So, for one last time, let’s dive on in.
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOTH THE SHOW AND THE GAME SERIES IT IS BASED ON.
ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE DISCUSSIONS OF SUICIDE BELOW.
yo READ ON AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
And, did I get those things?
As previously announced, here she is playing Ellie’s mother, Anna.
Ah-ha, so that is who is in the bump!
Oh, there is also the small fact Anna is in labour.
Her waters have broken and, boy, is she feeling those contractions.
As a mother, I can only imagine how incredibly stressful this situation must have been for Anna.
Alone, in mortal peril and with no pain relief.
She finally overcomes the infected by stabbing it with her switchblade.
However, despite her best efforts, Anna is bitten in the struggle.
Anna quickly uses her switchblade to cut the umbilical cord, and picks up her child.
As her baby cries, Anna looks at her newborn with pride and love.
They find Anna, who is holding both Ellie and her switchblade to her neck.
Marlene sees Anna is infected, and apologies.
Take care of Ellie in Boston, and kill her (Anna, not Ellie).
She hands the newborn Ellie over to another member of the Fireflies, asking them to cover her ears.
She then returns to the room Anna is in, and shoots her as Ellie begins to cry.
Marlene then takes Ellie in her arms.
However, we never hear exactly how Anna died.
After this heartbreaking introduction to the finale, we are then brought back to the present day.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the first item on my episode wishlist can be checked off.
When Joel finally catches up with Ellie, she is with a giraffe.
Oh, my heart.
Yes, she has been depressed, but she is resolute in her end goal.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey both do a brilliant job of capturing the importance of this scene.
Joel looks on with such love as Ellie smiles and giggles while feeding the giraffe.
It is a beautiful, peaceful moment of innocence and parental affection.
When looking out over the herd of giraffes, Joel asks Ellie if it is everything she hoped for.
“It’s got its ups and downs, but you could’t deny that view,” Ellie replies.
Joel then tells Ellie they don’t have to go on any further.
They can turn back, and return to Jackson.
They can be a family.
“We don’t have to do this,” he tells her.
After all I’ve done…" she reflects.
“There’s no halfway with this.
There is hope in both of the characters' words.
As the duo continue on their way through Salt Lake City, they come across an abandoned medical camp.
As in the game, Joel remembers the time he was a patient at one of them.
The scar on his head is from where he flinched when firing the gun.
It was after the outbreak, and he had lost Sarah.
He had no reason to live.
“Time heals all wounds,” she states.
Joel then tells her it wasn’t time that healed him, before giving Ellie a meaningful look.
Ellie is his surrogate daughter, and he loves her deeply.
The scene then cuts to Joel coming to in the Salt Lake City hospital, and Marlene.
Marlene reveals Ellie is being prepped for surgery.
The Firefly doctors believe they can find a cure for the cordyceps.
And, here, we find out just why Ellie is immune.
Joel realises, however, that cordyceps grows inside the brain.
Marlene refuses, and tells Joel she is sorry and understands how he is feeling.
Marlene talks about Ellie’s birth and her promise to Anna.
“I have no other choice,” Marlene explains.
She also gives them Ellie’s switchblade to eventually give to Joel.
And, just like the game, Joel soon makes a decision that will affect the rest of humanity.
He has already lost one daughter, he will not lose another one.
He leaves scores of dead in his wake, just as he does in the game.
The show plays this slaughtering out to some rather haunting music, adding a melancholy to Joel’s actions.
Not the action itself (more on that in a moment), but the actual execution of it.
Regardless, with his path to Ellie now clear, Joel makes his way to the surgical theatre.
As in the game, Joel kills the surgeon about to operate on Ellie (who is unconscious).
He then orders the nurses to unhook Ellie from the theatre’s equipment.
There is no hesitation - Joel has one focus, and it is her.
As he makes his way towards the car, he is met by Marlene.
She holds him at gunpoint, telling him he has the chance to change his mind.
“We can still find a way,” she tells Joel.
We then see Joel driving through the country, and at first it seems he is alone.
However, he is not - he has Ellie with him.
As she comes to, she is confused.
He lies to Ellie.
As such, they’ve stopped looking.
He then tells Ellie the Fireflies were all killed by raiders, and they were lucky to escape.
When Ellie asks if Marlene is ok, Joel can not bring himself to answer her question.
Instead, he tells Ellie he is taking them “home”.
As Ellie rolls over in the back of the car, he apologises.
He then shoots Marlene again, killing her.
During their hike, Joel talks to Ellie about Sarah, commenting that they would have liked each other.
Joel and Ellie then crest a hill, and see Jackson in the valley ahead of them.
As Joel sets off again, Ellie stops him.
She then recalls the time she got bitten by the infected.
This is the first time Ellie tells Joel about Riley.
Ellie then reflects on the others who have died along the way, such as Tess and Sam.
He swears it is, and series one ends with Ellie looking uncertainly at Joel.
“Okay,” she says, despite there still being an element of doubt in her voice.
And with that, the credits begin to roll on series one (check number three).
As I said, this was more or less shot one for one from the game.
Was Joel right to do what he did, and then lie to Ellie about it?
However, the lies he tells her make me deeply uncomfortable.
As a whole, I have generally enjoyed this adaptation of The Last of Us.
On that note, I also loved how the games' original cast were included in this adaptation.
I think this pretty much sums up my feelings of series one.
kindly do not get me wrong, I fully understand not everything can be included.
