England’s world champion full-back Ellie Kildunne said she is “open to anything” when questioned whether she would be involved in the proposed new R360 league.
“It doesn’t mean that I’d take it, but I’d like to understand the league a little bit more to see if that’s an opportunity that I’d like to take,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The 26-year-old was speaking at Bracknell Rugby Club to help launch the Rugby Football Union’s Rugby Fest weekend.
The initiative is aimed at ensuring the legacy of England’s Women’s Rugby World Cup win.
Kildunne is currently contracted to Premiership Women’s Rugby side Harlequins, who open the league season on Friday, 24 October against Loughborough Lightening at the Twickenham Stoop.
“I’m just focused on the Harlequins season that I’ve got, and you know this week has been absolutely crazy, so I can’t look too far ahead – I don’t even know what I’m having for dinner tonight,” added Kildunne.
“There’s going to be lots of investment into the game now, lots of changes that people will see and I think that’s the direction that rugby needs to go.
“We’ve made something happen and that’s going to come with talking points and debates.
“This league (R360) is still something we don’t know too much about.”
Ellie Kildunne returns from a concussion suffered in England’s final pool-stage game against Australia a fortnight ago to take her place as starting full-back in the Rugby World Cup semi-final against France on Saturday.
The 26-year-old World Player of the Year sat out the quarter-final win over Scotland, but has come through the necessary medical checks to add pace and attacking intent to England’s back three.
Prop Hannah Botterman, who has been a force in the loose and at the breakdown so far at the tournament, returns at loose-head prop after back spasms, replacing Kelsey Clifford, who scored two tries against Scotland in her absence.
Zoe Harrison’s game management means she is preferred at fly-half to Holly Aitchison, who impressed at times against Scotland, but whose higher-risk game did not always come off in wet conditions.
Aitchison, 28, had been John Mitchell’s regular starting fly-half until Harrison’s form led to her taking the spot during this year’s Women’s Six Nations.
Despite being known for her kicking game and control, since 2023 Harrison’s involvement in tries per 80 minutes is nearly double that of Aitchison at 1.8 to 1.0.
Saracens fly-half Harrison started the World Cup final defeat by New Zealand in 2022 and is now in pole position to do so again if Mitchell’s side make the final.
Abbie Ward is promoted from the bench and will partner Morwenna Talling, whose player of the match performance against Scotland earns her the nod over Rosie Galligan, in the second row.
Holders New Zealand and Canada meet in the other semi-final on Friday night.
Defeat by the Black Ferns in the last World Cup final is England’s only loss in their past 62 matches – a statistic that stretches back to 2019.
However, Saturday’s semi-final is likely to be the Red Roses’ toughest game by far of a World Cup campaign in which they are yet to be tested.
France, who fought back to beat Ireland 18-13 in the quarter-finals, are the side who have come closest to ending England’s record 31-match winning run, losing this year’s Six Nations Grand Slam finale 43-42.
But World Cup hosts England are on a 16-game winning run against Les Bleues – last losing to their cross-Channel neighbours in the 2018 Six Nations.
Mitchell has consistently rotated his side to build depth for the World Cup and now appears to have settled on his strongest matchday 23.
England, who last won the tournament in 2014, have lost the past two finals to New Zealand.
World player of the year Ellie Kildunne will miss England’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland next weekend after sustaining a head injury in the Red Roses’ 47-7 win over Australia.
The England full-back was forced off in the second half of England’s Pool A win on Saturday and faces a mandatory minimum 12-day stand-down period after showing concussion symptoms.
The 25-year-old will also need a hitch-free recovery to be back available to England in time for a potential semi-final on Saturday, 20 September.
Obvious concussion symptoms, such as those shown by Kildunne, negate the need for a pitchside head injury assessment (HIA).
Players whose concussion is diagnosed via an HIA, who have no history of concussion and show no symptoms at a check 36 hours after their injury, can return to action in a minimum of seven days.
However, that route – which could have made Kildunne available for the Scotland match – is not open to the England star under World Rugby’s rules as she showed clear concussion symptoms after banging her head on the turf in a tackle.
While 12 days is her minimum stand-down period from matches, Kildunne can only begin her individual training on Thursday morning at the earliest, with a return to team sessions only possible after all her symptoms have cleared.
Players, on average, take longer than the minimum period to pass medical checks and become available for matches.
England’s path through the draw means their semi-final would be on 20 September – 14 days after Kildunne sustained her concussion.
Kildunne headed down the tunnel after the incident, but returned to watch the remainder of the game from the bench, offering a smile and wave to the fans when she was shown on the big screen.
The Red Roses were also forced to replace starting prop Hannah Botterman, who had to leave the field due to back spasms in the first half.
“Ellie [Kildunne] will go through return-to-play protocols,” said England head coach John Mitchell.
“There is normally a 12-day stand down. She is fine. She’ll be frustrated because she had a difficult day at the office. She’ll get better.
“Hannah [Botterman’s] got a muscle spasm, so that will take its course.”
England will monitor Botterman over the next two days before making a decision over whether she restarts training with the rest of the the team on Tuesday.
Captain Zoe Aldcroft missed England’s pool-stage wins over Samoa and Australia with a knee injury, but was back in contact training earlier this week and is expected to be available to face Scotland on Sunday, 14 September at Ashton Gate, Bristol.
