The Last Of Us Actor Troy Baker Breaks Down David And James' Relationship
This post contains spoilers for "The Last of Us" season 1, episode 8 "When We Are in Need."
Fans of the Naughty Dog video game on which HBO's "The Last of Us" is based may have detected a familiar voice this week in the penultimate episode of season 1. That's because Troy Baker, who showed up onscreen as James — the second-in-command of the cannibalistic cult leader, David (Scott Shepherd) — plays Pedro Pascal's character, Joel, in the first game and its sequel.
A key moment for James comes when he and the rest of the hunting party, save for David, catch up with Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in episode 8. David has ordered that she be taken alive, but James is ready to go against orders — pulling the trigger on Ellie at point-blank range — before David shows up at the last moment. While James' outward motivation for attempting to kill Ellie is just that he doesn't want another mouth to feed, the real reason may boil down to simple jealousy, since David has a creepy attraction to Ellie and James can sense he's about to be replaced.
Incidentally, Baker also serves as the host of HBO Max's official "The Last of Us" podcast, and on this week's episode, he broke down the psychology behind James and his attempt on Ellie's life:
"I shot the horse to stop her. I just want the girl gone. I just — 'cause she– I feel the fact that she could easily usurp my position. In the same way that David intuits that he has found an equal, I think there's something inside of James that senses that from this girl as well. He looks at her differently."
Inequality among cannibals
Co-showrunner Craig Mazin noted on the podcast that "James is not [David's] equal," and you can see the power imbalance between them early on when David, the false prophet, says he senses doubt in James. This leaves James defending himself even though he's already loyal. Mazin observed that "David challenging James' faith" is a way for him to manipulate James and get him to seek approval before they go out hunting.
"David doesn't really love James," Mazin added. "David has contempt for James. David has contempt for practically every single person in that church of his." Troy Baker took it one step further, "I would even think that, from my perspective, contempt was just a little bit too much thumb on the scale of an investment. [James] was disposable. 'You serve a purpose for me right now.'"
If you've never played "The Last of Us" video game, you could be forgiven for writing James and David off as two more in a long line of faces who have been introduced on the show and then killed off soon after. While Joel is showing some chinks in his plot armor now, courtesy of a stabbing, there's an almost procedural aspect to the way "The Last of Us" goes about this cycle of ushering other characters in and out: introduce them, kill them off, lather, rinse, repeat. Some have argued that following this formula did a disservice to James and David's story by condensing it down too much, but Baker and Scott Shepherd are at least able to give us a good sense of their relationship in this episode before they go the way of every other guest star.
"The Last of Us" season 1 finale airs this Sunday, March 12, 2023, on HBO and HBO Max.