The Last of Us’ best story got a lot more tragic on TV
Another mostly self-contained episode of The Last of Us, another one that has audiences raving. It’s become a bit of a thing for the HBO show, but episode 7, “Left Behind,” is a little different: Fans have been anticipating this particular one since the adaptation was announced. Left Behind was an additional story released as a downloadable expansion for The Last of Us and was quickly regarded as the best part of the game. A decade on, it certainly feels like the story’s most heartbreaking moment.
On screen, it is basically a beat-for-beat retelling of the expansion’s story (though the show’s timeline means the gags about Facebook and the ephemeral nature of social media are missing), with Ellie suddenly responsible for a wounded Joel and flashing back to events before the two ever met. Here in the past we’re introduced to Riley, her best friend who might just be more than that, as the two sneak out at night to visit an abandoned mall. There, Riley intends to give Ellie the best night of her life with a tour of various sights these two post-apocalyptic kids have never seen, including a working merry-go-round and a photo booth.
Like in the game, the underlying tension — or at least the non-pandemic-related tension — comes from whether either of the two really recognizes that this is a date. It’s a genuine portrayal of burgeoning desire as they wrestle to ascertain whether the other is interested, and it rings all the truer for its queerness. Same-sex attraction is often difficult to navigate in adolescence (and, admittedly, plenty troublesome as an adult too), especially in a world that neither encourages nor educates about homosexuality. It’s the struggle to exist in that circumstance that has “Left Behind” hitting me
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