Holly Aitchison, who had been kept out of England’s first two games by an ankle injury, made her tournament debut off the bench in the win over the United States in a piece of good news for Mitchell.
Ellie Kildunne’s lovely bit of skill sets up Jess Breach to score her second try for England against USA during the opening game of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup at the Stadium of Light.
The reigning world player of the year, Kildunne has been one of the figureheads of the tournament, featuring in organisers’ and sponsors’ promotions.
She says it is surreal to see herself on billboards, in magazines and on social media posts.
“Yeah, it feels strange because I’m just a girl from Yorkshire who’s playing rugby,” she says.
“I’m nothing special. I just love what I do. I just think it’s important to be strong to your values and remember who you are and where you’ve come from because that’s a person that’s got you here.
“It’s not all the showbiz and the lights and the cameras – it’s that young girl that picked up a rugby ball.”
The 25-year-old, who straightened her distinctive curly hair on Monday as the result of losing a bet at training, says that while others may be looking ahead to the 27 September final, England’s focus is solely on the United States in their opening game.
“We’ll be where our feet are – we don’t look too far ahead,” she said.
“There’s no point in looking to the final or if and when we win, because if we don’t get now right, that will never be anything. It’s all ifs, buts and maybes.
“But if we focus on now, we’ve got this week leading to the United States, we’ve finished a hard training session, how do focus on our culture and bonding tonight? How do we get closer as a team?
“That’s going to be the thing that wins the World Cup. You can’t look too far ahead because you’ll trip over.”
Marshall had not fought in a boxing ring for two years, but still had hold of one of her world titles, the IBF, when she passed through the ropes.
The English fighter is a former undisputed champion at super-middleweight but, in her absence, Green had risen to world champion status with the WBO belt.
Hartlepool’s Marshall started well showing little ring rust, even smiling as she quickly seized control, walking down Green, who was deducted a point for holding.
The 34-year-old clipped Green on several occasions but the fight turned in round five when the American landed a big left hand.
Marshall endured two draining rounds and was hurt several times under pressure from Green.
Despite having the momentum, Green’s variety let her down and Marshall was able to weather the storm and clear her head.
The fight was finely balanced in the final four minutes, a testament to both fighters relying almost exclusively on winding up their big punches.
Marshall and Green were exhausted when the final bell sounded and both women cut nervous figures in the centre of the ring as the scorecards were read out.
One judge saw it 96-93 for Marshall, while the other scorecards read 95-94 and 96-93 for Green.
It is only Marshall’s second defeat, the first being to Claressa Shields in 2022, but after such a close fight, she could be in the frame for an immediate rematch with Green.
The Bay Area family of a former San Francisco Giants pitcher is among those still missing following a devastating flash flood in Central Texas that killed more than 100 people last week.
Hundreds gathered for a vigil Sunday in Marin County for Mark Walker, Sara Walker and their 14-year-old son, Johnny. The Kentfield family was visiting their vacation home in Hunt in Central Texas when the disaster struck.
Mark is the older brother of Tyler Walker, who played for the Giants between 2004 and 2008.
Mark’s mother, Kathy, told the San Francisco Chronicle that Mark’s 16-year-old daughter, Ellie, was attending nearby Camp Waldemar and was rescued. The family last heard from Mark on Thursday and later found out that the family’s home along the Guadalupe River washed away in the flood.
“I’m sick to my stomach,” Kathy told the Chronicle. “It’s a terrible feeling, because you’re helpless here.”
Mark’s son, Johnny, was going to be a freshman at Marin Catholic High School. The school released a statement, saying that a prayer service would be held Tuesday evening.
“In heartbreaking times like this, we turn to God and to prayer for the Walker family and all the victims of the devastating floods in Texas. We are still praying for a miracle in hopes that Ellie will be reunited with her mom, dad and brother,” according to the statement.
Friday’s flash flooding also claimed the lives of more than two dozen people at Camp Mystic, a Christian girls summer camp along the Guadalupe River. At least 27 campers and counselors died and as of Monday, 10 campers and a counselor are still missing.
Texas officials are facing backlash over whether they adequately prepared for and warned residents of the life-threatening weather conditions in the area known as “flash flood alley.”
Women’s Super League champions Chelsea have signed Australia defender Ellie Carpenter from Lyon on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee.
Carpenter, 25, played for Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor at Lyon and leaves after five years with the club, having won the Champions League in 2019-20 and 2021-22.
“I’m very proud to join such a big club, one of the biggest in women’s football,” said Carpenter.
“Chelsea have enjoyed so much success in England and I’m delighted to now be a part of it.”
Chelsea, who also won the FA Cup and the League Cup in 2024-25, announced Carpenter’s signing the day after Canada’s Ashley Lawrence, 30, signed for Lyon from the Blues.
Carpenter, who has 87 international caps, is vastly experienced, having made her senior Australia debut at the age of just 15.
Aged 16, she became the youngest woman to ever play football at the Olympics at Rio 2016.
Her career also includes a spell in the United States for Portland Thorns.
As well as two Champions League successes, Carpenter won the league four times with Lyon.
ELLIE ALDERSON is the fiancee of Aston Villa and England star Ollie Watkins.
