Hey people. Y’all feeling alright after final week’s harrowing episode of The Final of Us? All people have a productive remedy session to speak about your TV peepaw’s demise? Alright, cool, as a result of we’re gonna spend this week’s episode doing extra remedy and leaning tougher into the present’s worst tendencies. Strap in, people. I’m about to start out swinging.
Submit trauma
We open on the bloody aftermath of the battle in Jackson. Corpses, human and contaminated, are scattered throughout the small city. However the physique we linger on didn’t come from the huge conflict; it’s Joel’s. In a somber second, Tommy (Gabriel Luna) involves the morgue to see his huge brother. He begins to scrub his arm and sees the damaged watch on his wrist. He offers his brother yet another longing look and tells him to “give Sarah [his] love” earlier than getting again to work.
Final week, I used to be admittedly fairly dismissive of a few of these smaller added moments of grief the present provides to what was in The Final of Us Half II, the sport on which this season relies. Ellie crawling to Joel’s physique and cuddling as much as him felt performative to me within the second, and perhaps that was extra me reacting to the present’s broader lack of restraint than to the scene itself. However this scene with Tommy landed for me as a result of we acquired remarkably little of Tommy’s grief in Half II, and since it wasn’t led as much as by 10 minutes of monologuing and telling me what to really feel. Tommy is talking to Joel, to not the viewers.
We then see a bustling hospital filled with the injured from the battle. Ellie can also be right here after Manny kicked her within the chest and seemingly collapsed one in all her lungs. She’s respiratory weakly via a chest tube as she wakes, however instantly begins screaming as she remembers what Abby did to Joel till she’s sedated. Reduce to credit.
We then bounce ahead to 3 months later. Issues are warming up, and Jackson has made good progress rebuilding after the battle in opposition to the horde. Ellie, in the meantime, has additionally made good progress and is getting her remaining check-up with the docs after her accidents. However she has to see yet another individual earlier than she will be able to depart the hospital: Gail (Catherine O’Hara).
As I mentioned within the episode one recap, Gail is one in all my least favourite additions within the present, not as a result of O’Hara isn’t fantastic, however as a result of she facilitates among the present’s worst tendencies. Ellie, clearly telling Gail what she thinks she needs to listen to, now unloads about how she misses Joel, laments that the “final time” they spoke was the New Yr’s dance fiasco, and says that your remaining moments with somebody shouldn’t outline your life with them. Then when the dialog veers into when Joel supposedly “wronged” her, Ellie says she doesn’t know what he may have meant and desires she may have “let him off the hook” for that, however that she’ll additionally have to “let herself off the hook” for not having the ability to take action.
Gail lets Ellie go however appears largely unconvinced by her performative response to her line of questioning. And as quickly as they’re accomplished, Ellie’s chipper facade falls away shortly, and the smile disappears from her face as shortly as she put it on. The irony of this scene is that Ellie is talking aloud the issues she is going to finally be taught, even when she doesn’t imagine any of it proper now. She pulls off a convincing sufficient efficiency to go away the power, however there was nonetheless a part of me that felt suspicious of this change after the present has already confirmed it doesn’t belief its viewers to observe alongside. I can’t assist however take a look at this scene and really feel prefer it’s meant to inform viewers what Ellie ought to be feeling moderately than the sentiments of fury she does proper now. A therapist authorized all these strains of thought, proper? That’s the one approach she’s deemed of sound thoughts to stroll across the residents of Jackson as soon as once more. In a vacuum, the scene is ok and illustrates that Ellie continues to be very a lot wrestling with debilitating anger and doesn’t belief the adults in her life, however once more, each time The Final of Us describes the themes of the supply materials in no unsure phrases, I’m left questioning why showrunner Craig Mazin has made these blunt edits. Does he not think about the viewers to get it, or is he making up for what he perceives as a weak hyperlink within the recreation’s writing?
Talking of displaying as a substitute of telling, we now get the present’s model of one in all The Final of Us Half II’s finest sequences: Joel’s house. After Ellie is launched from the hospital, she heads house, and as a substitute of going straight to her shed, she goes to Joel’s huge empty home. Flowers and tributes cowl the white picket fence. They’ve been there for months, however that is the primary time Ellie’s seen them. To Abby, Joel was a assassin. To Ellie, he was an advanced father determine. To the individuals of Jackson, he was a beloved member of their neighborhood. There are completely different variations of every of us within the minds of everybody we’ve ever met, and the reality is all of us exist someplace within the center. That’s why individuals come away from The Final of Us Half II with such contrasting emotions: as a result of your complete recreation is about that idea.
