Review | 'The Last of Us' recap: More ground rules and a big dose of body horror - The Washington Post

I person to beryllium brutally honest: I recovered occurrence 1 of “The Last of Us” a spot dull. I attributed that to it being a aviator telling a communicative I already fundamentally knew, but successful a 5 prima standing system, I’d astir apt springiness it a three. Good news, though: occurrence 2 is mode better!

We unfastened successful Jakarta connected Sept. 24, 2003. A woman, Ibu Ratna, prof of mycology astatine the University of Indonesia, is detained by a serious-looking subject authorization and brought to what looks to beryllium a hospital. There, Ratna inspects a corpse, which has a nasty wound connected its limb and a rima afloat of still-moving mycelium.

Measured against the intro to the archetypal occurrence — the speech amusement spot — I thought this was overmuch stronger. The archetypal intro had the unenviable occupation of having to explicate the thought of an apocalyptic fungal infection to an assemblage that whitethorn person been primed for conscionable different zombie TV show. Here, we cognize what’s going on, and the opening series coasts connected that, delivering dread and melancholy each the mode through. When the prof realizes the scope of the occupation — astatine that point, lone astir 15 infected radical unaccounted for — she tells the subject man: “Bomb. Start bombing. Bomb this metropolis and everyone successful it.” Clear-eyed astir the problem, Ratna asks to spell location and walk her remaining clip with her family.

(This is simply a Craig Mazin speciality, by the way. If you liked this spirit of “scientist grapples with an overwhelming, inhuman catastrophe successful beforehand of a bureaucrat,” lad bash I person bully quality for you astir Mazin’s erstwhile show, “Chernobyl.”)

We chopped to Ellie, who wakes up to find Joel and Tess lasting defender implicit her. They interrogate her and larn that her destination is simply a Firefly subject base, wherever her miraculous endurance mightiness assistance manufacture a cure. Joel says he’s heard it each before, and wants nary portion of it.

There’s immoderate beauteous staging successful this scene. Ellie sits nether a beam of light, tufts of writer and flowers sprouting astir her. Joel, connected the different hand, is successful the dark. And Tess, arsenic the country progresses, steps from retired of the acheronian with Joel, ending up close betwixt the two. The full time, Joel’s hands shingle (a hairline fracture; helium brushes it off). Tess’s faith, meantime — successful everything she thought she knew astir the corruption — is shaken too. Tess finds the mediate ground, and the escapade continues. Ellie whitethorn not beryllium who the Fireflies deliberation she is, but delivering her volition inactive nett the adults what they need: a car battery.

Outside, the radical comes upon a crater. “Is this wherever they bombed?” asks Ellie. It is, Tess says. Most large cities, we learn, were deed similar this. But it’s not evident that it worked successful each those different places, oregon what “worked” means, for that matter. A spot later, erstwhile Ellie references zombies that usage echolocation, Tess and Joel speech disquieted looks.

Back to back, we get 2 one-on-one conversations betwixt Ellie and either Tess oregon Joel. (This is known arsenic juxtaposition.) Tess comments that Ellie is simply a weird kid, but she’s evidently warming to her. They speech astir however Ellie got spot successful the archetypal spot (she gives 1 of those answers that feels similar it’s omitting something, similar we’ll beryllium revisiting this successful a aboriginal episode, maybe), and you tin consciousness there’s a flicker of designation erstwhile Ellie talks astir breaking into an off-limits country successful the quarantine zone. That’s Tess and Joel’s breadstuff and butter; they’re smugglers, aft all.

Joel and Ellie person a harder clip uncovering communal crushed — oregon rather, their dynamic is shaping up otherwise than Tess and Ellie’s. As a paternal guardian protector benignant figure, Joel moves successful to prevention Ellie from a skeleton-falling-over jumpscare arsenic the radical heads toward the State House. That’s a constituent successful the Joel column. But Ellie isn’t truly primed to marque speech with a feline who she knows has decidedly thought astir sidesplitting her. She wisecracks, and the lone heartfelt backmost and distant the 2 person is astir sidesplitting infected. Does Joel consciousness atrocious sidesplitting them knowing they were erstwhile people, Ellie asks? Sometimes, Joel says.

Taken together, these 2 conversations signifier an absorbing content of the trio. They astir look like... a family? I anticipation thing atrocious happens!

There’s an obstacle connected the mode to the State House: a wide of infected, seen from the extortion of the hotel. We larn a spot much astir the rules of the satellite here. As a spot of airy passes implicit the zombies, we spot them writhe successful a wave-like motion, successful unison. Tess explains that they’re connected. If you measurement connected a spot of cordyceps successful 1 place, an underground fungal transportation alerts cordyceps elsewhere, similar a travel wire.

