Last Night's The Last Of Us Episode Was A Well-Deserved Reset

Christopher Khoury. Shutterstock Images.

(This recap contains spoilers for episode 3 of The Last Of Us. Be warned.)

After everything that happened last week, last night's The Last of Us episode almost seemed to exist so we (and them) could catch our breaths. It was a well-deserved reset that I also thought was pretty well done. I wouldn't want most (or even a few) of the episodes in a season to be like this but the three month time jump was a good decision and all the characters seems true to who they are.

My favorite thing was the odd pacing and story beats. It lent itself to an odd feeling of dread for the last ten minutes or so of the show because you could never tell how or when the episode was going to end. Between the amazing scenery during Ellie and Dina's trip to Seattle and a guy in the Space Needle, the final minutes of the episode were the best.

While this was as good of an episode as can be expected, it did nothing to soothe my fears that this show is in big trouble without Pedro Pascal. Every time we get Tough Guy Ellie, it's ridiculous. I understand that this character would be tough compared to people in our world, but it's not like these other survivors haven't gone through Hell. In what world is a small-framed 19 year old girl this much of a badass to other grown adults? This isn't an attack on Bella Ramsey (who did a nice job with her speech to the townspeople of Jackson). It's more how the role is written. She doesn't need to be Rambo.

I hope we see more of those interesting scarred faced people. I thought it was an interesting dramatic turn to show them quickly only to kill them off before the episode was over. It definitely left you wanting to know a lot more about these people. 

I didn't love the "Wolves" we saw at the end of the episode. They tried to make the Wolves seem like this threatening army while they instead looked like baristas going to a Starbucks work function. This show has a brutal disconnect with what an intimidating person acts or looks like. I understand the thought process that in the apocalypse, everyone is a threat but there are also still going to be actual tough people in this world.

I also liked how the town didn't decide to send people along with Ellie on her revenge tour. It made sense from a storytelling perspective (I don't think a group of 16 mostly randos traveling makes for good TV) but also a logical one. That one woman who spoke up saying how no one would be left to defend the town if they get attacked again made all the sense in the world.

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This was a good hour of television. But my concerns really do remain about the future of the show. I don't care that much about Ellie and Dina's will they/won't they relationship. The Wolves don't seem like this threatening force the show wants is to think they are. Also, if they are out of Jackson, that does remove the only other connections we have through a season and a half of television. But would they just not use that giant (and what must be very expensive) set?

This was a nice episode to set things up after last week's brilliant show. I just don't know if you can have more of these in a row.

SEASON 2

Episode 3: B

Episode 2: A

Episode 1: B-