After Joel’s bloody murder in last week’s episode of The Last Of Us, season 2, episode 3 gives us a calmer but deeply emotional episode that follows Ellie’s way of dealing with her father-figure’s death. The episode takes place three months after Joel’s death. Ellie has just gotten out of the hospital, and she now embarks on a journey to find and kill Joel’s assassin, Abby. Dina finds out that Abby and her crew are part of the Wolves, based in Seattle, and the two set out on horseback. Early in their journey, their path crosses with the site of Joel’s grave in Wyoming. They stop, and Ellie sprinkles a handful of coffee beans onto the grave. The meaning of this scene goes back to a moment in season 1, episode 4 that fans have likely forgotten. Here’s what the coffee beans mean in ‘The Last Of Us.’
What happens in the coffee bean scene in ‘The Last Of Us?’
The scene in question opens with a sweeping shot of a grassy field and the rolling hills of the Wild West. Orange and gold overtake the landscape as the sun hovers over the mountains and Ellie walks towards Joel’s grave while Dina waits on horseback behind her.
Ellie crouches in front of the grave, a solemn look on her face. She pulls a sack of coffee beans from her pocket and sprinkles them on the grass in front of Joel’s simple wooden gravestone. She smiles softly and presses her hand to the ground as emotion fills her eyes. Dina is in the background on the verge of tears. The scene ends with a similar landscape shot of Ellie and Dina riding away, bathed in golden light and surrounded by mountains.
Where does coffee show up in season 1?
A scene in the season 1 episode 4, “Please Hold to My Hand,” reveals the connection between Joel and coffee. While traveling to Kansas City, Joel and Ellie set up camp in the wilderness. Ellie wakes up to a pot of brown liquid boiling. She smells it and reacts in disgust, saying, “What the f*ck is that?” Joel responds, “You don’t like coffee?”
Later, while in the car, Joel sips his coffee. Ellie says the coffee “smells like burnt shit,” to which Joel takes a teasingly loud slurp and tells her to keep her eyes on the map.
This scene establishes that Joel really loves coffee. Other moments in the first season show Joel lamenting his lack of access to coffee, which has become a luxury during the pandemic, whenever he comes across an old coffee pot or coffee shop. Ellie does eventually taste coffee, but finds it too bitter.
Why does Ellie put coffee beans on Joel’s grave?
Ellie’s choice to sprinkle her father-figure’s grave with coffee beans is a demonstration of her love and respect for him. The coffee is a reminder of the light-hearted, happy memories Joel and Ellie shared in a time of danger and fear. The beans are a touching personal tribute to the bond they shared, allowing both Ellie and the show’s viewers to say goodbye to Joel. There’s also speculation that, with the amount of flashbacks fans are expecting to see this season of the past five years in Jackson, the coffee beans could reference a moment between Joel and Ellie we have yet to see.