One good contact the present provides to this section is that Ellie has a room in Joel’s home that wasn’t current within the recreation. Although the mattress is now not right here and is now within the shed out again, the remainder of the room appears to be like largely untouched. It’s lined in astronaut stickers, outdated sketches, and toys. It appears like a childhood bed room, whereas her new area offers off one thing extra like school burnout. The temporary shot we see of the outdated room illustrates how a lot Ellie has grown up, however perhaps additionally how Joel in all probability felt left behind. He has this snapshot of a youthful model of his surrogate daughter in his own residence. No marvel he didn’t perceive the rift between them as she grew up.
Then we attain the intestine punch: Joel’s bed room. It’s filled with unfinished wooden carving tasks he’ll by no means return to, however it additionally has a small pink field sitting on the mattress. Inside, Ellie finds the final of Joel’s belongings: his damaged watch from Sarah and his trademark revolver. Ellie solely takes the latter earlier than turning to go away, but additionally takes a second to cease in Joel’s closet and take a whiff of his leather-based jacket. Then she lastly permits herself to cry earlier than this second is interrupted by Dina (Isabela Merced) calling to her from the decrease flooring.
Her buddy brings along with her two issues: cookies and knowledge. She says that, when visiting Ellie within the hospital, she’d hid that she knew most of Abby’s group’s names as a result of the docs informed her to not inform Ellie something which may upset her whereas she was recovering. Ellie is livid as a result of Joel’s killers now have a three-month head begin, however Dina, being the extra level-headed individual within the room, reminds her that if you wish to discover somebody and you already know the place they’re going to be, you must allow them to get there. Then Dina reminds Ellie that she beloved Joel, too. In Half II, Dina went to Seattle as a result of she’s a trip or die, however the present is giving her extra private stakes in seeing justice for Joel as a result of they’d a relationship of their very own. It’s a very good change; quite a lot of Dina’s characterization—corresponding to her relationship along with her household’s Jewish historical past—is misplaced with out the ambient dialogue between her and Ellie within the early recreation, so this helps fill out her character extra in a approach I appreciated.
Dina runs down what she is aware of, together with the names of a lot of the group and a wolf patch she noticed on their gear with the initials “W.L.F.” She recollects a narrative Eugene informed her earlier than his passing about subsets of civilian militia that have been making an attempt to battle FEDRA, the federal government company that turned fascist after the cordyceps outbreak, together with one known as the Washington Liberation Entrance. They don’t know what they’re up in opposition to, however hopefully it’s not an excessive amount of for them to deal with.
However moderately than head out instantly, Ellie and Dina go to see Tommy. He’s hesitant as a result of the city continues to be recovering and never in any place to ship out a squad of vengeful troopers. Ellie says Joel would have already been midway to Seattle by now, a declare which Tommy rebuts, saying that he’d solely take that form of danger to save lots of somebody he cared about, to not search revenge (I don’t find out about that one, chief). In the event that they’re going to do that, they should undergo Jackson protocol, which suggests taking it to Maria and the city’s council. Ellie isn’t thrilled, however Tommy says he’ll again her, and lets Dina know that if she holds again info once more, there shall be penalties. As the ladies depart, Tommy tells Ellie that they buried the lifeless after the assault south of city, if she needs to go to. Ellie says she is going to when she’s on the best way to Seattle. Tommy mentioned in episode one which Ellie and Joel have been the very same individual, and her confident stubbornness on this second is giving Pedro Pascal. To her, this complete tune and dance is simply one other impediment in the best way of one thing inevitable. She will be able to’t think about some other chance.
Literal and metaphorical scars
We’ve spent quite a lot of time in Jackson these previous few episodes, so this subsequent scene offers us a preview of what to anticipate in Seattle. We open on a lone man strolling via a forest carrying a tattered trench coat, sporting a shaved head, and with twin scars throughout his face. He whistles to a bunch of equally dressed individuals elsewhere within the forest, and one of many adults asks a younger woman to translate the which means of the whistles, which have been orders to maintain transferring as there was no hazard current. The group apparently doesn’t know the place they’re headed, however there’s a “cause” for this pilgrimage with no recognized vacation spot. There was a struggle occurring wherever they’re fleeing from, and the prophet they as soon as adopted has been lifeless for a decade, so she will be able to’t defend them. However they preserve her spirit alive by following her teachings. To do that, they should preserve themselves secure, which is why they’re armed with hammers and bows. Simply because the woman says she feels secure, one other whistle comes from the lookout, warning the group of incoming hazard. They conceal within the forest, and the woman asks if it’s “demons,” to which the person replies that it’s “wolves.” On that ominous be aware, the present pops again over to Dina’s sketch of the wolf patch she noticed on Abby’s garments.
