Fans celebrate a vital element of ‘The Last of Us Part II’ in the wake of International Women’s Day

Wednesday, March 8, marked 2023’s International Women’s Day, an annual celebration encouraging all of humanity to appreciate and empower the influential females in their lives. Fans of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us franchise — and more recently, HBO’s live-action adaptation — will be showering protagonist Ellie and with praise and love, as well as side characters Marlene, Sarah and Tess. But there’s one person whose involvement was instrumental in the making of The Last of Us: Part II but who’s grossly undervalued in a male-dominated industry. We’re talking about Halley Gross, the co-writer for Part II whose personal experiences with PTSD shaped Ellie and Abby’s character arcs, as well as tapping into their trauma and exploring their motivations for setting out on their respective revenge missions. We also owe countless LGBTQ+ scenes, including Ellie and Dina’s kiss, to Gross, who campaigned for Ellie and Dina’s relationship to blossom.

It’s not an understatement to say that without Gross, Part II wouldn’t have been the masterpiece that it was, nor would it have painted such a passionate portrait of feminism. Both of our protagonists (or antagonists, depending on whose story you’re playing through) in Ellie and Abby were thoroughly fleshed out, which we can only assume is the influence of Gross, whose contributions to the screenplay gave additional depth to two of the most iconic and complex video game characters to ever exist. Unfortunately, Gross is often overlooked within the fanbase, but it isn’t necessarily ignorance that’s to blame, but more so Naughty Dog’s need to push Neill Druckmann’s achievements into the spotlight in favor of Gross’.

We’ll never let Halley Gross go unappreciated, though. She’s been a pivotal part of Part II‘s production, ensuring that the sequel would play out as a love letter to strong, independent women everywhere.

We aren’t the only ones who think Part II wouldn’t be the same without Gross. Sometimes, it takes another woman to tell the stories of hardened women.

Gross also drew from her own struggles with PTSD to delicately portray Ellie and Abby’s hardships with a sensitive approach. It’s easy to argue that without Gross, we wouldn’t have gotten the ending for Part II that turned out to be so controversial yet so powerful.

There’s even a suggestion made that Gross should join showrunners Craig Mazin and Neill Druckmann in the writer’s room for the upcoming second — and potentially third, fingers crossed — seasons for HBO’s The Last of Us. Imagine the highs that HBO’s version could reach with Gross involved?

There’s still talk of The Last of Us: Part III coming in future years, so here’s hoping that Gross has a hand in continuing Ellie’s story for many more installments to come.