Mark Mylod’s Emotional Breakdown: Filming Joel’s Death in ‘The Last of Us’

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WARNING: This write-up discloses plot points from the second episode of Season 2 in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’, currently available on Max.

On Sunday evening, director Mark Mylod found himself moved to tears during the poignant last scenes of “The Last of Us” episode.

Players who have experienced “The Last of Us Part II” are already aware of Joel’s (Pedro Pascal) demise, but that doesn’t make witnessing his brutal murder at the hands of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) any less harrowing. In the series, Abby kills Joel with a golf club while Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is powerless to intervene, similar to the game. However, Mylod extends this pivotal scene by having Dever’s Abby deliver a chilling soliloquy about her five-year pursuit of revenge following Joel’s actions in the Season 1 finale’s hospital shootout. The episode also portrays Ramsey’s Ellie crying over Joel’s lifeless body, then returning to the Jackson settlement, which barely withstood an assault from a clicker horde.

Without a doubt, Mylod has a knack for filming significant, climactic episodes of television series. He garnered an Emmy for his direction on the “Connor’s Wedding” episode of “Succession,” where unexpectedly, Brian Cox’s character, Logan Roy, met his end. Moreover, he was nominated for an Emmy for directing the Season 3 finale, “All the Bells Say.” Craig Mazin, a co-creator of “The Last of Us,” jokingly remarked about Mylod, “It seems like death follows him.” He also directed crucial episodes from “Game of Thrones,” such as Season 6’s “The Broken Man,” which fortuitously saw the introduction of Ramsey’s character, Lyanna Mormont, in her very first TV role.

Over several days, Kaitlyn and Bella had to expose themselves deeply in order to discover remarkable mental and physical endurance – pushing themselves to their limits so they could leave nothing behind, emotionally,” Mylod explained. “In filmmaking, there’s always a particular take that stands out. We accumulated numerous takes with Bella, feeling that she still had more to give, and she was ready to go even further. Then, there was one take where I couldn’t speak afterwards, tears streaming down my face, and in directing, that’s a beautiful moment because you know, that’s the one.

In contrast to the game, which kept Abby’s fatal strike on Joel’s body out of sight, Mylod didn’t flinch from displaying violence. Instead, he depicted Abby driving the damaged end of a golf club into Joel’s neck, with Ellie shouting hysterically for him to rise.

Or:

Unlike the game that concealed Abby’s deadly blow to Joel, Mylod didn’t avoid showing violence. He portrayed Abby plunging a broken golf club into Joel’s neck as Ellie cried out for him to stand up.

Both versions maintain the original meaning and flow smoothly.

At first, the plan was to avoid showing the event. However, the choice to alter this was because it seemed evasive. It felt like we were shying away from a confrontation. Since much of the game revolves around dealing with consequences and accepting responsibility, the notion of them avoiding this seemed dishonest and insincere. That’s why we ultimately decided to show it.

In the revised version of Joel’s death scene, Tommy is replaced by Dina at the ski lodge. Unlike in the original, Abby is accompanied only by Manny, Owen, Mel, and Nora instead of a larger crew. After Abby kills Joel in this adaptation, Manny disrespectfully spits on his body, labeling him as a “fool.” In the television version, this act of spitting was not included in the final edit.

Mylod explained, “It was a decision I made. In certain takes, Danny performed the spitting action. We even had a ‘spit’ version. However, it didn’t seem fitting in the final cut or wasn’t the strongest take to enhance Danny’s overall performance. Instead, it evolved into what seemed like the most impactful portrayal of that moment, not because it mirrored the game, but due to what felt true emotionally for the scene on camera. Working with Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin is wonderful because there’s a deep appreciation and reverence for the source material, yet in every instance, it’s about what’s best for the emotional authenticity of each scene on screen.

Instead, let me rephrase that for you: In contrast to the usual flow of the game, Mylod depicted the immediate aftermath of Joel’s demise. Here, Ellie tenderly hugged him goodbye before they carried his lifeless body back to Jackson with Dina and Jesse (Young Mazino). One chilling scene from the episode was a bird’s eye view showing Ellie clutching Joel on the ground, while remnants of a shattered golf club lay nearby.

Mylod described the shot as one that conveyed a sense of desolation, finality, and loss. To achieve this, they deliberately kept the scene understated. The focus was on portraying the character’s humanity, vulnerability, anger, and other emotional aspects truthfully. This required an intimate and observational approach, making viewers feel uncomfortably close to the action and emotion, especially Abby’s ferocity and the intense pain felt by Joel and Ellie. The final shot aimed to transcend traditional camera techniques, moving to a place that was decisive, judgmental, and hopefully heart-wrenching as it showed the desperate need for physical contact in its raw, unfiltered form.

In a moving conclusion, Ellie, Dina, and Jesse were shown on horseback, returning to Jackson, their faces etched with exhaustion as they trudged through the snow, carrying Joel’s wrapped body. Ashley Johnson, who played Ellie in the game and appeared as her mother in Season 1, performed a chilling version of “Through the Valley” during the closing credits, leaving viewers spellbound in stunned quietude.

Mylod mentioned that we explored the poignancy of a body being pulled through the snow while juxtaposing it with a stunning tragedy, synchronized with the music. ‘The scene began with horses prominently displayed, emphasizing the pain and sorrow as we drew closer to Ellie perched on her horse,’ he explained. ‘As she turned around, we were left wondering what she was gazing at, which led the camera to pull back and disclose Jackson’s wreckage in the distance. The camera then swooped down to reveal the tragic sight of his lifeless body in a sack, stained with blood. It was an incredibly moving scene that evoked a sense of despair yet beauty, mirroring Ellie’s emotions.’

Mylod filmed the Jackson clicker battle an hour north of Vancouver, simulating freezing cold weather despite it being 60 degrees and rainy there. In reality, the snowy blizzard conditions were in the Fortress Mountains of Alberta’s Rockies, where they would film at high altitudes of several thousand feet.

As a fan immersed in the icy realm, there were days when the chill was unrelenting, and I yearned for those toasty tents and every layer of clothing I could find. While a director could retreat for warmth, my heart went out to our stunt team who were repeatedly engulfed by snow, only to rise again and dash through the snow at top speed to stay warm. Even in the frosty depths, things could have been far more dire. If gusty winds had surpassed a certain threshold, we might as well have been swept off the mountain.

Regarding the Jackson Showdown, involving a chaotic mob of infected clickers, a colossal bloater, and a struggling flamethrower, it demanded several months of meticulous preparation and a large team of professionals.

Mylod mentioned that the sequence, filled with numerous special effects, actors portraying infected individuals, stunt teams, and movement specialists, was undoubtedly in the hundreds. To get the unique movements of the infected right, we had undergone a boot camp specifically for this purpose. For months, we meticulously planned it out in board meetings, walking through each detail. The challenge lay in executing this highly ambitious sequence within a short timeframe amidst the rest of the team preparing, planning, and filming the other six episodes simultaneously. If our preparations were successful, then the actual shooting became less about logistics and more about delivering powerful performances and creating an emotional connection to the scene since the groundwork had already been laid.

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2025-04-21 17:18