An Analysis of The Last of Us EP8: Abuse and Manipulation - Therapist Reacts!
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
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In this video, psychotherapist Georgia Dow discusses the disturbing themes portrayed in Episode 8 of the HBO series The Last of Us. Through her professional lens, Dow explores the psychological dynamics of manipulation and abuse depicted in the episode, shedding light on how perpetrators exploit their victims using tactics such as emotional abuse and coercion. Dow offers valuable insights into the complex nature of these behaviors and the impact they have on survivors. This video is recommended for anyone interested in understanding the psychological effects of abusive behavior and how it can be identified and addressed.
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I love how subtly they established Joel and David's real intentions, and relationship to Ellie. David takes Ellie's jacket from her prior to imprisoning her, while when Joel finds Ellie again, the first thing he does is give her his jacket. It's clear to see who Ellie's father figure REALLY is.
I did not even recognize that !! great attention to detail Trina
@@GeorgiaDow Thanks, Georgia, I only picked up on these details on a rewatch. I love your Cosplay, by the way! 😍
Ohh shit that's insane. Also another little detail how bella quotes tess' line "luck had to run out sooner or later"
@@datdudeinred mann I love this show, it has used all the small details correctly from the game!!
I was thinking that too. Ellie was wanting a father figure and saw one in Joel very early on. Then she was met with this man trying to prey on that need. And maybe if it hadn't been for Joel, she may have fallen for his BS. But knowing a real father figure was gave her the knowledge that this man was a manipulator.
I like how after corrupt militia, clickers and so many other threats we've seen, the scariest and most unsettling threat was just one very disturbing man
truth
I think David is one of the few true genuine monsters in the franchise. People like Kathleen and Henry at least have their reasons for what they do, we've seen that most FEDRA officers are just trying to keep their sanity, and the fungus purely wants to spread - it doesn't *TRY* to terrorize - David's one of the few true sadists.
I heard recently “it’s called The Last of Us, not Cordyceps Zombies” and I can’t get it out of my head 😂
It's not dissimilar to our world really. The 'lone wolf perpetrator' line that is fed to us honestly has merit, if that makes sense? In the world we've seen groups of people commit atrocities in the name of something they truly think is just and moral. But the true evil ones tend to operate much differently.
We call people like David predators for a reason. They prey. It isn't a weakness in us but they do find something we want or need.
Ellie needs a father figure but look at how Joel fills it vs David. If David called he baby girl it would be the creepiest thing ever.
Also look back at Bill saying he was never afraid until I met you vs David saying there is no fear in love. That shows you the predator.
Bella Ramsey nailed it. Not just in the rage but the after effect.
exceptionally well said thanks
i love that joel didn't need to know exactly what happened to ellie in order to be there for her. all he knew was that his baby girl was hurt and she needed him, so he held her, he told her it was gonna be okay, and he wrapped her in his coat. that's a true father's love.
Yes !! reading this made me emotional
Another point that I think is somewhat significant is Joel saying ‘babygirl’ in reference to Ellie, a word he only ever used when speaking to Sarah, which really cements the fact that Joel sees her as a daughter and has really accepted that. The scene even goes deeper into that by lingering on his broken watch, his reminder of Sarah
oh yes well said
The fact that David said he was a teacher before the world went down, really makes you wonder how many kids he groomed 🤔
I wondered the same = (
Children her age i think was what he said 🤢
I think that's partly what's implied by saying that he's come to terms with his 'violent heart'; that now in the apocalypse he gets to act on all his unsavory and immoral urges under the guise of saving and protecting people. Things that were forced to keep within during modern society that has repercussions.
My gf reacted really strong to this episode. She was severely abused when she was a kid into her teens. She got her personal satisfaction from Ellie taking out David. Something she wished she could have done.
I hope she is okay it was a hard episode to watch
@@GeorgiaDow she's fantastic.
Bella did an amazing job in those scenes. Even I forgot to breathe, then I look over at my gf and she tearing up and I have to poke her so she can remember to breath. Then in the end when Ellie kills David she lets out a "F**K YES!" Then she started almost a little evil giggle.
We really appreciate your work. Thanks!
Those screams in the end from Bella are definitely Emmy worthy in my opinion. I hope both her and Pedro's work will be recognized some way
Initially I wasn't crazy about the casting choice for Ellie. That being said, over the course of the season I've become more & more impressed with Bella's acting. She's been incredible.
@@cluster_f1575 Same here
David is almost like an opposite version of Joel in alot of ways. Joel in the earlier episodes had a cold, unfeeling exterior due to his own trauma, but we see that deep down he's still a father and a protector.
Where as David first attempts to comes off as a warm father figure and protector, but soon the mask slips and we see the true monster that lurks within.
