Tess and Ellie's Relationship in The Last of Us Makes the Story Better - Collider

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Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Episode 2 of The Last of Us.Look past the doom, despair, and fungus zombies, and the truth of The Last of Us remains: Naughty Dog's industry-changing dystopia was always about love. What types of relationships are forged during the end of the world's coda? Can any connections be true, let alone healthy, when necessity demands a survivalist perspective? Despite appearances, genuine relationships can undoubtedly flourish; healthy's another matter entirely (here's looking at you, protagonists, even though we wouldn't change a thing).

With two of nine episodes under its belt, HBO's adaptation has already used the benefits included with prestige television to remarkable effect, rendering the already multifaceted characters with another layer of color (or three). And while the intertwined fates of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are slowly simmering in the background, not quite ready to boil yet, Episode 2 devoted most of its runtime to forging a meeting of the minds between Ellie and Tess (the already missed Anna Torv). Tess's ultimate motivations surrounding Ellie remain the same game-to-screen, but making the two so complimentary strengthens a piece of the narrative spine and adds more meat to the entire story's bones.

Tess Teaches Ellie and Respects Her, and Didn't Have to Do Either

the-last-of-us-episode-2-bella-ramsey-anna-torv — Image via HBO

Following the sophomore episode's arresting prologue, a literal physical divide separates Ellie from an ever-watchful Tess. The way her formidable stare and hunched body language gradually ease — the barest amount, but still the start of a landslide — speaks more than her barbed assessment of the situation at hand. Unlike the dismissive Joel, Tess believes Ellie's immunity once she's presented with the hard facts. She also realizes Ellie's significantly increased value as a commodity. So, in an echo of Ellie's first meeting with Marlene, Tess proceeds to treat Ellie "like an adult," which Ellie responds to against her exasperated better judgment. Underneath Ellie's bluster, the girl longs to be listened to and listen in return. Tess giving Ellie the dignity of brutal honesty isn't just smart, it builds an odd sense of equality. Tess isn't a sentimentalist yet, though. The older woman considers Ellie a means to her and Joel's beneficial end even as Ellie's uniqueness plants the first seeds of doubt in Tess's mind.

As they navigate the wilds outside the Quarantine Zone, Ellie peppers her guardians with questions like the answers are sustenance. Joel hangs (pathetically) far back and doesn't engage unless prompted by their environment, so educating Ellie is Tess's prerogative to take in stride or shut down. While not leaping for restored joy, Tess never seems impatient or frustrated with Ellie's voraciousness. She takes their quirky cargo in stride, responding in a way that's simultaneously nurturing Ellie's curiosity and teaching her how to survive. (This isn't a departure from the game, but nuance, perspective, and scene blocking make all the difference.)

Compared to other media, Tess's approach, and the result, are wildly different. Most adult characters fall face-first into the trope of not telling children essential information. They rationalize it away; the kids are too immature, they must be emotionally protected, they can't understand the threat. And every time, without the necessary context, the kids' rash actions summon danger down upon the group. Tess is a damn experienced woman who meets Ellie at her level and then demands the teenager rise to Tess's by responding maturely. Beyond Tess filling in some world-building gaps and introducing new Infected characteristics, she alters Ellie's perspective because she conveys the explicit extent of the danger. Ellie's immunity isn't immortality. She responds to Tess accordingly, like shutting up when she's told. Attracting the clickers with a misplaced sound could be anyone's bad luck.

The Two Women Prove to be Kindred Spirits

the-last-of-us-episode-1-bella-ramsey-anna-torv — Image via HBO

And faced with the inescapable power of Ellie's personality, reluctant fondness creeps into Tess's cold demeanor against her better judgment. Her smiles are an endangered species and wryly delivered to the girl, as is her assessment of a 14-year-old already being a badass. Each recognizes the other as kindred spirits, and kinda dig it. A younger Tess in her Michigan days might've been a proto-Ellie, and it's not a leap to imagine Ellie growing into a congruent figure — hopefully, if a The Last of Us Part III materializes, one less correspondingly broken by the world.

Speaking of Part III — we're still in Part I, and burgeoning affection doesn't safeguard against the Infected. Nothing does. Thanks to time spent and Tess facing down the barrel of her own imminent mortality, Ellie suddenly evolves from a commodity into the living manifestation of Tess's redemption. Although the writers hold Tess's past close to their chests, Torv's impeccably agonized performance spills over with remorse and the last embers of a hope she thought long dead. The woman who informed Ellie that she and Joel weren't "good people" hangs her last moments on helping them escape and perhaps, in so doing, helps save the world. The self-centered goals fall away; this girl is all that matters.

Tess and Ellie Lay the Foundation for Joel and Ellie

last-of-us-episode-2-anna-torv-bella-ramsey-pedro-pascal — Image via HBO

Earlier in the episode, Ellie attempts to small talk with the grumpy dude she's also stuck with. Her furious screaming as Joel drags her away and the closing shot centering Ellie alone in the frame echoes her state in Episode 1: physically chained and emotionally isolated. Tess's loss will bridge Joel and Ellie long after Tess' death, a shared open wound (if to different degrees) and a stepping stone for their growth together.

Tess and Ellie certainly can't be called mother and daughter despite the trio accidentally imitating a nuclear family unit. But by allowing these women to bond, even in the briefest form, Episode 2 breathes extra dimension into each character and drives home how much affection can still thrive up and until humanity's last breath, even while standing in bomb craters. Joel and Ellie are the finish line, and Ellie and Tess were one of the starting guns. Through a single relationship, The Last of Us just made its entire journey even more powerful.

New episodes of The Last of Us premiere every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.