Posted in: HBO, Max, TV | Tagged: the last of us

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3 Preview: Ellie Knows Her Name

With the next chapter hitting tonight, here's a our preview of tonight's episode of HBO and Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann's The Last of Us Season 2.

Tonight, it's the fallout from last week's brutal death of Joel (Pedro Pascal) at the hands of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and her crew, as Ellie (Bella Ramsey) looks to map their next steps in making them pay for what they've done. That's where things stand heading into the third episode of HBO and Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann's The Last of Us Season 2, with viewers still reeling from the loss of Joel so early in the season. Noting that "every choice was on the table," Mazin and Druckmann discussed with Variety what led to the decision to kill off Joel so early in the season.

"Ultimately, I think we needed just to settle back into the show. Because even in the game, there's like an hour or something before you get to this moment. But we also knew it needed to be early enough, because this is the inciting incident for this story. So yes, we always pick every permutation, but the later it got in the season, it just felt we were kind of dragging our feet instead of just getting to the meat of what the story is about," Druckmann shared.

Mazin continued, "There's a danger of tormenting people. It's not what we want to do. If people know it's coming, they will start to feel tormented. And people who don't know it's coming are going to find out it's coming, because people are going to talk about the fact that it hasn't shown up yet. Our instinct was to make sure that when we did it, that it felt natural in the story and was not some meta-function of us wanting to upset people."

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3 Preview

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 3: Directed by Peter Hoar and written by Craig Mazin, here's a preview of tonight's chapter, followed by the official image gallery. In addition, we have a look back at what Pascal, Ramsey, and Dever had to share about last week's tragic, game-changing moment:

Shortly after the episode aired, EW released an exclusive interview with Mazin, Druckmann, Pascal, Ramsey, and Kaitlyn Dever where they covered every aspect of the horrific and heartbreaking chapter. While you can check out the entire profile below, here are some of the highlights from Pascal, Ramsey, and Dever that stood out:

Ramsey's Reaction to First Reading The Episode's Script: "I've never cried reading a piece of writing before, but I had such a gastral reaction to it. It's almost like we've played that dynamic, me and Pedro, for a year, and it feels like father-daughter in some way. I think my reaction to that being over was quite a gradual feeling. Also knowing that that would be the end of Pedro and us two working together in this capacity."

Pascal on Having a Hard Time Saying Goodbye: "I'm in active denial. I realize this more and more as I get older, I find myself slipping into denial that anything is over. I know that I'm forever bonded to so many members of the experience and just have to see them under different circumstances, but never will under the circumstances of playing Joel on 'The Last of Us.' And, no, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it because it makes me sad."

Dever on Handling Viewers' Reactions to Abby Killing Joel: "I'm taking all of this as it comes. Honestly, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to plan for it. I don't know how people are going to react. I hope that people appreciate what I did with the role, and that's all I can really do. I feel good sitting in that space just because I really don't have any control. It's done. What I did is out there; it's going to happen. I think that in playing the role, I obviously wanted to do the game character justice, but also bring my own authenticity to the role and humanize her in the best way that I could. With the help of Craig and Neil developing who that character was going to be, I'm very, very proud of it."

Behind the camera, Mazin and Druckmann will be joined by Peter Hoar (S01E03: "Long, Long Time"), Mark Mylod (HBO's Succession), Nina Lopez-Corrado (HBO's Perry Mason), Stephen Williams (HBO's Watchmen), and Kate Herron (Loki). HBO's The Last of Us is written and executive-produced by Mazin and Druckmann. The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and is also executive-produced by Carolyn Strauss, Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O'Connor, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, and Evan Wells. PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog serve as the production companies.

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