Featured Image Credit: HBO Max
Topics: PlayStation, Sony, TV And Film, The Last Of Us, The Last Of Us Part 2, Features
Topics: PlayStation, Sony, TV And Film, The Last Of Us, The Last Of Us Part 2, Features
The Last Of Us Season 2 is in full swing - and as expected, it’s already had its fair share of controversies.
Most of it isn’t anything of substance, just online bullies unnecessarily picking on Bella Ramsay or decreeing that Kaitlyn Denver isn’t buff enough to play Abby. To throw my own hat into the ring, I’d say Abby’s physique in the game is an important part of her character, but after watching the last few episodes of the TV series, there’s no doubt in my mind that Kaitlyn Denver was the perfect person to play her.
Check out the trailer for Season 2 below.
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That’s not who we’re talking about today though; I want to talk about Tommy. Now Tommy is one of my favourite characters in The Last Of Us and his story in The Last Of Us Part II was one I was eager to see done in live-action, but we’re four episodes in now and it’s clear the show is going in a completely different direction to the game with regards to him.
In the game, shortly after Joel has his unfortunate golfing accident, Tommy drops everything and ventures off to Seattle, alone, to avenge his brother’s death. Ellie and Dina follow and when they get to Seattle, they can easily tell where Tommy has been due to the piles of bodies he leaves behind wherever he goes.
Tommy goes full guerrilla in The Last Of Us Part II, so much that I think it’s criminal we never got a DLC about it. The game allows Tommy’s grief to come out through rage and retribution, but the TV series is seemingly going down a different path, and I’m very excited to see where it leads.
In the TV show, we see Tommy shed a tear over Joel’s corpse, but he doesn’t really have time to grieve properly as he has work to do. This isn’t riding off on a quest for vengeance, it’s supporting his wife Maria as they work to rebuild Jackson after it was attacked by infected. Ellie is the one to approach him about going to Seattle and he basically shoots the idea down, before holding a city council meeting to determine if Jackson will take action against Abby and her friends. The answer is no, prompting Ellie and Dina to go on alone.
As of Episode 4, ‘Day One’, Tommy is still in Jackson, but that’s probably going to change soon and it could lead to several interesting developments that distinguish the show from its video game source material. For starters, Tommy will likely go to Seattle not for revenge but for Ellie, to keep her safe and make sure she comes back alive. He’ll either ask Jesse to come with him, or Jesse will probably force his way onto the trip because he wants to protect Dina.
Now if we assume the show will play out in the same way as the game from that point onward, and I’m going to address game spoilers from here on in, the pair are likely going to land themselves in danger and in Tommy’s case, it won’t be because of his own foolish disregard for his own safety; it’ll be because Ellie has forced him into it. Keep in mind that Tommy has a child of his own in the TV show, something he didn’t have in the game so it’ll be even more impactful when he returns to Jackson after almost dying, and that will likely have serious repercussions for Ellie.
I think this is all tied into Ellie’s growth as a character, as I’m not ashamed to admit I’m not seeing Part II Ellie in Bella Ramsay’s performance yet. It feels like Ellie weeks after the end of Season 1 rather than years as the show would have us believe. Ellie is still very emotional, very compulsive, and very silly, so I’d guess having Dina, Tommy, and Jesse all face trauma due to her own actions is the show’s way of maturing her on-screen rather than doing it during the timeskip.
Part of me is sad that we’re probably not going to see bloodlusted Tommy giving the WLF hell, but that doesn’t mean I’m dreading what they’re going to do instead. He’s a great character and now that he’s a family man, I’m excited to see how the show will play with that, and what emotions it’ll bring with it.