The Last of Us

Before I embark on the season finale of The Last of Us I want to talk about how I feel about the season so far. From the start I was a little queasy because I really hate gross things, and zombie stories are really not my thing. However the show did such an incredible job of making the story so character focused that you kind of forget that it is a zombie story. The first few episodes still had quite a few gross scenes that caused me to turn away. That said the story had me from the start. The dynamic between Joel and Ellie, Tessa’s whole existence (I am still bitter), Bill and Frank…all of the side stories and world building were so well done that I truly am invested in every second of it. The show really maintained its tone throughout, which seems to be a rare find these days. A lot of shows now seem to end in an extremely different tone then they started in, and it's very jarring. But The Last of Us has done an incredible job of keeping the tone it started with. Now the season finale will do a lot, first of all it can completely make or break a show. As with final seasons, if finales are bad they really taint the entire viewing experience. If they’re good then we get the pleasure of adding the project to the perfect storytelling hall of fame. It's also going to give us a little insight into what might be coming next season. So here we go, all of my thoughts on The Last of Us season finale.

So we start off with getting a vague explanation as to how Ellie has an immunity to the disease. Her mother gets bit after she’s born but while the umbilical cord is still attached. The funny part of that scene was 30 seconds before I saw it, I was saying that I wanted some explanation as to how Ellie is immune. I got what I wanted and I also liked how it was delivered. It was easily explainable and it didn’t take up too much time doing so.

Joel is the best dad! They both spend so much time denying their relationship but when he says he wants to teach her how to play guitar I want to actually cry. He is trying so hard to make her laugh and make her feel safe but she has gone through so much in such a short period of time.

“And when we’re done we’ll go wherever you want…I’ll follow you wherever you go”, they are the sweetest father daughter relationship ever and it physically hurts. Ellie wants to fulfill her purpose, finish their mission, and then she wants to live a quiet life with her adopted father. And then Joel opens up to her about wanting to end things after Sarah died…I’ve had a similar conversation with my father so it really turned my stomach.

As soon as Marlene told Joel that they were going to murder Ellie for a possible “cure” I knew he was about to murder a hospital full of Fireflies and I couldn’t be happier. Also fuck Marlene for having the audacity to cry like she actually cares about Ellie. Her dying was the highlight of my season.

Then Joel tells her a little dad fairytale and I love that for him, I think telling her that there are more like her but that they couldn’t find a way to make a cure was definitely the right thing. Ellie was never going to have any rest, or peace with the Fireflies alive and Joel did what he had to do to protect his little girl.

The Fireflies wanted to murder a child for the POSSIBILITY of the cure they had no certainty, and therefor fuck them. Joel’s decision to protect her was the right one. And the show is incredible till the end.