The following review contains spoilers for Episode 8 of The Last of Us.
The penultimate episode of The Last of Us has arrived, and it is perhaps the most stress-inducing and terrifying one so far. After last week’s episode, it was already known that this episode would see Ellie trying to help an injured Joel, and the challenges she faces across the way are unexpected. However, the way she handles the entire situation is impressive, and it is a treat for viewers to see how far she has come into her personal growth over the course of the series.
It is imperative to repeat at this point that The Last of Us is a character-driven story, and this week’s entire episode focuses on Ellie’s development. She was once a young girl who was obsessed with guns, but has now grown up enough to hunt, trade with an unknown group of people, and take care of an injured Joel, all while maintaining her composure. Bella Ramsey’s performance as Ellie in this episode is phenomenal, as she reveals the different layers of the protagonist over the hour-long episode. Seeing Ellie single-handedly manage the dire situation in this week’s episode is a reflection of the great writing behind the HBO series.
Towards the beginning of this week’s episode of The Last of Us, Ellie is seen hunting a deer. Viewers will remember that this is the same young girl who couldn’t even manage to shoot a stationary target when practicing with Joel a few weeks ago. However, considering the situation, and in order to provide a meal for herself and a possibly dying Joel, she will go to any extent. On this path, however, she unfortunately meets a few hunters, David and James, and things go downhill from there.
The HBO series has been fairly violence-free so far. However, this episode of The Last of Us changes things up and accelerates the violence in the series two folds. From hunting animals to stabbing humans, this week’s hour-long episode features multiple violent sequences. It begins when Ellie first hunts down a deer, and the camera focuses on the dead animal for several seconds. It is a reminder of how death plays an important role in the series so far. But, things get much more violent once she gets captured by the hunters, who later turn out to be cannibals.
This week’s episode of The Last of Us showcases how quickly humanity can descend into corruption and brutality as it introduces David, the leader of what is evidently some kind of cult, who also happens to be a cannibalistic paedophile. His words, preachings, and actions are all shrouded in darkness, and he works as a truly terrifying antagonist against the teenage Ellie. However, his introduction also brings forth the protagonist’s “violent heart,” as David puts it, and the amount of blood and gore in the episode quickly rises.
The sequence where Joel finally gains consciousness and goes on a stabbing spree to find Ellie is a gruesome one, which isn’t for the faintest of hearts. The first hunter that approaches him gets stabbed in the neck, and the intense moment is captured almost in slow motion, as the man struggles to breath all while blood oozes out of his wound, mouth, and eyes. The second individual gets a stab in the knee, and Joel threatens to “knock off his knee cap,” while torturing him for information. The final hunter gets hit with an iron pipe in the head, but the camera doesn’t capture the action. This sequence was necessary to remind viewers that Pedro Pascal's Joel isn't going soft, but instead is the same man who didn't blink twice when discarding a child's corpse into the fire. It also shows that he will protect Ellie by any means.
The violence continues from Ellie’s perspective, as she struggles to escape David’s prison. She first breaks his finger in an attempt to steal the prison keys, and receives a rather unpleasant nose bleed in return. When David and his ally James are on the verge of murdering Ellie, she grabs the machete, stabs James in the neck, and runs off, with the camera panning towards the dying man. Finally, when it comes time to kill the leader David, Ellie first stabs him with a kitchen knife, and later hacks off his face with the same machete. The final action, however, isn’t shown, but the sound of the sharp knife meeting human flesh is enough to garner a physical reaction from viewers. The way the entire momentum is captured is a reminder of the brilliant cinematography of the HBO series, something that it has succeeded in since the premiere episode.
At this moment, Ellie truly grows up. When she shoots somebody in Episode 4 of The Last of Us, she is almost in shock after. However, this week sees her literally fighting for her life, and killing multiple people in the process. She isn’t the same person she was just a few weeks ago, and her journey with Joel has changed her to become stronger over time. The little shred of innocence that remained in Ellie dies with David, and as she murders him, it almost feels like she is getting rid of all the pent-up anger that she has endured over the years while she watched her loved ones either die or leave.
On its own, this episode is both terrifying and a delight to watch. Seeing Ellie grow up within the hour of television is captivating, and watching her go up against an entire group that wants her dead reminds viewers of the phrase, “where there is a will, there is a way.” It is refreshing to see that Ellie isn’t a damsel in distress, who needs Joel to save her, but instead is capable of fighting her own battles.
With only one episode remaining, it would be interesting to see how far Joel and Ellie go in their journey and whether the series will have them reach their final destination or leave off at a cliffhanger. No matter what happens, it is evident at this point that Joel and Ellie are inseparable. David refers to Joel as Ellie’s father multiple times in the episode, and towards the end, when the two reunite, Joel is heard saying, “I got you baby girl.” Their father-daughter bond has already been formed over the past few episodes, and whether this season ends with them finding their purpose or simply wandering around, the duo will be sticking together for a long, long time.
The Last of Us is now streaming on HBO Max.