Warning: spoilers ahead for season 1 

Episode 1 – When You’re Lost in the Darkness 

Immediately after finishing this first episode, people were hooked. What makes this show truly genius is how realistic the disease is and how close it is to happening in our modern world. The show opens on a news show from the 1960s where a scientist is alluding to the danger of cordyceps and how with the threat of the planet warming up they could mutate, something eerily similar to our world today. Later in a time skip to 2003, the year of the outbreak, it’s the day of Joel Miller’s birthday, played by the distinguished Pedro Pascal. I can’t picture anyone else to fill the role of Miller, Pascal emulates the stone-cold stature Miller exudes but he also captures the caringness of Miller seen in later episodes. Miller and his daughter, Sarah played by Nico Parker, are planning Miller’s birthday celebration in the morning and trying to evade the infected at night with the help of Miller’s brother Tommy played by Gabriel Luna. Because going into the show most people know what it’s about and that makes watching the show incredibly stressful and very heart-stopping when Sarah finds her neighbor infected and is chased after. But the visual effects of the chaos outbreak are incredibly insane. The red-orange lighting set a mood of panic but the most incredible effect had to be the plane crashing down in flames. Right before the time skip to 2023 Joel, unfortunately, loses his daughter Sarah when she is shot as well as also gets separated from Tommy. 

Now in 2023 government quarantine zones (QZs) have been established and the Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA) runs them with militaristic power. Joel finds himself in the Boston QZ running contraband such as drugs to FEDRA officers in exchange for ratio cards and with the help of his friend Tess, played by Anna Tov, they are in search of a car battery to leave the QZ and go to Wyoming to find Tommy. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the partnership between Tess and Joel because both of their abrasive and stand-off personalities matched together well but they also took care of each other since they don’t have anyone else which was sweet to see. While trying to get their much-wanted car battery is when they become entangled with schemes from The Fireflies, a rebel group trying to overthrow FEDRA for democracy. Joel and Tess come across injured Firefly leader Marlene, a previous friend of Tommy’s because he was a part of the group, Marlene asks Joel if he would watch over Ellie, a 14 year old girl being held for questioning by Marlene. Personally I love Bella Ramsey as Ellie and don’t understand why she gets hate for the role. I think she perfectly captures the sarcastic toughness yet also curious spirit that represents Ellie. 

Joel and Tess are not happy about having this curious kid hanging out with them but they do it because Marlene promised them weapons if they bring Ellie to the Boston Capitol Building. While planning their escape from the QZ, Ellies inquisitive mind figures out Joel’s radio code that we see its purpose for later in episode 3. She tricks him by saying Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go was playing and watches as Joel reacts stressed. Later in the night Joel, Tess, and Ellie make their way out of the QZ until they are accidentally caught by a FEDRA officer that Joel runs drugs to. He scans them all detecting if they are infected and when he gets to Ellie the detector says she’s sick. Tess freaks out with her iconic “JOEELLLLLL” line and Joel jumps the officer so they can continue their escape. As they continue making their way to the capitol it is revealed that Ellie is immune to the infection and the episode ends with Joel’s radio back in the QZ playing Never Let Me Down Again by Depeche Mode a song from the 80s. Overall this was an incredible first episode that dazzled with the plot writing and visual effects and I think the cast for the show was thoroughly well done and that continues to show in later episodes. If this show masters anything well it’s foreshadowing each episode as bits and pieces that transfer into later episodes for example the radio code, but I think that is what makes this show that was originally a video game so captivating. 

Episode 2 – Infected 

Episode 2 begins similarly to episode 1, with a flashback taking place in Jakarta, Indonesia. We learn that Cordyceps began there, at a flour mill. When the doctor learns about the fungal virus, she’s asked how they can stop the spread, to which she responds “bomb.” This scene is so horrifying when you see that there is no cure, no vaccine, no stopping the infection, and this horror is all conveyed in one simple conversation. The writing on this show already proves its worth at this point, pointing to even better writing as the show goes on.

When the flashback ends, the focus is back on Joel, Tess, and Ellie, who have to make their way through the city of Boston outside of the QZ, which was one of many bombed when “the world ended.” This is reflected in the torn-down structures, the most visually striking being a building that’s fallen and is leaning on another. The city is overgrown and green, ironically bursting with life after humanity has fallen..

