Comment on this story
comment
Note: My name is Gene Park. I’m a reporter covering gaming culture for the Washington Post. I’m following The Last of Us from the perspective of someone who has played all of the games (more than once).
Trauma and loss have forced Joel Miller to close his heart to the world. He couldn’t love Tess. He refuses to acknowledge his growing fondness for Ellie.
But in Episode 6 of HBO’s The Last of Us, we see a new side of Joel. He’s vulnerable. He feels a lot of guilt. He doubts his ability to protect those he loves. And he openly admits that he’s scared of what might result from those emotions. In the 10 years this character has existed, this is the rawest thing we’ve seen from Joel Miller. It’s a side we never got to see in the games. It’s a page only his brother Tommy sees.
Before we see the brothers reunited, Joel and Ellie finally arrive in Wyoming. They take an Indian couple hostage and demand information. Ellie mirrors Joel here more than ever. Watching a 14-year-old girl hold up an older couple with her gun is amazing, and Ellie does just that with gusto. The couple warns our heroes: people crossing the area will be killed by an unknown group west of the river where Tommy lies. The appearances of these two unnamed characters are memorable, funny, and charming, albeit brief. “The Last of Us” on HBO can be criticized for not delving much into individual characters (especially since so many die in the same episode that introduces them), but each performance still swings for the fences.
Joel and Ellie are going with us, and we’ll get a few more minutes for them to connect. Here’s one of the biggest differences between the game and the series: Compared to the game, we spend very little time just with Joel and Ellie in the series. The game almost exclusively lasted 12 hours during which the two interacted. We saw their relationship form while we were playing. The show, on the other hand, has to invent scenes just for the two of them to ensure the audience forms a similar bond with these characters.
Later, Joel stops to tape his broken boots. Here’s another thing we see on the show that we never saw in the game: Joel and Ellie are relaxing and camping. In the game, the player is constantly in motion. In the show we get to see how the world really works. Of course, Joel’s boots would split open. He has now traveled more than half the country.
Ellie confesses to Joel that she tried and failed to save Sam. The tragedy of Henry and Sam changed them both. Ellie is traumatized and wants her immunity to mean something. As for Joel, we will understand later how these events affected him.
The two cross the river and a group of people on horses approach and hold them at gunpoint. A dog is sent out to determine if Joel and Ellie are infected. Joel is of course clean. Ellie is the Joker and Joel can’t do anything about it. Luckily, the dog takes a liking to Ellie; we hear them giggling. A woman recognizes Joel and accompanies him and Ellie to Jackson.
Finally Tommy and Joel get back together. We learn that the woman Joel recognized is Maria, Tommy’s wife. Here we see peace and order in the world of The Last of Us. If history has felt bleak and hopeless up to this point – that no matter what a community does, it is doomed – this Wyoming community is the counterargument. An orderly life can be achieved. Tommy says it’s all bulk orders. Joel states that this is “Communism”. Tommy balks at the suggestion, which reflects his old-school American sensibilities, but Maria is quick to correct him: “It’s a commune,” she says. “We are communists.”
HBO’s The Last of Us is a hit. This producer wants to clean the air.
The brothers take their time at the bar. Joel doesn’t say why he’s there and who Ellie is, which makes Tommy suspicious. Joel asks Tommy to take Ellie to the fireflies; Tommy refuses. He reveals to Joel that he will soon be a father. Joel’s response is to pick up the bottle and take a sip. Tommy is offended by this response and Joel leaves, believing he is interfering in his brother’s life.
Outside, Joel seems to have health problems. It’s unclear exactly why – apart from the fact that he’s a 56-year-old man who has just walked across most of North America. He sees a girl with hair like his dead daughter’s and has to pause to control his emotions. Meanwhile, Ellie and Maria engage in a tense showdown about Joel’s troubled past as a murderer and smuggler. Ellie eventually finds out about Joel’s daughter and Maria warns Ellie against following in Joel’s footsteps. Ellie defends Joel, insisting that maybe she’s “smarter” than Tommy, who actually followed in Joel’s murderous footsteps, and won’t do what he did. Maria is impressed that Ellie is sticking to her cause and invites her to the movies. The community has set up a projector with some old films. It is another example to experience what a peaceful existence in this world looks like.
