There are plenty of debates about The Last of Us season 2, which seems to be far more controversial than the first. That’s no real surprise after episode 2 where (spoilers) Joel is beaten to death in a massive moment that also launched the second game.
There are also conversations about Bella Ramsey’s Ellie, that this Ellie doesn’t look different enough from the last season when she’s supposed to be five years older. Plus, Ramsey’s portrayal being a bit different than Ellie’s game personality (personally, I think Ramsey is doing a great job).
Unexpectedly, however, a star has emerged in season 2 that I don’t think a lot of people saw coming, Isabela Merced as Dina. While Dina was an important part of the game, certainly, Merced’s charming and compelling portrayal of the character has elevated her past what she was in the source material.
This is in part because the show has opted to give her a larger role than the game. We saw more of an established relationship with Joel than the game allowed, which makes her mission with Ellie more than just about how she likes Ellie and wants to protect her. And speaking of Ellie, Merced has more chemistry with Ramsey than the two characters did in the game, at least for now.
Merced’s career has blown up as of late. In addition to landing this role, the 23 year-old just played a part in Alien Romulus (ironically across from older Ellie ringer Cailee Spaeny). Now she’s set to play Hawkgirl in the first DCU movie, James Gunn’s Superman, quite a jump from her last superhero role in Madame Web next to Sydney Sweeney. Some viewers may remember her playing live-action Dora more than half a decade ago.
We can get into game spoilers if you want now, if you’re curious where all this is going, and how “safe” she is or not in this story. Those spoilers follow.
She is in fact safe. Despite a lot of death in this story, Dina survives. And her baby survives. Yes, if the vomiting wasn’t a clue, Dina is in fact pregnant via her relationship with Jesse (who will not survive the show). This eventually reaches a point where her and Ellie are living together after the Seattle story is over, but Ellie cannot let her revenge go when she learns the escaped Abby has resurfaced in California. She leaves, and when she returns, Dina is gone, which is how the game ends. But hey, at least Dina lives.
So that’s the good news, is that we will see both Dina and Ellie for the duration of the next two seasons and she’s not about to suffer some tragic fate. I think everyone here is doing a good job from Ramsey to Young Mazino’s Jesse to at least so far, Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby, but right now, Merced seems like the big new standout.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
