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This article contains spoilers for the The Last of Us season two. Please do not read unless you have seen episodes one to three.
Despite growing up amid a fungal apocalypse that she alone may have the ability to undo, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is a typical teenager in one key regard: constant sarcastic backchat. We’ve seen the unfiltered 19-year-old dish it out to friends and authority figures alike, rarely thinking twice before saying whatever is on her mind. Which makes it all the more affecting when she spends so much of this episode in pained silence, grieving for the surrogate father she helplessly watched get killed at the end of last week’s relentless emotional wringer.
With that upsetting death still very raw it might seem premature to ask who could replace Joel (Pedro Pascal), a character so central to the success of The Last of Us. But by the end of this episode, Ellie has claimed his revolver, ditched her beloved Converse in favour of Joel-like boots and taken charge on a two-man horse where five years ago she used to ride pillion behind him. Is she consciously trying to emulate Joel, or does she just feel compelled to leave the relative safety of Jackson Hole to avenge him? Let’s unpack what got her and Dina (Isabela Merced) on the road to Seattle.
Picking up the pieces
After a moving scene of Tommy (Gabriel Luna) tending to his brother’s body in a makeshift morgue – and an anguished scream from Ellie as she flashes back to Joel’s murder by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) – the action jumps to three months later. The town has been in mourning and rebuilding, but Ellie has remained in hospital throughout. Sceptical therapist Gail (Catherine O’Hara) has to sign off on her getting discharged, but after some verbal jousting she is free to return home.
There she sees a shrine of flowers and tributes to Joel on their white picket fence. Inside, Ellie tentatively moves through the echoey rooms as she grapples with his absence. The sight, and smell, of Joel’s jacket and flannel shirts finally triggers the tears – although the arrival of Dina cuts that catharsis short.
Dina has brought homemade cookies and some vital intel: she knows more about Joel’s killers than she has been letting on. A distinctive wolf patch suggests they are members of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) based in Seattle. She also caught some of their names before getting knocked out: Manny, Owen, Nora and, crucially, “the girl with the braid” whose image is burned into Ellie’s memory. Her name is Abby. “Abby,” repeats Ellie, putting that name at the top of a mental kill list.
A new faction?
We know the shattered world of The Last of Us is full of trigger-happy militias and scary hordes of chittering infected. But we’ve never seen a bunch of bald whistlers armed with hammers before. A brief cutaway scene introduces us to this spiritual sect in rough cloaks advancing through a forest, as a man with a distinctive facial scar discusses the group’s philosophy with a young girl. Are they father and daughter? Or a found family like Joel and Ellie? The holy speechifying is a little opaque – something to do with a late prophet who passed down survival techniques – but it all goes out the window when a warning whistle confirms an imminent threat. Apparently the “wolves” are on the hunt, and these poor guys are the hunted.
The town council decides
Now she has a name and a location, Ellie is determined to pursue Joel’s killer. But if she wants resources and backup to accompany her to Seattle, she must raise the issue at a town meeting, where it will be put to a council vote. Perhaps surprisingly she has taken the advice offered by her sparring partner Jesse (Young Mazino) and prepared a written statement rather than just angrily arguing for bloody vengeance. The way she frames it, the pursuit of Joel’s killers is about seeking justice rather than exacting retribution. While it is intriguing to see Ellie operate in political mode rather than on instinct, it doesn’t do her any good: the motion to “find the people who killed Joel and execute them” is opposed by eight votes to three (I’d hazard that Tommy, Jesse and maybe even Tommy’s wife Maria were in favour). Time for plan B.
Back in the saddle
Having scraped together meagre supplies, Ellie is all set to head out unsanctioned and alone under the cover of darkness. But Dina insists on coming along, and has already mapped out a workable route and how best to “travel light but smart”. As they are about to leave Jackson Hole, they are helped by town elder Seth (Robert John Burke). The gruff barman has had quite the arc, from being homophobic to Ellie in episode one of season two to offering his bullish support at the town meeting. Now he insists she takes his scoped rifle and extra provisions from his emergency stash.
After a sombre stop at Joel’s graveside, Ellie and Dina set course north-west on what seems to be a mostly uneventful journey, although one night under canvas they playfully discuss their dancefloor kiss at the New Year’s Eve shindig. On the outskirts of Seattle they stumble across the aftermath of what seems to be a one-sided massacre (we recognise the religious whistlers from earlier, particularly the little girl). The scene is grisly enough to make Dina throw up.
Then Seattle is in sight, even if its skyline looks in rather worse shape than the old Frasier logo. Our heroes remain confident that Abby and her WLF accomplices will be easy to find. They amuse themselves by swapping badass lines from Joel’s beloved trashy action movie franchise Curtis and Viper. What Ellie and Dina don’t see is Abby’s friend Manny (Danny Ramirez) on watch atop the Space Needle, gazing down at a rolling column of WLF tactical vehicles and what looks like a formidable armed force. It’ll take more than quips to take this lot down.
Notes and observations
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Ellie silently leaving coffee beans on Joel’s grave harks back to their opposing views on drinking the stuff in season one (back then, Ellie described the smell of coffee as “burnt shit”).
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Director Peter Hoar was previously responsible for season one’s powerful but devastating episode three. Also on his recent CV: the opener of the current season of Doctor Who and the imminent Ruby Sunday-centric episode Lucky Day.
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Shoutout to “Boring Scott” (as actor Haig Sutherland is credited), the guy at the town meeting who just wanted to educate everyone about the potential long-term benefits of corn production and turkey farming.
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Even with Dina’s optimised route, the ride from Jackson, Wyoming, to the outskirts of Seattle, Washington, is more than 850 miles. That seems like a hard shift for poor Shimmer the horse, especially with two passengers weighed down with hardtack, bear spray and an abundance of ammo.
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Next week? Looks like it’s time to meet Jeffrey Wright’s intense-looking WLF leader Isaac.
What did you think? How much did you miss the presence of Joel? Does it feel good to be back on the road again? Have your say below, but please avoid spoilers from the game …
