American Season 2 Episode 2: TV Shows vs Games

The following articles include Destroyer For the final episode of American Season 2, Episode 2.

If the first episode of the second season in the United States was a scene player, then the second episode would be the catalyst for everything that follows. It has a specialty – the destroyer! – Joel Miller's death, it happens almost exactly the same way it is in the game. However, the Devil is in the details, and everything about that scene is 1:1 entertainment. This is where our TV shows compare to games.

We took the main scenes of episode 2, which were taken from the game and compared it to the original source material, analyzing what happened and what was the same. You can see two versions in the video above, or read below for our written instructions.

Joel's Death

With the incitement of the game and the big major events of the second episode of the season, Joel's death will naturally be a carefully reconstructed sequence. Extensive strokes and many small details are here. Abby exploded his legs with a shotgun and lay on him with a golf club. Kaityn Dever offers the “You Don't Have to Hurry” line like her game rival. When Ellie arrived on the scene, the direction was largely following the footsteps of the original cutscene, breaking through with the same floor camera angle and treble sound as Abby hit the final blow.

However, lurking between the precise details of many games is several changes. First it was Joel who was in the scene at Dina, not Tommy. Additionally, Dina is taking drugs for the entire event, meaning Ellie is the only resident Jackson has witnessed Joel’s murder. Abby's behavior was also slightly different. During the show, she reveals to Joel who she is and why she killed him. In the game, there is no such scene, and we have to believe that Joel has passed away without really knowing that Abby hates him so much.

Oh, and then there's the problem of Abby getting stuck…well, not one. The game depicts the blow that ultimately kills Joel, a horrible blunt trauma that uses the actual head of the golf club. In the show, the club is broken in Abby’s attack, so what remains is the end of a sharply ruptured. Abby used it as a wet, stabbing it into Joel's neck.

Abby's flashback

The second episode sequence is a sequence of a young Abby looking for a Firefly Hospital for her father. It's the entertainment that tracks the end of the course, the chapter of the game, with the perspective changing from Ellie to Abby. Although the setting of the scene remains the same – the hospital corridor bathes in red emergency lighting, the actual events are very different.

On the show, the older Abby faces her young self, solidifying this is a dream sequence, rather than a flashback. Abby tells herself not to look in the operating room because she must see her dead father. The young Abby does enter the operating room, but the camera doesn't follow, so we're left with the restraining tears of the older Abby to convey the horror found inside. In the game, since you control Abby, you can see the interior of the room and how Abby reacts to finding her father.

The restructuring of the site may be due to the transfer of its location. In the game, this is the moment you learn that Abby’s father was killed in Joel’s attack on fireflies, so the raw emotion of seeing Abby crying in the operating room is essential for humanization, a character portrayed as a villain for the last 10 hours or so. The show reveals Abby’s motivation from the outset and moves that sequence to the early stages of the story, so it has a different purpose.

Ellie's embarrassing morning

The most faithful scene entertainment in episode two is coming as Jesse knocks on Ellie’s door to patrol. Next is an awkward exchange of Ellie and Dina's kiss during the barn dance the night before – of course, Dina only recently broke up with Jesse. The conversation here is 95% matched with the game script, and the camera's work also goes to the best of its ability to recreate the conversation in detail.

The main difference here is the context. In the game, barn dance doesn't show up until the end of the campaign, so when playing this sequence, you'll use the information provided by the character to piece together activities you haven't seen before. On the show, you know exactly what Jesse and Ellie are talking about because you saw it in the last episode.

Paranoid sandwich

Similar to Ellie's conversation with Jesse, her encounter with Seth in the morning after the dance is largely a copy of the same scene in the game. Seth once again prepares a steak sandwich as an apology, and most of the conversation surrounding this awkward communication goes straight from the game script. The main difference here is that Jesse is now part of the scene, thanking Seth for the sandwich instead of Maria. Furthermore, the building itself is visually distinct from the game, looking more like a canteen than a timber-structured bar.

Eugene's Weed Farm

The show patrols Jesse and Ellie, which recreates the middle part of the game’s first chapter. Fans of the game will immediately notice the key difference, as Ellie's discovery of Eugene's weed farm was actually made on the same patrol in the first episode, with Ellie and Dina exploring the supermarket. These events have been split and changed because it is Jesse now, not Dina who is with Ellie. This means the show eliminates the sequence of Ellie and Dina smoke weeds and suggests having sex.

Nevertheless, there are several key elements of the sequence that remain intact. Ellie still discovers Eugene's Firefly Pendant, and his once impressive marijuana operation (hiding so not that far from the show. However, Jesse impressed Dina with Eugene's creativity.

Abby's Escape

Abby meets the fate of the infected tribe the same as the game in Chapter 1 of the game. The chase sequence causes Abby to be trapped behind a chain fence that begins to collapse under the weight of the claw runner. If anything, the sequence is more distinct than in the game, thanks to a hand pushing a hand on the fence, cutting the wire through the flesh. Apart from that, the wide direction of this scene is very close to the frame of the game until Joel's revolver appears from the side of the camera to blow up the infected Abby's infection.

For more information about the last one of us, check out our Spoiler-free Season 2 Review And our comments on the second episode full of spoilers. We also asked the creators of the show How Canon Changewhat does this mean for the show’s biggest plot.

Matt Purslow is an advanced feature editor for IGN.