The Last of Us Episode 2 Review
Credit to: Naughty Dog, Sony and HBOThis Got So Creepy So Quick
Welcome back, y’all! This time around, we’re taking a look at The Last of Us episode 2! I’d like to apologize for the day late post, we were going through some technical difficulties, but it’s all good cause we’re back, and I know you all are too, and that’s what matters most. Anyway, I’m really excited to be talking about this episode, because it’s yet another banger. More great acting, more crazy scenes, and more backstory to the zombie outbreak. But let me not waste any more time. Without any further ado, let’s just jump right into it.
Pros
It feels like everything I loved about the first episode made its way here to the second episode. We continue our adventure with Joel, Ellie and Tess, where we see the three of them develop together as characters, specifically Joel and Ellie. Not exactly friends, especially after Joel and Tess find out about Ellie’s interesting backstory, but we see them tolerate each other a bit more. Ellie is still not used to the outside world, especially not to the different types of Infected that exist in the universe, as she’s only heard rumors and read books on the world. I love how we as the audience can basically place ourselves in the perspective of Ellie, because she’s very unfamiliar with everything. Well, if you’ve played the video game, then you’re very well educated on the series, but with this live action series having its own ideas on the zombie outbreak, specifically with the idea of the cordyceps fungal infection being the new cause of the apocalypse, then yeah, we’re just as clueless as Ellie. While some people still prefer the idea of spores (which isn’t out of the question according to the showrunner Craig Mazin), I don’t see the big issue with the change, especially after understanding the way the Infected themselves function. One wrong step, and you essentially wake up the entire beehive, which is actually terrifying to see when things start to get crazy in this episode. Joel and Tess are streetwise to this, because they’ve lived through it since the beginning. We as the audience haven’t seen their past encounters, but the level of caution they have, and the close observation of the world around them shows how seasoned they are. The two make it very clear that it’s not just the infected that they need to be cautious of, but also the cause of infection itself. We see tendrils rooting from underneath the ground, wrapping around destroyed buildings, lifting up parts of the streets, and wrapping itself around the dead. Maybe I’ll catch some flak for this, but seeing this as a fungus instead of just spores is a little more unnerving, as it’s quite literally forcing itself onto the world as a brand new, infectious ecosystem. That’s really scary.
Let me cut away from all of that for a moment. My absolute favorite part, and I do mean very favorite part of the entire episode, is the beginning. I won’t say too much, but I have to say that nothing made the hairs on my arms raise more than seeing a college educated individual, a professor of mycology, which is someone who’s spent their entire life studying fungi, becoming absolutely hopeless after personally studying a deceased, infected subject. Seeing the fungus move from within the deceased person’s mouth, and seeing the absolute fear and confusion take over the professor was just terrifying. As an average person, we’d look to someone who knows more than ourselves to educate and reassure us that everything’s going to be okay. We’re curious creatures by nature. We’ll always have questions. So what happens when we look to someone who should have the answer, and they don’t? What happens when they’re just as clueless as you are or myself? Fear. That fear takes over. The thing about a cordyceps fungal infection is that it actually does exist in the real world. Look up ‘zombie ants’, or ‘zombie insects’, and you’ll see for yourself. It might not terrify you, but you’ll immediately start to wonder whether or not that can happen to us. No, it can’t, because the temperature in our bodies are too high for a fungal infection like that to survive. But the whole premise of this show is, “What if?” What if it could happen? We see that question raised in the beginning of the premiere to this series, and it perfectly sets the tone, and that question of “What if?” is answered in this terrible reality. This reality, which has even the most educated people wondering to themselves, “How can this be?” That, is what terrifies me.
To close this out, there’s one last thing I want to bring up: the introduction of the new Infected type. For fans of the video game, you know what I’m talking about. For those who are new, please watch the show. These guys are absolutely disgusting to look at, and especially hear. The clicking noises are there, the gross, sharp movements, the slow walking, all of it is just creepy. The scene that introduces them is absolutely amazing, let me just say. Of course, you’d want to be careful and stealthy regardless, but with this new type of Infected, every movement absolutely has to be slow and steady. One wrong step, and that’s one bad day.
Cons
This episode was an absolute banger as I said in the introduction, and I absolutely loved it from beginning to end, but I will admit that this episode was a liiittle bit slow. There wasn’t a whole lot of progress made, which is understandable when the trio of characters reach the area they were supposed to in the first place, spoilers, but I do still feel like we could’ve seen a little bit more action from the Infected. It’s not a huge issue, not even a big issue, but it is still something that I personally feel. Other than that one little issue, I have no problem with this episode, it truly was fantastic.
Final Thoughts
The proof is in the pudding, y’all. This series is off to an amazing start, and I don’t see that changing up whatsoever. I don’t want to jinx that, but the more you watch, the better it gets. This series is honestly a big ‘thank you’ to the fans of the video game. It’s a love note. You can tell that the people involved, whether it’s the showrunner, the actors, the directors, or even the extras, they care about this project. You can tell that they know how important this series is, and they didn’t want to mess it up. They absolutely have knocked this show out of the park, man. I truly can’t wait for the next episode so I can talk more about it. But what did you all think? Let us know on Instagram, and make sure you follow us there to stay up to date on the latest and greatest entertainment news and reviews. But that’s all from me, this has been The Wolf Den!
