To be honest, Episode 1 of The Last of Us was a bit boring. I figured it was basically a pilot telling a story I already knew, but on a five star rating system I’d probably give it a three. is much better.
It opened in Jakarta on September 24, 2003. A woman, Ibu Ratna, professor of mycology at the University of Indonesia, was detained by serious-looking military authorities and taken to what was believed to be a hospital. There, Ratona inspects her corpse. The corpse has bad bites on her leg and her mouth is full of still-moving mycelium.
Compared to the first episode’s intro (the talk show bit), I thought this was much stronger. apocalyptic fungal infection To viewers who might have just been prepping for another zombie TV show. Here, we know what’s going on, and his opening sequence coasts along, conveying terror and melancholy all the way through. By the time the professor realized the scope of the problem, only about 15 infected people were missing. She said to the soldier: Bombing started. Bomb this city and everyone in it. Ratona, clearly aware of her problem, asks her to come home and spend the rest of her time with her family.
(this is Craig Mazin Professional by the way. If you like this “scientist confronting an overwhelming, inhumane disaster in front of bureaucrats” vibe, then there’s good news for Mazin’s previous show, “Chernobyl.” )
Ellie wakes up to find Joel and Tess watching over her. They interrogate her and find out that her destination is Firefly’s military base and that her miraculous survival may help manufacture a cure. He says he doesn’t want any part of it.
This scene has a nice production. Ellie is sitting under a beam of light, with tufts of grass and flowers sprouting around her. Joel, on the other hand, is in the dark. And as the scene progresses, Tess comes out of the darkness with Joel and ends up right in the middle of the two of them. . Meanwhile, Tess’ belief in everything she thought she knew about the infection is also shaken. Tess finds a compromise and the adventure continues. Ellie may not be who the Fireflies think she is, but by delivering Ellie she can get what the adults need: a battery for her car. increase.
Outside, the group comes across a crater. “Is this where they bombed?” Ellie asks. Yes, says Tess. We know that most big cities have been hit like this. But it’s not clear if it worked everywhere else, or what “worked” means. A little later, Tess and Joel exchange worried looks when Ellie mentions zombies that use echolocation.
Back to back, there are two one-on-one conversations between Ellie and Tess or Joel. (This is known as juxtaposition.) Tess comments that Ellie is a weird kid, but she clearly warms to her. Talking about Taka (she gives one of the answers that feels like she’s omitting something, perhaps we’ll revisit this in a later episode). Ellie talks about breaking into the restricted area of the quarantine zone. It’s Tess and Joel’s bread and butter. After all, they are smugglers.
Joel and Ellie struggle to find common ground. Rather, their dynamic is shaped differently than Tess and Ellie’s. Move to save from scare. That’s the point of Joel’s column. But Ellie isn’t ready to converse with a man she knows she’s ever considered killing herself. She’s wise, and the only heart-to-heart interaction the two have back and forth is about killing the infected. Does Joel feel bad for killing them knowing they were once human? Ellie asks? Sometimes Joel says.
Taken together, these two conversations form an interesting impression of the trio. They almost… look like family? Hope nothing bad happens!
There are obstacles on the way to the Capitol. It is a mass of infected people seen from the roof of the hotel. Now let’s learn a little more about the rules of the world. As a patch of light passes over the zombies, you see them writhe in unison in a wave-like motion. Tess explains that they are connected. When you step on a patch of cordyceps in one location, underground fungal connections alert cordyceps elsewhere, like tripwires.
Seeing that route closed, the group decided to go through the museum. There is a walkway on the roof that brings them closer. The facade of the museum is covered in fungal growth, but Joel tests it with a rifle butt and declares it completely dry. I think.But as they enter, Ellie comes across a body in appearance very recently death. And it looks worse than other victims. Joel and Tess are visibly shaken by the state of the corpse. However, for the trio’s purposes, the only exit is through.
