Is Dina in HBO’s The Last of Us? Answered
On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rate this cameo?
Michael Stoyanoff 
Image via HBO
Episode six of HBO’s The Last of Us showed Joel and Ellie make the arduous journey to Jackson, Wyoming. The episode, titled “Kin”, gave viewers their first look at the community featured prominently in the second game and only shown from a distance during part one. The dam from the first game is cleverly replaced with the town of Jackson, and this left a lot of room for fun Easter eggs. One cameo in particular set the whole internet ablaze, as a girl stares at Ellie from a distance in the community center. The staring girl is most likely Ellie’s love interest from The Last of Us Part II, Dina.
Who is the staring girl in HBO’s The Last of Us?
The girl in question is only shown for a brief moment, but there are several hints that this is indeed Dina. The actress in the role is Paolina van Kleef, and she bears a striking resemblance to Dina from The Last of Us Part II. She is also suspiciously wearing similar jeans and boots to what Dina wears during the early parts of the game where she and Ellie go on patrol.
During the official The Last of Us podcast, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin hint that this Easter Egg is a character we might find more about one day. Druckmann also adds that in the game The Last of Us Part II, there is a story told about Dina and Ellie, where they recall when they first met. Druckmann notes that this story is very similar to what happens during this particular scene in the TV show.
Dina is a standout character from The Last of Us Part II. She is a brave and funny young woman of Jewish heritage who befriends Ellie during her time in Jackson. It is hinted that the two have been friends for quite some time at the start of the sequel, but things have started to move past friendship when it is revealed that Dina stole a kiss from Ellie at a community dance the night before the patrol.
Dina accompanies Ellie on her crusade in Seattle, but has to sit out quite a bit of the drama and monitor the radio at their theater hideout when she discovers that she is pregnant from her ex, Jessie. She maintains a strong relationship with Ellie for most of the game, but Ellie’s PTSD eventually causes a barrier between them.
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Viewers will definitely get to spend more time in Jackson next season, and hopefully Paolina van Kleef will get to bring the character of Dina to life with the same charm and charisma that made fans fall in love with her during The Last of Us Part II. Giving fans of the game even the smallest of hints towards a second season is a genius move by the show’s creators.
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