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50% off. Warning! Today's episode contains

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spoilers for the last one. Streaming

2:07

now on HBO and Max. And

2:09

also the first game, the last

2:11

of us, because it is adapting

2:14

that game. So if you haven't

2:16

played that or watch the show,

2:18

maybe don't listen to this or

2:20

maybe do, but be warned there

2:22

will be spoilers. Hello,

2:38

my name is Jason Concepcion.

2:40

And I am Rosie Knight.

2:42

And welcome back to Ex

2:44

revision the podcast, where we

2:46

dive deep to your favorite

2:48

shows, movies, comics, and pop

2:50

culture coming from our podcast.

2:52

We're reading three episodes a

2:55

week every Tuesday, Wednesday, and

2:57

Thursday, plus news. In today's

2:59

episode, we are recapping season

3:01

one of The Last of

3:03

Us. If you listen to

3:05

the pod when the first

3:07

series was out. We were

3:09

visiting that every episode and

3:11

talking about it, so you

3:13

can listen to those episodes,

3:15

but if you don't want

3:17

to do that and you

3:19

just want to listen to

3:21

it in one episode, we

3:24

have that right here for

3:26

you now. And remember, our

3:28

next book club will be

3:30

focused on Thunderbolts, issue one

3:32

from 1997 by Kurt Buesiak

3:34

and Mark Bagley, to prepare

3:36

us for the movie in

3:38

May, so you just have

3:40

to read one issue, can

3:42

read it on Marvel Unlimited.

3:44

can grab it from your

3:46

local comic shop potentially or

3:48

maybe eBay. So yeah, check

3:50

that one out and join

3:53

us in the X-ray Vision

3:55

book club. Let's talk the

3:57

last of us. Okay, this

3:59

is the recap for season

4:01

one of the last of

4:03

us and we're here to

4:05

get you ready for the

4:07

last of us season two.

4:09

Maybe you're doing a rewatch.

4:11

Maybe you're not doing a

4:13

rewatch and you're just going

4:15

to jump in. Maybe you're

4:17

like... I don't want to

4:19

miss the train, I want

4:22

to get on season two,

4:24

but I didn't watch all

4:26

of season one. Well, we're

4:28

here to be your cheat

4:30

sheet, essentially. The Last of

4:32

Us, of course, television show

4:34

by Craig Mason of Chernobyl

4:36

Fame and Neil Druckman of,

4:38

you know, Noddy Dog, creative

4:40

Brain, Noddy Dog, being the

4:42

studio that created the last

4:44

of us game. And this

4:46

is, of course, the live

4:49

action. television adaptation of the

4:51

last of us a groundbreaking

4:53

third-person action game and it

4:55

opens with the real world

4:57

the last hours basically of

4:59

the world as we know

5:01

it there is an outbreak

5:03

of some unknown virus or

5:05

something that we will soon

5:07

learn is a fungus turns

5:09

humans into basically zombies, kicks

5:11

off a zombie outbreak that

5:13

happens lightning fast. We meet

5:15

Joel, who is a construction

5:18

contractor with the single dad,

5:20

with a daughter. He is

5:22

a no-nonsense blue-collar guy. And

5:24

when this outbreak happens, he

5:26

must spirit his daughter, Sarah,

5:28

to safety. There is a

5:30

chase through town. It is

5:32

white knuckle stuff. They are

5:34

trying to escape as just

5:36

like riding and violence is

5:38

breaking out everywhere, but the

5:40

car crashes. Joel gets out,

5:42

he's carrying Sarah, she gets

5:44

shot by a soldier, the

5:47

soldiers who have been ordered

5:49

to basically seal off this

5:51

town and kill anybody that

5:53

gets out. And honestly, seeing

5:55

what this fungus is capable

5:57

of, I sadly get it.

5:59

It's a horrible woman and

6:01

it establishes essentially Joel's journey

6:03

from here on now. And

6:05

also I just want to

6:07

say, like, they did such

6:09

a brilliant job casting Sarah.

6:11

And she is so fantastic

6:13

and is played by the

6:16

daughter of the Wanda Newton.

6:18

Oh, Niko Parker. And she

6:20

is so good and the

6:22

pair of them here have

6:24

such a good chemistry that

6:26

even though, perhaps we can

6:28

understand the... actions of the

6:30

government and the soldier who

6:32

is very scared in that

6:34

moment. You feel the horror

6:36

and heartbreak of what happened

6:38

to Joel here and how

6:40

that will go on to

6:42

shape both his and the

6:45

rest of the cost journey.

