All right, so the Last of US episode two ends in a big way
that changes something major about what happens to Tess.
This is a big alteration for the show, and throughout this video,
we're going to be breaking down why it was done and what the scene signified.
If you don't want any spoilers, then this is your heads up
as we're going to be doing a deep dive on this series and game to discuss
what originally happened and also what happened in the episode itself.
Maybe enjoying the video so far and you unsubscribe then.
I hope this is the one that gets you to join
and with out of the way, let's dive into it.
Okay, so in
the Last of US games, things played out pretty similar to how they do in the show.
Joel personally made their way across Boston to meet up
with some fireflies, and this was in order to drop the latter off.
On the way, Tess was bidden in a museum and he ended up going out
in a blaze of glory.
The way the game and show differ is that Tess died in a gunfight with Federer
during her final few moments in the series, so the location is swarmed
by the infected and Tess ends up blowing herself up along with the Horde.
Now the Last of US official podcast dived into why this was carried out,
and then its series
creator Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin discussed what originally happened in it.
They said that Pedro being that way didn't make much sense
in the grand scheme of things.
And the more I think about it, the more I agree.
Now, in the game you had a scene where they were all outside the wall
and he ended up killing two gods.
After they scanned Ellie, the alarm was then sounded and you snuck
through the surroundings, taking out those that gotten away.
This kind of makes sense as to why Phaedra had a vendetta against you
as you'd murdered at least two gods, and we're making a run for it.
In the show, though, Joel kills that one. God.
And he doesn't call it in and possibly wasn't even found until the next day.
Mazin also said that the Busey's operation wouldn't
really need people to run out and go hunting others.
For example,
the Liquisa is basically a big wall that's built to keep people out.
They patrol around the area to make sure no one can attack it,
but they wouldn't go out of their way to chase people down
that had already left because they're no longer a problem.
It's not worth risking soldiers to go and get three people
and with this in mind, it does make a lot of sense.
Now, the reason why it was changed to, in fact, Ed and not just a group of
bandits was because the showrunners wanted us to see them in a new light.
This was done primarily to show how they are a hive network and how the fungus
could reach out to others in order to get them to swarm an area.
This creates an idea of community and the people behind the show
have brought up time and time again how this series is actually about love.
Not going to get too spoilery for what's going to happen
at the end of the series, but love is very much
the thing that drives Joel to do both good and bad.
In Episode one, his love for Sarah is what pushed him to attempt to save her,
and her death is also what hurt him so much.
He's likely going to do something with Allie down the line that's based on
a selfish love, and this will show how it can be both a good and bad thing.
You also have the episode
with Bella and Frank coming out that's due to explore their relationship.
So we have this theme constantly popping up.
This explains why the kiss was done, and in many ways
it was meant to show the infected welcoming Tess into their hive mind,
where they basically will a planet as one collective.
They said that they try to show this almost in a welcoming way,
with a kiss being something completely weird and haunting.
It almost felt like a tender moment rather than an attack.
Neil Druckmann, who directed the entry, also stated that
he staged this in the same way that you'd stage romantic scene.
They wanted to shoot it in the most beautiful way possible because then
there'd be this undercurrent that makes it even more messed up.
You have two characters
making eye contact and slowly getting closer and closer and closer.
Before this, the infected themselves are blurred out as well, and we have this
one slowly coming into focus as he gets nearer by going over.
They said there's a part of Tess that's actually giving up by this point,
but then another side of her comes through in the end.
I found myself watching it, rewatching and going,
Is it bait?
Because she's still flicking the lighter
or are we watching this transition of her giving in?
And the lighter is the last.
Fight that it's that she knows she's lost.
The lighter isn't lighting.
She flicks slower and less frequently.
You can see her giving up.
And then in the last moment, whatever final bit of her
that that's all there is saying, try one more time and she gets it.
But I love the way
we did that because it's underscoring, again,
the theme of love and the way love functions
because the fungus loves to harm it makes more of itself.
That's what we do when we love each other.
A lot of us make more of ourselves.
That's how the species is probably close.
Do it too often. So let's do two of them.
And there's this sense
that you know what we are may look disgusting,
and the way we reproduce may be horrifying and violent,
but it is tender when this man comes to her.
It's not violent because she's not fighting.
If she ran, if she fought back, they would all see they would take her apart.
Yeah, but she's just standing there and he very gently shares of himself
and it is it's very young in its very upsetting.
Anything penetrative is disgusting and scary when you're dealing with monsters.
And it just, I don't know, there's something so
creepy and gross and primal about it.
And yet also, weirdly, like Neil said, the way especially the way he shot it.
Beautiful.
So there's a lot of stuff going on in that shot and that's why we wanted to
do it.
That's so much more interesting than, like Federer showed up in Shot.
So this moment was change for a number of reasons.
And with his explanation, I think it might actually work better.
When I was first watching it, I was taken aback by the whole KISS thing.
But I do think it's one of those haunting moments
that really adds a new dimension to the infected.
In the podcast they said that had test right?
And then they would have sprinted after her to tear her apart.
However, because there's no struggle, it almost becomes
a tender moment, which makes it infinitely more horrifying.
There's also the connotations of assault and then very much forcing test
to become one with them.
That adds these extra layers that really elevate how frightening it is,
I think because of these added dimensions that it really improves the scene
and almost makes it like a collective hive mind.
It's very much about how losing her freedom and independence
and in this final moment, she resists and sparks up the light.
Throughout the show, we,
of course, have the saying look for the light constantly popping up.
A light is very much seen as something that will guide and help characters.
So I think the symbolism is important here.
I also heard that they wanted
Tess in the group originally, but they're glad that she blew herself up
because there wasn't much room, so there wasn't much room in the crew.
But lot of
I also caught out myself.
They also talked about the backstory for Tess
that they were originally going to show.
The episode was going to open with a basement door
and would hear banging coming from the other side of it.
Eventually, it would be revealed that Tess's husband and son got infected,
and though she killed the former, she couldn't do it to the ladder.
So she locked him in the basement.
And ally very much represented a second chance at saving the son.
She couldn't.
This happened in the case of Sarah, too.
And it's sort of like poetry. They rhyme.
Anyway, that's my thoughts on why they change things.
And obviously, I'd love to hear yours.
Make sure to comment below and let me know.
And I definitely recommend that you check out the Last of US podcast
on the HBO YouTube channel and on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts.
Sounds like I'm plugging in. I'm not getting paid.
It's a great lesson.
So if you're a fan, definitely go check it out if you haven't already.
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Heavy spoilers.
Good. Something else to watch them.
Make sure you
check out our episode to break down which will be linked on screen right now.
Loads of Easter eggs and loads of game differences.
Loads of things.
Go ahead over that right after this.
By the way, thanks for sticking to the video.
I'll be pull. I see. Next time.
Take care.
Peace.