Why The Last of Us Episode 6 Makes A Major Tommy & Maria Change
Spoilers for The Last of Us episode 6 below!
Director Jasmila Žbanić recently discussed The Last of Us episode 6’s major Tommy and Maria change. After barely escaping Kansas City with their lives, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) trek to Wyoming to find Tommy (Gabriel Luna) married to Maria (Rutina Wesley) and living in a well-protected fully functioning community. Tommy explains to Joel that he could not reveal his location in order to protect the town as well as his unborn child.
Speaking with Variety, Žbanić opens up about Maria’s pregnancy, a detail not within the original The Last of Us video game. The director explains that they wanted to give the world a sense of « hope » as well as add extra weight to Tommy’s decision to take Ellie off of Joel’s hands. Read what Žbanić said below:
We wanted to give this feeling of hope that this society has. Life doesn’t stop. It always goes on; even in the worst circumstances, life goes on. For me, this is a really important touch that Maria is pregnant. It makes Tommy’s decision much, much heavier that he accepted to take Ellie. It makes everything hard, with more drama for Tommy.
What The Last of Us Episode 6 Changed From the Game
HBO’s adaptation of the award-winning PlayStation video game has been largely faithful to the source material. So far, the narrative’s core story beats have remained the same while certain details regarding settings and characters have been altered. Episode 6 has proved no exception to such changes.
In the original game, Joel and Ellie meet with Tommy and Maria at the hydroelectric dam, not the actual Jackson community as in the show. It is not until The Last of Us Part II that the player gets a look at the vibrant town. Although Tommy and Maria are married in the original game, they are not expecting the birth of their first child.
As in the game, Joel attempts to pawn Ellie off on Tommy but then later changes his mind and agrees to take her down to the Firefly base in Colorado. However, Joel encounters far more opposition at the university including a variety of infected as well as a greater number of raiders. Similar to the show, Joel gets injured during a scuffle with an enemy. However, the game sees Joel shoved off a second-floor balcony and falls on a piece of rebar, impaling him. Ellie must then get Joel on his feet and lead him back to the horse while killing a number of armed raiders. The Last of Us episode 6 concludes in the same manner as the video game chapter with Joel falling off his horse, leaving Ellie alone and with a tough decision to make.
Source: Variety