6:47

We flash forward 20 years.

6:49

Society is hanging on by

6:51

a thread. in various refuges

6:53

that are like these military

6:55

encampments that are dotted around

6:57

the country. We meet Joel

6:59

in one in Boston where

7:01

he is now basically a

7:03

smuggler of pills and other

7:05

items we assume with his

7:07

smuggling partner in crime tests

7:09

and we get the feeling.

7:12

from Joel's demeanor and from

7:14

conversation city as with Tess

7:16

and from conversations to have

7:18

throughout this series that he's

7:20

done really bad things terrible

7:22

in the intervening 20 years

7:24

murder of robbery probably torture

7:26

to get information it's clear

7:28

that he needed to do

7:30

certainly in the in the

7:32

in the days when everything

7:34

was falling apart. Whatever he

7:36

needed to do to survive,

7:38

including probably killing people for

7:41

their stuff so he could

7:43

escape, etc, etc, etc. etc.

7:45

He's dead inside now. And

7:47

one of his contacts a

7:49

firefly leader, a leader of

7:51

a group called the Fireflies,

7:53

named Marlene, comes to Joel

7:55

and offers him and Tess,

7:57

like a very, very important

7:59

smuggling job. and so they

8:01

take it. The cargo turns

8:03

out to be a girl

8:05

named Ellie who is you

8:07

know 14 and very sharp-witted

8:10

and cantankerous and apparently we

8:12

learn immune to infection. She's

8:14

been bitten and it healed.

8:16

This is a first. This

8:18

is shocking. And so the

8:20

fireflies want to get her

8:22

to their secret lab where

8:24

they can... Study her and

8:26

hopefully get a cure to

8:28

infection and save the world

8:30

basically because outside of these

8:32

military encampments everything has fallen

8:34

apart and these fungal zombies

8:36

are fucking everywhere and have

8:39

mutated to need to even

8:41

stronger more terrifying versions of

8:43

just the regular ones that

8:45

are running around. They sneak

8:47

out things immediately go sideways.

8:49

They have to kill people.

8:51

They have to kill people

8:53

and this is where Tess

8:55

and Joel discover that Ellie

8:57

has a bite but has

8:59

not become infected and this

9:01

is shocking. We go to

9:03

episode two. Ellie, her existence

9:05

and the fact that she

9:08

is immune is incredibly shocking

9:10

to them. They move through

9:12

a ruined Boston surviving various

9:14

encounters with zombies including Clickers.

9:16

Clickers. Yes. Rosie, would you

9:18

like to tell us what

9:20

the clickers are? The clickers

9:22

are a terrifying variation of

9:24

the mushroom zombie that hunts

9:26

you with sound. And if

9:28

you played the game, feels

9:30

like it hates you personally

9:32

like you slept with its

9:34

wife. Like this thing is

9:37

going to hunt you down

9:39

in a way that feels

9:41

so horrific. And I want

9:43

to say episode two of

9:45

this series I think is

9:47

really... an incredible feat of

9:49

adapting a video game because

9:51

there are so many moments

9:53

here where you feel like

9:55

you are playing those early

9:57

parts of the game where

9:59

you are trying to... Sneaking

10:01

around. And trying to avoid

10:04

these... these new versions of

10:06

the zombies. Yeah, because you

10:08

just don't know. Yeah, one,

10:10

they're, they're very hard to

10:12

evade and you have to

10:14

be very quiet. And two,

10:16

you're so right, because at

10:18

this stage of the game,

10:20

when you encounter the clickers,

10:22

you really don't have the

10:24

weaponry. No. You should, or

10:26

are leveled up to deal

10:28

with it, like you have,

10:30

you probably have. Max five

10:33

bullets in your gun. You

10:35

basically have to spend your

10:37

knife is not going to

10:39

do it. You've got to

10:41

make Molotov cocktails and explode

10:43

them to distract them. And

10:45

I really like the, there

10:47

is a kind of false

10:49

dichotomy presented in in the

10:51

last of us games, which

10:53

if you've ever done this,

10:55

I salute you. But there

10:57

is an early part of

10:59

the game where you believe,

11:02

okay, maybe I could get

11:04

through this game. just by

11:06

stealth. Maybe I don't have

11:08

to kill a Fedra soldier,

11:10

maybe I can, you know,

11:12

sure, I'll kill a zombie,

11:14

but they're like mutated, but

11:16

I don't have to kill

11:18

any humans. And you learn

11:20

very quickly, that's not going

11:22

to happen. And that's part

11:24

of the game is to

11:26

think, well, what would I

11:28

do in this situation? Who

11:31

would I sacrifice? And yeah,

11:33

once the clickers get involved,

11:35

I'm killing every Fedra guy

11:37

if they're in the way.

