While the current state of television and its programming is up in the air due to the continued writers and actors strike, we can still look back at the television we’ve gotten this year and be happy about many things. Key among them is the arrival of The Last Of Us adaptation on HBO. While there have been successful video game adaptations, none of them have truly “broken the barriers” to help people realize that these properties have great stories to tell. People finally saw this truth with this adaptation, headed up by Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann and showrunner Craig Mazin.
We say that because not only was the show a ratings smash on HBO, but it got nominated for two dozen Emmys, many of which were for the actors who brought the game characters to life in beautiful ways. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mazin was asked about his favorite scene in Season 1, and he went to the finale for a scene that really moved him:
“I have a certain place in my heart for a scene in the last episode that I ended up shooting because our director had gotten COVID. It’s the scene where Joel reveals to Ellie why he has that scar on his head. She says, “Time heals all wounds.” And he says, “It wasn’t time that did it.” I’m particularly proud of that scene because, first, it’s simple — it’s two people talking, which is my favorite. They’re not even moving when it gets really good, so everything else goes away and it’s just about their connection. And I’m so proud of the performance that Pedro and Bella delivered in that moment. It was also the third-to-last day of shooting, so it was the culmination of a calendar year of shooting and the culmination of the work that they had done with each other as professionals, but also as human beings. It was so real and it was so beyond. I just love it.”
What’s important to remember about that scene is that it was one of many that weren’t in the video game. In the original title, Joel didn’t talk about almost killing himself, nor did he admit that Ellie helped him move on with his life after all those years of pain.
Mazin was instrumental in bringing certain beats and storylines to The Last of Us adaption and fleshing out the tale in beautiful ways, and this was another example of that.
