SPOILERS

“Look for the Light“

The HBO show, The Last of Us completed its first season run Sunday night and I am going to say that I do not think they had a weak episode among the nine. This show was consistently powerful and emotional every episode and built brilliantly on the week prior in such clever and well developed ways. I am not exaggerating when I say that this is the best video game adaptation in any format of all time. That may not be the highest bar to exceed, but The Last of Us has now set that aforementioned bar at a remarkably high level.

Sunday’s episode saw Joel and Ellie arrive at the Fireflies (although they were not as nice about it as you would have thought). Prior to the Fireflies’ attack, Ellie was showing some definite problems from her battle for survival with David last episode. Joel and Ellie seemingly switched places in their roles. Ellie was brooding and withdrawn and Joel was talkative and wanting more bad puns.

I had wondered if when they arrived at the hospital that they were heading to, if Ellie was going to be in danger. I thought maybe they would be trying to dissect her, but that wasn’t quite right. They were going to go into her brain and remove the part that was making her immune and mass produce it. It would be Ellie’s sacrifice. She was not told about it.

Joel was told though and that was a bad mistake for the Fireflies.

Joel went into murder-mode, coldly and without emotion, shooting everybody in his way to save Ellie. Even those who were laying down their weapons and surrendering wound up with a bullet in their head. It was brutal. It only cemented my comment from last week. If Joel was on The Walking Dead, he would be the villain that the survivors would be trying to protect themselves from.

Pedro Pascal completed his season with yet another spectacular episode. He has been on point as Joel in every episode, bringing his best work of his career. How he lied to Ellie at the end, to protect her from making a different decision about sacrificing herself to save the world was amazing. Joel knew that Ellie would choose to sacrifice herself if she was given a choice and he could not lose her too. So his saving of Ellie was really a selfish move, but he could not lose another daughter.

And… giraffes.

The episode started off with a pregnant woman and I was totally confused. She kind of looked like Ellie so I wondered if this was supposed to be a flash forward to a time when Ellie was pregnant. That was not making me happy. I did not want to see Ellie as a mother later because it felt as if it would mean that she was safe in any future storytelling. I figured it out soon though. It wasn’t Ellie pregnant in the future. It was Ellie’s mom, pregnant with Ellie in the past, giving us some indication on how Ellie wound up immune. As soon as I figured that out, it changed my opinions. Ellie’s mom was played by Ashley Johnson.

The Last of Us has been a spectacular series and I looked forward to it every Sunday night. I am going to miss it now that season one has come to a close. I will be looking forward to the second season when it arrives in the future.

SPOILERS

“When We are in Need“

The penultimate episode of the first season of HBO’s The Last of Us premiered on the streaming service tonight and it gave us an episode that could, quite possibly, change Ellie forever.

Joel is still recovering from his stab wound and Ellie is forced into surviving on her own while he is out. When she goes hunting for a deer, she comes across David and another man from a nearby community. Through a tense standoff, David agrees to give Ellie medicine in exchange for the deer.

Ellie is able to get away from them. She did not know that this was the group that included the man who had stabbed Joel and they were out for ‘justice.’

David was shown as a preacher, a leader, but I never believed that he was a just or kind man. As we find out, he had been serving his followers the cooked remains of their dead in a desperate attempt to stay alive.

David led a group to go back and find Ellie and Joel. He wanted Ellie brought back alive because he had intentions for her.

Ellie had been giving Joel some of the medicine and she decided to lead the men away from him. Unfortunately, this led to her being captured. However, Joel was able to capture a couple of the men who stayed to look for him and he tortured them to find out where they had taken Ellie.

This was the time in this episode that reminded me of The Walking Dead. Many times the humans of that show were the worst part of the show. I actually had Joel pictured as the dangerous man who would try and kill the heroes. Joel was anything but honorable in this situation, but you can’t help but understand why he killed those men.

Meanwhile, Ellie is fighting for her life as David has seemingly become obsessed with her. He is looking for a partner, someone who he can train as an equal and he is impressed with Ellie’s survival instincts and her darkness. He sees her as a worthy partner.

Ellie has to go through all kinds of struggles at David’s hands, including trying to avid being chopped into little pieces. The final showdown between Ellie and David inside a fiery building is tense and suspenseful. It shows Ellie with her violent side as she stabbed David repeatedly until he was dead (plenty dead too).

The reunion of Joel and Ellie was a nice moment as she seemed to be in shock over everything that had happened and did not realize that it was Joel at first. He had come up behind her and he was lucky that she did not have that cleaver still because I imagine that she would have just swung away. Joel’s referring to Ellie as ‘baby-girl’ was a powerful moment that was played very under-the-radar, but it meant a lot to the character of Joel.

