This article contains spoilers for HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 5.
I’ve not been shy about my complaints with HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us. Several creative decisions and changes have left me baffled, and there are shades of Abby and Ellie’s character arcs that I feel are straight up criminal. That said, I’m not so proud that I can’t admit when the show gets some things right either, so let’s get into it.
The Good
Nora! The entire hospital sequence almost made up for the fact that we got robbed of the iconic theater scene from last week. Almost.
It’s almost beat-by-beat identical to the hospital sequence from the game. Nora begins her little monologue by apologizing to Ellie for witnessing Joel’s death. She says she still hears his screams sometimes. We’re lulled into a false sense of security when it seems like Nora actually feels a little remorseful, and then bam. “That little bitch got what he deserved.” Powerful stuff that hits like a truck.
I particularly enjoyed the introduction of the spores this episode as well. HBO’s take on the infection in The Last of Us involved the weird vine-y things, which has worked fine for the most part, but I did always find myself missing the iconic spores. I’m glad they brought it back for this episode, which made Nora’s death scene feel so much more impactful.
Here, we finally get to see the rise of what I like to call Dark Ellie. It’s like after four episodes of faffing around, she’s finally realized what she’s set out to do in Seattle, and we’re getting our first glimpse of her horrific potential. The big reveal with Ellie telling us that she knows what Joel did, Nora’s own mortifying realization that there’s no reasoning with her… 10 out of 10. No notes.
Actually, side note. I’m starting to really warm up to Tati Gabrielle as an actress. She’s been great in things like You and Uncharted — terrible roles, don’t get me wrong — and her little stint in The Last of Us feels like the precursor to what will likely be her breakout video game role in Naughty Dog’s next project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Can’t wait.
The Scars! I wasn’t a fan of how the Seraphites were introduced this season, and I so badly wish this could’ve been our first look at them instead. They’re presented as this really creepy cult that loves violence, and the whistling was just the icing on the cake.
The Stalkers! I’ve been preaching this for years, and I still maintain that the Stalkers are the scariest types of infected in The Last of Us. I was happy to see them get their due in The Last of Us Part II, and even happier that they’ve been presented as such a huge threat in the show. Bloaters are so last season. Clickers who?
The Bad
And we’re back to our regularly scheduled program where I talk about all the shortcomings of the show. I really only have one major complaint, and yeah, it’s still about Ellie.
While I am glad that we finally got to see Dark Ellie this episode, I’m still not a fan of her overall character arc. Like I predicted last week, the show still needs to allocate time for Ellie and Dina to be cute and fawn over their relationship, which is at odds with Ellie’s mission.
I’m also not a fan of how incompetent Ellie looks this season. Did we really need Dina implying that she’s stupid because she doesn’t know what triangulating is? And did we really need Jesse hammering home that same point later on? To add insult to injury, did we also really need Dina to be the main driver of the story and help remind Ellie of her anger and why she’s here?
Ellie has always been clever and resourceful. Reckless and impulsive, absolutely, but she’s a smart girl who thinks fast on her feet. TV Ellie really hasn’t lived up to that at all. Instead, we get these side characters schooling her and reprimanding her for all the silly and thoughtless things she does.
I also still think the pacing of the season feels a little rushed. We’ve only got two episodes left, then we’ll likely need to wait another couple years before Season 3.
The Weird
Finally, I’m not entirely sure what to make of Dina’s little backstory about her family. I like that Dina’s been getting a lot of characterization in the show, but making her so revenge-positive doesn’t sit quite right with me. It’s still early days though, and I’d be interested to see how the show wraps up this little thread.
All in all, episode 5 was a really solid showing. It’s a great reminder of how well The Last of Us can be adapted for the TV format, when the show actually sticks to what worked in the original script.
The Last of Us is now available for streaming on Max.