Joel and Tess are suspicious of Ellie after discovering she was infected in the last episode, which leads to a funny scene where they eye Ellie’s sandwich from a distance, and we get confirmation of why in Episode 3 (hint: it’s the bread!).

As they walk through the buildings to make their way out, they have to walk through a room that has almost become a swamp, with green water, overgrown foliage and lilypads, old furniture (like a piano), and rotted skeletons. As they make their way through the water, my only thought was why they would do such a thing. In a post-apocalyptic world filled with a deadly fungus, you’d think they would be more aware walking through dirty water like that; wouldn’t the swamp be a home to all sorts of bacteria?

The trio walk through the Bostonian Museum, where they encounter their first Clicker in a suspenseful action sequence. The scene plays just like a video game with the way it’s shot as they battle and hide around display cases to avoid the Infected. At this point, Tess is bitten by the Clicker, and it’s extremely apparent from her mannerisms once they leave the museum. Her realizing she’s been infected almost reinvigorates her after feeling hopeless for so long, and it’s all thanks to Anna Torv’s phenomenal acting. Both Ellie and Tess were bitten, and while hers quickly spreads, Ellie’s is already healing, finally giving Tess hope for a real cure to Cordyceps. In this episode, we also learn how Cordyceps is like a hive mind; just like real fungi in forests, the Cordyceps works together as a network, meaning if you step on or interact with the fungus in any way, it will alert nearby hives. This presents unforeseen dangers for the group when the fungus at the capitol building alerts the hive. Because of her realization, Tess holds back the swarm of Infected to give Joel and Ellie time to escape, making meaning of her life before death.

Episode 3 – Long, Long Time

Even though this episode is mostly a flashback it has to be a fan favorite episode. It starts with Joel and Ellie trekking their way to Bill and Frank’s house, friends of Joel and Tess. During their walk, Ellie questions Joel about the outbreak and what he thinks it started from. He shares how he believes it came from infected flour products as seen in episode 2 but he also reflects back on the outbreak day when he mentions the infected products and hesitantly says pancake mix, which was a brilliant connection to the first episode because Sarah had said they were out of the mix so they couldn’t have Joel’s birthday breakfast therefore they avoided the disease. They later come across a field of ash and bones where Joel explains how it was easier to kill people then take care of them because it prevented the spread and that’s when it flashes back to 2003, 3 days after the outbreak. 

Bill, played by Nick Offerman which many recognize as Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation, is seen hiding in his secret bunker basement stacked with weapons and emergency supplies away from FEDRA officers as they search his house. When the surrounding area is cleared of people Bill emerges from the basement and a delightful montage of him raiding surrounding stores such as home depot is shown while I’m Coming Home to Stay by Fleetwood Mac plays. Bill is a survivalist and thinks it’s better to be alone but that all changes when a man named Frank, falls into one of Bill’s pits that are supposed to stop the infected.  Frank, played by Murray Bartlett, has a cheerful and kind disposition even in the time of an apocalypse, which is also the complete opposite of Bill. Bill hesitantly agrees to let Frank into his home for a meal and a shower and later they bond over Linda Ronstadt’s Long, Long Time played on the piano by Bill. What was supposed to be less than a day together becomes roughly 20 years hence the song Long, Long Time. The love story between Bill and Frank is so beautifully well done and deeply portrays the struggles of loneliness and finding love again or as Bill put it his “purpose.” Although they are totally opposites and bicker occasionally their love runs deep as their comfort and care for each other in the dystopian times. Joel and Tess are also shown in the flashback having a wonderful outdoor lunch with Bill and Frank and also becoming allies with each other. The radio code mentioned in episode 1 is with Bill and Frank, 60s for no new stock, 70s for new stock, and 80s as mentioned for “trouble.” As Bill and Franks lives progress they struggle with old age and Frank experiences medical problems leading them to have a deep talk about Frank wanting Bill to help him overdose. Bill can not accept that fate for Frank and together they have a last meal that sorrowfully parallels the first meal they had together and without his knowledge Bill puts drugs in the wine that they both share over dinner and then they head upstairs spending the last hours of their lives together. The 80s song playing on the radio foreshadows trouble for Joel, Tess, and Ellie but also hints at Bill and Franks death, like potentially because he had passed Bill wasn’t there to reset the radio songs. Even though this episode’s storyline varies drastically from the video game it was a love story that felt personal and one viewers could connect with it also did a wonderful job at showing a different side of the apocalypse experience and felt very empathic but also heartbreaking. 