After Euro 2024, the 28-year-old Premier League forward announced on Instagram that he and Ellie are engaged!
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England hero Ollie Watkins is supported by partner Ellie Alderson in GermanyCredit: Splash
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Ellie has been in Germany throughout the tournament and watched on from the standsCredit: Splash
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Ellie, pictured her with Jordan Pickford’s wife Megan, has watched on from the stands all tournament leading up to her partner’s Holland heroicsCredit: Reuters
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Ellie Alderson has been dating Ollie Watkins since 2018Credit: Instagram / @ellsalderson
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Ollie Watkins scored an incredible winner to send England into the final of Euro 2024Credit: AP
The former Brentford striker has blossomed in his time in the Midlands and in particular since new manager Unai Emery has come to the club.
Playing as a sole striker in the team, his performances has seen him make five appearances in Gareth Southgate‘s England squads.
Emery spoke about Watkins “The striker is very important to me. I spoke with [Watkins] at the beginning about the relationship here.
“I told him that I want the best of you and the way he is doing; practising, being humble to improve. This is the way.
“Then, he has a big career to do in his future. It’s very important as well to try and speak about other players because he is not going to score if his team-mates aren’t helping him to do it.
“For us, Ollie Watkins is very important. He’s not only scoring but his commitment every day, trying to add more work, watching his clips.”
England’s new Euros Wags
ENGLAND football stars will be hoping their other halves will bring them good luck in Germany this summer and SunSport runs down the new faces to expect to see.
Ellie Alderson: The interior designer is with Ollie Watkins, who will be hoping for a place on the plane after missing the last Euros and World Cup.
Dani Dyer: The actor and reality TV star is going out with Jarrod Bowen, who is in fine form and in line for a Euros call up.
Annie Keating: Girlfriend to Anthony Gordon, who is vying for a place in England’s competitive frontline.
Iris Law: The model and daughter to actor Jude sparked romance rumours with Trent Alexander-Arnold after they were spotted together.
The striker’s new contract saw his weekly wage increase to £75k per week.
Due to his current form, there has been talk of a new deal, to tie the player to the club for longer than the current contract which expires in June 2025.
Aston Villa will be keen to get the in-form striker to commit his future to the team with some of the biggest clubs in Europe taking interest in the form of the player.
He has 14 goals and six assists in 2023, a figure that can only be bettered by Man City‘s Erling Haaland.
Season 2 of HBO’s “The Last of Us” ends with the ultimate cliffhanger (seriously, if you have not seen and do not want to know, please stop reading right now): An Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) vs. Ellie (Bella Ramsey) face-off in which only Abby has a weapon. As Ellie cries out, a gun goes off and … we are sent back in time to Day 1, Abby’s viewpoint.
So if any of y’all were looking for some kind of closure, emotional or narrative, well, you have got a bit of a wait.
The episode itself played out like a mini-epic. Picking up where last week’s mostly flashback episode ended, Ellie returns to the theater to find Jesse (Young Mazino) tending to Dina (Isabela Merced), who got an arrow through the leg, courtesy of the Seraphites, in Episode 5. When Dina refuses an anesthetic slug of alcohol during the proceedings, Jesse gets the wind up. As he and Ellie then set out to find Tommy (Gabriel Luna), he (kinda) tricks Ellie into revealing Dina’s pregnancy.
That admission only adds fuel to the tension between Ellie, with her obsessive need to make Abby pay for killing Joel, and Jesse, who is angry at Ellie for putting her personal desire for revenge above the needs of the community back in Jackson. High words are spoken before the two split up, with Jesse going to search for Tommy, Ellie to continue tracking Abby.
After a frankly weird hero’s journey in which she braves stormy seas and faces execution by the Seraphites, Ellie makes it to the abandoned aquarium to find Abby. There she surprises Mel (Ariela Barer) and Owen (Spencer Lord), two of the former Fireflies who were with Abby when she killed Joel (Pedro Pascal). When Owen reaches for a gun, Ellie fires, shooting him through the throat. The bullet also, alas, hits Mel, who reveals her advanced pregnancy and, as she bleeds out, begs Ellie to cut the baby out. Horrified, Ellie can do no such thing, and Mel dies even as Jesse and Tommy show up.
Ellie (Bella Ramsey) also has to battle the elements in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
It’s a powerful and terrible scene. Upon their return to the safety of the theater, Ellie is, understandably, very shaken and appears to be rethinking the wisdom of her revenge tour when Abby shows up and kills Jesse (sob). As Ellie takes responsibility for Mel and Owen’s deaths and struggles to explain, we see her original fury reflected in Abby’s face. She points the gun at Ellie, a shot rings out and the story resets on Day 1 of the outbreak.
The Times’ Lorraine Ali, Tracy Brown and Mary McNamara discuss the finale and the season that came before it.
McNamara: As someone who has not played the game but has watched a lot of television, I am going to make the wild guess that Ellie is not dead. Not that I expect to discover this for quite a while, as the final scene indicates that Season 3 will be giving us Abby’s backstory before bringing us (one hopes) back to the theater and the series’ present.
This finale, like much of what preceded it, felt both rushed and oddly slow. This season has been very much (and at times too obviously) focused on Ellie’s growth, as a person and a main character. And with the exception of her love for Dina, I’m not sure how much is there. That Ellie is relentless has been made abundantly clear; ditto the fact that she is confused about her purpose in life. But I admit I was relieved when Jesse read her the riot act about how this mission of vengeance put so many people in danger, including and especially the woman Ellie claims to love.
