This post contains the destroyers of this week's episode Our last onenow streaming on Max.
Our last one Co-creator Neil Druckmann is behind the camera, directing the penultimate episode of the second season of the Year Theater Season 2, a powerful mission. Within an hour, Druckmann had to record five years of history in Joel and Ellie's life, flashing back to Joel's teenage years and creating a fully fulfilling version of Joel's father and Gail's husband Eugene in several scenes. He had to coach Pedro Pascal after Joel was killed in the second episode of the season and his former leader pulled out of another program.
As the main creative force behind both at last Video games, he felt that it had to be more cautious than usual, so that fans of the game expected to see many years of moments in live performances.
Last week, Druckmann and Rolling stones About directing Pascal with Bella Ramsey again, working with guest stars Tony Dalton and Joe Pantoliano, and seeing if Pascal and Ramsey have seen any questions he has about killing Joel.
Logically, was this filmed at the same time as the first two episodes of the season?
no. We filmed Pedro for episode 2 and he went to another project.
So even the New Year’s Eve party scene wasn’t filmed while Craig Mazin shot his version Season premiere?
We had to continue the whole process. I joked that this must be the feeling that Robert Zemeckis had to shoot Back to the future ii. Fortunately, I have two monitors. One monitor Craig filmed what in the first episode, another monitor had my live broadcast. I was able to cut from some of the videos of that episode, but we had to reshoot the whole thing, including looking at Ellie and Dina’s Seth statement from Joel’s perspective.
It's a very exciting plot, and probably the last episode, with a lot of Pedro and Bella together. What is it like to guide them in this regard?
It's such a kind of happiness. They are so talented. They know these characters very well now. I'm in such a unique position because I've lived with these characters and these scenes for a long time and revisiting them in these scenes means a lot to the fans, but it's important to me personally…I'm very nervous. I want to make sure I'm not only doing just things for the show, but just Our last one Overall, the expectations gamers will get from the game. Currently, I'm very surprised by what they put in front of the camera. There are certain moments in real people where you have happy accidents, just like you can’t plan something. As they were in the space capsule, Joel asked Ellie how he was doing, and then you saw this beautiful smile on his face and he turned around and you saw his wrinkled tears. You can't see him crying; that's it. We can’t plan for it, and we grabbed the fact that it was, and I was like… you just grabbed these beautiful moments there and then they went away. That is the beauty of real people.
So Pedro left for a while, and then he came back and played Joel again. Is he more emotional than usual shooting this?
Yes, although in daily work, you won't feel it. But surely, as we get closer, you can feel the way to come. Then, the last day, especially, when we finished the last shot, we hang out for a while, and then hug it, chat and recall it, it gets very excited.
Have you ever rethinked the Abby storyline when you were in the first season of the show and watching the magic that Pedro and Bella made together? You don't think this kind of chemistry will appear every day, maybe you should hang it on it?
No, I know it's because of their chemistry, because of what they bring, how painful it will be. Telling this story requires a lot of pain. If they don't have chemistry, I'd be worried about how we tell this story. So, for me, it's more of a problem, this story can be complete, this story can live alone. That's how we made our first game. But if we get the chance to tell it, we make some changes and prepare for the next story. Fortunately, the show was so successful that HBO excitedly let us continue to tell the story with open arms.
The version I want to compromise was originally meant to save Abby for a season or two, during which time, giving us more Joel and Ellie adventures during the five-year gap. Have you discussed it?
Yes, because we discussed everything. We even discussed what to do if we didn't kill Joel, just to ask it. Because everything should be on the table. Everything should be questioned to ensure we make the best choice for the story of this story. We even discussed, can we tell other stories, can we prolong this moment? However, the more we discuss, the more we feel wrong. It feels like we will only do this for commercial reasons to maintain this feeling for a longer period of time. But there isn't a story there to inspire it. Incitement incidents, the origin of this story is Joel's death. Any incitement incidents must be carried out as soon as possible. The reason Ellie continues on the entire journey is Joel.
