The discharge of The Final of Us in 2013 already marked a exceptional shift in narrative tone for big-budget, so-called “AAA” video games. Nevertheless, for a few of us, 2014’s DLC chapter, The Final of Us: Left Behind, proved to be much more exceptional. It took mechanics that, within the recreation correct, had been utilized in nail-biting sequences of life-or-death desperation and repurposed them because the stuff of bonding and relationship-building, main us to really feel Ellie’s reference to Riley not simply by way of cutscenes and pre-written dialogue however by way of play, within the purest sense of the phrase.
Now, the episode of HBO’s adaptation primarily based on Left Behind is right here, and it’s superb by itself phrases. The storytelling fundamentals nonetheless work, even with the interactivity that made the sport so putting eliminated. (A lot of sequences constructed round that interactivity, together with one wherein Ellie and Riley have a contest wherein they throw bricks to interrupt automotive home windows, and one wherein they hunt one another with water rifles, are understandably completely absent within the episode.) Nevertheless, as a result of Left Behind was a very exceptional instance of what’s doable when AAA mechanics are utilized in new and thrilling methods, I don’t really feel that there was actually any hope of this episode reaching the identical highs. The sport was one of many best possible, most progressive and shifting AAA experiences of the last decade wherein it was launched. That is—and I don’t imply this as an insult in any respect—an excellent episode of a largely superb TV sequence, and it does profit from a number of music cues that the sport lacks. On prime of that, Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid are each distinctive, and defixfnitely make this story and its deeply felt feelings their very own. Let’s get into it.
A story of two malls
First, let me contact on the largest change between this episode and the sport on which it’s primarily based. In each, Joel’s been significantly injured, and Ellie should discover some provides with which to deal with his wound. Right here within the present, we expertise Ellie’s mall flashback whereas she rummages for provides in a home the place she and Joel are hiding out, and the one actual thematic throughline between the motion of the “current” and the “previous” of the episode is that what Ellie goes by way of prior to now informs our understanding of why she’s so determined to not lose Joel within the current.
Within the recreation, she’s really received Joel locked up in an outdated storefront at a Colorado mall, and the flashbacks to her evening on the mall with Riley are interspersed with motion set within the “current” wherein she searches this different mall excessive and low for medical provides. Enjoying the DLC, you most likely spend about as a lot time within the Colorado mall as you do within the Boston one, and as Ellie, you have to battle contaminated stalkers, resolve some environmental puzzles, and survive some very difficult fight encounters with males who’re looking Joel and Ellie. The Colorado mall additionally has quite a few particulars that set off associations for us as gamers with the Boston mall. For example, each have a restaurant chain referred to as Quick Burger, and within the pocket of a physique she’s looking, Ellie finds a strip of photographs created by the identical sort of photograph sales space she and Riley use on the mall in Boston.
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In the meantime, all TV present Ellie has to do is look within the kitchen for a needle and thread. She doesn’t understand how straightforward she’s received it.
This hopeless state of affairs
Within the episode’s opening scene, the injured Joel tells her to go away and he or she says “Joel shut the fuck up!” reminding us, because the final episode emphasised and this one will drive residence, that she has identified an excessive amount of loss already, and he or she’s not about to surrender on him.
He tells her to go to Tommy. She covers him with a jacket, provides him a fuck you look, and walks out of the room, and into the flashback that dominates the episode.
She’s operating listlessly in circles in a highschool gymnasium. On her Walkman (sure, an precise Sony Walkman, which she additionally has within the recreation) she’s listening to “All or None” by Pearl Jam. It’s from the 2002 album Riot Act, so it will exist within the present’s timeline the place the outbreak occurred in 2003. With out spoiling something for individuals who haven’t performed The Final of Us Half II, Pearl Jam does determine into the sport in a means that possible received’t, for timeline causes, play out the identical within the present, so this at the very least lets the band’s work be heard within the TV sequence.
(By the way, none of these things with Ellie in class is from the sport. A few of it might be primarily based on materials within the comedian guide sequence The Final of Us: American Goals, however as I haven’t learn that sequence, I can’t say for certain.)
Quickly, an even bigger lady begins giving Ellie shit, telling her to select up the tempo in order that the entire group doesn’t get punished. When Ellie says she doesn’t need to battle about it, the lady says tauntingly, “You don’t battle. Your good friend fights. She’s not right here anymore, is she?” With that, Ellie decides she does need to battle in spite of everything.
