I would like to thank the writers of The Last of Us for writing an episode specifically for me. I’m very touched they would go to all the trouble of researching puns and finding the perfect moments to insert said puns into the story. I truly feel seen. That being said, that’s… my job? So maybe stay in your lane? But again, I appreciate the gesture.
The puns weren’t the only thing I loved about this episode. For a short lil’ guy, it carried a lot of narrative weight. Our adorable, grumpy, borderline psychotic duo are bonding! And they’re stuck amidst some kind of interdepartmental squabble! And now they’ve been caught unawares by some fugitives (presumably). Oh, and the neighborhood has a basement zit that’s about to pop, which is a fun development.
You guys, this is not one of my dumb captions that didn’t really happen-Ellie actually said “pew pew” while holding herself at gunpoint in the mirror. This girl is an adorable, hilarious potential sociopath and I love her so much.
The beginning of the episode was as if the writers and producers were like, “sorry not sorry about last week, here is a solid ten minutes of absolutely delightful grumpy bonding.” They stopped for gas, Ellie shared some puns she found in a joke book (😍🤡🥰🍦), they had a sing-a-long to Hank Williams, peeped at some gay porn, and roasted marshmallows in the woods (and Joel stayed up all night to protect her, which is FINE, I’m sure this relationship won’t destroy me).
We got some backstory on Tommy: boy watched a LOT of CW shows and wanted to be the one to carry someone in slow motion in the rain. First he joined the army, came back disillusioned and haunted (great first step to being a sexy CW hero, imo), then when the world ended, joined up with more questionable save-the-world-maybe groups.
Is Fun Uncle Tommy the endpoint of this season? Like, is he the princess who’s in another castle? I thought we’d have a lot more of him by now, and I miss him. I swear to Grayskull, if they show up only to find out he ALSO committed suicide with his beautiful life partner, I WILL RIOT.
Anyway, after Joel assured Ellie that he doesn’t care about her as a person (LOL, sure pal), and that he’s only fulfilling a promise, they came upon some plot.
Wha-oh! The road was blocked in a totally normal way and not at all on purpose, which meant our Pessimistic Pair had to go through the town.
And he was right! It was all a ruse, resulting in evasive maneuvers that crashed them into a laundromat, just in time for a gun fight!
This fellow was pretty peeved that Joel had killed the entirety of his boy-scout group, and was very nearly successful in taking out his frustrations on Joel’s windpipe. But then our girl stepped in with her stolen gun and shot him (right in the spine, gross touch). He then immediately changed tactics, offering them friendship bracelets made out of knives or something, but Joel ain’t no fool, so he told Ellie to scram and then sent this dude to the big ol’ tumble-dry in the sky.
I truly loved that even though she saved his life, Joel was still annoyed that she’d taken the gun. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, PLEASE DON’T HURT MY FEELINGS WITH THIS RELATIONSHIP.
Meet Kathleen! I have no idea what her deal is and I’m into it. Girl is half neighbourhood watch, three fifths mean girl, two thirds The Governer, and 100% INTRIGUING. She seems to be in charge of a rag-tag group of rebels who overthrew Fedra and are now casually running a dictatorship of chaos. She’s also a wee bit obsessed with a man named Henry who spread a rumour about her brother one time. After being informed of the death of her minions, she believed him to be responsible (even though it it was obviously the work of a very grumpy Bodyguard-Dad!)
In the brief respite they took from sneak-escaping (sneakscaping?), Joel made sure to check in with Ellie’s feelings about initiating a murder. She assured him that hurting people is old hat, and they got back to scurrying about.
WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING, I love this so much. Is the underground fungus phone tree bursting through the basement??? I love that they basically just shrugged like, “Mondays, ammiright?” They have bigger fish to fry than an undulating basement!
Meanwhile, our Crotetchy Couple made it up a bunch of stairs, had another deep dive into morality, poured broken glass on the floor for some ambiance, and settled in for the evening.
The way this show has inserted this relationship into my heart should be illegal. The Last of Us should be sent straight to jail. This was nothing short of magic. Ellie told another amazing pun and they both broke down into actual GIGGLES, and then my heart exploded and now my heart-goop is just sloshing around my body like a slushy on a roller-coaster.
Hello Henry (I assume) and Sam (I assume)! I’m guessing these two will not shoot our Dastardly Duo, and instead will join forces to form a Surly Squad.
What did you guys think? Is your heart still smarting from last week? Are you pumped for all the new challenges (opportunities for success) presenting themselves?
It seems our intrepid heroes have stumbled into one of those “we overthrew the evil fascists and then became the evil fascists” situations. Clearly Kathleen was NOT keen on Fedra after they beat her brother to death, and thus got rid of them (good for her!). Buuuuuuuut girl is also a paranoid micro-manager, so it seems her gated community is having regrets.
It’s a murky moral mess and I am very ready.
SOME STUFF
- We need to talk about the way Joel said “yeah,” after Ellie asked if she could ask him a serious question. This man was READY for some big talks. Between that, insisting she not look at gay porn, getting uncomfortable at the idea of explaining sex stuff, staying up all night to protect her while camping, the emotional check-in, and the gun safety lesson, this man simply cannot stop Dadding.
- I keep harping on about how this show is world-building, but I’m honestly blown away (it’s really GROWING on me, heh heh). But for real, the shots of them driving by tanks and abandoned cars, the explanations about gas, the charred piles of bodies… just, well done (and very gross).
- Um, spoiler warning from 2001?
- Remember in episode one when I was like, “hey, this show has a laugh or two!” You guys, this show is an absolute chuckle-factory?!? Between “This is my second day in a fucking car, man,” and “Put it in your bag, you’ll shoot your ass off,” I was legit giggling.
- Joel being sore for the rest of the episode following his tussle was such a small thing, but so important. It bugs me in action shows and movies when the hero goes through a whole thing and then is just walking around like normal. It takes me hours to recover if I look at something too fast, and you’re telling me this guy isn’t even limping after jumping off a building?
- Anyone else have a crush on Melanie Lynskey since Detroit Rock City?? Or were you more a Heavenly Creatures crusher?
THAT’S IT FROM ME, THANKS FOR COMING OUT I APPRECIATE YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE!
Toni Watches 