Editor’s Note: The following comprises spoilers from Episode 8 of The Last of Us.HBO’s The Last of Us had a leg-up on its online game counterpart. Knowing upfront that the story would proceed right into a second season allowed the showrunners to sprinkle in tons of hints and lay the groundwork for what’s to come back because the story approaches the time-skip that leads us into The Last of Us Part II. There have been fairly just a few tidbits added to assist join the 2 halves of this story like exhibiting us Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) curiosity in house or giving us a bit extra perception into the place and the way the Fireflies function. But essentially the most important legwork performed to arrange Season 2 was bringing Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie into Jackson, Wyoming. Jackson is just a minor a part of the unique sport’s story and later turns into a central location in The Last of Us Part II when Joel and Ellie make it their everlasting dwelling after the occasions of the primary sport. Since this location is so essential and holds so many characters who can be a part of the story going ahead, it is smart to allow us to see how the place was shaping up. Getting early entry to Jackson isn’t only a enjoyable Easter egg for followers of the sequence, it additionally does some severe heavy lifting introducing us not solely to this central setting however the themes and conflicts that can comply with us into Season 2.
We Don’t See Jackson within the Game
Though we go to Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Maria (Rutina Wesley) in The Last of Us Part I, we don’t truly get to see their settlement. Tommy and Maria are within the means of attempting to get the hydroelectric dam again in working order, to allow them to get energy to Jackson. Joel nonetheless asks Tommy to take Ellie off his palms, solely reconsidering after she’s attacked by raiders and Joel and Ellie have a blowout much like what occurs within the present. But when that’s throughout Joel and Tommy go their separate methods with Joel and Ellie by no means setting foot in Jackson correct. We know their settlement is decently sized and has some facilities. And on the finish of the sport we get to see Jackson from a hillside as Joel and Ellie strategy, exhibiting a big and peaceful-looking city with electrical energy. Still, we all know little or no about Jackson and the those that occupy it till the second sport. The tv adaptation modifications that dramatically by bringing us together with Joel and Ellie into Jackson in Episode 6 and exhibiting us the trivialities of every day life there.
Getting the Lay of the Land in Jackson
Letting us get a glimpse of Jackson years earlier than we’ve seen it so far within the sequence permits us to familiarize ourselves with the situation. We not solely see how the city is operating however get particulars on the way it’s rising as nicely. Tommy’s spouse Maria is a pacesetter within the commune serving to them develop and develop, we begin to see how this settlement will develop right into a thriving city within the years to come back. Maria explains to Joel and Ellie how they develop their very own meals, a college, electrical energy due to the close by dam (the present cuts the part the place Joel and Ellie assist them get it again up and operating), and extra houses being reclaimed by the commune on a regular basis. It’s one in every of these newly reconnected houses that Tommy and Maria supply to set Joel and Ellie up in, one thing that can finally come to go however not till after Joel and Ellie have accomplished their journey.
It goes far past simply establishing a location although. We see loads of acquainted areas from the second sport of their infancy like the principle road of the city far much less populated than it’ll come to be or the assembly corridor that grew to become the stage for an iconic teaser trailer for Part II that introduced us again to Jackson for the primary time and launched us to Ellie’s new love curiosity, Dina (Shannon Woodward). And talking of Dina, she herself could possibly be yet one more Easter egg on this temporary stint in Jackson. While Joel, Ellie, Maria, and Tommy are within the assembly corridor having lunch there’s a quick interplay between Ellie and one other younger lady peeking at them from a distance away. Ellie tries to intimidate her and the lady runs away laughing. Fans instantly began speculating that that was Dina. And with the present making so many refined references to what’s to come back, a quick cameo from Dina appears becoming.
Just because the residents of Jackson are laying down the muse for a greater future, so too does this little journey into the commune lay the groundwork for Joel and Tommy to fix their relationship. Their brotherhood isn’t practically as fractured because it was within the sport, however it nonetheless requires fixing. When Tommy reveals he’s going to be a father it creates a tense ambiance between him and Tommy, exacerbating their already strained relationship. But we additionally see the counterbalance to that when Joel opens up about his nightmares and his concern of failing Ellie. Joel and Tommy’s relationship is eternally modified by their fallout and years aside, but their time in Jackson reveals the seams the place their fraught emotions could be sewn again collectively. The incontrovertible fact that Tommy was prepared to finish the journey for Joel when he was succumbing to his personal doubts exhibits that regardless of the stress between them, they’re nonetheless deeply devoted to one another, and we’ll see this once more in Part II.
What Jackson Means to Joel and Ellie
Seeing Jackson isn’t nearly establishing enjoyable tidbits and laying down some character work, it additionally kick-starts the battle that can turn into the crux of Joel and Ellie’s relationship going ahead. As Joel worries about his potential to care for Ellie, the darkness he’s proven her, and the way he believes Tommy can be higher suited to caring for her, we begin to see how his mentality has modified. Once he began to actually look after Ellie his high precedence grew to become defending Ellie above all else. It leads him to make excessive selections like attempting to chop himself out of the image in Jackson, or after he’s wounded in Colorado. And, most significantly, it leads him to make the controversial choice to deceive Ellie about what occurred in Salt Lake City. Jackson is the likelihood for a secure life for Ellie and a contemporary begin for Joel.
Jackson represents an try to recapture (and in some methods even enhance upon) life earlier than the outbreak. It’s a neighborhood, one which’s maintained its security by means of isolation and has been in a position to thrive due to it. It’s the form of place the place one can have these frivolous worries about pre-apocalypse children would write of their diaries about. If Joel’s model of Jackson is a spot of safety then Ellie’s model is a spot of freedom. Here she will get to expertise so many components of every day life she by no means obtained to within the QZ. No one is aware of her right here and everybody has a task contributing to the commune. It’s a spot the place she is usually a child round different children, the place she doesn’t have to fret about the specter of FEDRA or contaminated, and a spot the place she will be able to have a house, one thing she’s by no means actually had earlier than. Showing us Jackson upfront lets us see what this place means for Joel and Ellie and can function a beautiful level of comparability after we get to see them settled into their new lives when Season 2 rolls round.
Introducing Jackson early to the characters and the viewers not solely helps to ascertain a central location for the sequence going ahead, however it additionally offers us distinctive new insights into Joel and Ellie by exhibiting us how they’ll turn into a part of this neighborhood. We get some enjoyable little Easter eggs and site drops which might be enjoyable for individuals who’ve already performed the sport. But we additionally get some character interactions that reveal Joel and Ellie’s insecurities and attachment to one another. This is the place we begin to see Joel actually settle for his position as Ellie’s guardian and the ramifications of that can keep on far into Season 2. Jackson is a spot of respite, a glimpse of what’s to come back, and a illustration of every thing Joel and Ellie stand to achieve or lose.