This version of David made my skin crawl even more than the game version did
Bella's performance too, I love Ashley's but Bella communicates the primal terror and rage in such a visceral way it makes it so much more horrifying to me
Agree, game version David only hints on the predatory aspects. The series goes all the way.
He appears more like a cult leader in the series
This episode was both brutal and skin crawling because of the main villain. Great to see you reviewing this episode. Plus diving into abuse and manipulation.
Thanks Damian !
@@GeorgiaDow your welcome !
A fact I very much enjoy is that HBO is using an intimacy director for very violent or sexual scenes so the actors interacting with each other and performing these scenes are safe and can differentiate their work from real life without triggering any dormant traumas.
I agree, it’s helpful. I would love them to have a warning before the episodes begin though, especially dealing with this subject matter.
@@shazstar13 yea, I also wished there would have been a trigger warning for this episode.
Notice how David acted towards the other girl too. Ellie was obviously not his only victim in the episode.
It’s not in the show but in the game, when Joel interrogates one of David’s men, he reveals that Ellie is “David’s newest pet”. Which basically spells out that he’s had many other girls like her in the past.
yeah seeing that scene with the other girl gave me the absolute creeps and was also really sad. it was like training her to not get away from him when she was uncomfortable. :/
in general i think it's interesting also how the entire society there looks so defeated under him. not just that they are hungry but completely controlled and defeated.
Okay I initially wrote some silly generic stuff, but I wanted to put something forward a little more insightful.
Bella mentioned I believe that almost as badly as the fear David caused Ellie, Ellie was afraid of how GOOD it felt to do that to him. It felt CATHARTIC to get on top of him, hack him in the face with a cleaver and hack again and again and again until her arms couldn’t lift the blade anymore and there’s nothing left to identify as David anymore. It felt GOOD to do that to him after what he’d done, what he tried to do and what she stopped him from doing to her and it felt good to keep hacking away at him even as he lay stone dead.
That’s a frightening feeling and it relates to what you were talking about in terms of the guilt associated with surviving that kind of experience, whether you let it happen to keep it from getting worse or hurt that other person back to stop it from being taken an inch further. That’s okay though. It’s okay to feel those things.
Especially guilt, it is in fact proof positive that you are such a good person that you feel guilty even when you’ve done nothing wrong.
That is what fundamentally separates Ellie from David. It’s that no matter how violent their impulses may get, David will never feel remorse for them, Ellie will. You can’t train that out of a person, not entirely. Because we live for real human connection, Ellie lives for real human connection. Some people sadly don’t know what that means and may never know. You could do ANYTHING and I think remorse is your bungee cord, the thing that can snap you back from the brink. This will matter SO MUCH going forward in this series as it has in the second game, because the ability to feel like you’ve hurt someone and for you to be fundamentally uncomfortable with that means you want the kind of love and connection that Joel and Ellie show each other at the end of this episode.
Thank you for this really in depth description of our emotions of anger and rage and why they are useful but also the cost. Appreciate it
I always appreciate how emotional you get when you speak in terms of trauma even for fictional people in very real and plausible scenarios. That level of empathy is astounding.
I get emotional when I watch the show, but I only ever cry when I watch these vids!
I'd like to second this. It's comforting to see someone care so much about others being traumatised. I definitely appreciate it
As a survivor, I just want to thank you for this video. The episode really hit me hard and I have had trouble processing it. This video has really helped me process and know what I will be discussing with my therapist in our next session. Thank you ❤
That means so much to me, it was what I had hoped for. I hope you your session goes well thank you for being a part of my community < 3
To think, Joel's 'baby girl' almost wasn't in the game (or the show)! It was just Troy Baker being Texan and saying it without even thinking about it! Neil Druckman caught it and decided it should stay in the game!
it was so perfect and ofc Troy just did he was a wonderful Joel
@@GeorgiaDow A lot indicates that Bella's heroine plays elements of psychopathy ...
1. The scene with the murder of a military man in the first series, where Ellie watched with fascination.2. The scene with the murder of an infected person with a knife, although Joel said a series earlier that it can be morally difficult to kill them. 3. The scene with the violent murder of David. 4. In all the series, there are very few warm feelings from Ellie towards Joel.
How to treat people with developing psychopathy so that they don't grow into David?
@@владимирмазепа-у3н not to worry Ellie is not a "psychopath". She is attached to Riley and she is really attached to Joel. Remember when she kills the trapped infected in the store it is not long after Riley died because of the infected in the mall. It's revenge.
None of the characters in this story will behave like people in our current culture particularly not Ellie who is a post apocalypse child.
@@gailseatonhumbert In the second part of the game, we were clearly shown the psychopathic nature of Ellie... I think the creators of the series will follow the same path.
@@владимирмазепа-у3н Being a psychopath and being violent is not the same thing. You can be both, but anyone can be violent, and having psychopathy doesn’t mean you are a violent person.
It’s not psychopathic nature, it’s violent nature.
