After a solid but largely muted third episode, The Last of Us got back on track with this week’s fourth episode. We learned more about the war happening in Seattle between the WLF and Scars, while Ellie and Dina continued their search for Abby. That pair also faced their biggest challenge yet, one that will change the course of their relationship and The Last of Us forever. Let’s dive in.
Whenever The Last of Us gives us something totally out of the blue, it’s usually a good sign for what’s to come. So when the episode started with the words “2018 – Seattle Quarantine Zone,” I was stoked. The show loves a good flashback, and this was a very, very good one.
Inside a military vehicle, a group of FEDRA soldiers is joking around and telling stories. One played by Josh Peck (yes, of Drake and Josh fame) tells a gross story about one of his dumb colleagues to the delight of almost everyone. One person in the back of the shot has their face guard down but is, clearly, not enjoying the story about three “voters” who got messed with. “Why do they call citizens, ‘voters?’” a soldier, who is clearly new, asks. That’s when the group’s Sergeant, played by Jeffrey Wright, chimes in. He says FEDRA calls citizens “voters” because FEDRA took away the citizens’ rights. So the term “voter” is to mock them for having no rights. It’s a chilling claim and a strong suggestion that the character isn’t happy about something.
The FEDRA transport runs into a blockade and, despite the soldiers’ desire to jump out and attack, Wright’s character tells them not to. He’s going to talk to the “voters,” and asks the new guy to come along with him and learn something. The group’s leader, played by Legally Blonde and Sister Act 2 star Alanna Ubach, asks if Wright’s character is named Isaac. He asks if she’s named Hanrahan. When they both agree, Isaac takes two gas grenades, throws them into the back of the transport, and locks the door, killing all the soldiers. He then shoots the driver and asks the new kid, played by Ben Ahlers, to make a choice. “Welcome to the fight,” Hanrahan tells Isaac.
We’ll learn later that we’ve just seen the origin story of the current leader of the WLF, Isaac. A FEDRA soldier who defected from that group to one that was more about humanity and people than military control. All of which will become very, very important to the overall message, not just in this episode, but later ones too. Plus, that was just a hell of a cold open to an episode.
Eleven years later, in the present day of the show, Ellie and Dina are scavenging an old pharmacy. It’s “Seattle, Day One,” according to the on-screen text, and this demarcation of time and place is beyond important. Remember it, live by it, write it down if you have to.
Ellie and Dina are in the Capitol Hill section of Seattle, very confused about all the rainbows around with the word “Pride” on them. Ellie thinks maybe the people here were just optimists. We know it was much, much more than that, and the cheeky juxtaposition of the LGBTQ women not knowing about LGBTQ support speaks volumes to how uninformed the characters on this show are about the world as it once was.
Exploring the desolate streets, which are littered with dead bodies in FEDRA gear as well as a tank, Ellie and Dina spot a WLF building. But they realize they can’t approach it until nightfall, so they kill time in a place many of us would choose to go to in Seattle: a music store.
Here we get a little break from the world and a charming moment where Ellie finds a guitar that hasn’t rotted and plays a little tune. It’s the 1980s classic “Take On Me” by A-ha, but acoustic, and we learn it’s something Joel taught her. It brings Dina to tears, and will delight fans of the game, as it’s a direct lift from that. Here on the show, it helps us to see the relationship between Dina and Ellie deepening, and that there’s still some beauty in this messed-up world. Something that was much needed before everything that follows.
First up, modern-day Isaac is giving a speech to someone off-camera about how he used cooking to impress women. He lauds the qualities of French cookware before mentioning how they aren’t great for interrogation. That word, “interrogation,” flips the scene on its head and we see a totally nude member of the Scars has been captured and is being tortured by Isaac. Isaac wants to know where the next Scar attack is. The Scar wants him to call them by their preferred name, “Serephites.” We learn that this Scar killed a child, but he says he only did it because the WLF kills their children. On and on the one-upsmanship goes, letting us know the war these two groups are fighting is incredibly violent, largely pointless, and without a clear good guy or bad guy. They’re kind of both the bad guys.
