The Last of Us finale recap – what a brutal, sadistic triumph of television

The following episode contains spoilers for the The Last of Us finale. Please do not read unless you have seen episodes one to nine.

How about that? A perfect ending to a near flawless series.

Of course, I’ve been wrong before: I thought episode eight was pretty special, too, but if the comments here were anything to go by, David’s cannibal party split the audience. There were those who shared my view and those who felt it was too obvious, too gory and just not as good as The Walking Dead.

It’s a bold prediction, but I don’t think there’ll be as many complaints about the finale, which, I think, paid off just about everything that has been set up by Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) on their epic journey. And it did it all in good time – I’m one those of annoying people who played and loved the game, so knew what was coming. I stated after episode seven that I wasn’t sure how all the remaining storyline was going to be crammed in, but it was. Further proof, if it were needed, that Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann knew exactly what they were doing.

To the flashback …

When a child is born

What an opening scene. We began with Anna (Ashley Johnson), somehow managing to run through woods and fields, while in labour, to an abandoned farmhouse. As she barricaded herself in and positioned herself on the floor, the infected that had been in pursuit burst through the door. Between contractions, she managed to hold off the monster, reach for her knife and kill it. It all happened so fast, and no sooner had the shrieks stopped than a rather more magical kind of screaming struck up. A baby – Ellie.

We then saw that Anna had been bitten during the attack. She told Marlene (Merle Dandridge) that the bite happened after Ellie was born and the umbilical cord had been cut. That wasn’t quite true – we clearly saw the cord cut after Anna noticed the bite. It’s more than a little white lie. Regardless, it could be the secret to Ellie’s immunity.

Marlene’s arrival was a clever twist. Back in episode two, Tess (Anna Torv) asked Ellie what Marlene had been doing with an “infected kid”. Now we know their link goes back way further than we thought. And Marlene’s promise to Anna all those years ago adds another devastating layer to the final scene at the hospital. Marlene had been prepared to do what Joel wouldn’t, despite having told her best friend, right before she shot her, that she would take care of her daughter.

Time for a game

When we first saw Joel and Ellie out on the highway, Joel was waving a can of Chef Boyardee’s Beefaroni and trying to engage Ellie in a spot of Boggle – board games and out-of-date tinned food, surely the key to any teenager’s heart. She was completely despondent, which was understandable given her experience with David a few months ago. (The events at the Silver Lake resort took place in January, I think, and this is April.) He continued to try his best, talking about trying to find a guitar and making uncharacteristic small talk.

Ellie did eventually smile – the power of the giraffe for you. This was a beautiful moment, allowing the characters to step out of their horrific circumstances to enjoy something pure. And, if you watched Joel during that scene, he wasn’t looking at the giraffe, but gazing adoringly at Ellie. Hats off to Pedro Pascal. In the years leading up to this series, there were all sorts of rumours about other actors considered for the part – Josh Brolin, Hugh Jackman, Mahershala Ali, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Bernthal, and many more. My choice was always Nikolaj-Coster Waldau. Now I’ve seen Pascal, I can’t imagine anyone else being so perfect in the role.

After that tender moment, Joel asked a huge question. “So … is it everything you hoped for?”

“It’s got its ups and downs, but you can’t deny that view,” came Ellie’s droll response. And then a flash of horror swept across Joel’s face, knowing they had almost reached their destination. “After all we’ve been through? Everything I’ve done? It can’t be for nothing,” was all the reassurance he needed to go the last few steps. She once again outlined their plans for the future, saying she would go wherever Joel wanted when it was all over. That kind of future planning normally spells disaster, and but for Joel’s jaw-dropping intervention, it would have done here, too.

If, at this point, you were on the verge of tears, the next scene might well have pushed you over the edge, as Joel told Ellie how he had tried to kill himself in the days after Sarah died. “Time heals all wounds, I guess?” Ellie offered, searching for the moral of the story. But, no, countered Joel. “It wasn’t time that did it.” What an absolute gut-punch.

