The Last of Us Episode 7's Riley and Ellie Story Lives Up to Fan Hype
Riley and Ellie's heartbreaking backstory in HBO's highly anticipated seventh episode of The Last of Us, "Left Behind," lived up to the fan hype.
Spoilers for The Last of Us episode 7 below!
Ellie and Riley's backstory lives up to expectations in Episode 7 of The Last of Us. Joel (Pedro Pascal) is injured and Ellie (Bella Ramsay) drags him to a garage in a residential area. While trying to tend to Joel's wounds, the episode flashes back to the three weeks before Ellie's first appearance on the show, when her best friend Riley (Storm Reid) takes her to an abandoned shopping mall to enjoy Late night fun.
Episode 7 of The Last of Us takes viewers back to a time before Ellie met Joel, describing her friendship with Riley, her first kiss, and how she became infected. Afterwards, fans took to social media to praise the HBO adaptation of Ellie and Riley's story. Check out their reactions below:
the acting. THE ACTING. im gonna get storm and bella all the awards JUST WATCH ME there’s tears streaming down my face THEY’RE SO INSANE FOR BEING THIS GOOD #thelastofus pic.twitter.com/XjAGQLENTn— joel miller defender tlou era (@ellievjoel) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid did so well got me teary eyed over here ud83dude2d ud83dudc4f #TheLastOfUs pic.twitter.com/di7u2NUqIM— DomTheBomb (@DomTheBombYT) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
Ellie and Riley #TheLastofUs pic.twitter.com/YazX4o2vrk— daily tlou (@tlouaesthetics) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
O beijo de Ellie e Riley em #TheLastofUs HBO ud83dudc9cBella Ramsey & Storm Reid ud83dudc69u2764ufe0fud83dudc8bud83dudc69pic.twitter.com/GHRfP2eY9X— The Last of Us Brasil (@TheLastOfUsBR) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
left behind ended. hurt even more on the show. the trauma will live on. that was one of the best episodes of the show without doubt BUT AT WHAT COST. GIVE STORM AND BELLA THEIR FLOWERS #thelastofus pic.twitter.com/dTyH57EXn3— joel miller defender tlou era (@ellievjoel) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
"You mattered to me first." #TheLastofUs pic.twitter.com/RxRKGCe23c— David u30dfu2606 (@IconicNephilim) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
this scene made me well up with warmth and tears and its such a beautiful thing, ellie and riley's story means so much to me i love them so much #TheLastOfUspic.twitter.com/0v6iNjEXri— mel u2606 TLOU SPOILERS (@horsegirljoel) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
STORM FINNA MAKE ME CRY WTF #TheLastOfUs pic.twitter.com/xNj5XW0CDi— DONT TOUCH ME u2664 (@haworthes) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
bella ramsey as ellie looking at storm reid as riley in this the last of us scene is what really sent me over the edge pic.twitter.com/p0jQrZSNDr— Nora Dominick (@noradominick) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
#thelastofus SPOILERS-----watching ellie and riley be happy and play mortal kombat when i know whats about to happen pic.twitter.com/Tyvyq070au— tony | TLOU SPOILERS (@KENOBlDJARlN) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = ""
the last of us episode 7 ended here pic.twitter.com/EePdUJhYGm— aleah (@scarymcvies) February 27, 2023" window.arrayOfEmbedScripts["twitter"] = "nul
How The Last of Us Changed Ellie and Riley's Story
The HBO show is based on the popular PlayStation video game of the same name. However, Riley doesn't appear in the original game's story, only Ellie mentions it in dialogue. A year after the game's release in 2013, developer Naughty Dog released a downloadable add-on called Left Behind that lets players control Ellie immediately after Joel's injury at the University of Colorado, but also during flashbacks. in this way To Ellie and Riley's last night at the Boston Mall.
The core narrative beat remains the same between the DLC and HBO's The Last of Us. The show recreates many memorable moments between Ellie and Riley, including their carousel rides, their goofy photo shoots, and their kissing while the same music is playing. A few key lines of dialogue were also spoken verbatim in the episode, however, the HBO series made some major changes to Ellie and Riley's last night together.
The Left Behind DLC includes extended gameplay not in the show, including Ellie and Riley challenging each other to a brick-throwing contest where they see who can smash a car window faster, and a fun water gun fight at a department store before dancing and kissing , instead of the seasonal Halloween store seen in the episode. However, one of the biggest changes in episode 7 of HBO's The Last of Us involves Ellie's experience in the arcade, as the DLC sees the arcade cabinets running out of power. Riley asked Allie to close her eyes and use her mind to imagine what it would be like to play the game. Although there are several Viewers' emotional impact on The Last of Us episode 7's Left Behind's heartbreaking conclusion was undiminished due to the discrepancy between the series and the DLC.
