The Last of Us might just be the best series about a zombie apocalypse ever made, but it’s at least one of the best. The first season is about a guy named Joel (a phenomenal Pedro Pascal) who tries to bring a girl (an equally formidable Bella Ramsey) to the headquarters of a resistance group called the Fireflies that might be able to use her for a cure to the Cordyceps infection. By contrast, the second season is about the budding romance between Ellie and Dina (Isabela Merced), as well as more than one revenge quest. Now the show is gearing up for a third season, but season two was a bit on the iffy side. It will be interesting to see how the writers will approach season three, as it will function more like a part-two of its predecessor. Hopefully it’s a little longer, as season two felt incomplete in more ways than one.
That doesn’t mean it didn’t have a few fantastic episodes that totally justified its existence, but most viewers will agree that season one has the weight of a full story-arc that the third season will have to work a bit harder to reach. After two seasons, we have sixteen episodes in total. Some are better than others, but even the less impressive entries offer something compelling to the audience—whether they be thematic resonance, great acting, or excellent special effects. The heart and soul of this show are Ellie and Joel, though not all the best episodes revolve around them. Likewise, this zombie show has such memorable character work that it doesn’t always rely on zombies to capture our imagination. Here is every episode so far, ranked by its emotional strength, narrative competence, character development, action (when applicable), and poignancy in whatever subjects it explores.
The Last Of Us
- Release Date
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January 15, 2023
- Network
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HBO
16
“Convergence”
Season 2, Episode 7
A few things felt really off about the season two finale. The biggest problem was the fact that it ended too abruptly; there should have been more episodes to tell Ellie’s side of this story. Not doing so made this finale feel rushed. After all, seven episodes isn’t very many—especially since Joel was killed at the end of the second episode and the sixth was a series of flashbacks. That leaves only four episodes to demonstrate Ellie’s path down revenge.
When Ellie wound up on that island, it felt like there was tremendous potential to leave her there for a while. Instead, she nearly gets hung and gets saved at the last second. It would have been cool to make season two a few episodes longer and keep Ellie there for an entire episode, as there’s no doubt she spends more time there in the video game. This also didn’t really feel realistic; wouldn’t those Seraphites at least kill her quickly if they didn’t have time to kill her slowly? Along with that really cheap cut to black, there have been much better cliffhanger endings from other shows.
15
“The Path”
Season 2, Episode 3
To claim that “The Path” is potentially the second-weakest entry in The Last of Us is not to call it bad, or even to suggest that most of it doesn’t work. It still feels like a pretty strong display here, what with Ellie waking up in absolute terror and having that talk with Gail (Catherine O’Hara) at the end of her stay at the hospital. When Ellie says your final moment with someone doesn’t have to define your whole time with them, it feels like a nugget of wisdom from someone who might be mature enough to move on from this.
Ellie’s speech at the town meeting is also more measured than one might expect, Then there’s that funny moment at the beginning of that town meeting about the turkeys and corn, along with a stirring speech from one of season two’s most surprisingly intriguing characters. But it does feel like the pace has slowed down a bit here, and three months is kind of a while for Ellie to be doing nothing that drives her so intensely throughout the rest of the season.
14
“Feel Her Love”
Season 2, Episode 5
Season two’s “Feel Her Love” stands out in having several plot twists. The first is that the Cordyceps spores have gone airborne, though thankfully only in the basement of a hospital. The scene that shows us that is very well done, and the episode does a good job of returning to that idea later. As for Day Two in Seattle, the conversation when Ellie sees more dead people and suggests that maybe they should go back feels a bit out of character.
The story Dina tells about the first person she killed feels a bit forced, maybe a bit like we’ve seen too many conversations like this before from other shows. Either way, we know they’re going to keep going. The plot twist in which Jesse (Young Mazino) saves them at the last minute feels pretty contrived, too. As for the final plot twist, in which Ellie reveals she knows what Joel did, that would have been more effective (for those who hadn’t played the video games) if it hadn’t been more or less spoiled in the season two trailer. However, in and of itself, that’s still a great scene. The flashback that ends the episode feels a bit tacked on, though.
13
“Day One”
Season 2, Episode 4
The biggest storytelling lesson from the fourth episode of season two is relatively simple: the more Jeffrey Wright, the better. The episode begins with a terrific flashback to 2018, in which we see that FEDRA calls citizens “voters” to mock them. Isaac (played by Wright) kills his own troops in a definitive betrayal of the authoritarian government, joining WLF that same day. When we cut to the present day, Isaac wields a pan in an interrogation scene that makes the audience want to see more of the conflict between WLF and the Seraphites.
In the meantime, Dina and Ellie have an interesting adventure together. They get saved from WLF troops by a bunch of infected—who arrive in enough of a swarm to make for an impressive chase sequence. At this point in the show, however, one can’t help but expect pretty confidently that they function more as a way to deepen Ellie and Dina’s relationship. The audience can tell that it’s too early in their journey for either to die, but it’s compelling enough to watch Ellie explain her immunity to Dina. This also has a good guitar sequence, making for a nice chapter in their love story.