The stakes in Season 1 were very clear — get Ellie to where she can be used to make a cure — even if they were subverted in the end. This season, the main tension appears to be more about Ellie becoming mature enough to accept that not all heroes have to make dramatic sacrifices or win a blood feud.
That’s a fine message, but it required a lot of attention on her emotional growth, which honestly seemed to occur mostly in the final few minutes, while offering only tantalizing slivers of the larger forces around her. How do you introduce a crazy cult and not offer any real explanation for it? How do you enlist Jeffrey Wright (or for that matter, Hettienne Park) as WLF commanders and then give them so little to do? Not to mention poor Mel and Owen, who are sacrificed, apparently, merely to broaden Ellie’s worldview.
I realize that some of this is about staying true(ish) to the game, which I understand offers different viewpoints, but even with the action-packed finale, it’s hard not to feel like Season 2 was simply a preamble to Season 3. What do you think, “Last of Us” player Tracy Brown?
Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) remains a mystery in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
Brown: I have to agree with you, Mary — the finale’s pacing felt a bit awkward as it barreled its way toward the perspective shift into Abby’s side of the story that will likely be the focus of Season 3, while also trying to pack in familiar moments from the game. I also think you’re feeling a version of the confusion and frustration that “The Last of Us: Part II” players felt when Ellie and Abby’s showdown at the theater abruptly cut to something completely different and you’re suddenly being forced to play as the character you’ve spent hours trying to hunt down.
In the game, up until that cliffhanger, you’ve primarily been playing as Ellie outside of a few sequences before Joel’s death. Players don’t learn much about the Washington Liberation Front or the Seraphites or their conflict until they get to Abby’s side of the story. And when you’re playing a game, you’re used to knowing only as much as the character you’re playing as and learning more about any enemies as you go. You’re also much more mission-oriented — as great as a game’s story is, you’re main focus is gathering as much information as you can to accomplish your goal. The mission and the themes are a bit more straightforward in the first “Last of Us” game.
In “The Last of Us: Part II,” there’s a bait and switch. You start the game’s main storyline playing as Ellie, with the assumption that your mission is to get revenge, only to find yourself suddenly playing as Abby. Because “Part II” is more about an exploration of trauma and cycles of violence, Abby and her story have to be more than something you learn about as Ellie. In the game, the perspective shift is essential and revelatory because, navigating any discomfort while playing as Abby is part of the experience. It’s something dependent on the unique way players become attached to characters they play as.
In television, stories can unfold differently. Because audiences are not playing as Ellie, they can be introduced to Abby’s ties to the events in Salt Lake City and characters like Isaac (Wright) much sooner than in the game because we’re not locked into one point of view. And that freedom brings its own challenges. I should also mention that as acclaimed as the franchise is, “Part II” was a bit more divisive among players too. Lorraine, what did you think about the finale?
Ali: You’ve both expressed many of the same feelings I have about the finale and about Season 2 in general. Does that mean I can have the night off? If I took my cues from Ellie, I’d do just that. Ellie predictably put her own interests above everyone and everything else, which didn’t leave much room for an interesting story twist or character growth in the Season 2 finale. To Mary’s point about pacing, Episode 7 spent precious time hammering away on what we already know: Ellie’s need for revenge put everyone who cares about her in danger. Poor Dina. The only way Jesse was getting that crossbow bolt out of her leg was pulling it straight through. The credits are nearly ready to roll by the time Ellie realizes her single-minded quest is as barbaric as Abby’s killing of Joel, but not before she gunned down a pregnant woman.
Tracy, I wonder if the trouble the show had picking out where to spend its time is partly a game-to-TV adaptation problem. You mentioned the shifting perspectives in the game, of players seeing the world through Ellie’s and then Abby’s eyes. But serieswatchers are a passive audience and that left the show with a lot of options to tackle and/or leave out. The finale’s hopscotching from scenario to scenario appeared like it was born out of duty rather than purpose. Ellie’s choppy boat ride, the rogue wave washing her ashore, her capture and release at the hands of the cult — all were colorful and dramatic but felt abrupt and even extraneous to the story. That said, the decaying Costco storefront was a nice touch even if it was totally random.
Lastly, I loved the Seattle-centric soundtrack and poster choices of grunge bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. But a lot of great female bands came out of the Pacific Northwest too, and I can’t help but feel the feral screams of 7 Year B— would have been a perfect soundtrack for Ellie’s rage. So what do we all think about the last moments of the finale, which set us up for Season 3?
Jesse (Young Mazino) is not too pleased with Dina (Isabela Merced) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in “The Last of Us” Season 2 finale.
McNamara: I love the granular music criticism, Lorraine! For the life of me, I could not figure out what to make of Ellie’s brief capture by the Seraphites, which felt a lot like finale padding — don’t forget the crazy cult in the woods about which we know nothing yet! — or even her “Twelfth Night”-like near-drowning. (“What country, friends, is this?”)
I can see how the switch from Ellie to Abby might work in the game — you’ll never understand your “enemy” until you walk a mile in her shoes — but for a series to flip viewpoints seasonally (as opposed to episodically) is a big ask for viewers, especially those not familiar with the game.
