NERDS REJOICE: The Last Of Us Episode 2 Was A Banger

SPOILERS AHEAD - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

For anyone that’s played the games, you've been waiting for last night's butthole puckering encounter. The debut was fantastic even though it was more of a necessary foundational episode and you were only exposed to the earliest version of Infected (Runners). Now the fun really starts outside of the safe, but highly-militarized walls of the QZ. Last night, in the Freedom Museum of Boston, we were (re)introduced to Clickers. 

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m OBSESSED with the imagery in the game and the show is delivering in a big way to do it justice. Weeds covering the streets and sidewalks, abandoned cars and buildings painted by years of neglect and the elements, wreckage from bombings*, crumbling infrastructure as far as the eye can see. Long gone are the days of walking a few blocks to get to your destination; paths are blocked and Infected are everywhere. 

*I loved how they included the scenes in Indonesia around the time of the outbreak where the mycologist basically said they’d have to bomb the entire city to even try to slow the spread. A sobering scene that wasn’t in the game but drove home just how serious a situation they’re faced with. 

In my opinion the most unnerving version of Infected, Clickers are plum ate up with the crud and can’t see anything from the fungi that’s taken over and replaced their brain/eyeballs/entire face. This results in one hell of a nasty bugger, staggering around making inhuman clicking noises, hence the name. You might think they’re less dangerous since they can’t see, but think again! It’s an addition by subtraction deal: they can hear super good and if you so much as release a queef they’re on you like stink on shit.

This was a tough ending to the episode, and Joel has once against experienced loss. While their primary existence at this point is solely as survivors and that’s the foremost priority, you can easily pick up that Joel and Tess are more than just smuggling partners. It's possible that they may have, at some point, smuggled bodily fluids with each other. I can't confirm this, but they definitely cared about each other beyond their business endeavors. However, over the past two decades in this alternate universe, I think everyone is inherently conditioned not to get too attached to anyone for obvious reasons. Let me take this time to extend a hearty “Rest in Power” to Tess, who was infected and cashed out her death sentence early to buy Joel and Ellie some time. Thankfully she hatched a plan and ended it quickly before the infection got to her brain, simply the best way to go in that scenario. 

You can already see Pedro Pascal’s iteration of Joel starting to soften up to Ellie. When she got spooked in the hotel lobby on the way to rendezvous with the Fireflies, Joel was there. Sure, this is mostly because Ellie is valuable cargo, but she also serves to replace his daughter in a roundabout way. Tess eventually recognized that Ellie’s condition was different, and important, and once her fate was sealed she sought to right some of the wrongs they supposedly committed as black market dealers over the last 20 or so years since the outbreak. It was the ultimate sacrifice and no better way to go out then in a blaze of glory, incinerating a massive horde of infected along with yourself.

It was an exciting episode and even more exciting is the fact that Neil Druckmann and Co. haven’t revealed a whole hell of a lot yet in the way of enemies/danger. There’s plenty more to come, new terrors that will surface and savage enemy factions looking to loot and dispose of anyone that crosses them. I literally can't wait for next Sunday night to see how they continue to bring this masterpiece of a story to life.