Minimize to a while later, and Ellie’s sporting a nasty shiner. A FEDRA official, Cpt. Kwong, notes that her conduct has been notably unhealthy for the previous few weeks and that his bad-cop strategy in response—tossing her within the gap a number of occasions—hasn’t labored, so he tries the good-cop strategy, giving her a heartfelt discuss wherein he means that she’s too sensible to throw her life away, however that looks as if precisely what she’s decided to do. She will be able to both hold misbehaving and find yourself a grunt, doing grunt work till she dies in a single unlucky circumstance or one other, he says, or she will swallow her pleasure and sometime grow to be an officer. His impulse is rooted in a bleak view of humanity—”if we go down, the folks on this zone will starve or homicide one another, that a lot I do know”—however Ellie nonetheless appears persuaded, for the second.
Ellie’s room, that includes a poster for Mortal Kombat II
Later, Ellie’s in her room because the rain falls outdoors. She’s studying a difficulty of Savage Starlight, the importance of which I first talked about in my recap of episode 5.
Setting the comedian down, she stares on the vacant mattress throughout the room earlier than a lights out name prompts her to attempt going to sleep. For a bit, the digital camera lingers on particulars within the room, like a small stack of cassettes that features A-ha’s best hits compilation and an Etta James tape, each of which characteristic songs we’ll be listening to earlier than the evening is out. Additionally on Ellie’s wall are dinosaur drawings, house shuttle diagrams, and, amusingly, a poster for the 1987 sci-fi comedy Innerspace starring Martin Brief, Meg Ryan, and Dennis Quaid.
We additionally see a poster for Mortal Kombat II. Sure, this displays one of many largest modifications to the supply materials that we’ll get to later within the episode. Nevertheless, what chances are you’ll not know is that, when Left Behind was remade for The Final of Us Half I, the builders additionally snuck a Mortal Kombat II poster into Ellie’s room there, confirming (by way of retcon) that the sport does at the very least exist within the recreation’s universe as effectively, possible as a result of they knew by that time that MKII was going to be taking the place of The Turning within the TV adaptation.
Learn Extra: The Final Of Us Present Made One Of The Greatest Sport Moments Worse
A rocky reunion with Riley
Riley and Ellie’s reunion will get off to a tough begin when Riley (Storm Reid, Euphoria) sneaks into the room and places her hand over the mouth of the sleeping Ellie. Ellie panics, knocks Riley to the ground, and grabs her switchblade earlier than she realizes who her attacker is. When she sees that it’s really her finest good friend, the exposition begins flying quick. Riley’s been gone for 3 weeks as a result of, after a very long time spent “speaking about liberating the QZ,” she’s really determined to do one thing.
This triggers difficult emotions in Ellie, who refuses Riley’s request to come back together with her and have “the perfect evening of your life” as a result of she has to stand up in a number of hours for drills “the place we study to kill Fireflies.” Yeah, these associates are in a tricky spot, seemingly on reverse sides of an ideological (and actual) battle. As Riley predicted, although, Ellie shortly relents, the prospect to spend a number of hours with the good friend she’s been lacking a lot apparently too powerful to move up.
What’s FEDRA vs. Fireflies between associates?
After they make their escape, Ellie is stunned that Riley appears much less inclined towards battle than regular, telling her, “You possibly can’t battle every thing and everybody. You possibly can decide and select what’s essential.” “Are they educating you this at Firefly College?” Ellie asks, and it seems they’re. A minute later, as they’re sneaking by way of an outdated residence constructing, Ellie’s flashlight begins giving out. “Firefly lights are higher,” Riley teases. When Ellie declares that “one level for the anarchists,” Riley says, “We favor freedom fighters.”
In a second that’s new for the present, Ellie and Riley discover a man’s physique in a hallway, with some tablets and a bottle of onerous liquor close by, which they snag and take swigs from on the rooftop. Within the recreation, they as a substitute raid the camp of a person they had been on pleasant phrases with named Winston, who, remarkably for somebody of their world, died of pure causes. He has some booze in a cooler that you could drink. The present’s Ellie handles the liquor a lot better than her recreation counterpart, who spits it out.