11:39

an absolutely incredible job of

11:41

bringing them to life with

11:43

practical effects and also just

11:45

the way that they shoot

11:47

and sound design the sequences

11:49

where we start to meet

11:51

the clickers. So Joel Tess

11:53

and Ellie get to the

11:55

meet-up point where the fireflies

11:57

are supposed to pick up

12:00

Ellie and the handoff is

12:02

supposed to happen but it

12:04

gets overrun by clickers and

12:06

Cordicep zombies in general. Ellie's

12:08

bitten again, she's fine because

12:10

she's immune test gets bitten

12:12

and she starts to turn

12:14

Absolutely not fine and this

12:16

is again the person that

12:18

Joel has shared a very

12:20

fucked up existence with for

12:22

the last decade plus and

12:24

she goes out in a

12:27

blaze of glory and Joel

12:29

picks up Ellie and they

12:31

leave. We go to episode

12:33

three which is, you know,

12:35

probably the standout, not just

12:37

the standout episode I think

12:39

of the series, but one

12:41

of the best episodes of

12:43

television in the last five

12:45

years probably. Joel and Ellie

12:47

come to a town. that

12:49

is kind of like all

12:51

booby-trapped off and they meet

12:53

Bill who is this kind

12:56

of like doomsday prepper type

12:58

guy and he's been living

13:00

in this bunker with power

13:02

with plumbing with water the

13:04

whole thing since the world

13:06

collapsed he's got food he's

13:08

got an arsenal of gun

13:10

and explosives and we get

13:12

the story of how he

13:14

came to be there. He,

13:16

in the days after the

13:18

world collapsed, set up all

13:20

these defenses, went to the

13:22

local power station, made sure

13:25

that it was still running

13:27

to deliver him power. He

13:29

was ready. He was prepared.

13:31

He was ready for it.

13:33

He set up all these

13:35

booby traps for the Cordesep

13:37

zombies to fall in. And

13:39

one day, this guy Frank

13:41

falls into one of his

13:43

traps. And Frank was escaping

13:45

one of the, like, Fedra

13:47

towns that had gotten overrun

13:49

and they strike up a

13:51

romance. They fall in love

13:54

with each other. Bill teaches

13:56

Frank about that he has

13:58

inside of him the strength

14:00

to survive and fight and

14:02

Frank teaches Bill that like

14:04

love is possible in this

14:06

fallen world that easy is

14:08

possible. not just to hide

14:10

in this bunker by yourself.

