“When We Are In Need” is a pretty straightforward adaption of the video game’s bleak winter chapter. In both iterations, Ellie (Bella Ramsey in the series, Ashley Johnson in the original game) encounters a stranger named David (Scott Shepherd, Nolan North) after Joel (Pedro Pascal, Troy Baker) is mortally wounded during their recent scrape with danger. What makes David so compelling is that neither Ellie nor the audience knows if he can be trusted, a fact which is compounded by her increased vulnerability with Joel bedridden. It’s a test of Ellie’s desire to trust others.
For this to work, however, the audience and Ellie actually need a reason to trust David. Right after David sends his companion away to retrieve the medicine in the game, David and Ellie are attacked by a horde of infected. Fighting side-by-side furthers their relationship faster than dialogue could ever hope to, with the duo developing a sense of camaraderie during the battle. Even smaller moments, like when Ellie realizes David had a second gun all along or when he restocks her ammo, allow David to become a trustworthy figure. Without the battle, the characters have no opportunity to have any kind of relationship, making David’s turn limp and meaningless.
The show’s odd unwillingness to use action to forward the story seemingly betrays a disappointing underestimation of the game’s original qualities. “The Last of Us” is at its best when it marries combat with focused, progressive storytelling. If the series can’t get a handle on that, an adaption of the infamously bloody “Part II” could turn this misstep into a fatal flaw.
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