In case you felt that was disorienting, I wouldn’t blame you, however these individuals with all their cultish language and archaic weaponry are the Seraphites, a cult in Seattle that’s at struggle with the W.L.F. As we get near the Emerald Metropolis, among the uglier elements of the collection to unpack will begin to turn into extra distinguished, because the violence between the Seraphites and W.L.F. is impressed by the continued conflicts in Palestine and Israel which have solely escalated within the years for the reason that recreation got here out. This isn’t me projecting; collection director Neil Druckmann has mentioned as a lot. The precise specifics of how The Final of Us portrays its fictional struggle, and the way Druckmann’s public pro-Israel response to the continued real-world battle have justifiably coloured the interpretations and experiences of the collection for a lot of gamers, are lots to untangle and dissect. It’ll be a while earlier than the present actually dives into this plot thread and we actually have to dig into it in these recaps, however I felt it was essential context to deliver up now as we start our journey to Seattle, the place this storyline turns into extra prevalent.
Ellie, in the meantime, is coaching for the upcoming battle. Jesse is impressed that she’s bounced again so shortly after being hospitalized, however not impressed sufficient to be forthcoming along with her in regards to the upcoming council assembly. Now that he’s on the council, he can’t focus on his or anybody else’s votes, at the same time as Ellie tries to attraction to their friendship. As an indication of excellent religion, he does give Ellie some recommendation, telling her to put in writing her ideas down and browse them to everybody within the assembly. Ellie dismissively takes this as an indication that she’s “silly,” however Jesse says it’s as a result of she’s offended, and her lack of ability to take that well-meaning recommendation as such is additional proof of that.
Sadly for Ellie, she has quite a lot of time to prepare her ideas on the council assembly as a result of her revenge tour just isn’t the one concern on the agenda. Some people got here to speak extra mundane shit like livestock. However when the subject of sending individuals to Seattle comes up, Ellie isn’t the primary one to take the stand, it’s a lady who factors out that Jackson misplaced much more folks that day than simply Joel. Issues are too fragile proper now, she says, to ship a big group chasing after Abby’s crew. One other man stands up and says that they need to separate themselves from the raiders and murderers by displaying mercy. Then, Ellie finds an sudden ally (see what I did there) in Seth, who says that these murderers don’t deserve mercy. The city bigot is the one one to help vengeance for the person who knocked him on his prejudiced ass the evening earlier than he died. Seth says that they’ll be again to complete the job if Jackson doesn’t ship somebody after them.
When The Final of Us Half II got here out, there have been criticisms that the sport boiled right down to a metatextual scolding about one thing apparent to most civilized individuals: violence is unhealthy, truly. Revenge is not it. Even Kotaku’s overview by Riley MacLeod touches on this, with him writing, “Late one evening, I paused the sport and requested myself aloud if the builders thought I used to be silly, in the event that they thought the existence of violence had simply by no means occurred to me earlier than.” I by no means felt this sort of condescension once I performed the sport, largely as a result of I seen revenge as one piece of the puzzle, moderately than the total factor, however I can’t shake that feeling once I watch the present. I actually felt it on this scene that seemed like a podcast of individuals debating the morality of The Final of Us Half II. The present’s heavy-handed dialogue continues to really feel weirdly patronizing, prefer it must be sure to have thought of each nuance that ought to really feel.
Lastly, Ellie is allowed to talk. She adopted Jesse’s recommendation and wrote her ideas right down to learn. She says she doesn’t need revenge, she needs justice. Then she factors out that in the event that they do nothing, nobody will do something as a result of nobody else is preventing for Jackson. Ellie appeals to the neighborhood facet Jesse has been hammering into her head, and factors out that whereas the remainder of the world is stuffed with harmful “strangers,” she needs to know that the individuals of Jackson can rely on one another. It is a model of Ellie we’ve seen who may be very jaded towards the thought of neighborhood, and it’s unclear if that is her making an attempt to attraction to the sensibilities of the council or if it’s a last-ditch effort to persuade herself that there’s a neighborhood for her right here. Whereas Joel could have been a beloved member of Jackson, Ellie has been ostracized by a number of individuals on this small city. Her discomfort has been ignored by the adults in her life, her wishes have usually been denied to her as a result of they suppose they know higher, and but all that’s ever been mentioned to her is that the great of the neighborhood comes first. If she’s alleged to be a part of that friendship, why are her wants by no means a precedence? No matter her reasoning, Ellie is aware of now that she will be able to’t rely on Jackson as a result of the council votes in opposition to her proposal. A wave of aid fills the room, however Ellie silently walks out.
