(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
Being immune doesn’t mean Ellie (Bella Ramsey) can’t die in one of the innumerable other ways humans can inflict pain—like bullets and arrows, or being hanged and disemboweled. But her unique medical condition does come in handy when yet another cordyceps danger presents itself on The Last of Us.
Seattle continues to throw up dangerous obstacles that emphasize how this virus adapts over time, such as the intelligent infected like the one Ellie encountered in the Season 2 premiere, and airborne spores that are a new addition to the menu. You don’t need to get bitten to succumb to the parasitic fungus.
Ellie and Dina (Isabela Merced) started this quest to find and kill Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) by slipping out of Jackson at night. Yes, they are experienced and skilled fighters, but woefully unprepared against an army of the living and undead. It is another outing with tense standoffs and seemingly impossible odds.
But Ellie and Dina aren’t alone, and the arrival of Jesse (Young Mazino) is welcome, as it was impossible to imagine how the pair would escape the “big f---ing something” without him. I don’t always love the “guy comes in to save the day” narrative, but Ellie’s immunity does make her cavalier when coming up against the impossible.
Dina admits that Ellie being a little crazy is one of the reasons she loves her, even if it almost gets her killed.
Of course, this isn’t to say that Ellie isn’t thinking about Dina or Dina’s pregnancy. Yet agreeing to use only knives or run away (because bullets will attract both human and infected attention) never felt like a real option.
Sure enough, they have to shoot their guns. It is immediately concerning that the Wolves don’t follow the fleeing trio into a park. More infected? Nope, this is where the Scars are spilling literal blood and guts in their ongoing conflict against the Wolves. The Jackson trio becomes the Scars’ new targets after witnessing a live-action version of the dead Wolves that Ellie and Dina saw with their intestines on display last week.
In the melee, an arrow hits Dina in the thigh, and Jesse carries his ex-girlfriend, hopefully, to safety, and to rendezvous with Tommy (Gabriel Luna), who also came on this unsanctioned rescue attempt.
Ellie ends up alone in Wolf territory, and her petite stature allows her to slip into another small hole. It hasn’t gone according to plan (does it ever?), but Ellie has found her way into the hospital. Perhaps luck is on Ellie’s side because she locates Nora (Tati Gabrielle), who was part of Abby’s Joel (Pedro Pascal) hunting crew, and Ellie’s ticket to revenge.
Okay, it isn’t as easy as that, as Nora isn’t going to give up her friend in the blink of an eye. Joel’s screams still haunt Nora, but she doesn’t regret that he is dead, using this moment to throw chemicals at Ellie and sound the intruder alarm.
Ellie gives chase, dodging the bullets and objects thrown her way. Nora knows the layout, which should put her at an advantage. However, she ends up in a ward that has been blocked with Ellie close behind. Nora has minimal options, prying open the elevator door as her only means of escape. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Nora falls to the floor marked B2. The level would look innocuous enough if it hadn’t been for the opening scene.
Episode 5 opens with a Wolf superior, Haneraton (Alanna Ubach), checking in with Elsie Park (Hettienne Park) about the recent deaths of a patrol unit sent to clear the basement levels. The patrol expected the worst because it is a ripe environment for a cluster or horde. Instead, B1 was empty.
A different squad went to B2, where they found cordyceps on the walls and floors. Squadron leader Leon struggled to breathe when he radioed with a status report. However, it wasn’t a typical case of getting bitten. Elsie determined the spores were in the basement air but not the vents because no one else was sick.
To protect the rest of the population, Elsie made an impossible decision to lock the doors to B1 and B2, with Leon telling her to seal the patrol in, including him. It is even more devastating to learn that Leon is Elsie’s son. In this case, a parent was part of a decision to sacrifice their child to preserve a valuable medical resource (in this case, the hospital), which is something Joel could not do.
It all comes full circle because Ellie follows Nora down to B2 and encounters a thriving mushroom landscape unlike she (or we) have previously seen. It is stunning in that ‘nature that can also kill you’ way, and the mushrooms are growing out of the still-breathing men and women. It is a beautiful nightmare reminiscent of Hannibal, which did have a mushroom episode (and Last of Us guest star Park had an equally memorable death on the Bryan Fuller adaptation).
Spores shimmer in the air, which would be pretty if it weren’t so perilous. Well, perilous to everyone but Ellie. The teenager cranks up the drama by turning on the emergency lights that bathe the whole place in red. If anyone was unclear about what emotion Ellie is feeling, then this color scheme underscores the rage.
“You stupid b---h,” Nora says, thinking that they are both damned. Ellie revels in her gift with zero fear that someone else will find out. Nora realizes the “immune girl” isn’t just a story or a myth. However, Ellie doesn’t want to chit-chat and instead asks where Abby is. Ellie emphasizes that she doesn’t care what Joel did, so Nora reveals the ugly truth.
“I know,” says Ellie. These two words will always make me think of Harrison Ford in The Empire Strikes Back; in this case, it is Ellie saying she still loves Joel. It is confirmation (not a surprise) that Ellie found out Joel’s deep, dark secret at some point in the five-year time jump, and in his death, she has forgiven him.
What Ellie does next is take a page from the Abby torture handbook, picking up a pipe and using it to break Nora’s leg. When Nora refuses to spill Abby’s location, Ellie hits her again. Earlier, Dina revealed who her first kill was to highlight that she understands why Ellie needs to avenge Joel. It is this thread that ties Ellie to Abby, with both women seeking to spill blood for a dead father.
To cut from Ellie bathed in red light enacting violence to a sun-dappled bedroom in the past is like whiplash. When Joel says, “Hey, kiddo,” it feels like we have seen a ghost. Seeing delight on Ellie’s face at Joel’s presence is equally odd. Buckle up: it looks like that flashback episode is coming!
