It seems that fans will be suffering within each episode of HBO’s Adaptation of The Last Of Us. In almost every episode, something sad, horrifying, or tragic happens, leaving viewers a wreck. The series has a high “tear count.” With two episodes still to go, those tears won’t stop anytime soon. With Episode 7, the show did something different from the main game as it focused on the DLC content of the first game called “Left Behind.” It was here that was saw the true origins of Ellie regarding what led to her feeling loss for the first time. Something that Joel wrongfully called out in the previous episode.
But what surprised fans was that the show went right into things and didn’t do a “cold open.” Instead, they focused on Ellie trying to save Joel after being stabbed at the end of the last episode, then going into her flashback. In the official podcast for The Last of Us, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann discussed the reasoning behind that:
“I think we were thinking about the opening of the show as to-taste, basically every episode: ‘What does it want?’ Some episodes want [the cold open], and this one just didn’t,” Mazin said.
Then Druckmann said, “Sometimes you use that opening to create almost like a reset. ‘This was its own story, reset, now we’re starting another story.’ These two stories are so intertwined. That edit is really important of going from one directly to the other.”
In this case, that “moment” was after Joel told Ellie to leave and get back to Tommy so she could be taken to the Firefly base. We see her hesitate on a doorknob, and when she “leaves,” we jump to her past, where she was just a kid in Fedra training.
The duo also said the meaning behind the hesitation leading to the flashback was that Ellie had to “live a lifetime in a moment.” She was about to lose someone she loved, which harkened her back to the last time she lost someone.
As viewers found out, that was a girl named Riley. The two were friends at Fedra school, but then Riley vanished. When she returned, Riley asked Ellie to come with her for the “best night of her life.” A time of fun and games at the mall happened, as did the truth about their relationship, which sadly led to the two getting bit by a clicker.
Since Ellie was immune, she could survive, but Riley did not. That’s why she pushed so hard to save Joel after “leaving,” because she wouldn’t leave him behind.
You can listen to the full podcast below.