After begging Riley to let her maintain her gun, Ellie asks, “So, what occurred, you began relationship some Firefly dude and was like, ‘Uhhh, that is cool, I believe I’ll be a terrorist’?” It’s a putting line as a result of it’s each an apparent joke and it additionally appears to be Ellie maybe making an attempt to really feel out Riley’s angle towards boys, as if she’s making an attempt to find out if there’s any likelihood Riley reciprocates her emotions. (Nothing like that is mentioned within the recreation.) Quickly, Riley tells the reality: she encountered a lady—Marlene—who requested her what she considered FEDRA. Riley replied together with her sincere opinion, “they’re fascist dickbags,” and with that, she was in. Ellie begins to push again, regurgitating among the similar bullshit Cpt. Kwong instructed her earlier about FEDRA holding every thing collectively, however somewhat than let it devolve into an argument, Riley says they’re on a mission, and leads them onward, hopping throughout many a rooftop on the best way to their vacation spot: the mall.
After they arrive, Riley arranges a fairly cool reveal for Ellie, having her good friend stand within the darkened shrine to capitalism earlier than flipping on the ability. Ellie gazes in awe as every thing turns into illuminated. Riley guarantees to indicate her “the 4 wonders of the mall,” and their journey really begins.
Tackle me
The Final of Us turns into the most recent status TV sequence to make use of the A-ha hit “Tackle Me,” a tune that additionally figures into the sport’s sequel, as Ellie experiences the surprise of escalators, or as she calls them at first, “electrical stairs,” for the primary time. Amazed by the contraption, she races down them, races again up them, walks in place, and, maybe making an attempt to impress her crush and doubtless feeling the results of that swig of alcohol she took earlier, simply typically acts like a complete goofball.
As they make their means towards Riley’s first surprise (which is now the second surprise as a result of Ellie was so wowed by the escalator), they move a movie show with a poster out entrance for a movie within the Daybreak of the Wolf sequence, the Final of Us universe’s stand-in for Twilight. Briefly stopping to treat the show at a Victoria’s Secret, Riley feedback on how unusual it’s to her that folks as soon as needed that stuff, then begins laughing whereas making an attempt to think about Ellie sporting the lacy lingerie. Riley strikes on, however Ellie takes a second to examine her look within the window, clearly involved concerning the impression she may make on Riley tonight.
Similar to heaven
Riley tells Ellie to shut her eyes, and as she leads her by the hand to the mall’s subsequent surprise, we’ve gotten sufficient perception into Ellie’s emotions that we are able to think about how thrilling it should be for her, that top faculty electrical energy you may really feel on the slightest bodily contact with the individual you’ve been dreaming about.
The surprise is certainly worthy of the build-up: a shocking carousel, lit up in golden lights. That is, in fact, straight out of the DLC, the supply of a few of its most iconic pictures, however new right here is the truth that the carousel performs a music-box model of The Remedy’s “Simply Like Heaven,” and I believe the lyrics of that tune sum up how Ellie feels on this second fairly effectively. Like the sport on which it’s primarily based, this episode is filled with unstated emotion, which makes it all of the more practical. Ellie’s smile, beaming at Riley because the carousel spins, says greater than phrases ever may. Discover somebody who appears to be like at you the best way Ellie appears to be like at Riley right here. The 2 have one other drink, and Ellie continues to indulge in Riley’s presence.
However such moments by no means final, and because the carousel grinds to a halt, Ellie’s thoughts is interfering with what her coronary heart feels, turning over questions once more about Riley’s allegiance to the Fireflies. “Did you actually go away since you really assume you may liberate this place?” she asks, making the query sound each bit as dismissive because it reads. When Riley protests that it’s not a fantasy, that the Fireflies have set issues proper in different QZs, Ellie tells her that they may try this too, “for those who come again. We’re, like, the longer term.”
Riley doesn’t appear hopeful about her prospects with FEDRA, telling Ellie that Kwong has her lined up for sewage element. To Kwong, Riley is doomed to the form of grunt work she instructed Ellie she may keep away from if she performs her playing cards proper. That is new for the present, and makes it that rather more clear why Riley desires a life outdoors of what FEDRA has in retailer for her.
Photos of you
Subsequent up on Riley’s tour of wonders is the photograph sales space, one other basic second from the sport. When the DLC first launched in 2014, this second felt impactful as a result of it featured some then-novel Fb integration, permitting you to add pictures of the particular poses you had Ellie and Riley strike to your feed. It was a means for folks to share the expertise and join over their emotions about it. It’s a bit unusual to see a second that was initially designed not only for interactivity however for social media integration be recreated with out these components that after made it so particular. It’s nonetheless a candy scene, in fact, however that is one case the place the sport will all the time be the definitive expertise for me. No less than the present’s Ellie and Riley really get a printout of their photographs, albeit light and colorless. The sport’s duo received solely their recollections of the expertise.
