Well, they did it. The scene that everyone has been waiting for inThe Last of Usseason two arrived last night, and so did a not-so-nostalgic trip back to 2020 for fans of the game watching the series.
One of the most shocking, polarizing scenes in gaming is now shocking and polarizing a new audience all over again for TV show watchers who were blindsided by the twist that is already the stuff of legend in gaming history. It’s time to talk about it. We are obviously entering into spoiler discussion territory, so back out now while you can.
Just like five years ago, whenThe Last of Us: Part IIreleased, everyone hates Abby again. Welcome back! After teeing off on everyone’s favorite mass-murdering dad figure, the social media reactions began flowing in from viewers who did not see it coming. I watched it with my girlfriend, for example, who had no idea what was about to happen, and she was visibly upset. Rightfully so, I’d say.
But unfortunately, the discourse this time around goes even further beyond a fan-favorite character dying, and that’s saying a lot considering Abby’s actress in the game, Laura Bailey,received death threatsand harassment just for portraying her.
The show dida pretty good job of recreating the iconic scenefrom the game, considering Abby and her actions are piling upthe same sort of reactionsonline to the surprise death, with some viewers threatening to stop watching the show entirely (similarly to how gamers previously wished they could just stop playing as Abby) andothersjust mad that “we’re stuck with Ellie” now.
Many experiencingTLOU2’sstory for the first time have been shocked and appalled at Joel’s brutal death, especially so early on in the season. And it felt that way in the game, too, with the first game’s main character dying within the first hour or so. I was gutted by it at first, but eventually came around to enjoying it for the purposes of the story being told.
The circumstances also feel pretty different this time around for other reasons, too. I wish the discussion about the episode was all about the writing and cinematography. But there’s a general, loud dislike for Bella Ramsey’s performance and casting as Ellie, wrapped up in the shock of the death scene, which will probably create even more toxicity in the fandom for the show than we experienced in the game where Ellie is pretty universally loved. And that’s without even getting into the hatred that Abby has received as a character alone.
With the change in mediums, I am definitely anxious as to how the show will tell the stories of Ellie and Abby. I really don’t think it will work as well as it did in the game, which won’t help anything when it comes to the negativity surrounding the show.
In theTLOU2game, the player experiences Ellie’s journey with Dina to Seattle to chase down her own revenge, and then the perspective shifts, and players then take control of Abby to showcase her own side of the story and garner understanding (and for some, sympathy) for Joel’s murderer. Many still haven’t gotten past their hatred of Abby, even after playing as her for half of the game, and the show’s viewers will most likely have many in the same camp.
The thing about this latest episode of the show is that it was a pretty damn phenomenal hour of TV, but that won’t be what you read online, for the most part. The added wrinkle of the infected invasion of Jackson turned it into aGame of Thrones-like spectacle, allowing Tommy some time to shine as the hero, and Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Pedro Pascal (Joel), and Bella Ramsey (Ellie) all put in excellent performances in several harrowing scenes.
I’m not really sure it will matter at this point. Online chatter and social media culture feel more toxic than ever before, even just five years after the events were first portrayed inTLOU2. Season two of the show has a 96 percent critic rating and 53 percent audience rating onRotten Tomatoes, so some viewers are clearly upset (especially when compared to the 96 percent/87 percent split in season one). And it’s only going to get worse later on in this season when certain new characters are introduced.
Take a beloved character who a lot of people feel was miscast, add in one of the most hated new characters in recent memory, and lay it all against the backdrop of increasingly toxic internet culture, and it feels likeTLOU2is headed on a crash course of negativity that won’t end any time soon.