Love how the actors started the “breaking down barrier” stage right when they met… like David is telling Ellie this story to her and getting her engaged and as he finishes the story she was so into the story she realize 1 second late it was her and Joel he was talking about and then boom we get James coming in to ambush her, its great story telling and a great way to subtly sneak in David’s manipulative tactics
Thank you for wearing your emotion on your sleeve. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable like this is scary and you are delivering such an important message. Me personally I struggle to remember that showing emotion and vulnerability isn't a weakness. It's actually a sign of high emotional intelligence and security. We appreciate you.
This was a heavy episode, Bella did an amazing job. “ it’s okay baby girl” got me.
Thank you for this analysis.
David starts sounding the Fedra officer Kwan who was trying to indoctrinate her in the episode previous. Telling her she’s a good leader etc. David takes it a step forward by telling her vulnerable things about himself even before they have her in the town. As an adult, you don’t confide in a 14 year old that way, no matter what the world’s circumstances are, no matter how “grown up” or capable they may seem. Joel never did that to Ellie. Not even about Sarah. He nonverbally admired her ferocity, but one of the first things he remarked about her is “you’re a weird kid” which establishes good boundaries but shows that he’s safe. He’s showing grief to her quirks and accepting her as she is. In fact, he had to learn the she’s physically a capable person having grown up in this world.
So considerate of your audience to avoid "re-living" certain scenes in the episode - and that you turn certain scenes to Black & White in order to minimize the triggering visuals had the original color version been shown. Your commentary and insights are so valuable. Thank you.
appreciate you noticed and yes I want to share the information not make people feel more upset. Thank you for recognizing that
11:11 i do love how his biggest goal is probably to get Joel away from Ellie at any cost almost. It will solve problems not only relating to just making everyone feel safer from him that David had control over but also make it impossible nearly for Ellie to seek outside help after Joel is gone. :(
Before even watching the video, the content warning was so, so appreciated. Love your channel, and really appreciate you looking out for your audience.
I appreciate that! < 3
Yea, I loved this episode but I also think a trigger warning should have been at the start.
I had forgotten from back in the game the extent to which Ellie goes through multiple forms of intense trauma in rapid succession here: from being caged to nearly being butchered alive to the events in the burning lodge (which IIRC make certain elements of David's sickness much more explicit than the game did). Incredible performances by all the actors to bring across the sheer horror of the whole scenario. (That last "baby girl" from Joel hit me right in the feels, too. :D )
*SPOILERY EDIT:* Also, I noted the diabolical command of scripture from David in that burning-lodge scene. An element particular to the show, I think.
He says, while pinning down and clearly threatening Ellie, *"there's no fear in love."* It's not random. That's 1 John 4:18: *"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."* The potentially victim-blaming connotations of this citation are clearly not lost on him. That he can cite it while still suffering from multiple wounds and with a building burning down around him speaks to how adept his "preacher" mask has become (or perhaps to how much he really has lost himself in that role, and certainly a window into just how much he thinks he is *entitled* to love of all sorts). An unusually clear example of how the Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
The 'baby girl' line makes me tear up every time, and I've watched a dozen reactions.
A detail that can be missed is that David used to be a teacher, so you know he’s done this in the past.
It took me years and years to realize that my dad had groomed me, nothing sexual happened, but he said almost everything David said to Ellie, how special I was, how alike we were, how I was the only one that he could trust, etc. As a teenager girl it made me feel chosen, as an adult woman it wounds me that I was ever used by someone who was supposed to love and protect me. There is a lot more to my story, but thank you for making this video, it's nice and heartbreaking to know that I am not alone. Love to anyone out there that has suffered.💕💕
For me I can talk about it, I really liked Georgias points and discussion on manipulations and grooming tactics.
This might be triggering for some, WARNING.
I was molested as a child by a family member a few years older than me, I was 9-10. It was a male so I always heard the “this is what brothers do” and all these other threats and what not if I didn’t obey. I thought initially that this is how relationships work but as I got older I realized quickly I was in trouble. I was physically forced to do some things..One of my parents did not believe me, I was told to stop experimenting since that apparently was what it was even tho it happened to me for about a little over a year. I did have the other parent believe me though, it’s isolating, when youre that age it’s easy to be convinced and even when I learned the nature of the situation it wasn’t simple to run. I also felt attached because the person was the only one really who would actively want to spend time with me when I was that age. That’s what made me an easy target to be influenced/threatened into those things I feel.
My sexuality also was mixed in with the trauma, I come from a place that has a narrative that even in my instance I was always forced to feel like well since I like men I must enjoy it or have enjoyed it and etc. it’s awful and people just dont care or understand especially sexual assault in men. It damages you over time, for me when intimacy would come over in my relationships, my body would just kind of disconnect from my brain and go on defense mode and shut down. It’s ruined dates and people think You’re not into them when it’s so complicated and layered.