With the exception of Ellie and Dina’s burgeoning relationship, much of this season felt like a big teaser reel for Season 3. Ramsey is a talented actor, but the task of carrying the show by portraying a recognizable teen on a complicated existential journey in the middle of a life-or-death adventure tale is a formidable one, especially without the benefit of an older, wiser guide/co-star. But then no one said adapting a game to a series would be easy.
As for the final moments, well, as I said, I don’t think Ellie’s dead, though Jesse certainly is, which is tragic — he and Tommy were the real heroes of Season 2. I am intrigued by the “Day 1“-ness of the final scene. I always like when postapocalyptic tales take the time to explain how it all went down. So I will be counting the months to see what happens next, which I suppose is what every TV writer wants.
Brown: I’ll refrain from spoiling Ellie’s fate here, even though the game with the answer came out in 2020! But I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the cut to Abby’s “Seattle Day 1” signals the show is likely sticking to the structure of the game — meaning Season 3 will tell Abby’s story, following the former Firefly for the same three days that Ellie has spent in the Emerald City leading up to their violent reunion. If the show stays true to the game, we won’t be seeing what happens to Ellie following that cliffhanger gunshot until the story reaches that part of “Day 3” from Abby’s perspective. Sorry, Mary!
I was a bit surprised when I realized the show was going to follow this same route, especially after it introduced Abby’s backstory so early. One of the perks of television is that it’s possible to follow the multiple storylines of more than one character, so I thought the show might try weaving Ellie and Abby’s narratives a bit more. One benefit of following the game’s road map, though, is there are distinct breaks in the overall story to build seasons around. (I’m calling it now that the Season 3 finale will be around their clash at the theater again.)
Back to Lorraine’s point, I do think that some of the struggles of this season comes down to the choices around which game moments to give space to. Some game-to-TV moments were very successful, like Joel taking Ellie to the museum for her birthday in Episode 6. Others, like Ellie taking that boat to get to the aquarium, were a bit less successful. Ellie getting tossed around those waves was a great nod to that sequence in the game, but on the show, it wasn’t as clear why she even needed to hop on the boat to begin with.
We’ve all mentioned how Dina and Ellie’s relationship has been one of the highlights of this season. Without spoiling anything, what I am most curious about is how Ellie’s excitement around Dina’s pregnancy and becoming a dad is going to affect the story to come. How about you, Lorraine, is there hope for “The Last of Us” to win you back?
Ali: There is always hope, Tracy, even in the blighted, rotting, fungus-filled world of “The Last of Us.” My meager hope for the Season 3 opener? That Ellie emerges a survivor, and her comeback scene is set to Pearl Jam’s “Alive.”
It’s 6 a.m. in Brisbane, Australia, and Kaitlyn Dever is thinking about going to the beach. Except it’s pouring rain outside, which is the only reason she had the option to check out the waves in the first place. The deluge has delayed her call time for “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova,” the monster movie she’s been shooting for the past couple of months.
Just how hard is it raining? Like a normal downpour? Or is it the kind of deluge we see in the final minutes of the season finale of “The Last of Us”?
“It’s actually pouring like the finale of ‘The Last of Us,’” Dever says, laughing.
With the beach off the menu, we have plenty of time to settle in and talk about the bruising (and possibly confusing) season finale of “The Last of Us.” Anyone thinking that the finale might feature a showdown between Dever’s character, Abby Anderson, the young woman who killed Joel (Pedro Pascal) to avenge her father’s death, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who has been hunting Abby to exact her own revenge, might be disappointed.
Abby doesn’t turn up until the episode’s last three minutes. When she does finally arrive, she ambushes Ellie. It’s not a tender reunion.
“I let you live,” Abby hisses. “And you wasted it!”
Then we hear the sound of a gunshot and the screen goes black. After a reset, we see Abby lying on a sofa in an entirely different environment, being beckoned from her respite to meet with militia leader Isaac (Jeffrey Wright). She strides to a balcony in Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, the stadium now being used as a base for the Washington Liberation Front. Her entrance is positively papal, and as Abby surveys the scene, a graphic lands on the screen: Seattle Day One, a time frame we’ve already lived from Ellie’s point of view.
What the hell just happened?
[Laughs] I don’t know. I have no idea.
It looks like the show just reset and we’ll be starting Season 3 following Abby for three days, leading up to her confrontation with Ellie.
One would think, yes. But [“The Last of Us” co-creator] Craig [Mazin] hasn’t talked to me about what he’s doing. All he said to me was, “Just get ready for what’s to come because it’s going to be crazier.” He always said he wanted to make Season 2 bigger than Season 1, and he said Season 3 is going to be even bigger. I’m like, “OK. I’ll be ready.”
How did he pitch you on doing the show in the first place?
At my first meeting with Craig and Neil [Druckmann, co-creator of “The Last of Us” game] they told me that their plan for Season 2 was Abby’s introduction to “The Last of Us” world. They told me the number of episodes, so I wasn’t super surprised about that, though I wasn’t thinking that the entire season was going to end on me. [Laughs]
So when you got the script and read that ending …
I was like, “We’re really doing this. Wow.” It’s a lot of pressure. I always think about the times in my past when I’ve done things and I’ve had one line in a scene, and it’s the most nerve-racking thing to do. Everyone else has dialogue, and you’re just thinking about your one line and how you’re going to say it and if you screw it up, the whole scene is screwed up because of your one line. It’s pretty terrifying — but thrilling too.
