Entertainment 3 of The Last of Us: The silence after the storm

This post contains spoilers from this week’s episode The Last of Uswhich is now available in Max.

Between his huge sequence of action and the brutal murder of one of the two protagonists of the series, the previous episode of The Last of Us“Via the valley”It was as impactful as an hour of TV can be for such a drama. The death of Joelthe moment when it happens – so soon in the season – and the sadistic way they are, left both players and non -players commenting all week – some even wondering if they are still interested in continuing to watch the series now that the relationship between Joel and Ellie It is no longer at the center of history.

Before writing this episode, Craig Mazin I certainly knew that the death of Joel It would be divisive, just as it was when it happened in the second game. Thus, this episode had two great missions. The first: allow viewers to breathe after the intensity of “Via the valley“, while Mazin and company establish the next big arch in the series – Ellie and Dina preparing to go to Seattle to seek revenge against Abby. The second: try to prove that the series can continue without Joel – that Ellie He is a strong protagonist even without his adoptive father, and that his interaction with this now expanded cast pays greatly from the loss caused by the exit of Pedro Pascal.

The first mission is fulfilled for sure. The second remains open, although there are promising signs in the performance of Bella Ramsey next to Isabela Merced as Dina.

After the double coup (or fire, or stabbing) of the attack on Jackson and the murder of Joela calmer and more transition episode allows the characters to cover the composure as much as the viewers. We returned to the hours immediately after these two tragedies. Tommy Solemnly cleans the brother’s body and tries to find positive thinking in the midst of that pain, saying, “Send my love to Sarah. ” Ellie Wake up at the hospital with a chest drain

still in shock with what he witnessed – and this is the last time we see these early stages of mourning.

Palms for those who watched The Pitt and immediately wondered what procedure the hunter doctor of surgery Trinity Santos would be doing in this post-apocalyptic world. After the opening, three months passed. The city is intact and the wall being reinforced. Ellieis physically ready to leave the hospital, as long as it can undergo a therapy session with Gail . Ellie You don’t want to be there, and Gail It wants even less – it is clear that it only continues to practice the profession because it is the only living person with training in psychology in the region. In the first season, we saw that Ellie It has a huge ability to overcome the worst aspects of this world and find reasons to rejoice. But your behavior with Gail – And with everyone in the city throughout the episode – does not reflect it. Despite trying to sound healthy and lively, it is very evident that it is not well. Bella Ramsey She is an excellent actress and here she hits the perfect tone of her character’s insecure performance: she’s just exaggerated enough to realize that she is pretending-and for Jackson’s people to notice too-but not so forced that her friends and neighbors feel to confront her. The emotional recovery of Ellie It is a lie shared by the city, because everyone loved

Joel

And they feel protective about the young woman he left behind. We see that there is still a large memorial for Joel, full of flowers and thanks. If the other victims of that day received similar treatment, we do not see, perhaps because they were unimportant extras for history. Or perhaps because Joel – brother -in -law of Jackson’s leader and also a patrol and construction figure – was really a very important person, unlike any random JOE that was crushed by Bloater. After Ellie Back home, Dina reveals information I had been keeping for months:Abbyand your group are part of a Seattle -based militia, known as WLF ( Washington Liberation Front). Dina is ready and willing to hunt them along with

Ellie . ButTommyinsists that they take the plan to the city council, promising to support them if they do.We then cut to Seattle – not to meet again Abbybut to know a new group: a religious sect that wears equal clothes and boasts combining facial scars. They use arches and arrows instead of firearms and communicate through elaborate whistles that one of the members promises to teach his little daughter. During a forest walk, the group is attacked, and the father refers to enemies as “

Wolves ” – That is, the WLF . Putting this scene here is an interesting choice, though not totally satisfactory. It brings a little action to an episode that is otherwise dominated by dialogues and beautiful landscapes. Also establishes the Wolves as a real threat, even before the final scenes in which Dinaand Ellie They find their bodies and realize that wolves are much larger and more organized than they naively thought. However, the cultists – who also exist in the game – evoke some of the most silly and pretentious elements of The Walking Dead and the point on the danger that wolves represent could have been made without this tour. It would also be interesting to maintain the perspective of

Ellie at this time, even if the series has previously diverted to explain why Abby I wanted to take revenge on Joel.At the City Council meeting, there is a comic moment when a man named Scott acts as the Colin Robinson (The emotional vampire of What we do in the shadows) Post-apocalypse, talking nonstop on plantations, while everyone wants to discuss the proposal of Ellie and Dina . This discussion is not going well – mainly because those who are against the plan are obviously certain. In a world like this, seek revenge against Abby It has no value: it is a risk of resources and lives, and still exposes Jackson to other groups that could try to take what Mariaand the others built. Ellie Try to keep calm and paint his mission as justice, not revenge – but in this case, the two are interchangeable – and the board rejects his request. Also does not help that the greatest supporter of revenge is Seth the homophobic mouth that criticized

Ellie and Dina for kissing at the New Year’s ball. Before the vote, Ellie It promises to respect the advice of the board – but of course it goes to Seattle anyway. Soon, she and Dina are loaded with provisions and weapons (including a precision rifle that

Seth insists that Ellie light, instead of your lower weapon) and start the journey. Should anyone be surprised? Only those who don’t know Elliefive years ago. At the beginning of the episode, Gail– which is much colder and more mysanthropic than we would like a therapist to be – Tommy : “Some people just can’t be saved.” This is an incredibly stupid and meaningless choice of Ellie. When Joel exterminated the

Vagalons He did so with a productive goal: to save her life. If Joel could talk to Ellie As he visited his grave, he would beg her to return home and go on with his life. But many dramas involve characters making obviously wrong decisions as soon as they make them. And, in the short term, the journey approaches even Ellie andDina than they were in Jackson. Jesse It is not around to distract or try Dina . There is no one to do Ellie feel self -conscious, although she is still afraid to misunderstand the signs that Dina continues to send – “I wasn’t even so drunk,” he says Dina About their kiss – becauseEllie You are afraid of exposing yourself and being rejected. Nothing will replace the chemistry between Ramsey and Paschal but Merced It is an interesting scene partner, and the internal struggle of Ellie

To keep your guard up around your passion Bella Ramseygood material to interpret, preventing that Ellie It seems obsessed exclusively by this reckless decision. During the journey, they talk about music, and their references are old artists as Frank Zappa . This makes sense not only because Elliespent so much time with the old man Joeland because vinyls are easier to find and touch in this world, but also because, in the universe of the series, the outbreak of Cordyceps happened in 2003. In this universe, there is no

Taylor Swift nor Kendrick Lamar

and Beyoncé Never had a solo career. If they find infected along the way, we do not see. But the impression is that the journey is picturesque and quiet. This seems correct, as much as a change of rhythm after the horde that attacked Jackson, as well as a reminder that the infected are just an element that puts characters like Ellie In a chaotic world, without laws and dangerous. It was a bad choice of

Ellie