Latest news with #Ellie
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Craig Mazin Says We ‘Overestimate' the ‘Allegorical Connections' Between TV Shows and Real News
'Some of us just can't be saved.' Whether you caught that line on 'The Last of Us' Season 2, Episode 3 — or said it to yourself at some point during the 2024 election — showrunner Craig Mazin isn't drawing all the parallels you think. Asked about the impact real news can have on a narrative TV audience, Mazin told IndieWire, 'Well, it's hard to tell sometimes.' 'I think we overestimate how much people apply what's happening in the world around them to their experience watching a television show or going to see a movie,' he said. 'It feels like a natural thing to imagine that they're making those allegorical connections, but the truth is I'm not sure we're making them that much and I'm not sure they're watching them in that way that much.' More from IndieWire 'Harry Potter' Series Star Paapa Essiedu Signs Open Letter Supporting Trans Rights in the U.K. 'The Better Sister' Trailer: Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks Are Estranged Siblings Investigating a Murder He continued, 'People often do connect to these things on their own terms. What I do know is that when times are hard, our business has always provided people joy, an 'escape.' People call it 'an escape.' I don't think it's an escape. I think it's a reminder of all those feelings that we feel, even if it makes us cry or if it makes us laugh. It gives us a chance to feel things safely in a place where there aren't permanent consequences, but we can kind of connect with each other and have a joint experience. That's what culture does. That's what art has always done, so I'm hopeful that that's how people come to this season.' A legendary title in the video game world, 'The Last of Us Part II' won hundreds of Game of the Year accolades after hitting consoles in June 2020. Simultaneously, the COVID-19 lockdown helped fuel several controversies around Naughty Dog's bold sequel — including the decision to kill off a beloved character (Mazin unpacked that bombshell for IndieWire separately) and giving hero Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey for HBO) a queer love interest (Isabela Merced). Speaking with IndieWire before 'The Last of Us' Season 2 premiered on April 13, Mazin defended his love of the source material. He also explained how thoroughly imagined characters can make an apocalypse feel more epic. Even adapting historical events for 'Chernobyl,' HBO's Emmy-winning miniseries from 2019 about the infamous Ukrainian nuclear disaster, Mazin said his instinct 'was to drill into the real, human relationships.' 'It's not the event ultimately that draws us dramatically towards it,' he said. 'What draws us is in is witnessing people and how they relate to each other in ways that are universally resonant with who we are.' Seemingly alluding to American politics (but, hey, maybe not!), Mazin continued, 'None of us are living in a mushroom apocalypse — not yet. Feels like we're teetering, but we're not there yet. But we connect with the story of Joel and Ellie because we understand their story isn't about a mushroom apocalypse. Their story is about fatherhood. It's about childhood. It's about love and loyalty. It is about the links we go to keep the people we love safe and the ways in which we damage them by trying to keep them safe.' He concluded, 'These are themes that we all deal with as children, as parents, as friends, as partners, all of us, and this season goes a little bit deeper down the path of what that means when you start to think of yourself and the people you love as 'us,' which naturally starts to create a boundary beyond which is 'them.' Well over there on 'them'? They're 'us' and we're 'them.' And now, when we are in opposition, how do we get out of this and how do we resolve things?' 'The Last of Us' Season 2 airs new episodes on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max. Best of IndieWire Christopher Nolan's Favorite Movies: 44 Films the Director Wants You to See The 25 Saddest TV Character Deaths of This Century Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies: 64 Films the Director Wants You to See
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Last of Us' Review: Episode 7 Makes a Generational Choice — Spoilers
[Editor's note: The following review contains spoilers for 'The Last of Us' Season 2, Episode 7 — the Season 2 finale. For additional coverage, including previous episode reviews, check out IndieWire's 'Last of Us' landing page.] 'Maybe she got what she deserved.' More from IndieWire Why Netflix Moved on from 'CoComelon' - and How It Hopes to Replace It in the Kids Programming Wars 'And Just Like That' Review: Season 3 Tones Down the Madness for a Timid Take on 'Sex and the City' 'Maybe she didn't.' To open 'The Last of Us' Season 2 finale, Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) share the above exchange about Nora (Tati Gabrielle), the member of Abby's (Kaitlyn Dever) posse who Ellie chased down, tortured, and left to die at the end of Episode 5. But by the end of Episode 7, viewers may very well be repeating the debate about Ellie, whose ultimate fate makes for an agonizing cliffhanger that won't be resolved until Season 3 premieres (at least). Did Abby shoot Ellie like she shot Jesse (Young Mazino), R.I.P.? Did she wound her? Did she miss? Of course, I'm desperate for Ellie to survive, but 'The Last of Us' already killed off one of its leads this season and, more importantly, it's clear