new episodes of Last of Us premieres every Sunday night on HBO, and Ars’ Kyle Orlando (who’s played the game) and Andrew Cunningham (who hasn’t yet) talk about them here every Monday morning. The recap doesn’t delve into every plot point in the episode, but it clearly heavy spoiler so watch the episode first if you want to go fresh.
Kyle: Yeah, this episode is the closest ever to the pacing of the game itself: (1) Ellie makes some jokes. (2) Ellie and Joel shoot some bad guys. (3) Joel tells Ellie about his hard-earned lessons from the devastated world. Rinse and repeat.
Andrew: Either is fine! That’s the story I was sure I was signing up for. But now I want to know if there are any other curveball episodes on the show.
Kyle: Even just sticking to the game has at least one or two plots and/or format curves. (And that’s all the cryptic clues I’m giving)
Speaking of Whiplash episodes, I think this was the first episode where we really got a good look at Ellie transitioning constantly between teen goofball and toilet mouse action hero sidekick. It’s an incredibly effective combination, and so far I think it’s working in this new context as well.
Andrew: And between those two ellies we get a little hint that “vulnerable kids grow up too fast.” Glad to hear that your dad’s joke book survived the apocalypse.
Kyle: When I played the first game, I wasn’t a father.
I also like the show, which reflects the constant situations in the game where Ellie is small enough to safely push somewhere and unblock a door that has a heavy object in front of it (or climb to lower a ladder or something). I was a bit tickled by the attempt at .
In games, these moments really strengthen the bond between players.
But yes, jokebook puns are as effective as ever!
Andrew: By the time she squeezes in the second or third convenient window or hole in the wall, yes. Without the gameplay reason to bond with Ellie, the show would have to rely more on emotional beats, but thankfully, it works pretty well.
The “Bad Jokes” running gag is inspired. The “bonds of past and present trauma” bit is more predictable, but still helpful. You can see the turning points in their relationship coming from 10 miles away — Joel tells Ellie about his daughter, Ellie about the first time she had to kill someone when she Share all that they’ve been hiding, and then they’re bonded for life — but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to see these actors act out that dialogue.
In fact, if you try to play the game at this point, you’ll be frustrated by the absence of Pedro Pascal and Vera Ramsey.
