Coping through grief is hard. It’s even harder to explain what it feels like. So sometimes, there are movies or television shows that we can share with others to explain how we feel. Now, The Last of Us has given us “Dead Dad Club” members a great episode to use.
A part of grieving that is not often spoken about is how difficult it is to try to remember things about those we’ve lost. But with The Last of Us season 2 episode 6, titled “The Price,” we got to see Ellie (Bella Ramsey) remembering her time with Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) in Jackson Hole before Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) ruined her life. And it was an emotional look at pain, remembering, and what it really means to lose someone.
What I loved about “The Price” is that it doesn’t make Joel out to be some saint who was unjustly killed. He was a man who made mistakes, tried to fix them but often failed, and was often quick to anger. But he also was a man who just waned to be a better father than his own. And I think that’s a beautiful thing to see.
More than that, I love this episode for Ellie. It shows why her response to grief is to be angry at Abby and seeking revenge for it. She’s a young girl who lost the only father figure she’s ever known and we can see just how much Joel cared for her with “The Price.”
Grief is never ending
In the game, it is roughly two years since Joel died and the show timeline is a bit less clear but it shows how Ellie’s grief over losing Joel still leads her. As someone who lost my dad 3 and a half years ago, I know what it is like to still miss him but feel like I need to move on. We’re told that it is okay to grieve but just not for too long.
The Last of Us showed us a lot with “The Price.” Yes, it was meant to be informational. We needed to know what happened between Ellie and Joel to put them at odds. We needed to know certain aspects about their relationship to understand what Ellie was going through but it also allowed for Ellie’s grief to be understood.
My own loss has followed me like a constant sadness. I see movies, hear news, listen to music and want to tell my dad all about them. With Ellie, her grief is anger. Joel wasn’t taken away by some illness that destroyed someone I love. Joel was taken away all because of Abby’s anger and that has, in turn, given Ellie the anger she needed to seek revenge.
It is understandable. Losing someone is never easy and I love that we have episodes like “The Price” to show how many of us remember those we’ve lost. Joel Miller was imperfect but he tried to be a good man and tried to be better than his father and I love that we got to see that in The Last of Us.
(featured image: HBO)
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