Georgia is right, I always thought you should talk about it because for me I want people to know what happened to me so that maybe they can recognize patterns ever in their life to help someone. Some however do not heal from talking and either do not talk or take time until they are comfortable with talking about it
Thanks for sharing, I'm sorry you had to experience all of that. I appreciate your willingness to detail some of the struggles you experienced. If I can ask, and if you wan to answer, is there something(s) that you found helped you the most in being a survivor?
So bloody sorry. Thank you for sharing your experience and I hope that you are healing and have loving people you can trust around you.
@@GeorgiaDow Georgia, thank you so much for your kind and understanding words throughout your videos, its really affirming and warms my heart to hear someone understand and go over everything in a calm nature. Therapy in ways saved my life from horrible decisions, even through your videos though, im happy to see you, sometimes i really wish you were my therapist haha
As a survivor of grooming & SA, thank you. Thank you for this video. This is so important to talk about.
I'm a survivor of what happened in this episode, and genuinely id been dreading this episode. I knew they'd do good with it but at the same time it's so incredibly hard to confront trauma you've been through. Episode ended with a tight chest and tears on my end, but it's been one of the best depictions of trauma that I've ever seen. Ellie's far off stare when she left was everything.
Georgia, sportin a Troy Baker approved outfit! 🔥😉 i felt when it comes to the climax of events for Ellie, i felt she exhaled everything she had been holding in all this time, her anger, fear, hurt about Riley, about Marlene, Fedra School, about how Joel first treated her, about how their relationship had just turned and gotten good, the terrible fear that Joel might be dead and what David was about to do to her. she let it all out on David in the gathering hall. i also think when she walks out of the burning building, the thoughts on her mind while trying to get her thoughts together were, Joel might be dead and my worst fear is I may be alone. 😞 but, when she hugs him and he calls her "Baby Girl" as a loving Father to a Daughter i was like😢🥰 this was an amazingly potent episode for many, many reasons. excellent analysis reaction Lady Dow you were amazingly tactful and professionally proficient! 🙏😊
I didnt think anyone would get the outfit and thank you very much = ) for appreciating this really tough video
I didn't think David could get any scarier
You read my mind.
Everything you said is testament to the outstanding writing and acting in this show. It's so clear that Neil and Druckman and Craig Maison have a deeply sensitive approach to their work and Bella and the actor who played David were masterful in their portrayals of the twisted narrative.
This show is breaking so much ground in so many ways.
I am very happy with how tastefully they handled this scene, along with other dark moments like when Henry unalives himself. They consider it with a lot of care and sensitivity in my opinion, and that’s really appreciated. I hope they know that!
I thought it was a nice change to see Ellie leave the restaurant on her own. Practically, it makes sense since a tender moment in a raging fire is weird, BUT it also makes for a great metaphor. She got out of there, a completely different person. She’ll never be the same again.
Re: Joel calling Ellie "baby girl." That's *very* significant. Joel called his daughter Sarah that at the beginning of the Cordyceps Brain Infection (CBI) pandemic on the last night of her life. What he's routinely called Ellie is "cargo," because he's only carrying her with him because it was his partner Tess's dying wish. He's delivering his cargo to the Fireflies who want to use her for their purposes. Throughout the series, they've struggled with whether the two of them are going to have an I-It or an I-Thou relationship. Now, without having to know what happened to her, Joel accepts her as a person equal in worth to his beloved daughter who he wasn't able to save. He embraces her and wraps her in his coat as he would have for Sarah. And that sets up the climax of Season 1 and what will happen in Season 2.
The infected are not aware they are hurting people.
The human enemies we had usually have reason to do what they did, like Kathleen doing bad things to avange her brother. I'm not saying it's justifiable, but at least she had a reason to do what she did.
Or how Henry gave Kathleen's brother to FEDRA to save his own brother that was sick.
David is the first one who is actually an evil person. He's not grieving a dead brother, not trying to help or protect someone. He simply enjoys controlling and hurting people.
He is the true monster in the story.
Yes that is really well stated thanks Lilly
I talked to a survivor friend of mine after this episode, and they told that while it was hard to watch, they also felt such relief seeing Ellie rescue herself and take revenge. They said it was cathartic and healing in a weird way.
Yes a lot of people have shared the same response to it
this episode was rough to watch, but i do love the layers of complexity that were added to the original material. i think everyone who’s been in that situation or anything similar wishes they had the means to react the way ellie did. lord knows i do.
I really appreciate how thoroughly you broke down his grooming techniques. A lot of teens nowadays seem to be falling for things that my generation were heavily warned against; we never used our real information, we used random google images for profile pictures, and made up life stories, but now everyone is ‘authentic’ on platforms like tiktok and it’s giving predators such easier access to them. They need to know what to look out for, even though it’s not fair and they should be able to be safe. It’s just not the world we live in.