After waking in the hospital following the Firefly ambush, it was quickly laid out to Joel what was going to happen to Ellie. The doctor would harvest the part of her brain that contained the secret to her immunity, reproduce those chemical messengers and manufacture them for mass distribution.

Operator, please

From the moment Marlene said, “If he tries anything, shoot him”, the countdown was on to Joel trying something. It took him about 70 seconds to take care of the two Firefly escorts, take their guns and begin his assault on the hospital. About six minutes later, he was walking out of the operating theatre with Ellie in his arms. I counted 13 kills but more were implied. And then he reached the car park, where Marlene was waiting.

The way this final showdown was intercut with Ellie waking up on the back seat of the car was fantastic. In fact, the whole shootout was so powerful and shot in such a way as to lessen the impact of what was happening. Joel never became the villain, despite carrying out such a bloody, brutal and sadistic act. He killed Fireflies who had surrendered, he calmly stabbed another when he ran out of bullets. But he did it all for his little girl, the one he could save. He was acting out of love and out of vengeance. This was perhaps what he wished he’d done the night Sarah was killed instead of putting his hands up while a soldier aimed a gun at him and his daughter. He had had 20 years to live with that – there was no way he was going to let it happen again, even if a cure for humanity was on the line.

“You can’t keep her safe for ever,” said Marlene, as she appeared from behind a pillar. “It’s not too late, even after what you’ve done. We can still find a way.”

No thanks. We’re off to Tommy’s commune. They’ve got bacon and Christmas trees. As they hiked the last part of the way, Joel talked about Sarah in a way he never has before, telling Ellie all about her and imagining just how the two girls would have liked each other.

Just as he was sharing, Ellie decided to open up, too, finally telling Joel about Riley. She was offering up her story as exchange – her truth in exchange for Joel’s. And he blew it. Expect repercussions.

Overall

Joel looked absolutely rocked when he realised Ellie wouldn’t make it through the medical procedure. Fair, but it did raise a few questions. First, what did he and Ellie think was going to happen? A quick blood test? Second, how would a vaccine even work? It would definitely be handy to be immune from this brand of cordyceps, but there’s no vaccine for being ripped to shreds. And society has collapsed – how would immunity solve that?

Then there are the bigger questions posed by Joel’s actions. His motivations were clear – he lost one daughter, he wasn’t about to lose another – but what price would you pay to save the world? Would Ellie’s sacrifice have been worth it if a successful vaccine was created and things started getting back to normal. Perhaps that is another valid point: what was so special about the world before, anyway? Why would anyone want to get back to it?

Of course, there’s no guarantee any vaccine derived from Ellie would even work and that may have guided Joel, too. Even Marlene said the doctor only thought it could be a cure. What if he was wrong? Why take the chance when the only sure thing in the whole equation is Joel and Ellie’s relationship?

The biggest question of all, though, is what Ellie is going to do when she finds out what happened at the hospital. He looked her in the face and lied, which harks back to something Tommy’s wife, Maria, said in episode six: “Be careful who you put your faith in. The only people who can betray us are the ones we trust.” Thankfully, series two will be here in a year or so to answer all those questions and more. Hope to see you then.

Notes and observations

• Ellie’s mother, Anna, was played by Ashley Johnson, who plays Ellie in the games, a role for which she won two Baftas. She has also provided voices in series such as Ben 10, Teen Titans and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and appeared in many films including What Women Want and Much Ado About Nothing.

• Just as in the games, the giraffes show that there is still innocence in the world, despite the horrors.

• One of the nurses in the operating theatre was played by Laura Bailey, who played Abby in The Last of Us Pt II.

• Chef Boyardee’s Beefaroni was going to be used in an episode of Seinfeld, but after a request from the company, the name of the product was removed. In The Rye, an episode from season seven, Kramer feeds his horse excessive amounts of “Beef-a-reeno” – giving it a terrible case of flatulence.

Did the series end as you hoped? Will Joel and Ellie find a warm welcome at Tommy’s place in Wyoming? Have your say below and, please, no spoilers from the second game …