The Last Of Us Brings Joel Back For Season 2's Best (And Most Heartbreaking) Episode — Read Recap
YOU: The most emotionally wrecking episode of The Last of Us Season 2 has to be the hour in which Pedro Pascal's Joel is killed.
THE LAST OF US WRITERS: Hold my Cordyceps.
Pascal is in nearly every scene in Episode 6, which flashes back to several of Ellie's recent birthdays and gives viewers a satisfying dose of the relationship that was so central to Season 1. It's wonderful to see him and Bella Ramsey together again, the snippets of their life as a family filling in the spaces between their dangerous Season 1 road trip and their cool distance at the start of Season 2. It also makes everything hurt more, particularly in light of the conversation they have on the porch near the end of the episode.
Read on for the highlights of this week's episode.
MEET PAPA MILLER | The entire episode is composed of flashbacks, though the first one isn't about Ellie at all. In 1983 Austin, Texas, a young Tommy freaks out that his father is "going to beat the s—t out of me" for being involved in some ridiculousness regarding buying pot. Joel reassures his little brother that he'll take the punishment, and sends him to his room. When their father, comes home, we see that a) he's a cop, and b) he's played by Better Call Saul's Tony Dalton.
The senior Miller is very angry, but he gets two beers from the fridge and puts one in front of his older son. He talks about how, when he stole a candy bar as a kid, his father hit him so hard it broke his jaw. "OK, yeah, I've hit you, and I've hit Tommy, but never like that. Not even close," he says, tears gathering in his eyes as he monologues about trying to do a little better than his father did. "When it's your turn," he says before he heads back to work, "I hope you do a little better than me." And in case you weren't paying attention here, don't worry AT ALL: The point will be driven home with the subtlety of a ball-peen hammer later in the hour.
ELLIE TURNS 15 | Next thing we know, we're at the bar in Jackson. Seth is working there, and Joel brings a plastic freezer bag full of LEGOs, which Seth's grandkids will love, to trade. We learn that Seth was a cop in the Before Times, and though it's not immediately clear what Joel is looking for in return, Seth asks him a crucial question: "Vanilla or chocolate? Say 'vanilla,' it's easier." A resigned Joel says vanilla.
At home, Joel is working on a guitar for Ellie. He puts a ton of attention into the work, even engraving a moth into the neck. Just as he's finishing, he hears Tommy yelling for him as he walks a loopy Ellie up to her bedroom. "Painkillers. She's all right," Tommy tells Joel, who has immediately clicked into panic mode. Ellie was on kitchen duty by herself when she decided to push her forearm — aka the site of her bite scar from the infected — up against a scalding pot. "I was like, 'Here we go,' and then I f—king went," she explains, out of it from the drugs. (Side note: Ramsey's woozy line readings here are funny, and even funnier when juxtaposed with Pascal's Joel, who is ready to go punch that pot in its stupid face.)
She futzes with the bandage, which makes the wound hurt more, and her weak cries of pain bring Joel instantly to her side. "Easy, baby girl, easy," he comforts her, and you guys KNOW what that term of endearment from this man does to me.
Ellie grows sad as she explains that she just wanted to wear short sleeves again, and she's sorry for the trouble she's caused. He hushes her, and she leans up against him as he pulls her close and kisses her head. Gah, we are only 10 minutes in, and I am soggy toast.
The next morning, she comes downstairs to find Joel grumbling over a cake that reads "Happy 15th Birthday, Eli." Ha! "Let's hope Seth bakes better than he spells," he says as he turns to get knife... and by the time he's turned back, Ellie has already shoved a fistful of cake into her mouth. "He does," she mumbles. "It's really good."
Joel then makes her close her eyes while he brings out the guitar. He's never dadded so hard as he dads when he talks about the drill he used to engrave the neck; it's sweet. He talks about giving her a lesson later, but she demands a song now. And because it's her birthday, he gets over his initial hesitation and sits down to play "Future Days" by Pearl Jam. Ellie listens, looking so happy, and says, "Well, that didn't suck" when he finishes. Then he tells her that he understands why she did what she did to her arm.
"Happy birthday, kiddo," he says, and Ellie comes as close to beaming as she is able.