You’re talking about Abby telling Ellie, “You wasted it”? You really spit it out with some heat.
That’s good to know. I was going back and forth between Vancouver and L.A., so I constantly had to recalibrate and get back into the emotional intensity of Abby. That was actually the last scene I shot.
How did you find your way back into Abby’s anger?
Well, the very first scene I shot was the killing of Joel. The light one. [Laughs] So getting back into it, I’d always go back to that and Abby’s monologue, what she says to Joel before shooting him. Those words are so visceral and heartbreaking and really paint a picture. So I just kept bringing myself back to that place, how I’d been thinking about saying those words for five years.
Abby’s brutal encounter with Ellie in Seattle was the last scene Dever shot on “The Last of Us” Season 2.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
Did you watch that Joel episode when it aired or had you already seen it?
I did watch it with my partner. But the first time I watched it, I was by myself. And before that, I had gone to do ADR [automated dialogue replacement] with Craig, and he asked, “Can I just show you a little bit of it?” And I was on the floor because I was so overwhelmed. That is the most intense episode of television I’ve ever seen. And then when I watched it later, I couldn’t believe it, even though I had experienced it myself.
You had experienced it, but you’ve said you don’t really remember filming it because it was four days after your mother’s funeral. [Dever’s mother, Kathy, died from breast cancer in February 2024.] In some ways, it must have been like you were watching it for the first time.
I had to fly out three days after her funeral. And the fourth day was that scene in the chalet with the Fireflies and Joel on the floor. So, yeah, it’s all a blur, and it felt like I got to experience it as a first-time viewer. I’d see things and go, “Oh, yeah.” Grief does a really interesting thing with your brain. It messes with your memory.
Filming the scene where you brutally kill one of the most beloved characters on television goes back to what you were saying about pressure. And to do it under those circumstances must have been overwhelming.
I was terrified. I had spent so much time contemplating my mom’s death before she died, thinking about how I wouldn’t be able to go on. I couldn’t imagine. And then it’s a heartbreaking thing to think about, how life moves on. And you have the choice to keep going or not go to Vancouver and do the show that she was so excited about me doing. And then after she passed, I realized there’s no part of me that couldn’t not do this. I had to do it for her.
How did you fight past the fear?
My dad really encouraged me. I really was terrified. And he was like, “You got this. Mom was so excited that you got to be in this show.” And luckily, the crew was so understanding and supportive. Everyone took care of me.
Then it’s 15 months later and the episode finally airs, which I’d imagine brings about a different set of worries. Did you go online to check out the reaction?
Of course I did! I kill everyone’s favorite character, the love of everyone’s life. I’d never been part of anything this massive before. Like, the whole world is watching this. I had no idea what to expect.
And what did you find?
It was more positive than I thought it would be.
I didn’t play the game, so one of my first thoughts after watching it was: Wow, gamers can keep a secret.
They can. I loved watching all those TikTok videos where people were filming their parents or partners watching and showing their reactions.
Having played the game, you’ve known about Abby and Joel for years.
My dad was playing the second game and handed me the controller and said, “Kaitlyn, you’ve got to see this.” In the game, it’s so jarring and shocking.
On TV too!
[Laughs] But with the game, after they kill Joel, all of a sudden you’re playing as a woman. And my first reaction was, “Is this Ellie? Am I playing as Ellie?” It is interesting how they take these two characters who are mirrors of each other in many ways.
Dever’s Abby surveys the action inside T-Mobile Park on “Seattle Day One.”
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
I was thinking about how it’d be great if Season 3 would have an episode with Abby and her father that mirrored the one with Ellie and Joel.
That’s a really good idea. I hope we get to do something like that.
I have a feeling you might. Maybe you even know something about that. [Laughs]
Honestly, I can keep a secret too! I knew about Joel dying long before even Season 1 because I had met with Neil years ago when they were talking about making a movie from the game. And he was showing me the making of the second game and asked, “You want to know what happens?” And I’m like, “Oh, my God!” So I’ve been keeping this in a long time.
So you’re good at keeping a secret. Gamers know how Season 3 is likely to develop. You’ve played the game. Are you being coy?
[Laughs] We don’t know what Craig’s plans are. He has been playing with dynamics, even in that first episode of the season where we see Abby taking charge and being a leader.
She sure looks like she’s a leader in the finale’s last scene.
That scene plays at the idea that Abby is sitting in her power. And whatever that means, I will keep to myself for now. People who have played the game will have a few guesses.
When you went to work on “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova” the day after the Abby/Joel episode aired, did people treat you a little differently? Maybe keep their distance a bit? Hide the golf clubs?
It was pretty wild to go to work that day. Everyone wanted to talk about it. And all they could really get out was, “Oooooof, that episode.”
One thing I kept looking for all season was where they used CGI to remove a spider bite from your face. I couldn’t find it.
[Laughs] It’s in the first episode with the Fireflies. I had gone home for a few weeks and got a spider bite on my cheek. I thought it was a pimple. It was not a pimple. It was a huge spider bite and … I hate to use this word, but it was oozing. And the CGI is amazing. You can’t even tell it is there. I still have a scar on my face because they had to cut it out.