I love how authentic your videos are and how you are able to express and explain these emotions and even allow yourself to be vulnerable, makes me as a viewer be able to do the same. It is difficult but it is important to be able to talk about. This episode made me so uneasy and actually scared for Ellie and I can't even imagine what it's like for someone to have gone through trauma like this in real life so I'm glad you dove into this topic a little bit
That "baby girl" line had me burst out crying during the episode. I didn't understand why until I watched the episode podcast afterward where they discuss that term and how it was the pet name for Sera, his daughter that died 20 years ago. It symbolizes Joel's commitment and acceptance that they are a family, Elie is his daughter, and he would do anything to protect her.
Bella is such a great actor. When they’re portraying Ellie after everything they went through, and run into Joel and begin fighting him before breaking down, I always get so emotional every time I watch it. It’s gut-wrenching, horrifying, terrifying, and sickening, especially knowing that it happens all the time.
Thank you for being so sympathetic and empathetic with this subject matter. So many people who have been through this sort of trauma often blame themselves, and it’s never their fault.
Ellie is locked in a room alone, with the leader of a group offering their hand for her to join. Just like we see in Episode 1
What a beautiful walkthrough of this episode! I loved how you explained some of David's strategies and the reasonings behind the things he asks or tells her. Very educational, and with all your usual kindness and sensitivity towards those that watch your videos.
The big difference is that in the game Joel walks in on Ellie during the act of killing David. For me, that hit a little harder because she literally was not going to stop swinging until he stepped over. It’s another failure for Joel that he wasn’t able to get there in time to protect her from having to do that. Some part of the light that Ellie projects dims in that moment and it’s not something that can ever be totally restored. The moment only strengthens Joel’s desire to protect her from further harm. For anyone who is familiar with what lies ahead, that plays an important role. Also in the game Joel does say “baby girl” to her too as he holds her and it was a powerful moment then. This was one of the most memorable moments in the game for sure.
Thank you for talking about this!!!
You are such a beautiful person Georgia, your videos are so well done. It's clear how you care about every detail, not only about visual appealing ones, like background or eventual cosplays (which are always on point btw), but the most subtle, like greying strong scenes that you are doing in some of this series, and how you put so much thought on what to show to convey what you think is useful without showing too much of it. I'm at a loss of word to describe everything else you do, it's so many little things you clearly care, that make your videos so genuine and personally, very touching. You helped me going through some traumas just by making me aware of it, and making me realise how I can work through it. I'm sure your videos are helping many, even just by feeling validated, not alone, understood. Also, your videos are helping me broaden my empathy, you gave me so much insight about many topics, other point of views, how other people could react and feel about something.
I'm sure I could use better words, but english is not my first language and I just wanted you to know how I feel, because I really do appreciate all you do, and how you do it. So I'm gonna keep as it is. Thank you.
this comment meant so much to me thank you for taking the time to share it. It is what I hope todo with my channel. Thank you so much for being a part of my community
Bella did such a beautiful and powerful job portraying the rage and trauma in this episode that it makes me actually worry that she has personal experience with it. It’s such a hard thing to explain or express to someone, and even the way people react to these scenes you can tell who truly KNOWS what that feels like. And women in particular seem to all recognize someone they’ve known in David. We all know that guy. Whether or not he ever got his hands on us, we clocked him.
She’s a 19-year old woman working in Hollywood. Guessing she’s known at least one “David”, even if they never victimized her directly.
I was waiting all week to hear this. Thank you for making this video.
Hope you enjoyed it!
@@GeorgiaDow I teach psychology, and in my adolescent psychology class we spoke about sexual abuse that occurs within the family. I tried to approach it the same way you did in your video.
That is a wonderful compliment thank you and I hope your class received it well
When my partner and I watched this episode we first thought “Wait, are they gonna neuter his character?” and I’m so glad we were proven wrong because they just dialed the creep factor up to 120%
My sister was sexuly abused by my father and no one knew until is death was my sister said "am glad he's dead"
I like how you take a moment because you notice that you're getting overly angry-- I probably should do that too because I sometimes have problems with my tone of voice/attitude when I get overly angry/aroused in the emotional sense
As you said in the video, this is a very difficult subject to talk about and to even listen to, but it’s something e all need to be aware about. Thank you for sharing this video with us! ❤
Absolutely!
10:36 is really important. Being able to validate yourself and make yourself feel special is good for self esteem and feeling better in general, but it also just helps you become less susceptible to abusers. While we can't always help being reeled in by abusive people (especially if we're young and impressionable and the other person is in a powerful and/or older position), certain things can make us especially vulnerable to them in adulthood. Speaking from personal experience, having low self esteem and wishing for other people to validate me has attracted so many ... not great people in my life who use flattery and manipulation to get what they want.