Performances from Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey were outstanding this week. Bella Ramsey showed her wild side of the character of Ellie and Pedro Pascal was very understated this week. Both provide us with amazing work.

We have one more episode in season one next week. I know there are some people who are disappointed at the lack of infected in some of these episodes, but I find every week to be filled with drama and emotionally-charged energy. This has been one of the best shows in a long time and I will be anxious to see where they leave it next week.

SPOILERS

“Left Behind“

Sunday night and it is time to have your heart ripped out again by watching HBO Max’s amazing series The Last of Us.

Never fails.

This episode picks up with Ellie frantically trying to help Joel, who was stabbed in episode 6, but Joel tells her to leave, go north and find Tommy.

This triggered a flashback episode with Ellie at her military school and we get to meet her friend Riley, who had run off and joined the Fireflies, leaving Ellie behind. Riley comes back to give Ellie a night of fun at the mall before Riley has to leave on assignment.

Of course, as soon as we saw this flashback and the timing of it, it was clear that we were going to see the first time that Ellie was bitten and infected.

As I watched this episode, I kept thinking to myself that I knew the actor playing Riley and I was not sure where I had seen her before. I was racking my brain, but it wasn’t until they mentioned her name on the “Inside the Episode” bit that follows each week’s episode that I heard the name Storm Reid.

That name rang a bell. She was the lead protagonist in the film Missing, which came out in January of this year. I remember thinking that Storm Reid was going to be a star after such an exceptional performance leading her film. She and Bella Ramsey were excellent together. As Ellie, Ramsey showed the utter joy and childlike glee over little things at this mall, such as an escalator (aka ‘moving stairs’) or a Mortal Kombat II video game.

You knew that the episode was too happy and that some tragic circumstances were going to happen at this mall. It’s that kind of show.

Both girls wind up being infected. We know that Ellie was going to be immune, but we also knew that Riley was going to come to her end. Riley’s words of positivity, taking every second life gives you and making them count instead of giving up, lead to Ellie refusing to give up on Joel at the end of the show.

There are only two episodes remaining and it looks as if Joel is going to be in a bad way still next episode while Ellie is coming across some more humans.

SPOILERS

“The Ties that Bind”

The Last of Us is currently the best show on TV. Without fail. There have been six episodes of the show and each one has been rough, emotionally powerful and filled with character development.

There was a ton of things that happened in this episode. They kicked it off with an older couple that Joel has by gunpoint to try and find information. This older couple was just an awesome pair. They were funny and brought a feeling of cheerfulness. They were so perfect with each other and their inclusion is just so great.

They find Tommy in his little town, Jackson, with his new wife, who is pregnant. They find the location of the Fireflies at the University in Colorado only to find it deserted. Joel gets stabbed and the episode ends on a cliffhanger with the unconscious and bleeding Joel.

We did not see any infected, but I am not missing it because there are still a ton of tension. When the dog was approaching Ellie and Joel thought the dog would smell the infection in her was just a anxiety-driven moment.

Pedro Pascal has been such a great performer in the series, but this was a standout performance for him as there sere several moments where Joel was dealing with his PTSD and trying to talk Tommy into taking Ellie to Colorado in his place. The scene between Joel and Ellie when he was telling her they were splitting the next morning was exceptional. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are amazing together and they both bring a realness and a connection to Joel and Ellie.

Ellie finds out about Joel’s daughter Sarah and her fate. Joel admits that he cares for Ellie.

Perhaps the only criticism I may have for this show was that there were a lot of things that were sped over. There was a three month time jump and they make it to Jackson, make it to Colorado, make it out of the university, in no time and I think some of this could have been spaced out a little more. I understand there is only so much time available and they are hitting the big points.

I don’t know what could possibly happen next. I can only assume that Joel will not die, but how he is going to survive is anyone’s guess.

Great episode again.

SPOILERS

“Endure and Survive”

Damn.

The Last of Us has consistently brought the quality to HBO Max every week. This week, the show arrived on a Friday night in order to avoid the scheduling conflict with the Super Bowl, which is airing during the shows normal release time frame. It was a very intelligent move and it brought something even more special for a Friday night.

This episode’s conclusion did not bring tears to my eyes. It was so far past that. I had an empty feeling, a hollow feeling in my gut. It was devastating.

Such an amazing roller coaster ride of emotions.