co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (who cowrote the Season 2 finale with Halley Gross) want viewers to consider not just what they want to happen, but what these characters have chosen for themselves. Sans sentiment, Ellie's moral report card is grim. She tortured and killed Nora. She shot and killed Owen (Spencer Lord), as well as Mel (Ariela Barer), the latter of whom was pregnant when she died. Sure, Mel's death was an accident, but that's hardly an excuse when Ellie's entire plan is built around murdering people. On the other hand, Ellie's ethical judgement showed signs of improvement in Episode 7; that her experience in Seattle (and lingering memories of Joel) may be steering her away from vengeance and toward mercy. Saying 'maybe she didn't' about Nora deserving to die (and be tortured), as well as telling Dina why Abby was so fixated on finding Joel to begin with, is a good sign for Ellie's level of bloodlust. If she's open to considering other opinions, instead of just finding Abby at all costs, that's progress. (Her revelation also drives a wedge between her and Dina, which speaks to how hard — and how important — it must've been for Ellie to divulge.) Granted, Ellie suffers a setback when she realizes where Abby is hiding. (The only words Nora said to Ellie were 'whale' and 'wheel,' so when she spots them both by Seattle's Aquarium, the dead-end suddenly becomes an open door, and she can't stop herself from walking through.) Long before her interrogation of Abby's crew goes so quickly sideways, it's clear Ellie should've gone with Jesse to help Tommy (Gabriel Luna). Tommy came to Seattle to help her. He cares about her, and she cares about him. He's part of her community, and he's still alive. Joel isn't. And if Ellie's decisions really were dictated by what Joel would want, there's no way he would rather Ellie kill his killer than save his brother. (Back in Episode 3, Tommy even said as much: 'He'd be halfway to Seattle to save my life,' Tommy said, when Ellie tried to argue Joel would go to Seattle to avenge Tommy's death. 'But when we lost people, no. It would just break him, like it was his fault. I saw that time and time again.') But Ellie isn't hearing it. There's too many variables. 'Fuck the community!' Ellie screams. 'You let a kid die today, Jesse. Because why? He wasn't in your community? Let me tell you about my community. My community was beaten to death in front of me while I had to fucking watch.' To be fair, Jesse didn't 'let' anyone die. There was no way they could've saved the Scar who was trapped by W.L.F. soldiers. Ellie and Jesse vs. a literal army? Sorry, but they're taking an 'L' on that one. But the selective responsibility Ellie points out does bring up one of the show's thornier subjects: Where do you draw the line when it comes to helping others when doing so comes at great personal risk to yourself? With the Scar boy from earlier that day, it's a relatively easy choice. But Jesse and Tommy already made a harder choice — to come to Seattle to save Ellie and Dina — and Jesse, as he explains to Ellie, already sacrificed his own romantic happiness to stick in Jackson and help the townsfolk, which includes Ellie. 'I go with that girl to New Mexico,' he says, 'who saves your ass in Seattle?' Despite Ellie and Jesse accusing (and then, later on, supporting) each other, the difference between them is clear. In Jesse's scenario, neither road available to him is actively harmful: If he goes with the woman to New Mexico, maybe he makes her happy, himself happy, and the people of New Mexico happy. Sure, everyone in Jackson would miss him, but they could've found another leader-in-waiting. Still, he chose to stay. Maybe he's less of a romantic, or maybe — as it's implied here — he's less selfish than Ellie. That doesn't mean 'better'; sometimes you need to be selfish. Ellie just took it too far. With Ellie, if she had stayed in Jackson, Dina would have been safe. Ellie would have been safe. The people of Jackson would still have two of their best patrol members, Tommy would still have a de facto niece, and Jesse would have been able to see his baby be born. Going had a single best case scenario: Abby would be dead. One more person on this planet would be gone. And for what? Abby isn't a known threat to anyone now that Joel is gone. Ellie's revenge is for her. It's selfish. It's meant to be healing, but it's only sewing more destruction. Now that destruction is all around her. Nora, Owen, Mel, and Mel's baby are dead. Jesse is dead. Tommy and Dina are wounded, and it's hard to imagine Abby letting them live. Ellie may be gone, too, although — without knowing what happens in the games — I have to imagine her story will continue. Her nature, her soul, is still forming. She hasn't hardened into a monster or softened enough to find mercy. But fate doesn't wait around for you to be ready. Whether she lives or dies, she chose the path that led her here. 