The Last Of Us' Ellie Was Life-Changing For Me As A Teenager, And I Love What The Show Is Doing With Her And Dina

I truthfully never thought I'd have the chance to write an article like this, but here we are. And I couldn't be happier.

I'm sure I've talked about this several times before here, but I'm bisexual. I've accepted it for many years of my life and embraced it wholeheartedly when it was challenging for me to do so as a kid when I grew up in a pretty religious household. Now, I fully share it with everyone.

While I'm very passionate about my love of Hispanic culture and the best Latino TV shows, I don't get the chance to share my passion for LGBTQ+ characters who have really changed my life. I've talked about the best LGBTQ+ TV shows to watch, or maybe even actors who are LGBTQ+ in real life, but I've never gotten to the nitty gritty of certain characters who changed everything.

Today, though, I'm doing that with a character you might not expect—Ellie from The Last of Us.

As A Teen, I Never Really Had Other LGBTQ+ Characters In Video Games To Admire

I've talked about this a few times on here, but I grew up a hard gamer.

I certainly don't game as much now – my days are split into movies and TV and prepping for new films ahead of the 2025 movie schedule, and then my nights are filled with all the novels that I read in prep for some of the upcoming book-to-screen adaptations. Gaming just hasn't been a huge part of my life, or at least, as much as it used to be.

But back then, I loved gaming, and the video game that really changed it all for me was The Last of Us. I had played video games before then, but it was mainly because I had the chance to play alongside my brother. That survival game was the first that made me ask my parents to buy me a specific console so that I could play the game, and it changed everything.

However, if you're also a gamer like me, representation for people like us is few and far between. The main demographic for gaming that's targeted is certainly not us. But at the end of the day, when I was younger, I always wished that there was a character on the spectrum who shared the same views as we did. I didn't think it would come from an apocalypse game, but it did. And I love it so much.

But Then When It Was Confirmed Ellie, My Favorite Character Ever, Was Queer, I Literally Cried

Ellie wasn't confirmed queer in the first game, which I totally agree with. She was fourteen, and the last thing we really needed was to dig into who she was attracted to. Rather, I was more focused on her just trying to survive.

But then we got that Left Behind DLC, and we saw that kiss between her and Riley. You would think that the world exploded with the internet's response to this, with the rage-baits, angry tweets, and everything else you could possibly imagine.

But me? I cried.

I cried because I had never seen a character so close to my age at the time, who was who she was, without any barriers around her. I cried because this was a step in a direction that I didn't realise gaming was going to take. I cried because, in reality, it made so much sense that she would lean that way, but I never dared dream it would be like that.

While I don't identify as queer, the fact that the games were even willing to go down that route – and even more so in the sequel game – changed everything for me. It wasn't that long after that DLC came out that I started telling close friends that I was bisexual. It almost feels a little pathetic to think that it was because of a fictional video game character that I felt the confidence to come out – but hey, whatever helps, you know?

The Show Has Only Made Their Relationship Feel Much More Real

So, if I'm singing the praises of the video game, I must also sing the praises of the HBO The Last of Us adaptation, right?

Yeah, you're totally correct, because that's what I'm about to do.

I absolutely love what they have been doing with Ellie and Dina. I knew from the moment Isabela Merced was picked for Dina in The Last of Us cast that this actress was going to bring her all to the character and not only become her, but make her better. I've been a fan of hers for years, but truly saw what she was capable of in Turtles All The Way Down on Max (a great movie about anxiety and OCD if you've never seen it), and I instantly believed she'd kill it as Dina.

Five episodes in, and I love these two more than in the games. In the video games, it felt like Ellie and Dina happened because of the one moment they hooked up in the beginning, and then feelings began to really develop. But in the show, it feels a lot more genuine. It really feels like two young adults fumbling their way to admitting how they feel in a world where literally everything is trying to kill them.

Their moments together have been some of the shining lights of Season 2, in a slew of episodes featuring intense and dark scenes. That guitar scene alone in Episode 4 was everything I could have imagined it to be from the game, but somehow, they made it even better.

It feels authentic, true, and that's what I absolutely love about them. The show takes the time to flesh them out, not just say, "Oh, they're together now." That's what I enjoy.

And It'll Make What Ultimately Happens With Them In The Games That Much More Heartbreaking In The Show

With this fleshing out, what happens to them in the games is even better, and hopefully, it will translate to an even harder gut-punch on television.

I won't spoil anything if you haven't played, because I don't want to be that person. But these two go through it, seriously, and it gets to a point where you wonder what's going to happen. I was already a fan of theirs in the sequel, and now I'm even more of a fan of the TV show because of the amount of time that the creators are spending giving the couple the room to breathe that they deserve.

But, they're probably going to give me that same video game ending, most likely in Season 3, and I just have a feeling it's going to hit so much harder, because these two actresses are really giving their all to these roles. I believe them, and that's a hard thing to do with LGBTQ+ relationships in TV and movies, because they can feel thrown in just for representation's sake and sometimes don't have real meaning. However, I can't wait for the pain their big video game moment will cause.

I really hope that Bella Ramsey can be the next generation's Ellie. Game Ellie is great, and I love her to death and will always hold her so close in my heart. But watching Ramsey perform as her, with this openly loving relationship, is a stepping stone to a lot of great things in an ever-changing landscape.

Maybe there's another teenager out there who's afraid to come out, and they might be inspired by Ellie's bluntness and openness now, too. The lives she could change are endless, and I'm eager to witness it all.