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Posted in: HBO, Review, TV | Tagged: Bella Ramsey, HBO, Liza Johnson, neil druckmann, Pedro Pascal, Review, Storm Reid, the last of us
The Last of Us Season 1 Ep. 7 Review: Ramsey, Reid Shine in Ellie Arc
Bella Ramsey & Storm Reid steal the episode in heartwarming arcs in HBO's The Last of Us S01E07 "Left Behind," expanding the game's DLC.
The Last of Us episode "Left Behind" marks the second time the series focused on a flashback-centric episode after the third episode "Long, Long Time," which focused on Nick Offerman's Bill and Murray Bartlett's Frank. The seventh episode shares the same title as the 2013 Naughty Dog game's downloadable side adventure that focuses on Ellie (Ashley Johnson) diving into her backstory with Riley (Yaani King) while she's trying to gather medical supplies for Joel (Troy Baker). The HBO series, naturally, exercises some creative liberties. The following contains minor spoilers.
The Last of Us: Ellie and Riley's Journey
We find Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) in the immediate aftermath of the episode "Kin" as the two are inside a house with the latter lying on his back, dealing with the repercussions of his shiv wound after the two were ambushed at the college. Ellie is frantically trying to assist Joel looking for something to stitch his wound as he tries to get her to leave him in his weakened state. The scene shifts to Ellie and her enduring the military training long before she meets Joel and Tess (Anna Torv). We get the high school-level drama as we find she doesn't fit in after an encounter with a bully.
Late at night, Ellie is awakened by Riley (Storm Reid), who comes in through her window, because that's normal. After their initial awkward exchange and reunion, the two spend time with one another. We get quite a few moments recreated from the game with the expected nuance and gamut of emotions. Directed by Liza Johnson (The Sex Lives of College Girls, Physical, Dead to Me) and written by creator Neil Druckmann, the two did a wonderful job expanding Ellie and Riley's mall adventure from the game. Ramsey and Reid certainly benefitted from Johnson's experience with other female-led dramas.
Some will certainly have creative griping about how "everything" is working and how it undermines the power of a young mind's imagination. To that, my response is: if you're still splitting hairs SEVEN episodes in that your video game series isn't more like the video game, you're a lost cause. The series changed Joel's cause of injury from being impaled by rebar to a shiv, and there was just one scene at the college instead of the hour or so players would normally spend there. Ramsey and Reid turn in wonderful performances, and it's certainly Ramsey's best to date on the series. While one can compare it to Offerman and Bartlett's from earlier in the season, there isn't the same finality in this arc as it was in "Long, Long Time," given the leftover elements. It's going to be an interesting and exciting final two episodes of the season. The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO.
The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 7 "Left Behind"
9/10
The Last of Us episode “Left Behind” marks the second time the series focused on a flashback-centric episode after the third episode “Long, Long Time,” which focused on Nick Offerman’s Bill and Murray Bartlett’s Frank. The seventh episode shares the same title as the 2013 Naughty Dog game’s downloadable side adventure that focuses on Ellie diving into her backstory with Riley while she’s trying to gather medical supplies for Joel. The HBO series, naturally, exercises some creative liberties by expanding upon the story in some impressive ways that continue the series' winning streak (with Bella Ramsey & Storm Reid offering award-worthy performances).
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