ELLIE TURNS 16 | A year later, as Joel and Ellie hike through the forest, she lobbies him to finally let her go out on patrol. She reasons that Jesse was 16 when he started, and that leads Joel to tease her about liking the teen. "I've seen the way you look at him. I've got a keen eye for these sort of things," he says, completely serious as all of us die laughing. "I... don't think you do," she deadpans. You can almost see the moment Joel thinks, "OK, I guess I've got to do this now" and asks her if anyone's talked to her about the birds and the bees. "Oh, you mean dicks and vaginas?" she asks loudly, and Joel is OUT OF HIS ELEMENT. The conversation ends pretty quickly after that.
They arrive in a clearing that unexpectedly has a dinosaur statue, which excites Ellie to no end. She clambers up to the top of the T-Rex's head and sees that there's a museum nearby. They go inside; we learn that Joel found the place a while back but was saving it for "a special day." Aww. Her eyes go wide when she sees a model of the solar system. (Side note: If you have time, go back and watch Joel watching Ellie as she delights in all of the space stuff around her. Perfection.) She's shocked that the model actually moves when you crank it. "Someone must've greased it," he says. I say again: Aww.
When Ellie wonders aloud what it was like to be up among the stars, Joel asks her "Would you like to? Go to space?" Then he ushers her to the Apollo 15 capsule that is part of the museum's collection, a real spacecraft from a 1971 mission to the moon. He encourages her to break a case and pick out a helmet, so she does, then she climbs into the capsule. Joel follows her in.
But he's not done yet! He hands her a cassette that "took a mighty effort to find." She pops it into her portable player, and we hear a recording of a blastoff into space. Ellie closes her eyes and imagines she's there. It's the longest we've ever seen her this happy, and it's a beautiful thing. "Are you OK?" Joel asks, concerned. It's probably the longest he's ever seen her this happy, too. "Are you kidding me?" she shoots back, all smiled. Guys, he's so happy he made her happy!
As they walk home at dusk, Joel remarks, "This is nice. We should do this more." But just then, she stops, and her entire demeanor changes. He notes the abrupt change and wonders if she's OK. But she says yes and starts walking again, and things seem back to normal.
When the camera pans over to show us what caught Ellie's attention, we see a cloud of fireflies sparkling in the approaching darkness.
ELLIE TURNS 17 | A year after that, Seth has worked on his copy-editing skills, and the cake that Joel brings home reads "Happy 17th Birthday Ellie." When he hears giggles from Ellie's room, he busts in and finds her canoodling with Kat, the woman we met on patrol in the first episode. Kat also was tattooing over Ellie's burn.
Joel is really angry. "So, all the teenage s—t all at once, huh?" he yells once Kat is gone. "Drugs and tattoos and sex and experimenting with girls?" Ellie yells back that it was neither sex nor an experiment, but he dismisses her. "We'll discuss this later when you're yourself," he says, slamming the door as he leaves.
That night, she tries to move out to the garage. Joel stops her, and they argue some more, but he acknowledges that maybe she should have her own space; he volunteers to fix up the garage for her. Things are awkward between them, but he's trying. Her tattoo is a moth, and he asks why she likes them so much. She mumbles something about it being symbolic. "Oh, yeah, like change and growing and such." Oh JOEL.
The next day, Joel accosts Gail at the diner for help. She flatly tells him that, in dreams, moths signify death. And as Ellie packs up her room, we see "You have a greater purpose" written among the moths she's doodled.
ELLIE TURNS 19 | Two years later, Ellie sits on her bed and practices asking Joel all the questions that have been swirling in her mind for years. "How did the same Fireflies who spotted us a mile away from the hospital get surprised by an entire group of raiders?" and "If the raiders could kill all those soldiers and Marlene, and you had to carry me the whole time, how did we get away?" and "If there are dozens of immune people, why hasn't anyone heard [of them]?" She's interrupted by Joel, who's there with her birthday present: He's given the patrol permission to add Ellie to their ranks.
She and he patrol together, where he suggests that they spend more time together. Her "yeah" in response is pretty lackluster, and he clocks it. Then a call comes in over the radio, and he tries to send Ellie home. She counters that she's not his kid, she's his patrol partner, and she wants to stay. So she does.
They find Eugene (played by The Sopranos' Joe Pantoliano), Gail's husband, who took down an infected but got bit in the process. Looks like we're about to find out what Gail was talking about in the season premiere!