I have know about this story for a long time because of the game. But seeing how people like you are giving it so much meaning that I haven't giving to it before is really great and I love what the series has done.
My condolences and respect to anyone who has survived something that would give them cause to feel uncomfortable with the topic of the video.
I know this isn't on topic but Scott Shepherd did an amazing job as David, and I hope he, the actor, doesn't incur excessive backlash for the actions of his character. Since the shameful, heinous and unforgivable mountain of abuse directed at the wonderful Laura Bailey following the release of the Last of Us 2, we all know how the Last of Us fandom can tend to confuse fiction with reality.
Even though I knew it was a TV show and they are actors, Shepherd's David had my hackles up in every seen from the first time he appeared on screen until the last. That is a sign of excellent acting.
Ever since I played this section of the game it game me this very uneasy feeling but I couldn't tell exactly why at that time until much later that i became aware of the constant alert state women have to be all the time, so thank you Georgia for making it the main point of the video the grooming and assault, not many people talk about it when they talk about this part of the game/show
Your comment about feeling good when people call us by our name, some people feel especially vulnerable being called by their name. Then remember how Ellie said her name was Veronica in episode 1, appearing shaken when Marlene called her Ellie.
I'm not a girl/woman so ill never truly understand how devastating or terrifying it is for women. But man that episode & especially bella gave me shivers. Her performance was beyond any best actor Emmy or oscars for sure. & i have never seen a scream that could be so impacting. Her whimper, screams & all the small details like that Ohh. All were impeccable & to be honest that scene was acted better than the game but ofc we don't know what was the directions given to Ashley were relative to Bella.
Also You should check out the Nirbhaya case from delhi India. It was & still is one of the worst cases of all time.
I don't know if it's just me but David was a character I constantly kept going back to within the game. I think a lot of the characters within the game held weight but I think David more so. While time passes when you move into the next chapter, I think you can see how much weight of what happened with David impacted Ellie and I can only assume that may move into the final episode of this season.
I really enjoyed this break down and how much care was given to the subject matter. I don't think TLOU glorifies anything but even if that's not the intent, I do think as watchers, we can sometimes internalize things due to our own pasts or our own traumas and the care given to make sure whoever may be watching this video, or even episode, to know they aren't alone and not to blame themselves definitely hit in a certain way.
Thanks for giving this breakdown. There was so much nuance going into David's performance that it's easy to miss a lot of the details. Towards the beginning of the show, he seems perfectly reasonable and even quite nice.
Even the cannibalism would be understandable if it means keeping an entire community from starving to death. So is preventing most of the them from knowing about it. After all, most people who eat meat today are very uncomfortable seeing cows or pigs or chickens being slaughtered, or even thinking too hard about it. So if you paused the show roughly halfway through and asked me whether I would have made the same choices that David had, I'd be hard-pressed to say no.
But that only applies if it's kept to the minimum possible, and when Joel found the bodies hanging in the shed, that proved it wasn't being kept to a minimum. It wasn't just this one time, it had been going on for a while. Fucked-up behavior almost always excuses itself as being a one-time necessary/accidental thing, then it actually turns out to be a long-standing pattern. He may have even been "culling" the group to eliminate dissenters. Maybe it wasn't the first time that "four went out, three came back" with a story. Looking back, I think about the girl whose dad died, and how she was always crying. I'm pretty sure David had been abusing her.
But those grooming behaviors didn't really "click" for me until I saw a middle-aged man tell a teenage girl he saw her as an "equal," and "you remind me of myself." Those are grooming 101 lines straight out of the handbook that we see play over and over again online today. When he called Ellie a "natural leader" I was like wait, what? When has she ever displayed that, much less that he's seen? Then he added "smart, loyal" which we do know to be true. But the first one, he just made up. So he was just throwing out random compliments.
It's also disturbing how often whenever humans form any closed small (especially religious) community, the leader ends up getting into underage girls, and then everyone else goes along with it. It happens too often to be coincidence. It's as if it's encoded into our DNA, like how lion prides work.
PS: love the cosplay choice. You just need a long beard to look like you're ready to go out hunting for David.
As someone who did not play the video game, I think that once you know what David has planned for Ellie, the men in his group who were planning to kill her (despite David’s order to bring her in alive) actually may have been trying to spare her.
Re-watching the episode knowing that these characters know the truth about David and most likely think that Joel is dead (or very soon to be dead), you understand that to them there were only three paths forward. 1- Ellie is alone and not in the group, 2- Ellie is in the group and under David’s abusive control, or 3- Ellie is dead and does not suffer David’s abuse or starve/freeze to death in the wilderness.