14:12

you know. That's right, that

14:14

there's connections to be made,

14:16

that even in this like

14:18

degenerated, destroyed world, that there's

14:20

an importance in building connections

14:23

and community and a life,

14:25

not just within yourself or

14:27

with your partner with other

14:29

people. And they have as

14:31

close to a normal, air

14:33

quotes, life as you can

14:35

have in this town. They

14:37

go shopping in the little

14:39

boutique shops that are, they

14:41

have little arguments, they have

14:43

meals together on the porch,

14:45

and years go by, wonderful

14:47

years, that include fighting off

14:50

zombies, that include fighting off

14:52

raiders, that include many moments

14:54

of tenderness and dancing with

14:56

each other, but then Frank

14:58

gets sick. and he gets

15:00

sicker and sicker and sicker

15:02

and he wants to die

15:04

on his own terms. So

15:06

he and Bill engineered like

15:08

one perfect day, last perfect

15:10

day together, after which he

15:12

will take pills and they

15:14

will crush up pills together

15:16

and then they will eat

15:19

them together and then they

15:21

will pass away slowly and

15:23

die. their interactions

15:25

with him, they, you know,

15:27

basically find the house like

15:29

as Frank left it with

15:31

Bill in there, kind of

15:33

a shell of himself. And

15:35

Bill basically decides, you know

15:37

what, I'm gonna, I'm gonna

15:39

help you guys, I'm gonna

15:41

give you the truck that

15:43

I had and some supplies

15:45

and you guys can get

15:47

out of here. It's an

15:49

incredible episode. If like... our

15:51

super producer Abu, you're like,

15:53

I don't know about this

15:55

show through the first two

15:57

episodes, just get to episode

15:59

three. Get to episode three

16:01

and decide if you want

16:03

to continue. And then you

16:05

realize like this is a,

16:08

they do a great job

16:10

in this show of essentially,

16:12

again, this is like a

16:14

moment in the games where

16:16

you need to go and

16:18

collect supplies that they expand

16:20

out into this kind of

16:22

exploration of humanity in the

16:24

face of greatest horrors that

16:26

you can imagine in the.

16:28

face of the fall of

16:30

the you know world as

16:32

we know it and it's

16:34

just such an unbelievable episode

16:36

with two incredible performances and

16:38

just generally a wonderful wonderful

16:40

piece of TV even if

16:42

you don't care about the

16:44

show and it after Joel

16:46

kind of sees this great

16:48

act of love and understands

16:50

because he had a existing

16:52

relationship with with Bill and

16:54

Frank he begins to understand

16:56

that maybe there is a

16:58

little something worth living for,

17:00

maybe, maybe, maybe. Let's take

17:03

a quick break and we'll

17:05

be right back. Bring

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we're back. Episode 7, still in

