The Last of Us recap: season two, episode five – how long has Ellie had us fooled?

This nonfiction contains spoilers for the The Last of Us play two. Please bash not work unless you person seen episodes 1 to five.

She whitethorn beryllium an impulsive 19-year-old but we cognize Ellie (Bella Ramsey) isn’t stupid. Her headstrong quality whitethorn person thing to bash with her immunity to the cordyceps corruption that has ravaged the satellite for much than 2 decades, but she could inactive person been changeable oregon drowned oregon mortally wounded successful countless different ways. Even if she has not been a peculiarly bully pupil – “Non-school-oriented,” is however the diplomatic Dina (Isabela Merced) puts it – she has been astute capable to navigate the brutal realities of the post-apocalypse.

So possibly it should not beryllium a astonishment that Ellie has worked retired the concealed that the remainder of america person been carrying since the play 1 finale. Five years ago, her surrogate begetter Joel (Pedro Pascal) would not simply wantonness her to dice adjacent if it meant the anticipation of creating a cure, truthful helium gunned down 18 soldiers and a doc – Abby’s begetter – to prevention her. Then, crucially, helium lied to Ellie astir it.

‘Shooting is the past resort’ … Ramsey arsenic Ellie. Photograph: HBO

At the climax of this episode, erstwhile the desperate, wheezing Nora (Tati Gabrielle) threw that sharpened information astatine her tormentor successful the anticipation of inflicting immoderate reciprocal pain, it simply bounced off. “I know,” replied Ellie. When did she enactment it together? Why is she inactive truthful focused connected avenging Joel’s execution astatine the hands of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever)? Those look similar burning questions for this play to address. But archetypal let’s reappraisal however we ended up successful that horrible, spore-filled Seattle infirmary basement.

‘It’s successful the aerial …’

Until now, the infected successful The Last of Us person broadly followed classical zombie rules: you get bitten, you crook into a horrible mushroomy monster. But tonight’s opening country reveals that the menace has evolved again. A tense debrief betwixt shellshocked unit person Elise (Hettienne Park) and seasoned Washington Liberation Front (WLF) lieutenant Hanrahan (Alanna Ubach) – who we past saw recruiting Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) successful episode four’s opening flashback – confirms that the corruption tin present beryllium transmitted via airborne spores. The contiguous upshot of that cognition was Elise sealing disconnected the contaminated basement floors of the hospital, abandoning her lad and his recon squad members to a horrible fate. No wonderment she is chain-smoking hand-rolled cigarettes.

Behind force lines

High connected the hitlist? … Tati Gabrielle arsenic Nora. Photograph: HBO

The blissfully unaware Ellie and Dina person that aforesaid infirmary successful their sights arsenic the past known presumption of Nora. (As the idiosyncratic who held Ellie down portion Joel was being killed by Abby, Nora is presumably adjacent the apical of the hitlist.) By monitoring the changeless WLF vigor chatter, Dina has plotted what she thinks is simply a harmless way to the infirmary that avoids assorted patrols. She besides theorises that the WLF are unconcerned astir broadcasting their unit movements due to the fact that their enemies the Seraphites bash not usage technology. (It inactive seems similar atrocious operational security.)

Advancing done the deserted streets of Seattle, Ellie and Dina spot a heap of Seraphite bodies dumped successful beforehand of a makeshift shrine to their precocious prophet, implicit with “Feel Her Love” graffiti. Dina opens up astir her beingness successful Santa Fe earlier she and Ellie met successful Jackson. She took her archetypal beingness erstwhile she was 8 years aged aft a raider murdered her parent and sister. It’s a disturbing root communicative but it intelligibly informs Dina’s determination to enactment her caller woman successful their revenge quest. “I’ll spell backmost if you want; I’ll spell connected if you want,” she says. They resoluteness to support going.

