‘The Last Of Us’ Episode 2 Spoiler-Free Review
Image Source: IMDb
If you were like me and thought that no episode of The Last of Us could top last week’s incredible feature-length premiere, you were wrong! This week’s episode was absolutely outstanding and we got a lot to cover!
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE LAST OF US EPISODE 1 AND POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE GAME!
In the first episode, we were introduced to the idea that global warming could lead to certain types of fungi being able to not only survive within human beings but also control their actions. We were then taken to Austin, TX in 2003 where we met Joel, his brother Tommy, and his daughter Sarah. Their day starts out normal, but things quickly took a turn for the worse, and as the group attempted to escape the chaos, they realized that no one was there to help them. We are then taken to present-day Boston where the survivors live in Quarantine Zones, or QZs, under the control of a military dictatorship. Those that wish to leave or disagree with the ways things are done are killed publically in the city center.
Joel and Tess are in need of a car battery so that they can find Tommy who they believe is in Wyoming. This leads the two to Ellie, a 14-year-old girl who was bitten but never infected. The leader of the Firefly group begs Joel to take Ellie to a group waiting for them just outside the city so that she can be taken west. The pair agree and are quickly fighting for their lives just to get out of the QZ.
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Sunday’s episode takes us back to 2003, but we are now in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, which fans may remember is the city that the news was discussing in the background during Joel’s birthday breakfast. We are introduced to a professor of mycology (the study of fungi) who was picked up by the military police. She was shown a slide with a specific type of fungus that was previously believed to be incapable of surviving within the human body. Unfortunately, this sample was taken from a human being that attacked multiple people at a flour and grain factory. They were able to apprehend the people she bit, but they had no idea who bit her and there were currently 14 people missing from that factory. They asked the scientist to help them develop a medicine or vaccine to help stop the spread, but she explained that there was only one solution for stopping this spread, and it was horrific.
Back in the present day, Joel is ready to kill Ellie because he believes that she is infected, and it is only a matter of time before she turns on them. Tess convinces him to spare Ellie and complete the mission they were sent on. Since Ellie was born within the QZ, she has only read about malls, museums, and hotels. There are a few hilarious moments of her seeing these places for the first time. As they navigate through Boston, Tess explains to Ellie how the infected operate and why the city looks like a war zone. Apparently, the Indonesian professor’s proposed solution from back in 2003 was used throughout the world in all major cities in an attempt to contain the infection.
Image Source: IMDb
Tension quickly mounts when the group enters the Boston museum and we get our first look at the difference between the newly infected and those that have been infected since the beginning. They cannot see but can hear even the tiniest of sounds, and they are all connected by the network of hyphae growing throughout the city. As the episode draws to a close, we learn more about how the fungi can be spread and what truly convinced Joel to take care of Ellie.
Having the story bounce between 2003 and 2023 gives the audience a fairly clear picture of how the survivors got to this point without having to slow any of the action. It looks like each episode will keep raising the stakes, making it a heart-pounding show from start to finish. The juxtaposition between the darkness within the QZ and inside the buildings and the brightness outside and the foliage that is growing amongst the chaos is my favorite thing about this episode. It reminds the audience and the characters that there is still hope to be found.
Image Source: IMDb
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