35:05

Colorado, Ellie has dragged Joel to

35:07

like a house where she's like

35:10

just desperately trying to keep him

35:12

alive. He's like, get out of

35:14

here. She's like, just shut the

35:17

fuck up. No, I'm not going

35:19

to do that. We flashed back

35:21

to a Fedra school and we

35:24

learned about Ellie's life at Fedra

35:26

and a very important moment for

35:28

her was... growing up in this

35:31

Fedra school society where she's been

35:33

disruptive, she's like one of the

35:35

bad kids, the Fedra supervisor of

35:38

the school basically is like, listen,

35:40

here's your options if you keep

35:43

being a fuck up. You end

35:45

up like one of the low-level

35:47

like Fedra grunts under this girl

35:50

who you're having trouble with Bethany

35:52

and you probably die or because

35:54

of her of like the hard

35:57

work that you're gonna have to

35:59

do, or you follow the rules,

36:01

you become an officer, you get

36:04

better food, you get better housing,

36:06

you do less dangerous work, and

36:08

you give Bethany orders. And it's

36:11

clear that like, you know, Fedra

36:13

for all its shortcomings is like

36:16

the best option currently out there,

36:18

and it's something that even though

36:20

it sucks people care about it

36:23

and they're trying to make it

36:25

good. Later, Ellie is in her

36:27

room and she's reading an issue

36:30

of Savage starlight, the comic. Sam

36:32

and Henry, who we met previously,

36:34

also loved it. She has a

36:37

best friend named Riley. Riley went

36:39

to join the Fireflies. Ellie is

36:41

shocked by this. Riley wants Ellie

36:44

to come with her for a

36:46

few hours so they can have

36:49

the best night of her life,

36:51

their lives, before she joins the

36:53

Fireflies. Ellie's like, I don't know

36:56

about this. They sneak out. They

36:58

sneak into a mall. Yes, an

37:00

abandoned beautiful mall, which has apparently

37:03

been sealed up. And all the

37:05

electric still works. This is obviously

37:07

something Riley has learned from the

37:10

Fireflies and they take her on

37:12

like, we get like a really

37:14

gorgeous kind of date episode where

37:17

the two of them just get

37:19

to have fun and play more

37:21

combat and dance and almost be

37:24

normal kids. That's right. They go

37:26

inside there. It's marvelous, like escalators,

37:29

all these things from a world

37:31

that are, that's like gone. Riley's

37:33

like, don't worry, there's no infected

37:36

here. They've been lying to us,

37:38

like outside they lie to us,

37:40

they say that like all the

37:43

infected have been stuffed up in

37:45

here, but really like all the,

37:47

it's like this wonderful time capsule

37:50

of the former world, and they're

37:52

running around, they're looking at all

37:54

the shops, they're looking at the

37:57

Victoria's secret, like there. having this

37:59

wonderful time together. They go to

38:02

this carousel, which is right next

38:04

to a game stop, which is

38:06

a nice fun nod. the origins

38:09

of this of this story. Does

38:11

it okay? They find some liquor,

38:13

they start drinking, and they go

38:16

to a photo booth, they go

38:18

to that arcade as you mentioned,

38:20

they are entirely unaware throughout this

38:23

wonderful time that a very very

38:25

nasty looking cortisep has woken up

38:27

nearby. They discover pipe bombs. which

38:30

Riley has been building for the

38:32

fireflies. And this makes Ellie very,

38:35

very upset. She's like, what are

38:37

you doing? Like you're gonna be

38:39

one of these like firefly terrorists?

38:42

Like you're gonna blow people up?

38:44

Like that's what you're gonna do.

38:46

And this is where Riley basically

38:49

admits that like she's leaving. This

38:51

is her last night in Boston.

38:53

She's going with the fireflies. And

38:56

she brought Ellie here because she

38:58

wanted to say goodbye. This is

39:00

heartbreaking for. Ellie, she like basically

39:03

is like, fuck you and leaves.

39:05

But then she's like, you know,

39:07

no, no, no, what, I want

39:10

to go back. She goes back

39:12

and long story short, Riley gets

39:15

bitten by the fucking cortiseps, but

39:17

so does Ellie. After they kiss.

39:19

After they kiss. And this is

39:22

where Ellie gets bitten. The infected

39:24

pins her down and she stabs

39:26

it in the guts, but it

39:29

doesn't stop coming for her. It's

39:31

horrible. We cut back to Joel

39:33

who is on the floor in

39:36

the present timeline shivering looking real

39:38

bad and it's clear that this

39:40

is what Ellie is thinking about

39:43

another person that she loves is

39:45

dying in front of her eyes

39:48

and she can't and there's nothing

39:50

that she can do. She thinks

39:52

again about the last moments of

39:55

Riley where it's like Ellie is

39:57

in a rage. She's like destroying

39:59

everything and Riley apologizes to her

40:02

and they like lean on each

40:04

other. and back at the house,

40:06

you know, Ellie. come back with

40:09

supplies and a sewing needle and

40:11

she starts working on Joel to

40:13

try and save him. We go

40:16

to episode 8. Episode 8. It's

40:18

actually wild how many standout episodes

40:21

this series has because as soon

40:23

as I'm like oh my god

40:25

we haven't even got to David

40:28

yet. This is such a crazy

40:30

episode. It is it is not

40:32

episode 8. It is deep winter.

40:35

Silver Lake, Colorado. We hear a

40:37

voice read from the book of

40:39

revelations. This is a preacher. His

40:42

name is David. He is the

40:44

leader of like this extremist survivalist

40:46

group whose motto is when we

40:49

are in need he shall provide

40:51

and what basically he's gonna provide

40:53

is like. cannibalized human bodies that

40:56

they have. hidden away in town.

40:58

Meanwhile, Ellie is checking on Joel's

41:01

wound. The time has passed, it's

41:03

looking better, but Joel is very

41:05

weak. She's like trying to nurse

41:08

him back to health like a,

41:10

you know, like a little baby

41:12

bird. She goes out to hunt

41:15

with the rifle, the 308, that

41:17

she now knows how to shoot.

41:19

She sees a deer, she takes

41:22

aim at the deer, but she

41:24

hits it, and it injures it,

41:26

but it's running off. and David

41:29

and his Lieutenant James find the

41:31

deer. Ellie gets the drop on

41:34

them. She's like, you know, drop

41:36

your rifles, turn around. They, she

41:38

also bluffs that she's like, and

41:41

I'm with others. David and James

41:43

offer a trade. They're like, we

41:45

can give you medicine. Ellie is

41:48

very excited by the idea that

41:50

there might be medicine. She's like,

41:52

and they're like, yeah, we got

41:55

medicine. David is like, go get

41:57

the penicillin. He tells his lieutenant,

41:59

go get it and bring it

42:02

back here. James drags the deer

42:04

as he and Ellie takes shelter

42:07

nearby. Ellie remains, you know, watchful

42:09

of these guys. Eventually the medicine

42:11

arrives. They gave it to Ellie.