The difference, though, according to the Scar, is that members of the WLF defect to become Scars, but no one from the Scars defects to the WLF. So, despite the WLF’s advantage in technology and resources, eventually they’ll lose. This hits Isaac particularly hard, considering he did exactly that to his former group—and when he realizes the Scar won’t budge, kills him. This gets a strong seal of approval from the guard at the door; it’s the same soldier who 11 years ago was just starting his career and defected with Isaac.
Now, so far in this episode, a lot of interesting things have happened. A lot of character development has taken place. But there hasn’t been much action. Knowing that, when Ellie and Dina decide to sneak into the WLF building undercover of nightfall, and silently agree to kill any WLF members who get in their way whether they were in Jackson or not, you knew shit was about to go down.
The pair stumble into a room with several WLF members hanging from the ceiling with their intestines bursting out. It’s a sight that once again makes Dina gag and, quickly, they realize a) the Scars, the group of people they saw slaughtered on the trail to Seattle, did this, and b) one of the final WLF survivors called for backup. Backup arrives quickly and despite orders from Isaac to keep any captured Scars alive, this group is out to get revenge for their literally gutted friends. They’re going to kill on sight.
Dina and Ellie do their best to escape quietly, but fail. They kill two people and make a run for it, eventually taking refuge in a subway station. The WLF follows and throws flares everywhere to light up the space. Except, we know the vegetation linked to the fungal virus that took over the world senses that kind of thing and, very quickly, dozens upon dozens of clickers arrive. A massive battle erupts, distracting the WLF enough so Ellie and Dina can escape. But not before several close calls, including Ellie having to put her arm in the path of a biting zombie, saving Dina in the process.
Instantly, Dina’s demeanor changes. Ellie has been bitten. She needs to be killed. And by the time the pair find a good hiding spot in an old theater, Dina pulls her gun on Ellie. At first, Ellie is confused. She was acting out of instinct, not even thinking about the fact Dina has no idea she is immune. So, Ellie begrudgingly reveals this but Dina doesn’t believe her. Which, you totally understand. It would be like someone coming up to you and saying, “The sky is orange.” You’ve been led your whole life to believe one thing and now they’re presenting something completely contrary to that. In Ellie’s case, however, the sky is orange. She is actually, impossibly immune and convinces Dina to let her rest and prove it.
Hours later, Ellie awakens just as she was. Just as she promised. A shocked Dina approaches and tells Ellie what we could pretty clearly tell from the clues in the past few episodes: Dina is pregnant. The intensity of the moment and the highly emotional revelations between the two burst into a lustful exchange, and the two make love.
It’s worth taking a moment here to applaud how incredible both Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced are in these scenes. Ellie’s desperate pleas for Dina to trust her and believe the impossible. Dina’s deep conflict about throwing away her beliefs. Both filled with angst, fear, and love. The actors brought the whole thing to another level. It was incredible work.
In fact, that continues into the episode’s final scenes, where it’s finally revealed that Dina loves Ellie just as much as Ellie loves Dina, but her upbringing made it hard for her to admit. As a child, Dina told her mom she liked both boys and girls but her mom told her to only like boys. That stuck with her and now, only when she thought she lost everything, can she finally be who she is. She wants a family with Ellie and their baby, which brings up Ellie’s sure to not be misinterpreted line “I’m going to be a dad!”
Just then, explosions echo from outside. Ellie and Dina, who stole a walkie-talkie from the WLF, go outside to get their bearings. The explosions are far in the distance, but they need to check them out. Ellie tells Dina she can stay back because things are different now, but Dina grabs her hand and says, “Together.” Dina may be pregnant, but nothing is different in her eyes.
If the episode only had the moment of Ellie revealing her secret to Dina, it would’ve been solid. But to start to build out Isaac as another formidable force, to see more about the war in Seattle, and get a taste of what life could be like for these characters, that just brought it all home.
If you can believe it, we are now more than halfway through The Last of Us season two. Talk about it below.
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