without Joel (Pedro Pascal). After Joel’s stunning death in the second episode, last night was all about grief and how the people of Jackson will move on after this tragedy. Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, takes Joel’s death particularly hard, leading to an emotional moment involving a piece of clothing.
After being released from the hospital, Ellie returns home to an empty house. Ellie walks into Joel’s room and begins looking through his things. Once she finds Joel’s jacket, Ellie breaks down into tears. Ramsey revealed to The Hollywood Reporter why this emotional moment was the “toughest” scene to film.
“Oh God, in the closet, that was the hardest [scene],” Ramsey said. “So I really struggle with crying in scenes. I can get a tear out, but that’s different to crying. And even getting the tear, it doesn’t come easy for me. I don’t cry in front of people in my everyday life. A very, very limited amount of people in my life will see me cry. And so having to do that on a set full of people with the monitor and then more people watching the monitors…it’s virtually impossible for me. So I was really worried about that scene, and that was the toughest one for me to shoot.”
Instead of channeling sad thoughts, Ramsey thought of the “happiest of memories” with Pascal to elicit an emotional response.
“The thing that is always the saddest for me is remembering the happy things,” Ramsey explained. “I was remembering us the first few times that we met and the whole of shooting season one together, and the funniest moments. I was remembering all of that and through the lens of losing him — not just Joel and Ellie, but like me and Pedro — because the memories of me and Pedro and Joel and Ellie are so intertwined for me.”
In the episode, Ellie proposes sending a group of townspeople to Seattle to find Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), but the town council denies her request. Ellie and Dina go to Seattle anyway. While on the trail, they encounter a group of dead Seraphites, who Ellie and Dina think could have been killed by Abby and the WLF. The episode ends with Ellie and Dina reaching Seattle, while members of the WLF march through the streets.
The next episode of The Last of Us season 2 airs on Sunday, May 4.
