Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us finally premiered this past Sunday with a series best of 8.2 million viewers, and introduced a host of new characters to the show. Showrunner Craig Mazin said the sophomore season would be bigger in every sense, but still wanted to recapture some of the sequel’s more intimate and quiet moments. The first kiss between Ellie and Dina during the New Year’s Eve dance was one of them.
During the post-episode featurette, The Last of Us creator and co-director Neil Druckmann explained how he saw Dina and how Ellie is trying to navigate this awkwardness of a potential romance.
“Dina became this interesting person that Ellie becomes infatuated with, and we see that throughout this episode that it’s not only her friend, and someone she respects and admires, it’s someone that she likes,” he said. “She doesn’t quite know how to deal with it because she’s Ellie, and she’s awkward, and she’s a teenager.”
“There are things from the game that I know I want to just layer on one on one [into the show], because I love them, and because I also think they will translate perfectly one on one,” Mazin told Variety. “There’s one shot in particular inside the church where we see Ellie from behind and these beautiful lights and people dancing. It’s pretty darn close to what’s there in the game.”
Five years have passed since the events of Season 1, and Ellie has gone through her teenage years and is trying to find herself without relying on Joel for everything. She eventually found comfort with Dina (Isabela Merced), and the two formed a bond that blossomed into something more, but not without some difficulties–including a love triangle with Dina’s off-again boyfriend, Jesse (Young Mazino).
“Ellie thinks that Dina is straight, and in a relationship with Jesse,” Ramsey added. “She’s so afraid of the feelings that she has for Dina and ruining a friendship that means a lot to her. There’s definitely a self-protection thing of needing to know how Dina felt before she could make any sort of a move. She’s still confused by it, even when Dina does start making a move on Ellie in that dance and leans into kiss her. I think Ellie is still like, ‘Is this actually happening?'”
After the kiss, the moment is broken up by bartender Seth (Robert John Burke), who casually shows his bigotry, and is then interrupted by violence with Joel coming in instinctually to help Ellie. That doesn’t work in Joel’s favor, and Ellie aggressively assures Joel she doesn’t want his help, adding more tension to their already estranged relationship.