Episode 4 – Please Hold to My Hand 

Episode 4 finally starts to explore the dynamic between Joel and Ellie through their banter and as they learn to trust each other. At the beginning of the episode, we see more of Ellie’s curiosity for violence as she inspects the gun she stole from Bill and Frank’s house. This is really interesting because it differentiates the two of them; while Joel had to learn violence to survive in the Cordyceps-infested world, Ellie was born into it. While she tries to act older than she is, she’s still a child at the end of the day, so her antics and humor (the joke book she reads from) allows the awkward barrier between her and Joel to begin coming down.

As they continue to drive down an abandoned highway, they reach a blocked path, so, like the video game experience it is, they must take a different route, going through Kansas City. They are instantly put in danger when someone drops a cinder block onto their car from a building, and Joel sees this coming, hinting that he’s probably pulled the same stunt before to survive. They’re forced into a shootout situation, and Joel almost holds them off until a younger boy sneaks up on him. As he strangles Joel on the ground, Ellie pulls out her gun and shoots the teen in the leg, saving Joel. From her face, you can tell she’s taken aback by what she’s done, and it only gets worse when Joel tells her to hide herself so she doesn’t see him put an end to the boy’s life. We begin to see a more violent side of Joel, who feels he has to kill to survive.

The villain of the episode, Kathleen, is introduced, and she’s obviously very unhinged. She’s the leader of a group who, in their QZ, successfully overthrew FEDRA’s control, but we see that they may be just as bad as the organization they took down. Kathleen is someone who has nothing to lose and will kill to get what she wants; She’s looking for a man named Henry to exact revenge for her brother’s death, but when three of her men are killed, she assumes it’s the work of someone working with Henry. So, she begins a hunt for Joel and Ellie.

The rest of the episode shows the duo running from building to building in an attempt to hide from the hunters, and in a heart-to-heart moment, Joel clearly feels bad that he put Ellie, still a child in his eyes, in a position to kill (or attempt to since the bullet didn’t kill the boy), and that he should’ve payed more attention to his surroundings. Ellie tells him that, contrary to what he thinks, it wasn’t her first time shooting someone. After multiple episodes of him refusing to give Ellie a gun, he knows that she clearly needs one for her own protection, and he teaches her how to hold one properly, as in not the way she was taught to in FEDRA school.

The episode cuts back to Kathleen, who is shown a moving crater in the ground by Perry, one of her people, and I immediately knew that there was a swarm of Infected under the ground. She tells Perry to keep the situation quiet for now, highlighting that she can’t be trusted; she isn’t even transparent with her allies.

At the end of the episode, Joel and Ellie climb up 33 floors of a building to hide from the attackers overnight, and as they lay down to get some sleep, they have another heart-to-heart, and when Ellie tells a horrible diarrhea joke, he finally laughs, exposing his softer side as he starts to come around with Ellie. They go to sleep, but later in the night, Joel is quickly awakened by Ellie. They are both held at gunpoint by none other than video game fan-favorites Henry and his little brother Sam, who has a superhero mask painted over his eyes.

Episode 5 – Endure and Survive 

This episode hit every note it needed to for a show like The Last of Us, and it was all thanks to the writing of the show. We meet Henry and his deaf brother Sam, who’ve been hiding out after Henry played a part in Kathleen’s brother’s death. The closeness between them is felt through the entire episode, and the way Henry cares for his little brother and puts his safety first is admirable, especially after he tells the story of how he had to rat out Kathleen’s brother, the leader of the resistance, to FEDRA to get medicine for Sam’s leukemia.

Ellie also has a great arc with Sam in this episode. Even though Sam is deaf, she quickly gets along with him after finding out they both love comics. Having a child around really changes her perspective in this episode because this is the first time we see her acting like one. She has the ability to have fun with Sam, making it a really unique experience for her.

