*Warning: Contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2 episode 3*
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After last week's devastating instalment, The Last of Us was back this week to show the aftermath of Joel's death – and one crucial scene featured a notable change to a major game moment.
Co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann explained the choice while speaking together on HBO's The Last of Us Podcast, with Mazin noting that Ellie placing coffee beans at Joel's grave was an addition that wasn't in the game.
Druckmann, who was also behind the game, said that he always tells Mazin that "if we change something, it better be really good", before adding that "this is really good!".
"In the game," Mazin explained, "[Ellie] kneels by the grave and she picks up the dirt and she touches the earth as if the dirt is some connection to him."
He then said that, in the show, "she leaves him this gift, these coffee beans, because coffee meant so much to Joel, it became this rare thing, after the outbreak, to find. We see this little smile on her face. It's a really beautiful moment".
Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us. HBO
Mazin explained: "This is a chance for all of us to say goodbye. I think, as viewers, we are pretty much where Ellie is. I think people have been, hopefully, looking forward to this episode, but it's been a rough week since what happened. And when it begins, we're all in that space of being ripped up.
"By this point, my hope is that everyone can kind of be where Ellie is, which is to say, heartbroken, but quietly and calmly saying goodbye on our way to avenging him. And I loved the idea of coffee beans because she didn't like coffee. She thinks it tastes like burnt shit, and she never got it.
"This was for him. This was a him thing. The smile that Bella does there that turns into this... it's different, it's not screaming, it's not crying anymore, there are tears in her eyes but they're not rolling. This is the next level of grief. This is the long pain, the long ache, not the acute misery.
"She does still put her hand on that dirt because I thought it's so beautiful. And then we all get to say goodbye to him, and I thought that was important to honour him."
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
