Warning: The following article contains spoilers for ‘The Last of Us’ episode six, ‘Kin’.
Recommended VideosEpisode six of HBO’s The Last of Us had perhaps the most emotionally-charged closing moments of any of its predecessors, which is quite a feat considering some of the devastating character arcs that have closed in weeks past.
In short, Joel lies dying in the snow as Ellie sobs over him, not knowing what to do – and as the camera pans away and the credits fade in, we’re treated to a haunting rendition of Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” – after hearing the original song back in episode one.
This rendition turned out to be performed by showrunner Craig Mazin’s 18-year-old daughter, Jessica Mazin, as he revealed on the HBO official The Last of Us podcast. – and he is acutely aware of the recent discourse around nepo-babies and how recruiting his daughter to perform on the soundtrack of one of television’s biggest hits may be received:
“ I know I sound like a jerk, who’s just a dumb dad talking about his kid, saying how great they are, I’m not that guy. I’m also very cognizant of the whole nepo-baby discussion out there.”
Mazin goes on to detail his thought process behind closing the episode with a “Never Let Me Down Again” callback, in particular, wanting to seek out a female vocalist for a more haunting rendition that can effectively echo Ellie in that pivotal moment. He approached his daughter about performing it, who actually blew off the task for two weeks before he had to ask again:
“So I’m like, “Hey, Jessie, where’s my song?” She goes, “Oh, uh, i forgot.” And I’m like – “Listen to me, I want to make this clear, daddy is saying he wants to put your song on television, can you please, just please.” And she’s like, “Ugh! Fine!” And she sent it to me and I was like, god damn.
The version that we put together for the end i think is, it feels like an echo of Ellie, and to the extent that Jessie is my daughter and i think of Bella [Ramsey] as kind of an adopted daughter, it’s this gorgeous moment for me personally where it’s like, my two daughters are together in this moment at the end of the episode.”
Nepo-baby debates and sullen teenage shirking of huge opportunities and responsibilities aside, we can’t deny that Mazin absolutely nailed her rendition of the Depeche Mode hit we all rediscovered six weeks ago. Now, about an official release? We’d like something to ugly-cry to while thinking about where we left Joel this week, please, and thank you.
We’ll find out how Ellie gets by when The Last of Us returns with a new episode next Sunday on HBO Max.
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