Again, Kathleen is shown to be untrustworthy. The way she keeps people in a cell and threatens them to give up information shows how she is just as inhumane as FEDRA, especially after she gives the order to kill them all even though they did what she wanted. Her reckless behavior leads to her downfall in an explosive third act. When Henry, Sam, Joel and Ellie have almost escaped, Kathleen catches up to them. She had almost won, giving a horrific speech about how children die every day, and with the political climate of the world we live in, it was appalling as a viewer to hear her say how Sam’s life, and innocent child’s life, wasn’t worth saving. While the way Henry got the medicine to help Sam was also horrible, his motivations were justified and spoke to how nobody on the show is a hero or a villain.

After her speech, a swarm of Infected bursts out of the ground and attacks Kathleen’s crew in an explosive sequence that is so well realized with a combination of practical effects, realistic makeup, CGI, and sound. This, of course, is a callback to the moving sinkhole in the last episode that Kathleen wanted to keep secret. It came back to bite her (quite literally), when everybody on her side is killed, and it’s truly poetic when the Infected that kills her is a child; after Kathleen being a predator looking for a child for so long, she’d become the prey. It’s also worth noting that we finally see a Bloater from the video game, which is an Infected that has been alive for so long that it’s had the time to develop. The Bloater is gigantic and so strong, as shown when it easily rips off someone’s head.

The end of the episode had big ramifications for Ellie. Earlier in the episode, Joel and Henry discuss how being an adult means there is someone who relies on you; Sam relies on Henry, and Ellie relies on Joel. Before Sam and Ellie go to bed, Ellie tells him that she’s afraid of ending up alone, which is a valid fear in this world because she’s the only one who’s immune to Cordyceps, meaning she could be The Last of Us. Because Ellie is in a weird place between an adult and a child, she has the mentalities of both, so when Sam tells her he was bitten by a Clicker, she rubs some of her blood on his wound in hopes that it’ll heal him since she’s immune. This child-like mentality clearly doesn’t work, as proven when she wakes up to him having turned. The acting from Bella Ramsey and Keivonn Woodard sold this heartbreaking scene. Sam doesn’t know Ellie is there until she touches him since he’s deaf, and when she does, he pounces at her, pushing both of them into the next room over, where Henry and Joel see what’s going down. In a rush of stopping anyone from getting hurt, Henry is forced to kill his own brother, and faced with what he’s just done, he shoots himself. While watching this, I cried… in just one episode, the show allowed me to form a connection with these characters, and just like that, they were gone. Ellie, in this moment, was stripped of her final moments of childhood, if she wasn’t already, because Sam relied on her when he asked her to stay awake with him when he turned. Ellie let Sam down when she fell asleep. Sam turned into an Infected all alone and with nobody beside him, and Ellie knows she holds some responsibility for that; she didn’t stay awake, and she didn’t tell Henry either, also stripping him from having the chance to say goodbye to his brother. Here, the message the creators intended finally clicked into place; as the episode title claims, it is to “endure and survive.” Because Sam couldn’t survive, Henry couldn’t endure the pain of having to live life without Sam and knowing why. This is reflected in episode 3 as well: when Frank was dying, Bill also took the pill because he couldn’t endure life without his partner. This show is not just about an apocalypse; this show is about relationships and how humanity copes in different ways when faced with such a crisis.

Episode 6 – Kin 

There isn’t a lot in terms of plot advancement that happens in episode 6, but the biggest thing is that Joel is reunited with his brother Tommy, who he finds is married to a woman named Maria and is living in a self-sufficient town free from oppressive governments and Infected. Ellie also learns about Sarah in this episode and how she died. She also gets to experience life as a normal human being, like getting to go to the movie theater.

Joel, in a conversation with Tommy, lets his guard down and tells him he’s afraid, but I think it’s because he won’t allow himself to grieve, or even talk about, the losses of Sarah, of Tess, and even Tommy, who’s thrived without having Joel in his life. Tommy even went so far as to cut off communication with his own brother, and Joel sees that. He also wants Tommy to be the one to get Ellie to the Fireflies because he feels incapable, having become too slow, for example, when he was jumped back in Kansas City and forced Ellie to save him. Ellie hears all of this, so when Joel goes to her to say goodbye, they argue, with Ellie telling him that everyone important in her life has either died or left her. She finds Joel as a sort of mentor to her because she’s been learning from him in their time together, and we see this at the beginning of the episode when she stays awake overnight to protect Joel while sleeping. Joel tells her that she isn’t his daughter, and just by saying that, you begin to realize that all Ellie reminds him of is Sarah, and he doesn’t want to deal with those emotions yet. He has quite a few panic attacks this episode as well, going so far as thinking he sees Sarah in the distance when it’s just another girl.