Eugene reasons that they have an hour, so he'd like to go back to the gate surrounding Jackson so he can say goodbye to his wife. Joel gently but firmly says no. Ellie is more sympathetic, reasoning that he's not yet symptomatic, which indicates that they can fulfill his last wish. Joel instructs her to bring the horses down the trail, and he'll walk with Eugene on the way back. At one point, she looks back at her surrogate dad questioningly. "I promise," he says.
He breaks that promise. When Joel has Eugene in front of a beautiful vista, the bitten man begs Joel not to shoot him, because he needs Gail's comfort as he dies. Joel offers to pass along any last words. And then, though we don't watch, Joel kills him. (Side note: To me, there's something that passes over Eugene's face after he takes off his glasses that seems like his transition to mushroom head is beginning. My co-workers disagree. Thoughts? Shout 'em out in the comments.)
"Ellie, I had no choice," Joel pleads as they bring Eugene's wrapped body back to town. She's crying, but he can't see her face. She says nothing. When they return to Jackson, Tommy brings Gail to where Eugene is laid out on the ground. Joel tells Gail that her husband was brave, said he loved her and ended it all himself. "That's not what happened," Ellie says, seething as Gail sobs onto Joel's shoulder. "He begged to see you. He had time. Joel promised to take him to you. He promised us both. Joel shot him in the head."
Gail slaps Joel and tells him to get away from her. Joel, who looks stricken by what I'm sure he sees as a betrayal, stares at Ellie. "You SWORE," she says, then takes off.
THE NEW YEAR'S EVE WE DIDN'T SEE | Nine months later, we're back at the New Year's Eve dance, only we're watching it from Joel's perspective. When Tommy leaves to bring his sleepy son home, Maria revisits her and Joel's conversation about refugees. She reaffirms that she's very grateful for everything he's done. "What I'm trying to say is, Uncle Grumpy is family," she says. "And family helps each other out, if they need it." The warm moment is interrupted, though, by Seth being a drunk and homophobic ass. We all know how that went.
Remember how Ellie told Gail she didn't talk to Joel later that night? That was a lie. He's sitting on the porch with her guitar when she comes home. She walks past him without saying anything, which clearly hurts him, but then she comes back and stands next to him on the porch. They both look out into the yard as she says she doesn't want him interfering with her personal or patrol life anymore; he agrees. He asks about Dina, and Ellie quickly says their kiss didn't mean anything. "She'd be lucky to have you," he says quietly.
The kind words set her off, giving her the fire to rip into the conversation she's been wanting to have with him for years. "You lied to me. You looked me in the eyes and you lied, and it was the same face, the same f–kin' look," she says, and Lord help me, because Joel ALREADY has tears in his eyes. "I think I knew already. I knew this whole time," she continues. "So I'm going to give you one last chance: Tell me what happened with the Fireflies. If you lie to me again, we're done."
It's important to note here that Joel is so overcome that he can't speak, he can only nod or shake his head as she asks him questions. He confirms that there were no raiders or other immune people. "Could they have made a cure?" He nods, his face so close to crumbling. Ellie is crying, too, but she wipes her tears away. He nods in confirmation that he killed the doctor and Marlene, but he finds his voice to say, "Making a cure would've killed you."
Ellie sees it differently. "Then I was supposed to die!" she yells. "My life would've f–king MATTERED. But you took that from me. You took that from everyone!" He agrees with her, acknowledging that by doing so, he's likely to lose her forever. "But if somehow I had a second chance at that moment, I would do it all over again," he says.
"Because you're selfish," she tosses back.
"Because I love you," he says, Pascal somehow working a tiny moan-sob in here that makes the sentiment ache even more, "in a way you can't understand. Maybe you never will. But if that day should come, if you should ever have one of your own, well then, I hope you do a little better than me." His voice is all high and trembly, he's full-on crying, and I truly think this might kill ME.
"I don't think I can forgive you for this," she says, and he closes his eyes as he waits for the emotional kill shot. It doesn't come. "But I would like to try," she finishes, and he quickly looks at her: This is not what he was expecting.
And that's all we get of the Joel and Ellie Show: Throwback Edition. In the hour's final scene, we see Ellie return to the theater in Seattle in the rain after having pulverized Nora.
Now it's your turn. Next week is the finale! Are you ready? Hit the comments with all of your Last of Us-related thoughts!