'The Last of Us' Season 2 is available on HBO and Max (which is soon to be HBO Max… again). The series has been renewed for Season 3. • Speaking of monsters, a brief word on the book Ellie picks out for Dina's unborn baby: 'The Monster at the End of This Book,' written by Jon Stone with illustrations by Michael Smollin. The children's book, first published in 1971, tells an innovative meta narrative in which Grover (the 'Sesame Street' character) reads the title of the book and gets scared about what sort of monster is waiting for him at the end. From there, most of the book's 'story' is just Grover begging the reader not to continue, so he doesn't have to encounter the monster, but (spoiler alert) the monster at the end of the book is… Grover. For kids, the lesson is clear: The scariest monster is the one you build up in your mind. Expectations and reality don't always match up, and sometimes a monster is just… misunderstood. Take that reading a step further (not unlike comedian Gary Gulman's does in his 2024 stand-up special, 'Grandiliquent'), and the monster at the end of the book is the reader themselves, or more accurately, whatever anxiety, trauma, or scarring event from the reader's past they can't seem to escape — and shapes how they see the world. Gee, I wonder how that would apply to Ellie? • And speaking of presumed leaders who abandon their posts, what the heck is going on with Abby, Isaac (Jeffrey Wright), and the W.L.F.? During 'Seattle Day 3,' she's M.I.A. Isaac sits down with Sgt. Park (Hettienne Park) and complains that Abby and her whole team are missing on 'tonight of all nights.' Later, we get an idea of that night's significance when the W.L.F. sets off a massive explosion at the Seraphites' village. It's unclear who lived and died, what was destroyed, or if anything was accomplished, but it's implied — both by Isaac and by Owen, who doesn't seem to know where Abby is before Ellie walks in on him — that Abby was supposed to be on those attack boats, and she just… wasn't. Isaac tells Sgt. Park he was planning for Abby to take over someday as the W.L.F. leader, so what happened to make her abandon that trajectory? We'll surely find out in Season 3, considering the final scene flashes back to 'Seattle Day 1' to share what's going on from Abby's perspective. But given the emphasis placed in Season 2 on Jesse's planned ascension in Jackson, as well as Ellie stepping into Joel's shoes, there's a growing emphasis on generational transitions in 'The Last of Us.' Jesse's succession would've been relatively smooth, given how much he aligned with the current leadership, Tommy and Maria (Rutina Wesley). But Ellie's attempts to follow in Joel's footsteps are bumpy at best. The longer she tries to play the badass avenger, the more she doubts whether that's who she is (and if that's who Joel wanted to be) . Could the same thing be happening to Abby? Could completing her quest for revenge have rattled her enough to drift from the person she was before? Might 'The Last of Us' actually see hope for a better future in a generation of kids so ill at ease with the actions of their elders that they run in the opposite direction? • For a show that took more than two years between Seasons 1 and 2, it's hard to sit with Mazin & Co.'s chosen endpoint. For one, Season 2 is only seven episodes long, as opposed to Season 1's nine-episode arc. But on top of that, this arc feels incomplete. Ellie's left halfway through a transformative moment. Everything happening between the W.L.F. and the Seraphites feels half-formed, and Abby has barely been fleshed out enough to build anticipation around seeing more of her in Season 3. I enjoyed the time I spent with 'The Last of Us' Season 2 — and I hope you did, too, dear readers — I just wish there was more closure before another long break. Best of IndieWire The 25 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies, Ranked Every IndieWire TV Review from 2020, Ranked by Grade from Best to Worst
Time Out
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
You can now rep the New York Liberty with a special-edition library card
The 2024 WNBA champs just pulled off another slam dunk—this time, for bookworms. Starting June 2, Brooklyn Public Library will release 100,000 limited-edition library cards celebrating the New York Liberty, complete with an appearance by the team's viral mascot and fashion icon, Ellie the Elephant. Available at all open BPL branches, the special-edition card is part of a summer-long collaboration between the Liberty and the library system to boost access to reading, sport and community engagement across the borough. Whether you're a diehard fan, a library regular or just obsessed with Ellie's tunnel fits, the Liberty card is yours to claim, one per account, while supplies last. The collab is a centerpiece of Brooklyn Basketball, a seasonal partnership between the team and BPL that includes curated book lists, themed programming and, naturally, a few flashy activations. The launch will be celebrated during Ellie's Birthday at the June 1 Liberty game at Barclays Center. Expect a full-court press of literary fun, including a photobooth, bookmobile, and custom bookmarks linking to Ellie-approved reads like Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson and Lola Joins the Team by Keka Novales. If you already have a library card, you can still snag the new one—just visit your local BPL branch and ask to activate your Liberty edition. Any New Yorker who lives, works, pays property taxes or goes to school in the state qualifies for a card (proof required, so bring that paystub or utility bill). Of course, this isn't just a cute piece of plastic. A BPL card unlocks access to millions of free books, media, classes, cultural passes and even musical instruments. And this summer, it's also a badge of honor for fans of one of the most talked-about teams in sports. Fresh off a record-breaking season, with 26 sellouts, 152-percent growth in season ticket holders, and viral merch moments led by Ellie, Liberty fever is real. The team was recently named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2025, proving what fans already know: this is more than basketball. So go ahead—rep your team, support your library and get reading.
