The day has come: The last episode of The Last of Us is available on Sky/WOW. On Season 2 of the dystopian “Zombie” series fans have to wait now. So much happens between Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) in Episode 9 that the series throws us into such moral quandaries that there’s hardly any time to take a closer look.
We did it for you anyway and found out: In this episode, diving is the same two key actresses from the video game template on. And the second most of you have almost certainly overlooked.
Following Spoilers for episode 9 from The Last of Us Season 1.
The obvious cameo in The Last of Us Episode 9: Ashley Johnson plays Ellie’s mother
A big moment of the season finale was already teased in one of the trailers: Ashley Johnson plays Ellie’s mother Anna. A flashback shows Anna giving birth to Ellie and becoming infected with the fungal virus in the process.
The scene is remarkable for two reasons: First, it could Explain Ellie’s immunity to the virus. On the other hand, the moment of birth has symbolic value for fans of the games. Ashley Johnson plays Ellie in them.
The Joel from the video games already had a guest appearance in episode 8. Actor and voice actor Troy Baker played James, a member of a cannibalistic religious community who captures Ellie.
The Bigger The Last of Us Surprise: You’ll have to look very closely for another star of the franchise
Another guest appearance, however, is not quite so obvious: that of Laura Bailey, who, by the way, is currently involved with Ashley Johnson in Amazon’s fantasy insider tip The Legend of Vox Machina.
In the season finale of the series adaptation, she plays one of the nurses preparing Ellie for her surgery. Joel meets her as he bursts into the room to save the teenage girl from the consequences of the procedure. Since she is wearing a surgical mask in the scene, she is hard to see, even for fans.
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Incidentally, the role is not new to Laura Bailey, as The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann revealed at a virtual press conference that Moviepilot also attended:
people say that merle [Dandridge] is the only actress who has played the same role in the game and the series. That’s not entirely true: Laura Bailey has the nurse in the OR already played in the game. We wanted to put them somewhere. Maybe we’ll do something with her in the next season too.
Laura Bailey lent her voice to several minor supporting characters in the first video game. In The Last of Us Part II, however, Bailey voiced one of the most important characters in the entire franchise, which we most likely will will meet as early as season 2: Abby.
Of course we don’t want to reveal more at this point. Just this much: If you think that Season 1 of The Last of Us was bleak, you have to wrap up warm for Season 2.
Substitute for The Last of Us: The 5 best zombie series to stream
Whether you watch The Last of Us or not, the zombie series genre is more diverse than meets the eye. That’s why we’re introducing you to five representatives in the podcast stream that you shouldn’t miss. They can be streamed on Netflix, Disney+, Amazon and even free of charge in the Arte media library.
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Each of the zombie series presented makes something special in its own way. Be it that it takes you to a historical setting, approaches the topic with humor or, as a social drama, deals with how ex-zombies can be reintegrated into society.
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