Ultimately, though, Ellie chooses Joel to take her to the Fireflies, and on their way, they stop at a building to find supplies, where they run into raiders. Joel is jumped once again and is stabbed this time. Thankfully, Ellie gets them out of there (having to save Joel again), but the episode ends with Joel in horrible condition, having fallen unconscious from the wound.

Episode 7 – Left Behind 

Although it’s another flashback episode it is some amazing insight into Ellie’s past and when she got bit. The episode starts with Ellie trying to save Joel from the previous episode’s incident and he tells her to go north to find Tommy and he sees her leave but then the scene cuts to Ellie running laps in the QZ school as Pearl Jam’s all or none plays in her walkman. Ellie is a troublemaker at the school getting into a fight and putting forth no motivation as one might in an apocalypse situation. Later as she’s hanging out in her room, Ellies runaway friend Riley, played by the talented Storm Reid, returns and offers Ellie a night out of the QZ filled with fun and Ellie hesitantly goes along. 

After some sneaking through the night they end up at an abandoned mall something Ellie has never seen or experienced before. Bella Ramsey perfectly portrayed the wonder and amazement that one would have as they experience the wonders of the mall such as the cute and funny moment of her freaking out about escalators or as she called them moving stairs. Another trait Ramsey portrayed well is Ellie’s subtle pining for Riley such as the way she is constantly fixing her hair and as she and Riley are on the carousel together Ellie stares at Riley with almost a face of longingness. Another small detail from the carousel scene that goes unnoticed is that Just like Heaven by The Cure is playing and Ellie is known as the cure because is immune. All is going well for the friends including them sharing a kiss that displays their feelings for each other but Riley confesses to Ellie that the whole night was a goodbye ploy and that Riley has joined The Fireflies and is going to get relocated. Ellie storms off in anger until she rushes back to aid Riley after an awakened infected attack, although the tough girls kill it they unfortunately get bit in the process. After Ellie displays a passionate moment of anger smashing glass and other things to bits the friends come to and decide to spend their last hours alive together in peace. The scene then cuts back to Ellie returning to help Joel and stay by his side instead of following his directions. Another amazing flashback episode but a key staple of the shows plot is when there is happy moments they are immediately followed by heartbreak but seeing Ellies past was a great addition to her character and viewers get a more deep dive into her personality even as she was in the QZ but also as she experienced many first that aren’t typical special things. 

Episode 8 – When We Are in Need 

With a recovering Joel on bed rest, Ellie takes it upon herself to go hunting and provide food. With her shooting practice from Joel, she manages to hit a deer but it quickly flees as she is looking for it, the deer is found first by a pastor named David and his accompanying partner, James. They are confused about the wounded deer and are on the verge of taking it to feed their town members but Ellie sneaks up on them and tells them to back off and to try and get the deer for themselves they offer to trade for medical supplies and for Ellie to return to their town with them for shelter and she decisively declines and says James can get it and return then they will split the deer. David and Jeff are suspicious of Ellie and who she is with as well as Ellie is suspicious of them. Ellie and David stay together as they await James’s return and David tells about how people from his group were sent on a raid and one the member was killed by a “crazy man” traveling with a girl similar to Ellie, it was the group that attacked Joel and Ellie in episode 6. Just as he finishes the story and the eerie music builds James sneaks up on Ellie with a gun but David lets her go in a chance that she will lead them back to Joel. Ellie panicky tries to wake Joel up but heads out in means of keeping them away from Joel, a gun fight eventually ensues as Ellie is found and kidnapped by David’s men. With David’s men still Looking after Joel, he has no other chance than to defend himself which really emphasizes how persistent and strong Joel is. David holds Ellie captive and when he tries to offer her food any and all suspicions about the town’s weirdness are confirmed as Ellie spots a human ear laying on the ground meaning David has been secretly using the town’s dead as food. A gross thought that just makes this episode extremely uncomfortable more than the actually infected themselves. 