42:14

She returns to Joel and just

42:16

kind of injects the antibiotics wherever,

42:18

listens to and lays on his

42:21

chest and what is one of

42:23

the most like warming scenes, I

42:25

think, of the series. Back at

42:28

the extremist group, they're cooking up

42:30

venison and folks, we get these

42:32

really disgusting shots of this food

42:35

that... You know that by now,

42:37

you know that there's something wrong.

42:39

Yes. But you don't know what.

42:42

David announces that the rumors are

42:44

true. He's found a girl who

42:47

was with a man who killed

42:49

one of them. And tomorrow morning,

42:51

they're going to send out a

42:54

search party and quote, bring that

42:56

man to justice. The next day,

42:58

Ellie goes out to, you know,

43:01

just check things out. She's a.

43:03

She sees people coming, five or

43:05

six men, including David and James,

43:08

and clearly they're ready to kill

43:10

Joel and bring Ellie back with

43:12

them. Ellie tries to wake up

43:15

Joel. He's not ready for this.

43:17

She fires a shot at David

43:20

and them eventually. David takes her

43:22

prisoner. She's in a holding cell.

43:24

David's there. He's being an absolute

43:27

fucking freak. He's like, I want

43:29

you alive. He's, there's obviously like

43:31

pedophilic overtones here. Yes, cultish overtones.

43:34

His need for like young women.

43:36

Yes. You know, they need more

43:38

women so they can have babies

43:41

and also. So, you know, wouldn't

43:43

she love to be part of

43:45

his like in a circle? He

43:48

can see she's a survivor, like

43:50

very grooming. Strong, like we need

43:53

your strength. All this kind of

43:55

stuff. And she rejects him pretty

43:57

strongly, which enrages him. Yeah, she

44:00

bites his hand, I believe he

44:02

puts it. She's like, okay, and

44:04

then she bites his hand and

44:07

he kind of rears back and.

44:09

Meanwhile, Joel, who has killed the

44:11

guy who David has sent to

44:14

kill him, has followed them back

44:16

to their camp, has and is

44:18

going like fucking John Wick on

44:21

everybody. Where is his surrogate daughter?

44:23

Where is his surrogate daughter? He

44:25

is just killing, killing, killing. He

44:28

drags a guy into a house

44:30

and tortures him until he... tells

44:33

him like where the town is.

44:35

And that's when we get a

44:37

glimpse of like who Joel has

44:40

become. And that's really important because

44:42

we're heading to, if you've played

44:44

the game, the ultimate kind of

44:47

big moral quandary at the end

44:49

of the game, which all of

44:51

this has been leading to, and

44:54

you need to see this side

44:56

of Joel to truly understand what

44:58

it means to him to protect

45:01

Ellie. fully, fully dark. Now he's

45:03

doing it now to protect someone

45:06

he loves and that we love

45:08

from absolutely depraved fundamentalist cannibals, but

45:10

the suggestion and the truth of

45:13

it is that he plied these

45:15

violent sides of himself against innocent

45:17

people. Against many, many people who

45:20

were not bad folks, and we

45:22

know that. Meanwhile, David is admitting

45:24

to Ellie that, yeah, we're eating

45:27

people. So what? Yeah, maybe we'll

45:29

eat you. Yeah, maybe we'll eat

45:31

you. So what? By the way,

45:34

you should. still join us because

45:36

like you're smart you're loyal you're

45:39

like a what do you think

45:41

about it why don't you join

45:43

us what does she think about

45:46

it Jason yeah she is like

45:48

hard no she asked about Joel

45:50

David is like you know what

45:53

I can I'll spare him I

45:55

won't continue to hunt him if

45:57

you will join us and Ellie

46:00

then is makes it seem like

46:02

maybe she's going to accept this

46:04

David who is again just like

46:07

an disgusting human being groomer is

46:09

like whoa and he like reaches

46:11

through the bars to like caress

46:14

pet her hair and it's disgusting

46:16

and she instead takes his finger

46:19

and like breaks it and grabs

46:21

the keys and says to him

46:23

like why don't you tell your

46:26

like little followers that like Ellie

46:28

is the little girl who broke

46:30

your finger. Joel arrives in town.

46:33

He breaks into one of the

46:35

storehouses there to kind of warm

46:37

up a little bit. He finds

46:40

Ellie's stuff and the dead people

46:42

that these folks have been eating.