Jesse to the rescue

Non-tech threats … Laine MacNeil arsenic a Seraphite. Photograph: HBO

That soon seems similar a unspeakable decision. During Ellie and Dina’s nocturnal effort to sneak done an abandoned gathering they stumble connected a battalion of stalkers, that peculiar strain of infected astute capable to flank their target. Having conscionable discussed the value of stealth and however “shooting is simply a past resort” the brace are firing wildly and astir to beryllium torn isolated by shrieking infected erstwhile an unexpected saviour appears. Jesse (Young Mazino) has tracked them each the mode from Jackson. While his booming shotgun neutralises the infected threat, the trio are rapidly pursued by WLF troops alerted by each the gunplay.

They find refuge successful a adjacent parkland that the WLF look precise reluctant to enter. That’s due to the fact that this is Seraphite territory. If Dina and Ellie person already pieced unneurotic immoderate thought of however the whistling cult operates, Jesse gets a clang people successful their emotion of ritual disembowelment arsenic the 3 of them ticker a Seraphite clergyman drawstring up a WLF worker and carve him unfastened with a wicked-looking sickle. They whitethorn eschew tech but it turns retired the Seraphites are beauteous useful with a bow and arrow. When Dina takes a deed to the limb our heroes divided up to evade capture, hurriedly agreeing to rendezvous astatine the theatre later.

Going underground

Having escaped the parkland alone, Ellie sees that the infirmary is temptingly close, adjacent if she volition request to sneak past a vigilant defender canine to infiltrate it. At this point, our viewpoint switches wrong to Nora, tending to WLF wounded from what sounds similar an escalating warfare with the Seraphites. When Nora heads to a proviso room, Ellie holds her astatine gunpoint and demands to cognize wherever to find Abby.

If it initially looks arsenic if Nora is shaken capable to beg for her beingness and springiness up her friend, it’s each a feint. She flings immoderate benignant of aesculapian solvent astatine Ellie and makes a tally for it. Unfortunately, the lone flight way is into a assistance shaft starring to a basement level perfectly choked by mulchy cordyceps corruption. Under hellish reddish exigency lighting, Nora ends up coughing connected the level portion Ellie – whose lifelong immunity seems to beryllium holding up adjacent successful the look of airborne spores – looms implicit her.

That’s erstwhile Nora thinks she’ll people a deed by revealing the information astir Joel’s unit and wherefore Abby was truthful determined to termination him. But if thing it conscionable seems to harden Ellie’s resolve. She holsters her weapon and picks up a nasty-looking tube to commencement beating the accusation she wants retired of the already doomed Nora. It seems a deliberately bleak and disfigured enactment connected which to end. But there’s a dream-like chaser: a brief, gauzy glimpse of Joel and Ellie successful amended days. “Hey, kiddo,” helium says, and each the ugliness melts away. From hell, to a benignant of heaven.

Notes and observations

Something intangible successful the aerial that could infect and termination you horribly? The dread-inducing descent into the hospital’s B2 level felt arsenic if it had immoderate thematic overlap with Chernobyl, the erstwhile HBO bid from The Last of Us co-showrunner Craig Mazin.

Anyone hoping for different lovely acoustic singalong from Ellie was disappointed. She hardly got done the archetypal fewer chords of Future Days by Pearl Jam earlier ditching the guitar and tooling up for revenge instead.

Thank goodness shotgun-toting Jesse turned up to prevention the day. But erstwhile helium archetypal appeared successful deliberately vague silhouette it looked concisely arsenic if Joel had someway returned to prevention Ellie again.

That’s presumably the past we’ll spot of mediocre Nora, but histrion Tati Gabrielle is keeping busy. She plays the bounty huntsman pb successful upcoming PlayStation 5 escapade Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet from Naughty Dog, the crippled improvement workplace that created The Last of Us. Perhaps she and The Mandalorian prima Pedro Pascal exchanged notes connected however to play chill sci-fi outlaws hunting down atrocious guys?

What did you think? Has Ellie gone excessively far? How did it consciousness to spot Joel again, albeit briefly? Have your accidental below, but delight debar spoilers from the crippled …