You’ve probably heard the joke, “Why did the scarecrow deserve a medal?” Because he excelled in his field.” But The last of us‘ Ellie (Bella Ramsey) never did. Pulling it seemingly at random from her wordplay book, she tries to feed it to Joel (Pedro Pascal) for one last eye roll before they go to sleep. When he offers the punchline instead, she’s both pleased and horrified: “You tail! Did you read that?”
Little do Ellie know, of course, that this is a very common pun, at least outside of a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland caused by fungi. But it’s telling that a scarecrow joke surprises them in a way that not even a surprise clicker or random infected does in the rest of the show. And while this wasn’t the first time Ellie had interacted with something new from the “old world,” it was an example of what The last of us can do his best, finding clever ways to let the characters’ softness shine through, even in an incredibly harsh world.
At the heart of this has always been the relationship between Joel and Ellie. Although they are an odd couple at first glance, there is a certain symbiosis between the two; They’re both prickly, tough wannabe loners, bringing out the softness in each other. And both the game and the show rely heavily on the idea that they form a deep bond strong enough to inspire acts of brutal violence to protect them. That’s true even if Joel finds the thought kind of shameful, he’s embarrassed that Ellie sees him kill the hunters who ambushed her, and is even more overwhelmed to hear it’s not the first time that she had to kill someone.
Moments like this in Episode 4 give us the best glimpse yet of their relationship, which is more than just him as a companion, even if he still tells her she’s not family, she’s “Cargo”. It lets us see Joel finally drop his guard for a moment and genuinely care about the life of Ellie, who may be thawing some of his sadness over Sarah’s death. And in return, Ellie allows herself to be cared for and cared for. If The last of us slowed down for those moments, there’s time for Ellie to be more than just a generic apocalyptic teenager and Joel to be her gruff but unspecific protector. Her world has a texture that we didn’t have before, something that feels more personal her.
No pun intended: Volume Too brings out the same in Ellie’s character. When she reads Joel from the book, it’s not only a bonding moment, it’s proof that our world is as alien to her as hers is to us. And it’s more effective storytelling than her amazement at an airplane in Long, Long Time. We’ve seen people linger over plane crashes in post-apocalypses and realized how awesome it must have been to “take to the skies,” as Ellie puts it. It’s understandable – air travel can make even a seasoned passenger a little awed – but it’s also overused and lacks the distinctiveness that defines it The last of us‘ Characters interesting and his best moments really shine.
Contrasting with her general reverence for transportation, Ellie’s penchant for puns and her lack of cultural context around her is charming and comes from her unique personality. Not only is she amazed at how people got around, but she’s surprised anyone had time to use language in this way. Through her joy and shock that Joel has completed the punch line, we get a sense of her world and how joyless she’s been up until now. And Joel is just as delighted and saddened by it as we are.
It’s a smaller bar, to be sure. But The last of us, and in particular the connection between Ramsey’s Ellie and Pascal’s Joel, is built on tiny moments. As Ellie will learn, the world is a lot bigger and a lot more complicated than she thought. Here is hope The last of us can give her the same treatment.
