HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Episode 3 Review - Embarking on a Journey of Revenge

The Last of Us yields interesting results whenever it deviates from the path of the video game and goes in a new direction. The first season gave us a tragic gay romance, and this third episode of the second season colors Ellie's grief with more sharpness, more affliction. During the episode's beginning, when Ellie wakes up in the hospital, she's hit by the haunting memory of Joel's death, which gives rise to an intense cry of anguish. It's a stunning moment. You feel the character's pain like a sting—sharp, searing, tangible. Joel's demise makes Ellie realize that life is transient, which is why she constantly says thank you to Dina. In the hospital, she tells Gail that the last time she spoke to Joel was during the New Year's Eve dance (she basically told him to fuck off). When Ellie got home, Joel was on the porch, but she didn't talk to him - and now, she regrets that decision. This confession comes out of her mouth with an air of nonchalance, as if Ellie has long forgiven and forgotten everything and has moved on (the episode quickly jumps ahead three months). But after a few minutes, when Ellie is done talking to Gail about her trauma, her face hardens, and it becomes clear she has not yet moved on.

The wounds are still fresh, and Ellie wants revenge. In the game, Ellie picks up all the necessary items and goes to Seattle with Dina to hunt down and kill Abby and her friends. In the show, we first sit down at a council meeting where the people of Jackson discuss and vote on whether resources should be spent on tracking Joel's killers. Before the meeting, Ellie reminds Tommy that if he had been the victim, Joel would have been halfway to Seattle. "He'd be halfway to Seattle to save my life. But when we lost people, no," Tommy replies. Jesse, on the other hand, advises Ellie to gather her thoughts and write them down on paper before speaking in front of the council members. This is how Ellie starts: "I normally don't write things down because I normally don't think before I talk, which has gotten me in trouble before, a lot, and it's cost me in ways that sometimes couldn't be undone." How's that for an opener? You can't help but chuckle at Ellie's acceptance of her flaws, and it's nice to see that, amidst all the gloom, Episode 3 manages to find a place for a little bit of humor.  I mean, the meeting opens with a man who talks about the benefits of growing corn.

On their way to Seattle, Ellie and Dina come across many corpses. In an earlier scene, we see these people whistling, walking, and trying to locate shelter. There is a little girl in the crowd who provides the scene with a layer of cuteness, and later, when Ellie and Dina see her body, one of them vomits while the other is left shocked. But what about that mysterious symbol? What does it mean? Well, Ellie and Dina will have first to handle a well-equipped army to find answers - and also justice for Joel's death.

Final Score- [7.5/10]