Spoilers for “Day One,,” Episode 4 of “The Last of Us,” Season 2 abound in this narrative.
When Ellie and Dina arrive in Seattle, Capitol Hill is one of the first sites they investigate.
As the couple ride by a barren area adorned with torn LGBTQ+ Pride flags on horseback, Dina, played by Isabela Merced, says, “What’s up with all the rainbows?”
Bella Ramsey’s Ellie says as they walk past a rainbow heart, “I don’t know, maybe they were all optimists.”
It’s a hint of how Ellie and Dina’s friendship will develop in Sunday’s “The Last of Us” episode. Since kissing in the first episode, which has been continuously used as intoxicated antics, the two of them have been dancing around each other both physically and emotionally. (Although some observers felt they were protesting a little too much for it to have had no effect.)
But the couple ultimately gets together and consummates their love in “Day One, the fourth episode of the HBO post-apocalyptic drama’s second season,” following surviving horrific experiences with an armed militia and a swarm of infected — and exposing some personal secrets.
“We wanted the audience to be very worried at the beginning of that scene, right up until the kiss,” says Kate Herron, the episode’s director, during a recent video call. Before said kiss, Dina is holding Ellie at gunpoint, convinced she will have to kill her not-quite-girlfriend after being bitten by a fungal zombie. And while Herron wondered if audiences would be angry about all the changes around Ellie and Dina’s relationship from the game, “I love that [showrunner] Craig [Mazin] moved this [moment] to later in the series. I think it’s more impactful and more surprising because not everyone watching will know [they’re together] in the game,” she says.
Herron says she “a massive fan” of “The Last of Us” games, which she played back-to-back following the purchase of a PlayStation system during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“It just blew my mind in terms of what a video game could be in terms of storytelling [and] how it commented on empathy,” she says. “I think it’s one of the best stories about empathy ever made. I was obsessed with it.”
The British director is not unfamiliar with big franchises. She is accustomed with bringing moments from famous series featuring LGBT characters on television that honor them in unique ways. When the legendary god of mischief revealed his bisexuality to Sylvie during a chat, Herron was the director and executive producer of Marvel Studios series “Loki”. She also co-wrote the British sci-fi classic “Doctor Who, 2024,” in which the show’s titular Time Lord develops feelings for a bounty hunter.
“It’s a massive privilege to get to tell these stories,” says Herron. “It’s not lost on me that in general mainstream pop culture, we don’t see many stories like this. So there is definitely a sense of responsibility, but also massive gratefulness, in getting to tell these stories.”
She suspects how much she spoke with co-creator Neil Druckmann about Ellie and Dina contributed to the project, even though she had no idea which episode she would be directing when she landed “The Last of Us.”
“I didn’t ask for this episode, it was given to me,” says the queer filmmaker. “But I was so excited when I read it. The story was very meaningful, and I knew if it was meaningful for me, it would have to be meaningful for lots of other people.”
“ ‘The Last of Us’ story and the world is very harrowing,” she adds. “That’s why we really loved this episode because at least for this one hour, we get to see Ellie and Dina happy together.”
How The Immunity & Pregnancy Reveals Play Out Between Ellie & Dina In The Last Of Us Part 2 Game
Ellie and Dina each expose their secrets when they enter the theater in The Last of Us Part II. While Ellie is enraged to learn Dina is pregnant and concealed it from her, Dina finds it difficult to process the news Ellie is immune. It turns into a nasty fight. Ellie tells Dina she has become a “burden” since she waited so long to let her know about the pregnancy; turning back before it was too late would have been the appropriate thing to do. This is their first significant argument as a couple.
Dina emotionally pulls her gun on Ellie when they arrive at the theater on the TV show. She witnessed Ellie deliberately infect herself, as far as she know, and now she had to put her down. Dina believes she is quite immune and it takes a very long time before she can trust Ellie won not turn. She then feels such relief that she doesn’t have to murder her and has such a strong view of how valuable life is – that she finally performs two things she had been too afraid to do.
Where the pregnancy reveal creates a rift between them in the game, it brings them closer together in the TV show.
She tells Ellie she is expecting and at last acts in line with her romantic impulses. Ellie and Dina are an official couple by the time they travel to Seattle as in the game they had sex the night following their first kiss – the night before Joel dies. But the TV show preserved their first sexual experience for the theater, which fundamentally altered the course of the drama. While the pregnancy reveals causes of conflict in the game, it draws them closer on the TV show.
Stay ahead of the curve with TrendingNewsBuzz.com — your go-to source for breaking stories, exclusive interviews, and viral headlines. From entertainment to tech, we cover what’s buzzing right now. Don’t miss out — bookmark us and join the conversation today!