Tommy finds Joel and immediately apologizes for his insolence in announcing his paternity. He realizes that what he said to Joel, especially the good news that he is a father, would hurt his brother. Finally, Joel tells Tommy the true nature of his journey: taking Ellie to the fireflies in hopes of finding a vaccine. Here we see Joel unlike anything we’ve ever seen, he looks like a lost old man. He remembers how Ellie had to shoot another man to save his slow old self. He says he was powerless to save Ellie when Sam attacked her. And earlier in the episode, when that dog tried to track down Ellie, Joel felt similarly helpless.
“I was just standing there,” Joel admits. “I could not move. I couldn’t think of anything except that I was so scared.” He recalls the nightmares he’s had over the past few months of being unable to save loved ones. “I’m not sleeping,” Joel says with a deep pain in his voice.
Tommy clearly hates seeing Joel like this and agrees to take Ellie to the University of Eastern Colorado where the Fireflies could have a base. Ellie overhears all this and confronts Joel: is he interested in her? Joel says of course he does. Ellie approaches Sarah and Joel tells her to stop. Ellie, of course, doesn’t listen and continues: Joel is the only person in her life who hasn’t left her. Joel hardens again and tells her that she’s not his daughter, and he’s not fucking her father — a line taken right out of the game.
You don’t have to be playing The Last of Us to watch the HBO show
The next morning, Joel decides to give Ellie a choice: go with him or with Tommy. For Ellie, there is no choice at all. The two leave Tommy and the idyllic community of Jackson. Our two heroes mend their relationship and quietly reaffirm their commitment to one another. We get a nice funny scene where Joel ends up teaching Ellie how to use a gun.
Eventually, the two arrive at the university and find that the fireflies are gone. But immediately the two are attacked by strangers. Joel kills one of them, but not before suffering a critical intestinal injury. The two flee, but Joel passes out. He seems almost dead. Ellie is embarrassed and whispers, “I can’t do this without you. Joel, please.” A cover of Depeche Mode’s Never Let Me Down Again concludes our journey this week, the same song that closed the first episode. The lyrics reflect a journey with a “best friend” that may not necessarily be in your best interest, but which you embark on nonetheless in hopes of feeling complete.
Some notes and observations:
- Tommy and Joel share a past similar to the games where Joel made Tommy do some inhuman, horrific things that neither of them ever wanted to address directly. But at least on the show, their relationship is warmer and more emotionally intelligent. Tommy seems to be very aware of and empathize with his brother’s trauma. And Joel sees Tommy less as an equal and more as someone he needs to “save.”
- We see a hint of Joel’s past cruelty as he holds the Native American couple at gunpoint. When he asks for a place on the map, he tells the husband that it had better be the same answer as his wife’s. Viewers familiar with the game will know the dark implications of this joke. If the answer were different, one of the two would not be telling the truth.
- Rutina Wesley plays Maria with a sharp tongue and sharper mind. While she’s not exactly in charge of the Jackson community, it’s clear that she commands respect — and has worked hard to earn it. We learn that Maria used to be a district attorney, which explains her ability to speak with confidence and authority.
- The show completely removes the unnecessary action sets from the game, most notably the firefights at the hydroelectric power station and the house where Joel and Ellie are arguing when she overhears his plea to Tommy. Both action sequences were required by the fact that “The Last of Us” is an action game. But HBO’s interpretation is a television drama, not an action show. Also, none of the action sequences really helped us learn anything new about any of the characters. Nothing is missed, and instead we get to know our characters better through some compelling performances.
Episode 5: “Hold on and Survive”