So I am self aware enough to know that learning life lessons from a therapist through a pseudo one way street can drop some bias in ma brain (something something parasocial relationship)
And I don’t even know if Ms. Georgia will see this but
She makes me feel… safe. And I would like her to know that she’s out here doing a lot for people like me. Much love
I see this and you. Thank you for sharing your heartfelt words and letting me know. Appreciate you < 3
AFter I saw this episode, your reaction and analysis was the first thing that came to mind. I love wathcing reaction video's in general. but this one was so powerful that I wanted to hear your take on it. I played the game so I knew what was going to happen. But to see it played out on screen, and to see how Bella portrayed Ellie, I was lost in it. I could feel her rage as she unleashed it on David. You saw her snap as soon as she first struck him. Then how she immediately jumped up, grabbed the clever and lost herself in her rage. I felt every painful moment from the show be unleashed with every blow. I love you anaylsis. Keep them coming.
I was groomed as a teenager, Ellie's age, and this episode... it slaughtered me. I was sobbing.
I hope you are okay now
I think Joel doesn't ask Ellie what happened because someone he has grown to love was in distress. I think he understood that Ellie had been through a very traumatic ordeal. In this moment,, his only concern was to comfort her.
Dear Georgia!
Thank you so much for this video! This is such an important topic and you approached it so well and with such compassion. We really need to teach the youth how to recognize dangerous people! It's so hard because at the beginning they can seem to be so nice and caring.
Thanks again! And keep making these videos!❤
< 3
I really appreciate the care you put into talking about traumatic subject matter. You strike this great balance of being supportive, educational and safe at the same time. Thank you for what you do :)
Thank you so much!
I love seeing your videos (as I've told many times already, but it's just so true that it's worth mentioning again!) but this was one I had to really work up toward watching. And I'm so glad I did. I don't know how you do it. You're across the world from me and yet you make me feel so safe by just letting me listen to your words and voice. I don't know if I will ever get over the guilt, but you definitely made me feel better today with this video. Even if it was really hard to watch it. Thank you Georgia for existing 💚 You really are a treasure
Thank you for this video. I thought as hard as it was to watch, and potentially triggering, I’ve read from a lot of survivors that they felt catharsis and healing in watching how Joel reacted to Ellie at the end. He doesn’t ask her: he just holds her/rocks her almost like you would a baby (there’s a reason why we find that motion soothing). For many people, they could get the response from the show that they wish they had gotten with their own experience.
I also love how relieved Joel looks when he finds her. I love that he grabbed her backpack for her too. For all he knew, she was already dead (he saw her bag, the horse and the butchered bodies). He still took her bag though (such a dad move) because he had hope that he’d find her or that if he didn’t and she was gone, he wanted to keep it because it was the last thing he has of HER (similar to his watch being what’s left of Sarah).
Then her screaming scares him because he’s never heard her like that, he must know she’d been through something terrible. But I think he can infer what happened-he’s not naive: she was gone for hours, men took her, and she came out of a burning building screaming and pushed him away when he tried to touch her. One final subtle but meaningful moment I love is that Joel gives Ellie her bag back after putting his coat on her-that bag means everything to her and has everything she owns. Ellie probably felt like her body wasn’t her own in that moment, and having her bag back that was HERS would help stabilize her in such a de-stabilizing moment. It just goes to show how thoughtful and caring Joel is and how much he loves her. All of those Emmy noms were so deserved!
It kind of makes sense how good David is at what he is doing. It's motioned in the show that he used to be a teacher. I can't imagine how many times he has done this before to his students.
Love the video. Hope she does The Last of Us Part 2. There’s a lot of trauma in that game that happens to all characters and changes them throughout the entire game as well. A psychological deep dive would be so interesting to see with all those characters.
One of the events the show removed was David an Ellie fighting a clicker. A shared traumatic event, driving them closer before his real intentions are made.
Love the vids! I walked in on the end of the episode and caught the part where Joel holds Ellie and calls her baby girl and started tearing up. I was just trying to get some water! What a perfect moment. I played the games before, so I wasn't worried about spoilers affecting me, but that scene did.
Yar, narcissistic manipulators are scary good at pushing people in their direction.
I love your videos you truly inspire me. I take it really interesting how much psychologists notice. This episode was extremely emotional for me and hearing you explain the logic behind what he was saying made it worse. But all of that aside David makes me so angry lol.
thank you and yes it made me feel that as well
I love watching yours and Cinema Therapy's reactions to characters who exhibit malignant narcissism or psychopathy -- there's a comprehension, and then almost like a frustration from you guys. When they manipulate or exploit people it's almost like y'all are saying "I know exactly what they're doing, and they do too, and they know better, but they don't care"
Idk it's fascinating to watch an expert in the field "discover" a predatory but socially intelligent person
Thank you. Especially with your advice at the end. I'm on a time restraint since I have to wake up early and can't deal with anything of mine that's too deep, but I'm taking mental notes. And I feel like you helped.
