CRAIG MAZIN:
When we return to find him with Ellie,
he is in terrible shape,
and, in fact, is telling her to leave him
because he's not gonna make it.
Ellie has to make that decision.
In the moment she hesitates, we are brought back in time
to an Ellie we have not met.
NEIL DRUCKMANN:
What is it like to be a kid in this world?
Before you get thrust on this crazy journey
or find out you're immune to the cordyceps.
You're just a kid in a military school
that feels like she doesn't belong.
She has no connection with anybody else,
except for this one girl that left her
and she thought was dead because she was gone for so long.
Are you okay?
I'm fine. I just ran away for a bit, that's all.
If you're goin' through some shit,
you're supposed to, I don't know,
talk to your best friend about it.
Riley is Ellie's only friend, really, in the QZ zone.
She also has quite a big crush on her.
Their bond and their relationship
is very real, and pure, and fun.
They have a really interesting dynamic,
and I loved working with Storm to create that.
MAZIN:
We had to find somebody that was able
to not only be on Bella's level in terms of talent,
but also somebody that we think would have the upper hand on Ellie.
And that's a tall order.
Turn right, open the door, tell me when you're there.
-Go. -Fine.
This is Riley's one last chance
to show her love and appreciation
before she goes away.
-RILEY: (SHOUTS) Are you there? -ELLIE: I'm here. Now what?
DRUCKMANN:
"What is it like to skip school in the post-apocalypse?"
And you get to see them play an arcade game.
Imagine, like, an arcade game that Ellie has a poster of in her room,
she probably read about in some old video game magazine they'd found.
They've probably, like, seen the moves.
And here, they get to do it.
(EXCITED SCREAMING)
Riley gifts that to her.
-Go again? -Goddamn right.
It was so much fun to film. It was crazy, very full-on.
And those days were long, and emotional, and taxing,
but honestly, they're so rewarding and so satisfying.
STORM REID:
and admire the work that people do.
The authenticity of what the world looks like
or what the mall looks like, they did an amazing job.
The mall was, I think, one of the most amazing sets.
We had to get a carousel. We had to do a Halloween store.
We had to do a Victoria's Secret store.
-(RILEY SNICKERS) -What?
Nothing. I was just trying to imagine you wearing that.
-Shut up! -(RILEY LAUGHS)
Riley is kinda testing out the waters
and seeing how Ellie feels.
And she has a little crush on her,
so it's kind of like a date, but not really.
(BOTH GROWL)
BELLA RAMSEY:
it's still, like, a feeling that you can't just turn it off
because the apocalypse is going on
and you don't think you have a future together.
Like, it's something that's still very much there.
MAZIN:
the happiest moments are interrupted
by the worst moments.
And there's this wonderful moment
where Ellie realizes that Riley feels the same way about her
that she feels about Riley, and they kiss.
DRUCKMANN:
and then we snatch it away from her.
(INFECTED SCREECHES)
(RILEY YELLS)
MAZIN:
And they believe quite certainly that they are both going to die
or turn into a monster.
No, no, no, no, no! No!
Where Ellie turns dark and violent,
smashing the store up and screaming,
and just furious,
Riley is quiet because Riley has experienced loss.
The Ellie we're seeing now has never experienced loss.
And Riley does say, "We're all going to the same place."
Some of us just get there faster than others.
"But we don't quit on the time we have together."
DRUCKMANN:
when he tells Ellie, "Leave me," and he pushes her away.
But that memory is ringing in Ellie's ears,
and she knows that she's gonna fight till the bitter end
'cause the person she loves the most now in this world is Joel.
And she'll go to any length to save him.
MAZIN:
And she's thinking about the fact that
Riley didn't quit on her.
Riley didn't walk away.
Riley didn't let Ellie kill herself.
And Ellie's not walking away from Joel.
And she walks right back down there and she says,
"I am going to keep this moment for as long as I can.
For as long as I have you, I'm with you."