Forgetting large chunks of the things I’ve watched is just part of the price I have to pay for being a serial binger. But even then, you’ll never catch me forgetting anything major about the things I’ve actually enjoyed. Since you’re in a space where we love The Last of Us, be assured that I haven’t forgotten a single thing about it. But even then, even though nothing about this show is ever more than a thought away for me, The Last of Us’ emotional depth catches me off guard every darn time. I couldn’t imagine anything making me feel better after the loss we were struck with in last week’s episode. But today, The Last of Us is vibrant with the kind of hope that is reliable. When you know that these people have stable heads on their shoulders, there’s this certain sense of peace, you know?
Spoiler Alert
How is Jackson dealing with the recent tragedies?
There’s no silver lining about the devastating things the people of Jackson have been put through in the span of a single day. Tommy’s put on a brave face for the people who need him to hold it together more than ever right now. But when he’s alone with his brother’s corpse, all Tommy feels is this burden of knowing that this is a senseless loss. Joel’s death makes even less sense than the horde’s attack on Jackson. The undead have this drive to kill. But the people who killed Joel didn’t have to do it. Ellie’s in the worst state she’s ever been. The shock she’s feeling is explosive. So to keep her safe from herself, they’ve kept her under sedation. But this isn’t the state of things The Last of Us wants us to aimlessly dwell in. There’s no point stewing in the kind of grief that doesn’t have a direction yet. That’s why we have this reasonable time jump of 3 months. I don’t know about you, but I always find it frustrating when we’re supposed to believe that a character really wants to convince people that they’re okay, and they don’t even do the first thing you’d expect a person to do in that situation, which is lying about being okay. They give it away too easy. Which is why I’m tremendously impressed by the mask of stability Ellie’s putting up so that they finally let her be. She must’ve been in a bad enough state for the council to keep her under the medical team’s care for 3 whole months. And that must’ve been enough time for Ellie to figure out exactly what she needs to say when they test her headspace before letting her out. She probably didn’t see the Gail bomb coming. But she’s prepared for the kind of questions Gail means to ask her. The first one is the most obvious. Ellie and Joel were in a pretty bad place in their relationship when Joel died. So how does Ellie feel about not getting to end the most important relationship in her life on the right note? Ellie’s got the most textbook answer to this. Apparently, she’s very okay with the idea of letting go of her regrets about Joel. The end doesn’t define the whole thing. And as for the reason they were fighting, Ellie has the most perfect vague answer for that too. She pretends that she’d already let go of all that before Joel died, and that she only wishes that Joel could’ve done the same. You see how she’s just walked right past the elephant in the room? She doesn’t want to get into whatever was going on between them, especially with a therapist. She’s still a teen. She thinks she knows better. And at this point, she should be allowed to chart her own path. So I get why Gail gives her a clean bill of health even though she’s far from okay. It was time.
What does the council decide about Ellie’s request?
There’s not a single person in the entire community who believes that Ellie doesn’t want revenge. That’s why she’s avoided the topic altogether. She doesn’t have much to go on right now anyway. At least not until Dina comes to her with a truth she’s kept from her for the last three months. Dina was with Joel when the entire thing went down. And by the time she was drugged, she’d learned their captors’ names and picked up on a few more details about them. That’s how Ellie now gets to know who most of them are. But she’s only focused on one of them. The one with the braid. But interestingly, the patch Dina’s seen on their gear didn’t belong to the Fireflies. The patch belonged to a group called WLF, which is an acronym for Washington Liberation Front, or as their logo would suggest, Wolf. Dina’s research puts them in Seattle. And she also thinks that they’re one of the smaller regional rebellions working against FEDRA.
With all this information, there’s no keeping Ellie from going on the hunt for her father’s killer. And that’s something that Dina understands about her. Both of them hope that at least the majority of the council understand that sentiment when they do the right thing and go to Tommy. Ellie could’ve just taken Shimmer and gone off to Seattle herself. But she knew that the odds of her actually achieving what she wanted were awful if she went for it all alone. She needed support. And that’s why, for a change, she asked for support. Tommy’s only being fair when he says that it should be put to a vote. The community has only just started recovering from the disaster. And to send the strongest of them on a mission that might get them killed, the community needs to understand the purpose. So a vote only makes sense. Ellie even gets a pointer from Jesse on their punch-it-out sesh. He doesn’t want to pick a side before knowing the whole thing. But he does her a solid by telling her to write her thoughts down. If she wants a shot at winning this vote, her words can’t come from a place of anger.