As they head to the following surprise, Riley talks it up, saying “it’s fairly dang superior and it’d break you.” Ellie tells her to not oversell it, however she hasn’t. She tells Ellie to cease and hear, and within the distance is the unmistakable cacophony of a video arcade. Yeah, Ellie is stoked. Standing earlier than Raja’s Arcade in all its noisy glory, she says, “That is probably the most lovely factor I’ve ever seen.”
Mortal Kombat II vs. The Turning
The arcade’s received Centipede and Tetris, Frogger and Daytona USA, all alive and able to be performed. However there’s one recreation they need to play most: Mortal Kombat II.
This is likely one of the episode’s largest departures from the sport. There, the machines within the arcade stay off, and probably the most Ellie can do is think about enjoying with them. (As I found when re-playing Left Behind for this recap, there’s a hidden trophy you may get right here, a little bit self-deprecating joke from Naughty Canine. When you strategy and work together with a Jak X Fight Racing arcade machine within the again nook, Ellie will think about enjoying it for a bit. When she’s executed, she feedback to herself, “That recreation is silly,” and also you get the trophy, referred to as No one’s Good. Oof, was Jak X actually that unhealthy?)
Within the recreation, it’s not Mortal Kombat II that they play, however a fictional combating recreation referred to as The Turning, and Ellie can solely play it together with her creativeness. As Riley narrates the motion, and as Ellie imagines it so vividly that she will hear the sport’s announcer in addition to the sound results of battle, you enter a sequence of onscreen inputs to drag off assaults, blocks, dodges, and, lastly, an extremely kill. Sure, The Turning was clearly impressed by Mortal Kombat, so the real article makes for a fairly becoming alternative.
In his personal commentary piece, my colleague Kenneth makes a powerful argument that one thing is misplaced by having the characters really play a recreation, somewhat than merely imagining one. I undoubtedly agree that the best way it performs out within the recreation is far more poignant. It’s only one thing more that Ellie won’t ever get to actually expertise. On the similar time, I believe the interactivity of the sequence was central to its influence, that simply seeing Ellie think about the sport and enter sequences would have little of the identical impact that the scene conjures by way of the system of getting you do it, and in lieu of that, I believe swapping in Mortal Kombat II, a recreation so many people have our personal recollections of enjoying, permits us to really feel some deeper connection to the scene. For me, it’s one other occasion, just like the photograph sales space, the place the TV present was by no means going to completely recapture the ability of the sport on which it’s primarily based.
Kiss me, kill me
Bella Ramsey does an important job of capturing the extreme pleasure and supreme cluelessness of a gamer lady who’s actually by no means performed an arcade recreation earlier than, and it’s enjoyable to look at each her and Reid react to the sport’s legendary sound results, and to Mileena’s well-known fatality. Finally, enjoying as Baraka, Ellie will get a win on Riley, who tells her the right way to do his fatality. Baraka impales Mileena on his blades and the ladies lose it, and within the pleasure, we are able to inform, even when Riley can’t, that Ellie actually desires to kiss her. The second passes, although, and Ellie protests that she needs to be again residence in mattress quickly. Nevertheless, Riley tells her that she received her a present, and that’s sufficient to get Ellie to tag alongside for a bit longer.
Within the meals courtroom, Riley’s received a little bit camp, the place she provides Ellie quantity two (really “quantity too” lol) of Will Livingston’s sequence of pun books, the identical one she’s been torturing Joel with all through the sequence. Within the recreation, Riley provides it to Ellie simply after you journey the carousel, and you’ll spend some time studying jokes to Riley for those who like. (My favourite of the bunch: What’s a pirate’s favourite letter? ‘Tis the C.)
Within the present, nevertheless, Ellie’s delight within the new treasure trove of punny goodness is short-lived, as she finds a bunch of explosives Riley has made. Riley says that she would by no means allow them to be used on or anyplace close to Ellie, however Ellie doubts that her supervisors would care what Riley has to say about that, and he or she storms off.