Silence is the key word here. Remember Ellie talking about zombies using echolocation? As the group reaches the second floor, the ceiling behind them caves in, blocking their exit. The commotion also attracts two zombies. Joel informs Ellie that these infected are invisible and move around based on sound. (These look like clickers, a type of zombie in the game.) Nausea from Ellie starts one, Joel fights it off, and the second chases Tess and Ellie. , Ellie and Tess split up, and attention turns to Joel, who reunites with Ellie. The camerawork here really heightens the tension: My estimate is that the Infected are more offscreen than onscreen in this sequence, and the tight zoom takes them off our radar. , ends with Joel shooting one zombie and Tess lowering the hatchet on another.
Ellie was bitten again, but shrugged and said,
“Are you okay?” Joel asks Tess. Twisting her ankle, she answers.
Joel goes to bandage Tess’ leg, but is reprimanded when he asks her if the second bite will actually infect Ellie. She wants him to look on the bright side. Maybe just once, she says, they can actually win. something crosses his face.
As the group approaches the state capitol, they see a truck. It’s empty and there’s a corpse nearby. A trail of blood continues indoors. Tess rushes back indoors, but finds more bodies. Joel determines that one was bitten and the healthy fought the sick. For him, this means the adventure is over and it’s time to go home. But Tess insists. Joel needs to take Ellie to her destination. Ellie figures it out before Joel does. Tess is infected.
Her hands tremble and her voice trembles as she asks Joel to promise to take Ellie to Bill and Frank. (For the record, we still don’t know who Bill and Frank are, but those of you who have played “The Last of Us” may have some idea of what the story is there. No.) Tess pleads with Joel to tell him she never asked him to feel the way he felt. Tess and Joel get along well enough. But the point here is that Tess has found something akin to post-apocalyptic normalcy: love. It seems that Joel never did. At least he never admitted it.
As this scene unfolds, Joel is rooted in place, silently nodding and shaking his head. Suddenly, one of the corpses comes to life, making the world Joel comfortable again. He straddles with authority and shoots the zombie in the head. We then see tendrils fluttering between the corpse’s fingers. The underground mycelium that Tess spoke of earlier is activated, and a nearby horde of zombies awakens.
Save those who can be saved, Tess tells Joel. So he grabs Ellie and carries her out of her building, leaving Tess behind.
Tess, intent on blowing up the arriving zombies, turns a barrel of gasoline upwards and begins to scatter around the grenades. attracted the attention of a wise zombie (he has recognizable facial features, including one eye). In probably my least favorite sequence in the show so far, Zombie plants a smacker full of tendrils on Tess. It’s a cursed mirror image of her recognition and intimacy that Tess wanted from Joel.I’ll cover that scene in a little more detail in another article). As the mycelium gets into her mouth, we see the lighter finally flame out.
From Ellie and Joel’s vantage point outside, they see an explosion coming from the Capitol and a handful of Infected burning to the ground on their way out of the building. Ellie looks shocked. Meanwhile, Joel’s expression calls into question Tess’ earlier assertions about his feelings for her. Turn away from the Capitol and keep walking.
questions and observations
- This episode is all about Tess. She can envision the future. She wants to know other people. Episode 2 is about her personality refracted from Ellie and Joel and what is revealed about her main character in that light.
- I’ve seen some YouTube videos theorizing that contaminated flour is the cause of the fungal infection. Sarah, Joel, and Tommy avoid all foods containing flour in Episode 1. In this episode, the outbreak stems from a flour and grain factory in Indonesia. It’s an interesting Easter egg if you’re into that sort of thing (though I’m not).
- The intro sequence has a snippet showing an abstracted human face. Similar to cordyceps, fungal growth continues from the forehead. make it real to their insect hosts.
- There was a hoot throughout the show that didn’t contain fungal spores like the game does. Well, if you care about it, Ellie says the word “spore” in like 20 minutes. Eat your heart out. Here’s her Spore Watch of the week. We do not consider this to be a regular segment.
- Frogs play the piano in this episode. A piano, submerged in water and probably untuned for about 20 years, sounds amazingly good. Every piano tuner I’ve spoken to says he needs to be tuned at least once a year. You may have been deceived.
