Preamble

This is one of those few preambles where I have no words. The review and discussion it hopefully garners should speak for itself. But for the sake of saying something, I feel we are now getting to the riveting part of the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us Part II. The shocking pivot is challenging but it’s only the start of what makes the game such an exemplary piece of art. With that said, have you seen the second episode of Season 2 of The Last of Us? Let me know in the comments below.

Review

Through the Valley is a powerful and poignant episode that in its deviations creates a fascinating reinterpretation of The Last of Us Part II’s most tragic moment. After the events of the New Year’s dance at Jackson, Ellie finds herself readjusting to her new reality, whilst Joel and Dina are on patrol. Things become complicated when a large army of infected march on mass to the community. Meanwhile, Abby scouts Jackson out to get a sense of how secure the place is.

In the game, the death of Joel is shocking with its suddenness and the seemingly lack of motive from Abby. However, in the show, the so called “speech” that Joel alludes to in the game is given vivid life by the young woman. It runs the gamut from condescendingly flirtatious to emotional and savage. Kaitlyn Dever easily balances these range of states with considerable authenticity. But her best moments are the ones where she shows vulnerability, whether it’s the physical reactions to being too cold or the instance where she asks her friends to help Joel and Dina. It makes her moments when she turns on a dime even more terrifying and deadly.

In this way, Abby’s humanity and empathy are front loaded within her worst moments as opposed to something that’s discovered as the player progresses through her story. As someone who prefers Abby’s arc in the game more then Ellie’s, I appreciate this change as there’s already a planted seed for change and warmth.

As for the other changes to the moment, I really appreciated Dina being there as opposed to Tommy. It could imbue her subsequent interactions with Ellie with a much more profound sense of shared grief and loss. And in perhaps the most interesting change, Ellie crawling to Joel’s dead body and lying with him feels quite primal and animalistic. It’s akin to a baby cub returning to a state where it last felt truly loved, protected and sheltered.

The events surrounding the “big event” trades in fan favourite intimate moments for something that feels far more expansive and interesting insofar as the stakes for the rest of the series is concerned. This comes in the form of the infected attack on Jackson. It ensures that there’s a possible debate to Ellie wanting to seek revenge on Abby and her friends. Does she turn her back on a community that took her in, gave her stability and a chance to grow up? Or does she abandon all that for the sake of justice for a man whose the closest that she’s had to a surrogate father? I look forward to the conflict that this elicits in the rest of the series.

Less impressive are some directly adapted moments from the game that lack punch and weight due to the passive nature of the television medium. Chief among them is the opening sequence where Abby has a nightmare. In the game, it’s a recurring situation that illustrates the character’s deep seated fears that are buried within a traumatic memory. However, as adapted it feels quite clunky and oddly obvious in its use of two versions of the character. The same goes for the scene where Ellie is exploring the mansion before discovering an injured Joel. The horror comes less from the tension of the character’s discovery (via various unsettling sounds) then oddly placed camera moves that highlight incidental creepy details of the big house. This is most apparent with the use of a fixed medium shot of a roughed up teddy bear.

Mark Mylod is the director of the episode. He’s no stranger to shocking HBO fare, having been the director of the pivotal episode that changed everything in the final season of Succession. Whilst there’s some clumsy camera moves as previously alluded to, I do like his filmmaking choices during the “big event.” This comes in the form of the darting back and forth close-up reactions to the death. What felt quite static in the game is now given even more emotional texture as Abby’s friends are given more presence with their silent expressions. It also hints at the possible theme that could underpin the season, namely the strife between singular interest and the loyalty to a community or a band of brothers (united in a cause).