It’s now Tommy’s flip to see the city counselor. He tracks Gail down at a tee-ball recreation and she or he has her personal theories about Ellie’s speech. Tommy’s apprehensive that Ellie’s going to do one thing reckless, and Gail asks if he believes Ellie’s phrases on the council assembly. She says that the woman is a “liar.” Tommy says she doesn’t need Ellie to go down the identical path as Joel, who would additionally provide you with justifications for each violent act he carried out on this desecrated world. Gail asks if Ellie may need realized this habits from Joel, however says that “nurture” can solely accomplish that a lot, and that if violence is who Ellie is, it wasn’t as a result of Joel taught her to be. She additionally says that some individuals can’t be saved, and as a lot as Tommy wish to change that, it’s in all probability true of Ellie, as properly.
Alrighty, so I alluded to this dialog in my episode one recap, and I take into account it probably the most disappointing in all of season two. The Final of Us showrunner Craig Mazin has talked at size about how he believes Ellie to be a naturally violent particular person, and it exhibits within the sadism she expresses in season one. It is a marked change from how the character was portrayed within the first recreation, which confirmed her having no proclivity in direction of violence, only a need to be trusted to hold it out when it was crucial. When it turned clear that Mazin’s option to make Ellie extra intrinsically violent for the present was made in a misguided try to lean into Ellie’s violent tendencies in season two, I wrote about how the one cause Ellie’s shift in direction of violence in Half II works is as a result of that recreation goes out of its option to present that she’s not lower out to inflict the form of violence she realized from Joel. There are scenes within the recreation which have Ellie making an attempt and failing to make use of Joel’s actual interrogation strategies, and Druckmann and recreation actor Ashley Johnson have spoken in Half II Remastered’s commentary about how the purpose was to point out how Ellie was very completely different from her surrogate father, and that this violence could have been innate to who he was, however not her.
With out getting too particular about future episodes, I nonetheless discover the present’s suggestion that Ellie’s sadism and anger are simply a part of who she is to be each a misguided change and a basic misunderstanding of the story of The Final of Us Half II. The place some modifications, like revealing Abby’s motivations early or closely implying that Ellie had some form of reconciliation with Joel, undercut the narrative rigidity of the supply materials however depart character dynamics intact, this shift simply lets Joel off the hook for who Ellie grew as much as be and colours her grief-driven campaign as extra of a tantrum that must be managed moderately than because the actions of girl lashing out at a life that has taken a lot of the issues she’s ever needed from her. Ellie’s arc in these video games is a lot extra advanced than anger points, and I discover the present’s imaginative and prescient of her violence to be so one-dimensional. Violence is a language characters use to precise every part from like to hatred in The Final of Us, and it’s one which the present barely is aware of the way to learn.
Again in her shed, Ellie is doing precisely what Tommy feared: one thing silly. She’s acquired weapons and provides unfold round her area and is clearly gearing as much as head out by herself. Dina arrives and factors out how an arsenal and canned meals isn’t sufficient to achieve Seattle and kill Abby. She has no plan, no route, no map; only a switchblade and a dream. Dina’s not right here to speak her out of it, she’s right here to ensure she doesn’t get herself killed on the best way. In one other life, Dina can be the one who plans the ladies’ two-week abroad trip right down to reserving the flights and itinerary, the place Ellie will get to be a passenger princess who simply has to point out up.
Ellie thanks Dina as she leaves, to which Dina replies that she may have simply requested. Ellie says she didn’t understand that, and if she’s turn into this jaded towards the neighborhood of Jackson, it is smart that she wouldn’t even really feel like she may depend on her finest buddy. However hopefully, Dina’s actions quell any of her fears. As the 2 put together to go away with their horse Shimmer, they’re despatched off by none apart from Seth. He provides Ellie his rifle, some provides, and some phrases of encouragement. Ellie is skeptical the entire time, even scoffing on the notion that revenge for Joel is a collective trigger between the 2 of them. However as they depart, the 2 change a silent handshake. Perhaps bigots can develop. A radical thought.