46:44

It's gross. David and James drag

46:47

Ellie out of the cage and

46:49

they're clearly just like about to

46:52

butcher her for meat. When she

46:54

yells, yells, hey, I've been infected

46:56

and now so are you, because

46:59

and they're like, they see the

47:01

scar and now they're like freaked

47:03

out, they're scared. They're like, oh

47:06

no, like what the, what, you

47:08

know, and while they are in

47:10

this state of confusion, Ellie kills

47:13

James with a cleaver in his

47:15

head. She runs, David runs after

47:17

her, one thing leads to another

47:20

in what is I think one

47:22

of the most. suspenseful and scariest

47:25

scenes in not just the show,

47:27

but like in the game, it's

47:29

a really scary moment where David

47:32

is hunting her through this building

47:34

that is like a former diner

47:36

that is now burning. like all

47:39

around them and he's saying this

47:41

scariest like most disgusting stuff to

47:43

her while he's cold shit while

47:46

he's hunting her and there's like

47:48

a physical fight but ultimately she

47:50

defeats him and then when she

47:53

goes outside of this burning building

47:55

she finds Joel who embraces her

47:57

and our friends are back together

48:00

which leads us to episode 9

48:02

the the heartbreaking and violent finale

48:05

of season one of the last

48:07

of us. They arrived at this

48:09

Salt Lake City Firefly refuge, a

48:12

laboratory that is the last place

48:14

that they knew the fireflies were.

48:16

And we see all of this.

