The Last Of Us recap: Episode five takes a dark turn
Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in episode five of The Last of Us.
Just when you think the Last Of Us can’t get any darker, it dims the lights once more. This week is perhaps the grimmest serving of post-apocalyptic mushroom-people noir to date. And players of the video game will know that there’s worse yet to come.
Before the heartache, let’s recycle back to the start. Joel and Ellie are camping out in downtown Kansas City when they are awakened by Sam and Henry, brothers on the run from the insurgency which has just overthrown Fedra.
Actually “overthrow” is putting it mildly. In flashback, we see the insurgency dragging the bodies of Fedra troops through the streets. Meanwhile, in a secure lock-up Kathleen, the nice as pie, lethal as cyanide, leader of the revolution is interrogating Fedra informants.
She wants to know Henry’s whereabouts. Snitches are gonna snitch – and one eventually gives up the hideout. He’s bolted up with Edelstein, the doctor whom we know is already dead (killed by Kathleen in episode four). Kathleen has promised the prisoners due process. It’s just a ruse. “When you’re done, burn the bodies - it’s faster,” she tells her number two Perry.
As the corpses smoulder, Sam and Henry are in Edelstein’s loft. Sam, we discover, is deaf. He’s also a frightened nine-year-old who doesn’t understand why the entire city is after him and his brother. Henry tries to
soften the pain by encouraging Sam to plaster their attic hide-out in superhero art.
Ten days later, Edelstein is dead. Henry doesn’t know this for a fact. Still, the doctor is missing, so what else could have happened? This is when Henry sees Joel take down two of the “hunters”. That’s the kind of ally they need. And so they sneak into the building where Joel and Ellie are sleeping – which brings us back up to date.
Henry’s plan is as half-cocked as the gun he waves at Joel. Eventually, Joel agrees to stand down. Henry doesn’t buy it, spooked by the other man’s “weird f**king tone”.
“That’s just the way he is,” says Ellie.
They break bread together and Joel shows he is human after all by sharing food with Sam. He’s not here to make friends though. “You ate. We didn’t kill each other. Let’s call it a win-win and move on.”
How can they move on if they’re surrounded by Kathleen’s goons? Luckily, Henry has a plan. He’s a wanted man. He also knows about the secret tunnels under the city. More than that, he is aware that they’ve been cleared of Infected (Kathleen thinks they’re still swarming with mushroom men).
Joel isn’t delighted at the idea of an alliance. Still, what choice does he have? And so they enter the tunnels, which turn out to have housed a secret community (who presumably fell to the Infected). Away from their pursuers, it’s a chance for Sam and Ellie to bond over a cheesy comic book – with the motto “Endure and Survive” – and game of soccer. Amid the trauma of the zombie armageddon, it’s slightly upsetting to see these kids behave like children once again.
Henry and Joel soften towards each other, too. Finally, Henry shares his origin story. He was a follower of the leader of the resistance. Then Sam got sick and he betrayed a man “he’d follow anywhere” for medicine. Which was bad. Even worse – the man was Kathleen’s brother.
Hence her thirst to take revenge. That’s despite the fact that her lust for vengeance is distracting from more pressing issues – such as all those Infected under the city. Plus, her brother pleaded with her not to take out her rage on Henry.
The Last Of Us throws a curveball here. We expect Perry to agree that her blood feud against Henry is futile. Instead, he backs Kathleen 1000 per cent. “Your brother was a great man. We all loved him,” Perry tells her. “But he didn’t change anything. You did.”
Joel, Ellie, Henry and Sam make it through the tunnels and into the suburbs on the outskirts of KC. Here, Kathleen has installed a sniper who tries to pin them down while her forces scramble. Joel takes him out. Alas, it’s too late. The rebels are here and pin down Ellie, Henry and Sam as Joel watches from the window.
Kathleen throws everything she has at Henry and pals. Unfortunately, it’s a lethal case of overkill. When the insurgents' tank takes a direct hit and crashes, it sets free the Infected hordes hiding underground. This is bad news for everyone – a huge “bloater” Infected rips Perry in two and then Kathleen is taken out by a scary little girl.
Our heroes, though, make it out alive. Or so we think. Then, in a devastating coda, Sam asks Ellie. “If you turn into a monster, is it still you inside?” Why would he want to know such a thing?
Because he’s infected. Ellie tries to heal him with her mushroom-immune blood. But, for all her moxie and street smarts, she’s just a kid and immunity doesn’t work that way.
Sam turns the following morning – and Henry shoots him before turning the gun on himself. Have you started sobbing yet? Because that’s the only logical response at the end of an episode that runs the gamut from devastating to plain heartbreaking.