Riley provides chase and tells Ellie that she’s leaving, that that is her final day in Boston, which is sufficient to get Ellie to cease. “I requested for those who may be part of so we may go collectively,” Riley says, “however Marlene mentioned no.” Within the recreation, Riley phrases this sentiment a bit in another way, telling Ellie that Marlene “desires you secure at that silly faculty. I’m not even supposed to come back see you.” The the explanation why Marlene may be looking for Ellie from afar—even earlier than realizing Ellie was resistant to cordyceps—will grow to be clear in time, for those who don’t know them already. Regardless of Riley’s heartfelt plea, expressing her need to spend a few of her little time left in Boston with Ellie and to say goodbye on good phrases, Ellie stays livid, and storms off once more.
Love and reality within the Halloween store
She thinks higher of it, although, and turns round earlier than she will get too far. Trudging again by way of the mall, she hears screams and fears the worst. Charging into the shop the screams are coming from, she’s confronted with a spooky sight certainly: some form of mechanical Halloween jumpscare system letting out the pre-recorded shrieks. Right here it’s, the Halloween retailer, the ultimate surprise Riley had in retailer for her. (Within the recreation, you really enter the Halloween retailer first upon arriving on the mall. This scene successfully combines that one and one close to the top of the DLC.)
Riley’s hiding out within the Halloween retailer, and tells Ellie she was saving it for final as a result of she thought she’d prefer it the perfect. “I suppose it was silly,” she says. “I’m fucking silly.” Ellie sits down. It’s time to speak about some actual shit.
“So you permit me. I believe you’re useless. Abruptly, you’re alive. And also you give me this evening. This superb fucking evening. And now you’re leaving once more, endlessly, to affix some trigger I don’t even assume you perceive. Inform me I’m unsuitable.” Yeah, I can see how Ellie’s received some emotional turmoil occurring for the time being.
Riley tells Ellie that she doesn’t know every thing. Not like Ellie, Riley remembers what it was to have a household, for a short time at the very least, and the actual sense of belonging that got here with that. Now the Fireflies have chosen her, and he or she senses an opportunity for that form of belonging and goal once more. “I matter to them.”
Ellie softens a bit, and tells Riley that she’s her finest good friend and that she’ll miss her. Riley proposes “one very last thing,” and Ellie agrees, earlier than Riley tosses her a werewolf masks and grabs a spooky clown masks for herself, masks they each additionally put on within the recreation. She places on Etta James’ “I Acquired You Babe,” the identical tune that options so prominently within the recreation at this pivotal second, and begins dancing atop the show case.
For some time they only benefit from the second, however what Ellie is feeling is simply too robust to be contained, so she takes off her masks and pleads with Riley, “Don’t go.” Simply as within the recreation, Riley agrees, nearly as if she’s been ready, hoping that Ellie would ask her this. Ellie kisses her, then apologizes, to which Riley responds, “For what?” It’s a stupendous and cathartic second, and a painful one, too, since we all know their happiness ends even earlier than it has an opportunity to begin. It makes for a captivating distinction with the third episode, which charted the love story of Invoice and Frank throughout a long time. Right here, we get the love story of Ellie and Riley, not fairly in actual time however not too far off. This evening lasts solely a matter of hours, and but the reminiscence of it is going to be with Ellie endlessly.
I really feel like “don’t go” is an even bigger ask on Ellie’s half right here within the present than it’s within the recreation, since she is aware of that FEDRA has Riley pegged for grunt work, and it’s lots to ask somebody you like to resign themselves to a lifetime of such restricted risk simply to be with you. However I’m certain that in that second, she thinks that collectively, they’ll create one thing higher. And who is aware of, possibly they may have.
They barely even get an opportunity to think about what that future may appear to be, nevertheless, earlier than the contaminated we noticed earlier roars and runs in, placing up one hell of a battle earlier than Ellie lastly finishes it together with her switchblade. Not earlier than each of them are bitten, nevertheless, and identical to that, their dream future evaporates.
“I’m not letting you go”
And whereas future Ellie rummages desperately in the home for one thing to assist Joel with, previous Ellie, considering her destiny is sealed, smashes shit in a rage earlier than collapsing subsequent to Riley. Riley says they may simply off themselves together with her gun, however she’s not a fan of that concept. Taking Ellie’s hand, she says, “Whether or not it’s two minutes or two days, we don’t give that up. I don’t need to give that up.”
Rummaging within the kitchen, Ellie finds some needle and thread and returns to Joel. For a second, she takes his hand, interlocking her fingers with hers. She’s not letting him go. Then, she begins to stitch.