As I have mentioned before, I have not played The Last of Us video game so I am approaching this show without any prior knowledge of these characters and their eventual fates. So the introduction of Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard), brothers who were on the run from the crazy Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) for a reason we did not know, at first, felt like the expansion of our group. Henry and Sam, the young boy Sam who was deaf and had to use ASL), seemed to fit beautifully with Joel and Ellie. Which only made it more heart-breaking when they met their fates.

That scene where Henry shoots the infected Sam, with the blood pooling upon the floor, and then, in shock, kills himself, was beyond much of anything I can remember. The last time I remember feeling that anguish in my gut over a TV show was when Negan killed Glenn on the Walking Dead.

These two actors who played Henry and Sam, Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Woodard, did an amazing job of making us care about their characters in a very short time. They had a natural charm about them and I know I was rooting for their continuation in the series. Alas, it was not to be.

But the horrible ending was not the only epic part of this episode. We also got an unbeleivable zombie reveal as a ton of the infected came running out of a sinkhole to attack and brutalize Kathleen’s forces just as she was about to kill Henry. The little girl clicker was unbelievably frightening and The Bloated was massive and dominant.

Oh and… damn Joel… who knew you were such a great shot with a sniper rifle? He was picking off infected mere steps away from Ellie. I would have to question every shot, afraid that I might accidentally shoot Ellie.

The show has done a sensational job of creating the tone of anxiousness and the feel that something is about to happen around every corner. It really does an excellent job of giving the audience an insight into what it would be like to live in this Hellscape world. However, we still are able to find those little moments of humanity and joy even in this world. For example, the laughs of Sam as Ellie showed him the stupid pun book from last episode. Even Henry commented about not hearing that laugh in a long time. Ellie’s very existence provides the show with something that was lacking with The Walking Dead, hope.

Every episode has been absolutely stunning so far and, in five scant episodes, has taken its place at the very top of the list of video game adaptations.

SPOILERS

“Please Hold My Hand”

“Did you know diarrhea is hereditary? It runs in your genes.”

I did not expect some laughs in The Last of Us. The show, while being brilliant so far, has been less than a happy romp. It has been painfully emotional with death and loss and an intense mood with dangers around every corner.

And yet, with one book of puns read through by Ellie, The Last of Us brought laughter and snickering at some of the worst puns around.

The show was never going to be a stand-up routine though and there were some tough problems. This episode the dangers did not come from the monsters or the infected. It came from the humans.

This was an episode that was meant to highlight the relationship between Joel and Ellie. Joel has not, to this point, connected with the little girl. He was with her now because of Tess. We saw the humanizing of Joel and the beginning of a real relationship with Ellie that he had avoided up until this point.

After several very emotional episodes in a row, this one stepped back a bit and gave a more laid back episode (to a point) and I dug it.

SPOILERS

The Last of Us has been a fantastic show so far. I never played the video game that the show was based upon so I have been coming at this fresh and it has been so great. Coming into Sunday night, I enjoyed the show’s format and the emotional power.

Sunday night’s episode started off differently. There was no flashback to kick off the show. Instead, we found our way to Joel and Ellie right away. Little did I know that the flashback was still coming and that it would be the major chunk of the show.

Not only was it still coming, but it was involving two characters that we had not met or had any connection to. It was a strange decision to me, but it paid off big time.

We spent most of this episode with the love story/relationship of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). It was weird at first, but it did not take long to be engaged with the drama.

I have heard some people claiming this was one of the greatest hours of TV ever. I may not go quite that far, but it was clearly a brilliant episode that was not afraid to spend most of the episode diving into the relationship of two characters that we did not know. As I said, those early doubts washed away quickly.

The connection between the two actors was amazing. You believed everything that they did and said to each other. As their relationship grew, each obstacle presented a new challenge or conflict, but they faced each one together.

We saw Joel and Tess make an appearance in the flashback, helping Bill and Frank out with some chain fence tips and friendship. That would set up the final scenes with Joel and Ellie arriving at Bill’s house at the end of the show.

Before that happened, we got some of the most touching and painful moments between the two men. The love between these two unlikely lovers was on display here and how much they completed the other. As Frank was suffering through some kind of unspecified problem, he made a decision that he would take control of fate and have one more day before ending his life. He and Bill had a wonderful day together, including a marriage and a perfect dinner. It was ended with a drug laced wine that was intended to end his life. Bill had a surprise for Frank, saying that he was his reason for living, his purpose. Bill would join Frank in death.

Sad, yet remarkably romantic.

This was an outstanding episode that, apparently, was not included in the actual game. They were able to add details to the character of Bill from the game and we learned about the relationship between the two men. It shows that The Last of Us is nto afraid to exceed the content and to improve it.