However earlier than we head out, Ellie has yet another place she must go. She and Dina cease at a graveyard simply south of Jackson and discover one marked “Joel Miller, beloved brother and father.” Ellie unwraps some espresso beans and spreads them over the soil, lingers for a second, then silently turns to go away. I’m glad the present shows some restraint right here, as a result of it will not have shocked me if Ellie had voiced every part she ever needed to say to Joel, as that’s usually the present’s M.O. As a substitute, we acquired an understated second with a cute nod to Joel’s espresso fixation. It’s good.
Washington sure
We skip ahead a bit as Dina and Ellie play video games to go the time on horseback. Dina asks Ellie about her first kill. She says she gained’t discuss in regards to the first one (we don’t have to relive Riley’s tragic destiny), however she does inform her about her and Joel’s time in Kansas Metropolis. Dina says she’s sorry Ellie needed to undergo that, which surprises our funky little lesbian. “I shoot a man and you are feeling sorry for me?” “I’m simply loyal like that,” Dina replies.
The pair’s journey is placed on maintain as a storm passes over them. That’s how you already know they’re getting nearer to Seattle. They arrange a tent, and it’s clear that Ellie is not sure what to do with all this closeness. Simply as the ladies are about to get some shuteye, Dina turns the lantern on and says she needs to speak about New Yr’s Eve and their huge kiss. , earlier than Seth ruined it. Ellie appears to have stopped studying into it as a result of they have been each intoxicated, however Dina needs to know the way Ellie would fee it. Ellie isn’t trying to play alongside, and when Dina reminds the room that she’s “not” homosexual, Ellie lastly offers her a quantity: six. Dina doesn’t imagine this ranking, however when Ellie tells her she will be able to return to Jesse if she needs one thing higher, Dina reveals she already did. That’s seemingly resolved that concern.
By this level in Half II, Dina and Ellie have been established as girlfriends, and all of the romantic rigidity was gone in favor of two ladies attending to know one another on this new context. I’m okay with the present taking a distinct strategy to this, as quite a lot of the connection constructing between Ellie and Dina is misplaced after we can’t spend hours wandering round Seattle and chatting. Introducing Dina and establishing their relationship as shortly as the sport does in all probability wouldn’t work for TV, so changing it with some “will they/gained’t they” awkwardness might be the fitting name. Lots of followers have been disenchanted that this meant top-of-the-line scenes between the 2 in Jackson, which concerned passing weed backwards and forwards amongst different actions, went out the window. However we’re making up for some misplaced floor on this scene, so I’m keen to see the place this goes and weigh in later.
Dina asks if Jesse appears unhappy to Ellie, and she or he replies with out hesitation that he does, although neither of them is certain why. Dina thinks perhaps that’s simply who he’s. At the least, she hopes so. As a result of if it’s not, then perhaps she makes him really feel that approach. Earlier than the 2 drift off to sleep, Dina tells Ellie she “wasn’t that excessive” once they kissed. Woman, you’ve acquired some choices to make.
The 2 get again on the street within the morning, and are nearly 10 miles out of Seattle once they come throughout the aftermath of some form of battle. Our bodies of the Seraphite crew from earlier within the episode are scattered throughout the path, and as Dina investigates additional, she runs again to Ellie to puke within the bushes. Ellie goes to see what elicited such a response and finds their our bodies decomposing. Dina apologizes for her illness, pinning it on the odor. Ellie guesses from the caliber of the varied bullet casings on the scene that this may need been Abby’s crew. Now they’ve one more reason to really feel vindicated in coming all this manner.
Then we lastly attain Seattle. From a distance, you’d don’t know there’s a struggle occurring right here. Dina says there may not be that many wolves for them to cope with, to which Ellie says there are about to be “an entire lot much less.” Dina asks if that was a cool motion film line from the Curtis & Viper motion pictures Joel beloved a lot. Ellie says that one was all her; she was simply making an attempt to sound like a badass. “You don’t have to attempt,” Dina whispers in her ear. Girlypop, don’t play like this while you’ve acquired a person ready for you again house. (Do it. Give in to the homosexual ideas.)
Spaking of wolves, we see the primary signal of life from Abby’s crew. Manny (Danny Ramirez) is retaining watch from the stays of the House Needle, and fortunately doesn’t see the Jackson girlies as he offers the all-clear for a W.L.F. crew to maneuver via town. Whereas Ellie and Dina could also be anticipating a small group of closely armed bandits, the group Manny clears to maneuver via town is sporting tanks, military-grade weapons and armor, and is transferring like a well-trained unit. Ellie’s rage could have introduced her this far, however she’s gonna want much more than that to battle her approach via Seattle to Abby.
New episodes of The Final of Us premiere on Sundays at 9 p.m. Japanese on Max.