HBOHistory is repeating itself with The Last of Us Season 2, with fans piling onto the show’s audience score on Rotten Tomatoes – and there’s one reason above all else. Spoilers to follow…
This week’s episode of The Last of Us was always going to spark a big reaction. It adapts the most infamous and harrowing scene from the game: the moment Abby gets her revenge and kills Joel (who murdered her father at the end of Season 1) in front of Ellie.
Critics of Part 2 would have you believe it derailed the original game and there’s no point watching the rest of the series. In truth, the original game was still enormously acclaimed and amassed millions of sales while this small-scale, yet incredibly vocal backlash took place.
It’s just added fuel to the fire, with people threatening to stop watching after Joel’s death. However, there’s another reason The Last of Us fans aren’t happy.
The Last of Us fans are obsessed with Bella Ramsey
HBOThe Last of Us Season 2 currently has a 53% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. If you filter them by every time “Bella Ramsey” is mentioned, you’ll see they come up a lot.
“Casting Bella as Ellie however, will go down as one of the biggest mistakes in casting history. [They don’t] embody the character or spirit at all,” one review reads.
“The Bella Ramsey casting for Ellie was one of the worst casting decisions in history. Sad they ruined what could have been an amazing series,” another reads.
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“I just don’t see Bella Ramsey as Ellie at all. [They are] ruining the show experience for me,” a third wrote. “Pedro Pascal was a good choice for Joel and he was perfect for the role, but Bella Ramsey was the worst choice ever,” a fourth wrote in their review.
“It’s a skill issue and a big problem that they didn’t recast Bella, who was largely fine in Season 1, but going from 14 to 19 with literally no appearance or personality changes is jarring,” another fan wrote.
Bella Ramsey is “sick” of being asked about their age in The Last of Us
HBOWhile appearing on Heart Radio, Ramsey revealed the most common question they’ve been asked about The Last of Us Season 2, and it links to fans’ biggest complaint about their casting.
“I’ve been on a three week press tour, and this is the most common question I get asked: ‘So, Bella, Ellie was 14 in Season 1, she’s now 19 in Season 2, there’s a five-year age gap, how did you prepare to play an older Ellie in Season 2?” Ramsey said.
“I’ve grown up! Ellie’s grown up! There’s nothing to tell! I’ve got nothing to say to you! I’m going to get asked that question, probably, every day for the next few weeks, so no offense to everyone asking that question, but that’s the question I am a little bit sick of.”
It’s clearly not an issue in the eyes of Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. Speaking to THR, Mazin said he “understands” when fans point out that Ramsey doesn’t look that different from the first season.
“Ellie in the game looks much older. Some people do change quite dramatically and some people don’t,” he explained.
“I’m not interested in the physical aspect – although I’ve been looking at Bella’s face for years while editing, and I can see that she’s certainly grown. I’m interested in the emotional maturity, and the change in personality.
“I’ve watched Bella grow and become independent and start to find her own two feet separate and apart from her parents, who are amazing – how do I figure out how to be my own person now and test that full independence? And I feel that in Ellie completely. So I understand where people are coming from, but when they watch this year, I think they’re going to see the difference.”
For more coverage, find out what The Last of Us’ original Abby actor said about Season 2 and check out the trailer for Season 2 Episode 3.
You can also find out more about the song that plays at the end of Episode 2 and what happens to Abby in the game.