Do you remember what was discussed about the version that did not kill Joel?
I didn't, because it was a very short conversation and had no effect on us. Because we know we are exploring something, you know, we won't get much from it, and we don't.
I haven't played the game, but with a friend telling me that Ellie tells Joel that he wants to forgive his porch scene and doesn't show up until the end of the second game. Why did you move it to this point?
The reason we moved it, and it wasn't a big, incredible choice, was when we made the game we knew we wanted that scene. That scene was written. We don't know where the scene should go, and for a long time it's very different from where it ends at the game. And (it went there) only when we finished making the game. It's hard because I don't want to talk about why we moved it to the end, because then I'll get into where the show ends up. But it's suitable to go there. The way the game is delivered is that you buy the game, and then you have the whole story and then decide how to experience it. The game is around 20 to 30 hours, depending on how you play it. Do you decide, I want to play for an hour or an hour a day, or do I want to go through 30 hours without sleeping? People have done all these different versions, but the story is all for you. By the way the show is, it’s an hour-long block per week, and (we know) we won’t end the story this season and then there’s a gap, maybe a year-long gap. So, some of the settings we feel in the conversation about how this story will be delivered, waiting too long may not be the landing as it is in sharp contrast to these events here. It becomes clear when you watch episode 7 and see where the show goes, which is why we can’t wait to come up with the porch scene.
Earlier, you talked about taking responsibility for people who know and love the game to provide these moments that they know very well. How do you figure out how to try to please people like people who haven’t played the game and just experience this on a TV show?
In a conversation with Craig, we talk about where the show is going. What is this show about? What is the soul of this story that, for me, must be kept the same? If we lose this, we go too far. Because it is an adaptation, it is a different medium and therefore there will be changes. Just fundamentally. It is a highly collaborative art, both in terms of gaming and performance. So the best way I can respect both is to do the best version of the story and make sure we are the same destination. Twisting, how we get there, different choices, these choices may vary. I know people will separate them and some people can accept it. Some people don't. That's just the essence of the beast, that is, part of the packaging. When you do something so popular and have millions of people watching it online, you will get all the reactions in the sun, especially when it adapts to something people really like. But I also know that to do a good job, we have to make some changes. This is just the basis of what we do. I just need to protect its soul all the way.
Finally, we should talk about the two famous guest stars in this episode. Let's start with Tony Dalton.
The most fascinating and intimidating person on TV. This is a difficult role. It's short and very poignant. He had to come in and get so scary that you had to think that this guy might snap up and hit his son. But he also has to have a lot of empathy, maybe you even have sympathy for him, because this guy with the tools does everything he can to raise his child in front of him, and he is not safe, he may get his child wrong. But I hope he will perform better than his father, who defeated him. It is important to get the idea of trauma for this generation, and it is hope and repair for generations. Because that goes into the porch. Here is the message that Joel left with Ellie. When we wrote that scene, Tony Dalton was my go-to. I immediately portrayed him as that character, and I remember saying hello with him and Craig and describing the scene to him-I was so worried that he would say no-he was just on the boat. "It sounds great. When will we start?" he said.
And Joey Pants (Joe Pantoliano)? In just a few minutes, he made me cry.
It illustrates the brilliance of Joey's pants. It's so funny because when we abandoned him, I don't think we have enough honor for his versatility. These scenes initially have a more humorous sense of the scenes, as we can see Joey has this kind of gallows humor. As he looked at the lake, there was initially a line saying, "I don't need Bob Ross to draw. I need Gail." On paper, it's fun and we can see Joe doing it. But he brought the show elsewhere. It has a kind of innocence and purity. He just made this beautiful show and it was a real fun. However, when you watch the episode, you see a version of the show. He also brought us many other beautiful choices, and it was actually hard to choose that one.