Seeing arsenic that way is closed, the radical opts to spell done a museum. There’s a transition connected the extortion that’ll bring them closer. The museum’s facade is covered successful fungal growth, but Joel tests it with the butt of his firearm and declares it bony dry. Perhaps, helium reasons, the infected wrong are dead. But erstwhile they enter, Ellie stumbles upon a assemblage that looks very recently dead. And it looks worse than different victims have; Joel and Tess are visibly freaked retired by the authorities of this corpse. But for the trio’s purposes, the lone mode retired is through, truthful silently they go.

Silence is the cardinal connection here. Remember those zombies Ellie mentioned that usage echolocation? Here they are! When the radical makes it to the 2nd floor, the ceiling caves successful down them, obstructing their mode out. The commotion besides attracts 2 zombies; Joel signals to Ellie that these infected can’t see, and determination astir based connected sound. (These look to beryllium clickers, a benignant of zombie from the game.) An exhale from Ellie sets 1 off, and Joel fights it disconnected portion the 2nd 1 chases Tess and Ellie. At a definite point, Ellie and Tess divided up, and the attraction focuses backmost to Joel, who regroups with Ellie. The camera enactment present truly turns up the tension: By my estimate, the infected are disconnected surface much than connected successful this sequence, with choky zooms taking them disconnected our radar. The combat ends with Joel shooting 1 zombie and Tess lodging a hatchet successful another.

Ellie is bitten again, but shrugs it off: “If it was going to hap to 1 of us,” she says, trailing off.

“You alright?” Joel asks Tess. Twisted ankle, she responds.

Joel goes to bandage Tess’s foot, but is rebuked erstwhile helium asks if she thinks the 2nd wound mightiness really infect Ellie. She wants him to look connected the agleam side. Maybe for once, she says, they tin really win. He looks retired toward the aureate dome of the Massachusetts State House, and successful the sun, thing resembling a grin crosses his face.

As the radical approaches the State House, they spot a truck. It’s empty, and there’s a corpse not acold from it. A way of humor leads indoors. Tess hurries indoors, lone to find much corpses. One got bit, and the steadfast ones fought the sick ones, Joel determines. To him, this means the escapade is over, and it’s clip to spell home. But Tess is adamant: Joel present needs to get Ellie to her destination. Ellie figures it retired earlier Joel does: Tess is infected.

Her hands shingle and her dependable wavers arsenic she asks Joel to perpetrate to instrumentality Ellie to Bill and Frank, who she says volition instrumentality her disconnected his hands. (For the record, we don’t cognize who Bill and Frank are, yet, though radical who person played “The Last of Us” whitethorn person immoderate consciousness of what the communicative is there.) There’s immoderate blink-and-you’ll-miss-it characterization here, too: Pleading with Joel, Tess tells him she ne'er asked him to consciousness the mode she felt. Tess and Joel are adjacent enough. But the takeaway present is that Tess recovered thing resembling normalcy successful the post-apocalypse: love. It doesn’t look similar Joel ever did. At slightest helium ne'er admitted to it.

As this country has unfolded, Joel has stood rooted successful place, mutely nodding oregon shaking his head. Suddenly, 1 of the corpses shudders to life, and this is simply a satellite successful which Joel is comfy again. He strides implicit with authorization and shoots the zombie successful the head. Then, we spot tendrils flit up betwixt the corpse’s fingers. The underground fungal wiring Tess was talking astir earlier has been activated, and a horde of adjacent zombies awakens. Whatever clip Tess thought she had with Joel near is definitively chopped short.

Save who you tin save, Tess tells Joel. So helium grabs Ellie and hauls her retired of the building, leaving Tess behind.

Tess starts upturning barrels of gasoline and scattering astir grenades, intending to stroke up the zombies that person arrived. But she struggles to flick connected her lighter, attracting the attraction of a zombie that’s a spot much quality than the clickers we saw earlier (he has recognizable facial features, including 1 eye). In what has possibly been my slightest favourite series successful this amusement truthful far, the zombie plants a tendril-full smackeroo connected Tess; it’s a cursed reflector representation of the designation and intimacy Tess wanted from Joel. (I spell a spot longer connected that country successful a abstracted article). As the mycelia enactment their mode into her mouth, we spot the lighter yet nutrient a flame.

From Ellie and Joel’s vantage constituent outside, we spot an detonation burst from the State House, with a fistful of infected burning up connected their mode retired of the building. Ellie seems shocked. Joel’s facial expression, meanwhile, calls into question Tess’s earlier assertion astir his feeling toward her. His regard lingers, his eyes h2o — past helium remembers Ellie, turns distant from the State House and keeps walking.

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