48:19

evidence of the kind of medical

48:21

experiments and the research they've been

48:23

doing into the cortiseps including the

48:26

x-rays of people's brains they find

48:28

so they get to they get

48:30

to the firefly base and the

48:33

fireflies are so excited they're like

48:35

oh my god we're gonna save

48:38

the world this is it we've

48:40

got and they actually have like

48:42

a pretty legit hospital set up

48:45

it's like it looks it looks

48:47

that way at first it looks

48:49

good the setup looks very legit

48:52

and they're putting Ellie under anesthesia,

48:54

they're going to do the thing

48:56

where they go in and they

48:59

have to like go into her

49:01

brain because that's the part that

49:03

like where you know where the

49:06

part of the infection is and

49:08

where for some reason her brain

49:11

is like fighting the infection. And

49:13

they tell Joel probably a mistake

49:15

to tell him this. Yeah they

49:18

take him aside and they say

49:20

listen. They say listen. We have

49:22

to go into her brain. And

49:25

we don't know how to do

49:27

it without killing her. But listen,

49:29

this is, we're gonna save the

49:32

world. Like, we're gonna save the

49:34

world from infection. Joel. does not

49:36

accept that and he just fucking

49:39

kills everybody in this hot like

49:41

everybody yes now let's talk about

49:43

this because in the game you

49:46

the whole time you've been following

49:48

Joe you've been playing a sim

49:51

sometimes you've been playing as early

49:53

sometimes you've had to do terrible

49:55

things but you are doing it

49:58

for the greater good of saving

50:00

the world right that's what they

50:02

want us to think and then

50:05

you end up in a scenario

50:07

where suddenly you have to decide

50:09

whether you're going to kill a

50:12

lot of people and not save

50:14

the world in order to save

50:16

this child and the game takes

50:19

on a very different stance and

50:21

I think something they did here

50:24

that is really incredible and I

50:26

know that make some people very

50:28

angry but I think was the

50:31

right choice. They made this incredibly

50:33

hard to watch. This is not

50:35

a heroic John Wick going to

50:38

save his daughter. This is, this

50:40

feels like you are watching doctors

50:42

and researchers. It feels like you're

50:45

watching a mass shooter go into

50:47

a hospital and kill a bunch

50:49

of people. And I think they

50:52

made a very brave stand with

50:54

that by saying. This is horrible,

50:57

this is the reality and if

50:59

you want to say that Joel

51:01

made the right choice, that's fine,

51:04

but here's the choice that he

51:06

made and this is what he

51:08

did to save Ellie. And I

51:11

was honestly shocked by just how

51:13

horrific this episode is, but also

51:15

how much it aligns with everything

51:18

we know about Joel and how

51:20

even in that moment you are

51:22

now invested in that relationship. So

51:25

you do want him to save

51:27

Ellie, but yeah, I mean fireflies

51:29

never should have told Joel You

51:32

should have just been like oh,

51:34

it's a dangerous is a dangerous

51:37

situation like maybe she'll survive maybe

51:39

she won't and he could have

51:41

watched through the window Which by

51:44

the way when? When he does

51:46

get to Ellie, you do then

51:48

kind of thing like, oh, maybe

51:51

they didn't know what they were

51:53

doing because they just have all

51:55

these like rusty cleavers and shit

51:58

and you're like, guys, this looks

52:00

like a horror movie. Like, I

52:02

don't know if you have the

52:05

chops to do this. It's an

52:07

incredible moral dilemma because from Joel's

52:10

perspective, you get it. Like, and

52:12

you understand it. And I think

52:14

a lot of people, you, you're

52:17

playing the entire game basically as

52:19

Joel. You, when you, and the,

52:21

and the show is from the

52:24

perspective of Joel and Ellie the

52:26

whole time, so you understand it.

52:28

You completely understand it. At the

52:31

same time, I think anyone is

52:33

able to put themselves in the

52:35

shoes of every, literally everybody else

52:38

in the world and say, I

52:40

mean, she's, it's sad, but so

52:43

many people have died and if,

52:45

but if this, if we have

52:47

the chance to save everyone else,

52:50

then don't we. has to do

52:52

it. It's an incredibly ruthless situation

52:54

and a terrible moral dilemma. And

52:57

it's also really heartbreaking because you

52:59

know that if Ellie had the

53:01

choice, she would actually choose to

53:04

die. She would do it. She

53:06

would say, but they should have

53:08

given, and that's another firefly mistake.

53:11

They should have given her the

53:13

choice and let her make that

53:15

choice. Now would Joel have listened

53:18

to her? Probably not. But they

53:20

should have at least had that

53:23

conversation. I think the thing that

53:25

makes it. What's coming for Joel

53:27

a sort of justice in season?

53:30

That's not a spoiler, but you

53:32

know is that actions have consequences

53:34

guys actions have and you and

53:37

you made the point You just

53:39

said I think something that was

53:41

important. I think Joel by now

53:44

understands Ellie enough to know that

53:46

if Ellie if he asked Ellie

53:48

would you sacrifice yourself for a

53:51

chance that we could cure infection

53:53

and cure the world. She would

53:56

say unabashedly, yes. He is unable

53:58

to give her... that choice. So

54:00

he kills everybody in there. Just

54:02

as bad as the fire flies in that

54:05

way. He doesn't he also doesn't

54:07

ask her what she wants. He

54:09

kills everybody in the fucking building

54:11

brutally ruthlessly going through this entire

54:13

in the back, like shooting anyone

54:15

who comes out. Yeah, awful. He

54:17

gets Ellie, he carries her out of

54:19

the building. And then when she wakes

54:21

up, she's like, what happened? He says

54:24

it didn't work. It just

54:26

didn't work. They tried. I was like you.

54:28

It did work. They said you could just

54:30

come home. Yeah, you could just come

54:32

home and it's over. She doesn't

54:34

quite believe him, but it's also

54:37

clear that she really wants to believe

54:39

him. She does. And she makes him

54:41

promise. She says, swear to me, by

54:43

the way, ends in the same way, swear to

54:46

me everything you said about the fireflies

54:48

is true. And he looks her dead

54:50

in the face and he, and he's

54:52

like, like, I swear. It's also

54:54

clear again that she is

54:56

struggling with weather, believe him,

54:58

but she accepts it. And boom.

55:01

The season ends. And it is

55:03

insane. It's like making me feel

55:05

like I'm going to cry just

55:08

thinking about it. I think it's

55:10

honestly like a travesty that

55:12

Pedro didn't win for this

55:14

series because there he has to

55:16

do so much with so little

55:19

because Joel is not a talkative

55:21

person. And I think so much

55:23

about in episode eight where he

55:25

finds her afterwards and he's

55:27

like, it's okay baby girl and

55:29

he's kind of like holding her

55:31

and there's just this. innate understanding

55:34

that he is never going to let

55:36

what happened to Sarah happen to her

55:38

and it's so so hard to watch

55:40

this episode and I understand why people

55:42

were mad because also some people in

55:44

the game who played it which I

55:47

think is a misreading of the situation

55:49

but they didn't think Joel did anything

55:51

wrong they felt like they were the

55:53

hero saving Ellie and I think sure

55:55

that's wild but sure and I I

55:57

I it's so horrificific to see what

56:00

Joel It's

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