The trouble is, everyone’s making sense in their arguments at the community meeting that will decide what to do about Ellie’s request. They’re vulnerable now. The wall isn’t as strong as it used to be. The people now need their army more than ever. If Raiders come, they’ll be open to a world of pain if their strongest aren’t with them. When their lives are in question, does it make sense to go after something to soothe a rage? But Seth isn’t wrong either. It’s sweet that he’s come around after doing that awful thing at the New Years dance. By the looks of his crutch, Joel got him good. Seth doesn’t believe in mercy when it comes to a loss this big. He thinks that Joel’s killers will see it as a sign of weakness and plan an attack. Ellie’s genuinely touched by Seth’s gesture. And she’s done the right thing by jotting her thoughts down. Her plea to the people sounds surprisingly devoid of anger. She makes it more about the sense of togetherness than anything else. It’s not that the crowd isn’t moved when Ellie begs them to be the family she can rely on. But when it comes to the vote, the safety of all wins over the justice Ellie’s asked for. It’s no one’s fault really. Joel would’ve done the same thing.
Who Are The W.L.F?
Tommy knew that if she didn’t get the backing that she needed, Ellie would leave and put herself in danger. Ellie might’ve fooled a lot of people with her speech, but Tommy sees how she is just like Joel in all the worrisome ways. Joel was the reckless one. And considering Tommy probably doesn’t know about Joel’s violent brush with the Fireflies, he doesn’t know the reason behind Joel’s death. It’s always been Tommy’s fear that Joel would get himself in the kind of trouble that he wouldn’t be able to break out of. And now, Tommy has that same fear about Ellie. Gail doesn’t get paid in booze and pot to mince her words. She understands the necessity for clarity in the uncertain world they live in. So when Tommy comes to her to talk about Ellie, she has just the right advice for him. Unlike Tommy, Gail sees Ellie for who she’s always been. And lies are a part of the complicated jumble of quirks that make Ellie who she is. So Tommy’s better off not losing his mind worrying about someone who’ll do what she wants to do no matter what she’s told. But I don’t know. I don’t totally see Ellie as someone who can’t be saved. So I can’t say that I agree with that part of Gail’s rant.
Ellie was about to do something very hasty when Dina knocked on her door. Dina isn’t here to give her a hard time, even when she sees that Ellie’s put together some ammo to go find Abby. All Dina really wants to do is make sure that Ellie does this the right way. So she has planned for everything, the best part of it being Dina herself. Someone will need to keep an eye on Ellie out there. And since Ellie has the most respect for Dina, she’s the best person to tag along really. But it’s not just Dina who’s helping out Ellie on the down low. Seth really meant what he said at the meeting. And when his voice went unheard, he decided to aid in Ellie’s mission secretly. She now has a much better shotgun thanks to Seth. But the weapon she wants to finish off Abby with is Joel’s revolver.
Gail didn’t need to tell us just how well Ellie can lie. The girl who seemed fine during her psych evaluation wept profusely when she was in the privacy of her home. Ellie really is a lot like Joel. After losing Sarah, Joel burned with the rage of that loss. He didn’t always make the best decisions. And it looks like Ellie’s following in his footsteps. The only reassuring thing about this whole mission is that Dina is there. While providing the protection and the structure that will keep them both safe, Dina also gives Ellie some much needed respite from all the negative emotions. Ellie’s usually in a good mood around Dina because she has a crush on her. But they’re also best friends. They’re the kind of friends who can share a tent and talk about a kiss that didn’t go anywhere without any awkwardness. Dina’s gotten back together with Jesse. But Ellie’s feelings for Dina are still very much alive. All that tenderness soon fades into a silent, creepy sense of dread when Ellie and Dina reach Seattle at the end of this week’s episode of The Last of Us. Dina never seemed like someone with a weak stomach. So, the fact that she hurls right after seeing a massacre in the woods means that it’s something horrifying. What Ellie finds when she takes a look is a group of people, including a little girl, mercilessly slaughtered and left in the woods. We might already know who’s done something this violent. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this strange group of people. In a detour, we’d seen this now-deceased group of people walk through the woods. Their more-than-humble outfits and the scars on their faces made it look like they were part of a cult. And when one of them mentioned a certain “Prophet,” that cleared up any doubts I had about the cult theory. While we’re seeing them for the first time in the show, the gamers already know these people as Seraphites, a cult of people who followed the teachings of a woman they called the Prophet.
In the narrative of the titular video game, the Seraphites are at war with the Wolves, or W.L.F.s. That’s the war that man was talking about when he was going over the reason they left their base. They were attacked the last time we saw them. And the last word we heard from one of them was “Wolves.” We’re seeing the aftermath of that clash when Ellie and Dina find their bodies. But that’s not the most scary thing about the ending of this week’s episode of The Last of Us. When we see a formidable militia convoy marching through the street, the logo gives their identity away. The group Ellie and Dina are about to go up against are far more terrifying than they expected. I don’t even know where they go from here. There’s no way the two of them will take on the whole W.L.F. But being in Seattle might just put them in the crossfire between the Wolves and the Seraphites. And by the way, the Seraphites aren’t the best, most stable people.
