Neil Druckmann explains why the last season 2 of us needed a longer farewell for Joel

Fans seem to have conflicting feelings The last of us The third episode of season 2 as it is a slower and more reflective chapter that requires time to deal with Joel’s death instead of loading the complete speed as the game did.

According to the co-romhowrunner and the director of bad dogs Neil DruckmannThat longer period of mourning was very much the point.

“I love episode three,” Druckmann said during The last of us‘Inside episode 3 afteshow. “He does something we couldn’t do in the game.”

In The last part of us IIJoel’s death is brutal, sudden and the game barely gives players a moment to breathe before throwing them into the chaos of Seattle. He had to, explains Druckmann, due to how the games are built.

“In the game after Joel’s death, because the game mechanics are very oriented towards action, the mourning period is relatively short. Here, we can take almost an entire episode and really feel the loss of this character”, he said, highlighting in particular “This really beautiful scene in which Tommy has to enter and must clean up his brother’s body”.

In the show, the third episode reflects the game in some way, like when Ellie returns to Joel’s house, sifteen through his things, but also expands the story to show how his death ripple through Jackson. It is not only Ellie who is devastated; The whole city hears it.

“Jackson’s entire city suffered,” said the co-creator Craig Mazin. “Sometimes I have a problem in television programs in which a character we care about loses someone in a battle in which many people lose people. Even those people count.”

It is a different approach from the material of origin, but not that changes the destination. As Mazin pointed out in a previous interview, “we approach the same goal, but we travel a different path to get there”.

In the end, The last of us Season 2 chooses to sit with pain instead of running further, which is a creative choice that makes sense for me, and Druckmann and Mazin clearly believe that it helps to make Joel’s loss hit even more difficult.