Geek Feed
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Feed
Save the Dog: Why They Cut Alice from the Last of Us Finale
The Last of Us finale had come as a shock to several viewers, but anyone who's played the game knew exactly what was coming… sort of. Fans online have been discussing all sorts of changes the series has been doing compared to the game, and a lot of fans were wondering just where Alice a.k.a. Mel's WLF-trained dog was. Since the dog was ultimately going to be killed by Ellie, showrunner Craig Mazin thought that having Ellie kill a dog would have been 'one too much' for the scene. Talking to Polygon, Mazin explains , 'There are two cardinal rules in Hollywood, one, don't spend your own money, two, don't kill a dog… Plus, because it's live action, the nature of violence becomes much more, well, graphic. It's more graphic because…it's not like there's an animation between you and it, [and] it's very disturbing.' Seeing that Ellie already kills Owen, Mel, and (indirectly) Mel's baby (plus Jessie gets shot); it was game creator Neil Druckmann who said, '…in our conversation, we're like this [is] probably one too many.' Interestingly enough, some fans were complaining that Mazin was so 'fine' with dog murder in Chernobyl , to which he actually addresses that in the interview, 'I think you get like one dog murdering episode a lifetime.' If anything, most of the audience's investment on Alice actually comes from Abby's side of the story since players get to interact and even play with her in the game. No doubt Alice will probably be introduced in the next season, but who knows, maybe it's Tommy that offs her this time. We'll just have to wait and see. Check out the complete second season of The Last of Us now streaming on HBO Max.
Forbes
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The Last Of Us' Showrunner Says Ellie Is Incompetent Compared To Abby
The Last of Us There has been a general sense that Ellie's character has veered well outside the lines of the source material in The Last of Us season 2. Now, there appears to be actual documentation that fans can point to and say, 'See, they don't get it.' One of the biggest complaints about season 2 of The Last of Us is that Ellie has been made out to be kind of an idiot. She lurches forward attempting to get revenge for Joel, with Dina handling all logistics. Her reactions and emotions to situations are often bizarre. And her combat prowess is almost non-existent, with practically no kills and half of them being by accident. Now, co-showrunner and the writer of most of the season, Craig Mazin, appears to be spelling out his view of Ellie, and it's what everyone is complaining about. This is an excerpt from the post-finale Last of Us podcast with Mazin: 'Abby is seemingly not like Ellie, in that Abby is incredibly competent…When Abby gets into the theater, she doesn't screw up…She is in complete control of the situation.' The idea that Ellie is somehow incompetent or dumb is not at all how she's portrayed in the game or even in season 1 of this show, where she's repeatedly called smart and just not living up to her potential. In the second game, Ellie activates that potential and becomes a revenge-fueled killing machine that is a match for Abby, which is a key part of the game. It's not that Abby never gets the drop on her, but calling Abby 'competent' compared to the bumbling kid that Ellie has morphed into in season 2 is so frustrating. This 'she's just a dumb kid flying by the seat of her pants' is so misaligned with every part of the second game, as at one point (spoilers) she acts as an actual, terrifying level boss as you fight as Abby, more than a 'competent' match for her. Ellie Again, this isn't even in line with the show itself. Season 1 Ellie is smart. Season 2 Ellie has, at the very least, been doing combat training and has had five years to prepare for an inevitable hunt like this. Then they just throw all that out (remember that rifle that Seth ceremoniously gave her that she hasn't used once?) for whatever this is. There are clips we've seen that were never used (Ellie firing an assault rifle) and scripted fight sequences that never happened. You can say that Ellie was reshaped for the TV audience, and while that may be true, it's a worse version of the character and one that doesn't even match the Ellie the show spent a year building. It's beyond frustrating to hear Mazin say things like this. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