Throughout HBO’s post-apocalyptic series “The Last of Us,” music plays a role in setting the mood for moments big and small, heartfelt and heart-wrenching. It’s not unlike the video game, which was hailed for its original soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla (who is also a composer on the show), and for the pop music covers that helped to elevate the narrative.
In the most recent episode of Season 2 of “The Last of Us,” titled “The Price,” there’s a callback to a scene from the game that fans have been waiting for: Joel (Pedro Pascal) performs a stripped down version of Pearl Jam’s “Future Days” for Ellie (Bella Ramsey). The song captures the themes of loss and losing yourself, but also of moving forward together. And it’s not the only instance of a pop song showcasing characters’ emotions — in “Day One,” the fourth episode of Season 2, Ellie performs an acoustic cover of A-ha’s “Take on Me” as Dina (Isabela Merced) walks in and gently persuades her to continue playing the tender rendition. It’s another adaptation from the video game that signals the kindling of the relationship between Ellie and Dina.
“Bella is playing the guitar in the scene where Ellie plays the guitar and sings ‘Take on Me’ to Dina. That’s Bella. No tricks,” said Craig Mazin, co-creator of “The Last of Us,” in an interview earlier this year.
For Neil Druckmann, co-creator of the series and the video game franchise, he knew that when Ramsey was cast, the actor’s musical abilities would be an asset for future installments. “I remember seeing a video of them playing and singing and talking to Craig and being like, ‘Oh, they’re ready to go for if we get to Season 2,’” he said.
Ramsey, however, isn’t alone in their musical abilities. Over the course of the season in interviews with the cast and creators of the series, it became clear that music was a shared passion that bonded them on and off screen. Here, we collect some of their thoughts on music and performing together.
The infected have learned to stalk and sprint. The Cordyceps fungus is now airborne. And Joel (Pedro Pascal) isn’t immortal. The first five episodes of “The Last of Us” offered up several new threats and at least one major death. Deep into its second season, HBO’s series adaptation of the popular video game remains true to its namesake by sending its protagonist Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and her partner Dina (Isabela Merced) on a revenge mission from their fortified compound in Wyoming to the wilds of Seattle. Their aim is to find Joel’s killer, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). But the Pacific Northwest presents challenges beyond cauliflower-headed flesh eaters and deadly mean girls. The brutal conflict between the Washington Liberation Front and the primitive religious cult the Seraphites makes Ellie’s mission all the more dangerous and complex — and the show’s imagery more gruesome.
Episode 6 brought Joel back from the dead in a series of flashbacks that gave insight into his unique parenting skills, revealed the event that triggered the rift between Joel and Ellie and uncovers what happened to therapist Gail’s (Catherine O’Hara’s) husband, Eugene (Joe Pantoliano). While on patrol, Eugene was bitten by the infected. Ellie made Joel promise he would not kill Eugene until he had the chance to say goodbye to his wife. But when Ellie leaves for a moment to retrieve their horses, Joel breaks the promise.
Like Episode 3 of Season 1, Sunday’s installment of the series was the rare episode that deviated from the game’s narrative to tell a deeper story about the characters. Beginning at Ellie’s 15th birthday and moving through subsequent ones, the episode chronicled the shifting dynamic in the main characters’ father-daughter relationship, from a tight bond between orphan and her adopted protector to near estrangement.
Lorraine Ali, Tracy Brown and Mary McNamara gathered to discuss the latest episode of the spore-filled thriller.
The source of tension between Gail (Catherine O’Hara) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) is revealed in Episode 6.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
Ali: “The Last of Us” features flesh-eating zombie-like things and death-worshipping cults, but I love that the true terror at the heart of Season 2 is the prospect of parenting a teen. The theme at the core of Episode 6 was largely centered on the fraught father-daughter dynamic between Joel and Ellie and the dangers of passing down generational trauma. We even get some backstory on Joel’s rough childhood, though I wish there had been more on that front.
What we do get a lot more of is Ellie’s hostility toward Joel, and it’s exhausting in ways that the showrunners probably never intended. Naturally there is plenty of ire in Ellie as she hurtles toward adulthood in a hopeless hellscape with an assassin/guardian who’s repeatedly lied to her. But now that she’s the lead character of the series, I need more from Ellie than just one or two gears of rage and scorn, especially given the complexity of their relationship.
Joel killed to save her and doomed humanity in the process! A bond forged in such tragedy should inspire a truckload of emotions, even in a defiant teen who’s still clumsy at expressing her feelings. But that depth or nuance just wasn’t there for me, even when the series cued us up for such moments. The flashbacks to Ellie’s birthday celebrations with Joel felt like explainers of how the two grew apart as opposed to emotional snapshots that captured the roots of their estrangement. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the surprising depth and beauty of Season 1? I miss the terror and joy of that abandoned mall.
Brown: It’s interesting that you mention the abandoned mall, Lorraine, because I think that’s what it all comes back to for Ellie. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve spent many hours playing as Ellie in “The Last of Us” games, or because I understand what it’s like to be an angsty teenager much more than being a parent, but I thought Episode 6 did help shed some light on Ellie and Joel’s behaviors and dynamic.
