For the second episode in a row, The Last of Us begins with a flashback, though this episode is very close to the events we saw early in the series premiere. It’s September 24, 2003. The zombie apocalypse is days away, and the Jakarta government finds out before anyone else. We follow Ibu Ratna (Christine Hakim), a mycologist who is asked to investigate a violent accident at a flour and grain factory. He has studied germs and fungi all his life and immediately understands that there is no cure for this and that the only way to save humanity is, “Bomb. Start bombing. Bomb this city and everyone in it.”
Infected, written by Craig Mazin and directed by Neil Druckmann. In both style and theme, this opening is reminiscent of Mazin’s great work on Chornobyl, which was about intelligent people sacrificing themselves for the greater good. In this case, it worked; Many died, but Eastern Europe did not become a radioactive wasteland. Here, Ibu Ratna’s warning comes too late, and the series takes place in a terrible world that she could not avoid.
Why are we starting there this week? As with John Hannah’s introduction to the premiere, there is some value in providing context for all things spooky and scary Joel, Ellie, and Tess in 2023. But in this case, the certainty of the world that there is no way to deal with this infection contrasts with why Joel Destined to take Eli to parts of the West. Not only is he immune to infection, but Firefly doctors believe he may hold the key to creating a vaccine that will protect future generations from this plague.
‘Infected,’ the second episode of the dystopian HBO drama, showed us how Joel and Ellie dealt with a painful loss
Joel scoffs at this, having heard similar rumors before. But it’s also clear around the clock that he’s given up. He cannot believe in any kind of future other than the one right in front of him. One step, then the next, and maybe the next step is all you can think of. He is afraid of worrying about Ellie because of the trauma he is still experiencing with his daughter. He is afraid to expect anything after spending 20 years in the bleak and destructive world we see around him. After three escapes fighting the zombies, apparently unharmed, Tess proposes to her longtime partner, “For once, maybe we can win?” Joel doesn’t want to hear it.
The irony, of course, is that Tess is the one who should feel the desperation coming out of that fight. We’ll find out later if she’s been infected, and her only good option is to travel to the kingdom and hope to take enough zombies with her to keep Joel and Ellie safe for the time being. This, in turn, gives Joel yet another reason to feel that existence no longer holds anything for him but loss and despair.
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However, before Tess leaves in the glare of glory, we can first spend a focused stint with them as a trio. Anna Torv’s performance is very lively and therefore in keeping with what Pedro Pascal does, even if Tess is a little less guarded than Joel, and as someone who knows nothing about the game, I’d let myself think the show would be about the two of them. . of them acting as protectors for Ellie. And it’s Torv’s power of attorney that makes Tess’ death much more difficult than losing any character after just two episodes.
But perhaps the most important thing the episode does is make sure we see Ellie as a person first, rather than a traveling vaccine incubator. As the three heroes make their way through Boston (*), we get to know it much better than we did in the premiere. She acts like a girl her age, even in earlier times. She’s crazy as damn, curious about the current world and the ancient world, and somehow manages to have fun despite overwhelming reasons not to. Although she lived her entire life after the fall, she was not unruly and unrecognizable as a teenager in our 2023 edition.