I loved this video. As a survivor myself it was very touching and in the game this connotation is very clear but in the show it is. And you talk about it so well. I think i got more emotional hearing you talk about it than watching the actual scene ❤️
Happy it made you feel more for what was happening < 3 thanks for sharing
I'd love to see your reaction to Mr Robot. Lots of counselling scenes and the conclusion of it in the final season has so so much to unpack!
Thanks for a wonderful video as usual 🔥🔥
I got to crying with this video. At the very end you talked about how sometimes for some people, talking about trauma can make it worse. And the questions on why did you do this and why didn't you do that. I've been forced to talk about an incident over and over, and when I get even more anxious it's "well, you don't seem to be facing the problem, let's try again." It gets more painful each time. I think making me talk about it and relive is making me worse. And I love Joel so much for just hugging her and saying it's alright. Not trying to pry open her brain and analyze it. My family has made me talk about my incident too, and there's always the question. "Why? Why were you there? Why did you not call me? Why did you make me worry like this?" I know they mean well and they were horrified to see me hurt. But sometimes it feels like they're angry with me, like it was me out trying to hurt them. And you're told talking about this over and over will open a window and release the PTSD. It never does. In fact, I think the aftermath, reliving it and answering questions about it is more traumatizing than the incident itself.
I am so sorry that that happened to you. It wasn't your fault and no one has a right to hurt you no matter where you are or what you are doing. I hope you know that. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being here. You can let people know you are not ready to talk about it, if you feel comfortable with that.
@@GeorgiaDow Thank you
I honestly didn't think you'd review it. Glad you did.
Thanks
Thanks to this vid learned something important.
The Ellie/David scene felt so real, it triggered every paternal protection instinct I have.
Thank you for your care & insight. I wonder if our brains are hardwired to protect us so that we respond to the situation in the best way to give us the most chance of survival? Sometimes that’s fight, sometimes it’s freeze, sometimes it’s fawn etc.
I always find your insights & tips about how to help others especially helpful, as many professionals don’t cover that. It would be great to have a short professional learning course or ebook IMO available for mandatory reporters (teachers, nurses, early childhood teachers, etc) although it would be helpful to many, to guide through the best way to approach disclosures (especially if there’s a past of SA or CSA) since it can be triggering. It would help enormously to have steps or tips to fall back on to move through that reactionary moment.
Thanks again for taking care of us. I hope you have someone taking care of you too 😊
Thank you Georgia!
Saving this video on my mental health folder ;w;
Thank you, so much❤ ❤❤
You saved my life and multiple others in many ways!❤❤
I'm really glad you made this video. It means a lot to me, and I'm sure also to a lot of other people who've gone through similar traumatic experiences ^^
thank you for letting me know. I felt it had to be done
I’m so glad you put a disclaimer first. I wish the show had done that because I spent the next hour having flashbacks and getting sick. Tv needs more warnings.
I am so so sorry = ( I hope you are better now.
Hi Georgia,
I wanted to thank you for all you do and the heart you put into all your videos. I’ve been watching them on a regular basis and they’ve been so helpful for me. Acting and music are incredibly therapeutic and I love how you relate your topics to characters from movies and TV shows. It truly helps people process whatever they might be going through.
I’m also curious if you’re familiar with IFS therapy (internal family systems model) and a book called “No Bad Parts” by Richard Schwartz?
Again, thank you so much!
Youre welcome and yes I have heard of it but it isnt something which I use in my own practice. I am really happy you find the videos helpful it is what i hope for
Thank you for pointing out that not everyone feels better talking through things. They will when they are ready. It's so important not to push our own agendas onto others and follow their lead so as to not re traumatize them. Great vid.
I hope it helps others allow people space to share when they are ready
Thankyou, I feel as though this video was done marvelously.
Love your input. Gives so much more depth to the experience. I wondered, I see you have done videos of the last of us game as well. Would you consider doing videos on the last of us part 2 as well? I feel like there is a lot to unpack there. If this is on thing you’ve already done I’m sorry for wasting you time here😅
I have done last of us video game but not the second one
David's character makes me feel sick to my stomach, and while I love that Ellie escaped that and got to have her vengeance, it's so upsetting that she or anyone else has to go through this...
as someone who works at a prison Ive definitely seen the power of a good manipulator, people always ask well why would someone ever want to be with an inmate or bring things in for them but its not always as simple as people think. Its like geography, pressure and time can break a lot of people, groomers are some of the worst and a lot of them end up in prison thank goodness.
10:49 David sees a frightened traumatized child as his equal. That is well and truly disturbing. Fortunately, Ellie didn’t buy into that crap.
Idk what’s up with my brain that I didn’t see the grooming and SA in this episode when I watched it (just thought it was typical generic insane captor violence and escape), and only realized it after seeing people talk about it online, but thank you to you and others for pointing this stuff out.
Its something which sometimes we are blind to which is another reason why us discussing it is so helpful. thanks for sharing