Another layer to the creepiness of the episode is the advanced David tried to make toward Ellie as he was holding her captive but in an unsubtle effort to get him to back off she breaks his fingers. When taken out of the prison cell Ellie fights her way free hacking a meat cleaver into Jame’s neck and running away that’s when David chases after her leading to Ellie and David getting into an intense altercation surrounded by flames as the building they are in burns. Ellie eventually frees herself by stabbing David repeatedly leaving no chance for him to survive and as she stumbles out the building in shock she meets up with Joel who literally killed to find her. The two embrace in a hug as Joel comforts Ellie in that fatherly spirit he carries from Sarah. This episode is extremely anxiety arousing and the idea of cannibalism is sickening as well as David’s creepiness toward Ellie but Bella Ramsey did another amazing job playing Ellie but this time captured her murderous rage and need to defend herself that had eyes glued to the screen. Pedro Pascal as mentioned also did a fantastic job portraying Joel’s extreme anger and adrenaline based strength as well as need to protect Ellie and comfort her when the incident is over with. 

Episode 9 – Look for the Light 

An epic final episode for an epic first season. Opening with a woman rushing to a house to give birth and escape an infected, Ashley Johnson, who is the voice actor for Ellie in the video game plays Ellie’s mother who is seen fighting off an infected right as she is about to give birth and she is unfortunately bitten before giving birth to Ellie, hence the theory of Ellie’s immunity. Later into the night Marlene finds the woman and baby Ellie and is asked by Ellie’s mom to take her kid to Boston and kill her and Marlene reluctantly agrees. Flashforward to Joel and Ellie, Ellie is struggling after the incident with David and it’s sad to see because Joel is now warmed up to Ellie and more chatty with her but Ellie is now quiet and is zoning out more than her usual talkative self. Still enroute to the The Firefly hospital base they make a pit stop to canvas the area and end up coming across a zoo where Ellie shares a happy moment feeding a giraffe with Joel. They also share a meaningful exchange about continuing on to the hospital or just heading back to Tommy’s ranch but Ellie insists on continuing or their journeys would all be for nothing. As they continue to the hospital they are ambushed by Fireflies that didn’t know who Ellie and Joel were but they are taken back to Marlene who reveals Ellie is being prepped for brain surgery to extract her immunity, which could potentially make her brain dead, and it’s not something Joel is pleased about.

Joel is being escorted out of the hospital but once again in a moment of rage and need to protect Ellie he goes into a laser-focused killing spree through the hospital taking down anyone in his sight to get to Ellie. This scene was beautifully shot and the melancholy music matched perfectly as it played over the sounds of violence it truly showed how dedicated Joel was to protecting Ellie, killing many people just for her safety. Without hesitation he kills the surgeon who threatens his goal and he grabs Ellie and makes his way to the parking garage. Marlene tries to stop him in the parking garage, trying to talk Joel out of taking her, but even with her, he knows she must die or else she would keep coming after Ellie. Ellie wakes up in a car confused about what’s happening and Joel lies and says they didn’t need her and that more immune people were found. Ellie makes him promise that he’s telling her the truth about the hospital and he says it is, but we obviously know it’s not, and that concludes the final episode of season one. 

The choice made by Joel in this episode is bold and is extremely controversial, as it was when the original game did it. The episode also sheds light on Joel’s mental state; he acts like a completely different person at the beginning of the episode, being really nice towards Ellie and trying to cheer her up. I think part of that was him trying to divert her mind from what she went through in the last episode, but it’s not only that. At the end of the episode, he also compares her to Sarah, and if it wasn’t clear before, it’s definitely obvious that Joel is using Ellie as a replacement for his daughter rather than thinking of Ellie as her own person, which is extremely unhealthy for both of them. Joel, having kept his emotions bottled up for decades, still doesn’t want to grieve Sarah’s death, so instead, he projects all of those feelings onto Ellie, which isn’t fair to her because he’ll never see Ellie for who she really is, and she clearly understands that from the way she looks at him as they walk.

This episode had every emotion wrapped in one with the melancholy of seeing Ellie quiet, to the happiness of when Joel asks to hear puns, and to the anxiousness of what is to come in the following season. This show as a whole is brilliantly written and every actor just delivers with their role and emulates the personality of the character they play. Each episode is practically a movie with so many details to dissect and analyze as well as hooks you more and more in.