Back in Episode 4, while trying to explain her immunity to the Cordyceps fungus to Dina, Ellie mentions that there are a lot of the times she wishes she wasn’t immune. In this latest episode, we learn that one of the reasons Ellie is angry with Joel is because he lied to her about what happened back in Salt Lake City with the Fireflies. But she’s also mad at him because he took away the one thing she thought could give her life and immunity purpose. “My life would have mattered, but you took that from me,” she says to him on their porch, in what appears to have been their very last conversation.
We know that Joel’s been shaped by the guilt of not being able to save his daughter Sarah at the start of the outbreak. For Ellie, I think the loss that’s affected her the most is Riley and the guilt of surviving their trip to that abandoned mall. If she wasn’t immune, Ellie would have died that day with her best friend and first love. Because she didn’t, she needed something to help justify why she’s still alive. What greater meaning could someone find for their life in a world ravaged by a pandemic than to be the reason humanity is able to find a cure?
McNamara: I’m grateful for the episode if only because it gave my own teenagers what they wanted most — more Pedro Pascal. (I miss him too but with much less passion.) But as you say, Tracy, survivor’s guilt is real and now Ellie is eyeing another emotional burden — Joel was killed for actions he took to save her life.
Revisiting Ellie’s birthdays was very touching, bridging the changes in both characters. How the hard-edge Joel from Season 1 became the softly anguished therapy patient of Season 2. Why Ellie was so rude and dismissive toward him. She knew all along that he had lied to her about Salt Lake City, and he suspected she knew — the presents, especially the trip to the science and natural history museum, seemed equally motivated by love and penance.
On one of Ellie’s birthday’s, Joel takes her to a science and natural history museum.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
I also loved their time in the the space portion of the museum because it underlined the vagaries of human history — this is not the first advanced civilization to fall, leaving ruins behind. Joel remembers when humans traveled to the stars (and had the resources to build museums); for Ellie, a journey from Wyoming to Seattle is just as fraught. They were always essentially time-travelers in each others lives.
But most important for me, this episode resolved just how Ellie had left it with Joel before Abby ruined everything. The truth was finally spoken — both Joel’s and Ellie’s. That she didn’t think she could forgive him but she wanted to try. That he was taken from her before she could find her way to forgiveness must certainly drive some of the rage, no?
Ali: OK, I officially feel hard-hearted, especially since we’re discussing an episode designed to plumb the characters’ and viewers’ emotions. I’m glad Season 2 is connecting with you both, and millions more HBO and Max subscribers. Or is it HBO Max? Or plain old HBO? Regardless, this round of the series is not resonating with my adult, parenting self or my inner sullen teen, i.e. the part of my being that guides many of my rash decisions and dictates my slouchy posture. That said, I do love the chemistry between Ellie and Dina. Their love and fierce loyalty toward one another is a high point of Season 2. And it looks like they’re now going to be parents.
Brown: As Ellie says, she’s going to be a dad! The way Ellie and Dina’s relationship developed over the course of the season has been one of my favorite differences between the show and the game. But speaking of the game, the birthday trip to the museum and the porch conversation where Ellie tells Joel she wants to try to forgive him that Mary mentioned are both big flashback moments directly adapted from “The Last of Us Part II” with some minor changes. In the game, Ellie and Joel spend time checking out a dinosaur exhibit before getting to the space exploration exhibit, which I admit I’m a little sad we did not get to see. And Ellie confronting Joel about the truth of what happened in Salt Lake is a separate moment long before the porch conversation in the game.
Eugene (Joe Pantoliano) is shot by Joel after he is bitten, breaking his promise to Ellie to let him live to say goodbye to his wife, Gail. It’s a change from the video game, where the character dies of natural causes.
(Liane Hentscher / HBO)
One major difference between “The Last of Us Part II” and the show is the storyline involving Eugene and Gail. The Eugene in the game was a resident of Jackson who lived out his life until he died of natural causes in his 70s, which is something the younger generation can only dream of. Gail, on the other hand, is an original character, and my response to her introduction was mostly “hooray Catherine O’Hara, hooray therapy.” Catherine O’Hara is always a delight and it’s clear everybody living in the world of “The Last of Us” could use some therapy. But in Episode 6 we see that Eugene and Gail’s story also serves as a flashpoint in Joel and Ellie’s estrangement.
We already knew Joel had killed Eugene from his therapy session with Gail earlier in the season, but what did you think about that whole sequence, Mary? Did it affect your understanding of Joel or Ellie in any way?
McNamara: Well, I have to say that was an example of bad parenting. The patrol has rules, tough but necessary for the safety of the community. Ellie (who is, hello, freaking immune) wanted to bend them. Classic parent/child face-off. But instead of just saying “no” to her and “any last words?” to Eugene before shooting him, Joel allowed her believe she was getting her way, which was just dumb. Of course he was going to shoot Eugene; he had to shoot Eugene. But it honestly did not make sense to lie about it, especially when the lie would be exposed almost instantly. Sometimes a parent just has to be the bad guy, even if it means making Catherine O’Hara really mad at you.
And though I agree with you both about the energy of Ellie and Dina offering love in place of vengeance during their excursion to Seattle, I wish the writers could have figured out a way to bring O’Hara along.