12
“Future Days”
Season 2, Episode 1
The season two premiere benefits from having Joel around, as the tension between him and Ellie is more palpable than the tension between any two other characters in the rest of the season. We can see that the past five years haven’t been ideal for the pair, which feels like a very realistic way to develop their relationship after the season one finale. Whether Ellie knows what he did is unclear, but there are clearly some things they need to work out. It also certainly fits Joel’s personality to have a therapist who’s drinking on the job.
As for Abby, Kaitlyn Dever carries enough rage to make us believe that she and her former Firefly group will somehow be able to track Joel down. This is also a good way to set up this season’s motif of revenge. There’s also the discovery of a new kind of infected that stalks instead of running blindly at people, a chilling development that makes this world even more intimidating.
11
“When We Are in Need”
Season 1, Episode 8
“When We Are in Need” leads up very nicely to the season one finale. Ellie finds herself in the grip of a leader who is extremely dangerous, while a recovered Joel does everything he can to rescue her. It’s interesting to see that he technically doesn’t; she gets herself out of danger, but that doesn’t make their reunion any less powerful. When Joel comforts her in the wake of a terribly traumatic event, he calls her “baby girl” the way he called his own daughter in the season premiere. Their father-daughter connection is locked in.
The only quibbles would be with just how David (Scott Shepherd) feels a bit too evil sometimes to suspend disbelief: a cannibal combined with a pedophile is a bit much. On the other hand, he does encapsulate the darkest section of the human soul, something that the season has slowly been building towards in terms of whom Joel and Ellie have encountered. But his attempt to sexually assault Ellie in the middle of a burning building just feels unrealistic; it seems like there’s too much smoke for either of them to survive if they stayed there any longer.
10
“Please Hold to My Hand”
Season 1, Episode 4
The fourth episode of season one works as a splendid build-up to the next episode. We’re introduced to the conflict in Kansas City, where a resistance group is understandably on the hunt for a man named Henry (Lamar Johnson). There’s also something happening underneath the ground, but leader Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) is so focused on finding her target that she puts it off for later.
Perhaps the highlight of this episode, however, would be the introduction of Ellie’s joke book. It’s called No Pun Intended, Volume 2 Too, and it adds some delightful levity to Ellie and Joel’s surroundings. Even better than the puns would be just how much joy Ellie gets out of them, and better than that is her ability to actually make Joel laugh when she tells him the diarrhea one in the middle of the night. Along with that magazine part in the car, this episode has some of the show’s best bonding moments between them.
9
“Kin”
Season 1, Episode 6
Fans weren’t waiting for this reunion for as long as Joel, but it’s still very satisfying to witness. “Kin” sees Joel finally making his way back to his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna). This was always the more important stop than the final stop on this journey across the country, but that’s going to change. Things aren’t as peachy as Joel might have pictured. It turns out that Tommy never sent word to his brother on purpose, and Joel’s need to be a protector is definitely hurt by that.
Jackson is a nice town, but it’s only a brief haven for the pair. Before they inevitably leave, though, Joel seems to be having an existential crisis. He doesn’t have the same confidence to protect as he used to, and it’s moving to see him tell his brother that he’s too afraid to take Ellie the rest of the way. It doesn’t really make sense that Tommy would be willing to take Ellie the rest of the way, since Maria would definitely have something to say about that. It also feels very obvious that Joel is going to be there to take Ellie in the morning. Still, though, this is still an important step in Joel and Ellie’s relationship, and it’s moving to watch.
8
“Infected”
Season 1, Episode 2
The second episode of the series keeps up the pace, starting in Indonesia circa 2003. This introduction compellingly shows the audience the beginnings of the virus, and how scary it was for scientists to study. There is apparently no possibility for a vaccine or treatment. The expert’s solution to this problem is so extreme that it helps the audience understand just how helpless the situation is. Back in the present, Ellie explains to Tess (Anna Torv) and Joel that she’s meant to be a source for a cure—another intense conversation.
Joel and Tess take Ellie through a museum to try and get through Boston safely, but they encounter a few clickers along the way. It’s tense, reminiscent of the great Steven Spielberg movies where characters have to quietly navigate past monsters that are really close by. The ending is tragic, a sad but intriguing finish that ensures that the guy who didn’t want to take Ellie at all has become committed to a journey that will be much longer than he anticipated.
7
“Left Behind”
Season 1, Episode 7
Joel was injured in the final moments of “Kin,” and “Left Behind” shows Ellie trying to take care of him. That doesn’t take up the bulk of the runtime, though. The lack of present action makes for an opportune time to have another flashback episode, except one that’s more linear than episode three. This gives us some much-wanted backstory for Ellie, who had a friend named Riley (Storm Reid) who’s apparently not around anymore.
This episode explores the end of their relationship, which was complicated by Riley running away to become a Firefly while Ellie was having trouble in her FEDRA school. Riley suddenly appears and takes Ellie on an exciting evening through an abandoned mall. These two kids have great chemistry, and it’s very endearing to watch them have fun. Their ride on the merry-go-round is one of Ellie’s best scenes in the series, though that could probably be said for a few more scenes here, too. In the end, it’s a heartbreaking episode that helps us feel for Ellie even more.