Bella Ramsey Is Killing It on ‘The Last of Us’
The Last Of Us is a heartbreaking TV show adapted from a heartbreaking video game series. Both versions follow two loners, Joel and Ellie, as they travel through the apocalyptic nightmare that has become the United States. They soon become a makeshift family as they trauma bond while on a quest to Seattle. So, when Joel gets murdered in the second game, Ellie sets out for revenge. The second season of the HBO Max adaptation picks up this storyline from The Last Of Us Part II. It is always a difficult, bold, tricky, and devastating choice to kill a main character. However, fans of the show took it even harder because Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who play Joel and Ellie, respectively, are a ridiculously talented and charming duo.
So, even those of us familiar enough with the game to know Pascal’s time was limited took the character’s death personally. This is part of why many of us are rooting for Ellie to get revenge, no matter how hard the creative team tries to humanize Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and the people who helped her kill Ellie’s father figure. However, when the shock wore off, we had to appreciate that we all lucked out when Ramsey landed this role. The bulk of this season of The Last Of Us fell onto their shoulders. They have to navigate the stages of grief that fuel Ellie’s rage while remembering that the character is still a kid. A kid raised in a world with monsters who is figuring out her own queer identity while continuously collecting new forms of PTSD.
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Bella Ramsey has been killing this role because they do not know how to fail. Many of us were first introduced to the actor during Game of Thrones when they played a different young girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. Lyanna Mormont was one of my favorites because she was wise beyond her years, and we learned to fear her.
Since then, Bella has impressed us in projects like the Alter short Requiem and the British prison drama Time. They usually lean toward more dramatic roles and rarely stray too far from genre fare. This has resulted in many of us watching them hone their craft as they grow older. It’s been refreshing to witness a talented child actor grow into a talented adult in a business that usually breaks them. Watching Ramsey give each of their characters so much nuance and depth under chaotic circumstances has led to so much great TV.
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Bella Ramsey held their own all of The Last of Us season one against their ever-popular and thirsted-after co-star. They were also up against a steady list of guest stars who should all be holding Emmys. However, Ramsey really proved themselves as Ellie learned to trust Joel. We see plenty of adults playing kids fall into the trap of turning characters into caricatures. This usually results in them missing the mark and infantilizing the role they were tasked to bring to life. Ramsey avoids that pitfall by always approaching Ellie as a person first. They never underestimate her or what she is experiencing, but instead brings it all to the surface to give Ellie dimension.
The first season of The Last Of Us was their playground to build their version of this character. We watched Ellie figure out she doesn’t have to be alone in the world. We felt the weight when a death, a shootout, or a new tragedy was too much for her, as she remembered she was only a kid. Ramsey also never let us forget that this discarded teen was told she had a purpose. She was told she might be part of the cure to stop the atrocities around her. So, no matter what brave thing she did or how many corny jokes she told, there was always that little nugget of anxiety sitting on her shoulders.
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Again, Bella Ramsey understands nuance, and they can tap every layer of their character. So, heading into The Last Of Us season 2, I knew the show would be in good hands when Pascal’s Joel met his untimely demise. However, even with that knowledge, I still underestimated what Ramsey is capable of.
The latest season of The Last Of Us picks up five years after the first season. Like the game, it finds Joel and Ellie during a rough patch in their relationship. They have accepted this surrogate father-and-daughter friendship. However, because of the lie Joel told her in the season one finale, there’s friction. Clearly, Ramsey and Pascal were up for this challenge and immediately resumed hurting our feelings.
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Ramsey spends much of the first two episodes letting us see that Ellie’s anger comes from a place of hurt. The person she loves most in the world is lying to her, and as a teen, she has big feelings about that betrayal. These feelings are also wrapped around guilt because of the implications of the lie. Many of us spent time as teenagers wondering if the world would be better without us. However, not many of us were repeatedly reminded that we’re the cure for something that could save countless lives. So, we don’t live with the voice in our heads telling us our deaths would have been for the greater good.
I do not believe there is a cure for the plague that has ravaged the world in The Last Of Us. I am also anti-murdering kids to see if we can figure out a cure later. However, Ellie only knows Joel killed people to save her, and now she has to wonder if her death would have changed things.
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This makes their final scenes hurt even more because many of us do not have parents who would go through half of what Joel did to keep Ellie alive. Bella Ramsey brings Ellie’s figurative open wounds front and center. We see Ellie processing it all in real time as she is equally horrified and relieved to finally have the truth in the open. Our lovable duo is broken but wants to heal and find their new normal. At least, that was the plan until Abby blew into town.
In this season of The Last Of Us, we were forced, along with Ellie, to watch Joel get beaten to death, and it is by far one of the most upsetting things on TV this year. Ramsey found new ways to break our hearts as their character is pinned down and forced to witness her family die. I can almost hear Ellie’s cries whenever I see an advertisement for the show. The cycle of emotions and the guttural howls set the tone for Ellie’s character arc. She’s been gifted a revenge story that most media reserves for men.
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She uses the tactics Joel taught her as she looks to make his murderer pay. Hurt people hurt people, and children will listen, after all. Ramsey never takes their foot off the gas pedal as they drive Ellie through the complicated journey that is grief. I love to see AFAB actors raging on screen. I find myself leaning in each week as Ramsey paints with all the colors in their crayon box.
Obviously, I have no notes for anything Bella Ramsey has brought to The Last of Us. However, the season two episode “The Price” really showcases how well they understand the assignment. This episode catches viewers up on what happened with our duo between the two seasons. It uses Ellie’s birthdays to mark the time, and we watch Ramsey play Ellie at different ages over five years.
Ramsey’s subtle vocal and physical choices help us track how old Ellie is. The character is slightly more mature and even more weighed down by what she knows but is afraid to say aloud each birthday. We watch her as she begins to retreat into the hardened shell she used to protect herself when we met her in season one. You can almost see the light and youthful joy diminish with each birthday until she finally has to address the elephant in the room and have it out with Joel.
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“The Price” is the episode I would recommend to internet trolls pretending Bella Ramsey isn’t one of the best actors of their generation. However, Ramsey has feasted on everything they were given all season, whether it be the callbacks, Joel’s mannerisms that Ramsey adopts for Ellie, or the budding romance with Ellie’s best friend. The Last of Us TV adaptation rearranged some major key moments. However, they still made time for Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie’s relationship. We cheered when Ellie and Dina admitted they had feelings for each other while hunting down Abby. We saw the glimmer in Ellie’s eyes as she got excited at the prospect of being “a dad” to Dina’s baby.
Their relationship is another emotional journey Ellie juggles alongside her grief, rage, and loss. Ramsey captures and uses these emotions to paint an accurate picture of someone doing her best during unprecedented circumstances. They tap into this character’s pain in every scene and use it to inform Ellie’s reactions and decisions.
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I could yell forever about Bella Ramsey’s work on The Last of Us. However, let me reiterate that this show won when the actor signed their contract. Few actors could go from being one half of our current favorite genre TV duo to driving the series solo. If the world were a better place, Ramsey would be drowning in nominations this upcoming awards season.
Have you also spent this season of The Last of Us being blown away by Bella Ramsey? Then find me on Bluesky when I am done crying about the season finale because we have much to discuss.
Categorized:Editorials
