The Last of Us episode 2 review: Infected

The Last of Us follows Joel’s origins with a character study on both Tess and Ellie, making episode 2 an impactful one.

The Last of Us premiered strong with a compelling hour-long character study of our protagonist Joel that set the standard for video game adaptations going forward. It wasn’t just good, it was excellent. But even in being so, it still feels like it only scratched the surface of what it was capable of.

That’s where the sophomore installment comes in. The Last of Us episode 2 takes us out into the world we’ve been waiting to explore, as Joel and Tess attempt to get Ellie to safety.

It’s also the perfect opportunity to explore the three characters more, and get some of answers that the premiere episode was intentionally unforthcoming about.

*** This review contains major spoilers from The Last of Us episode 2***

The Last of Us episode 2 review

“Infected” has more of a focus on Ellie, and her story. Surprisingly, it does that by getting the mystery out of the way early. Yes, she’s been bitten in the past, but no, she’s not infected. The news receives differing reactions from her audience. Tess thinks it’s something to be hopeful about, but Joel’s been here before, and he doesn’t plan on being fooled again.

Given that most of us already knew the secret to Ellie’s importance heading into the show, this was a refreshing method of exploring it without relying too heavily on the mystery of it all. It’s still important to the story, and will continue to be so, as keeping Ellie safe remains the priority, but Joel and Tess already have their own reasons to keep Ellie safe and that is enough for them. Knowing that she won’t turn into a flesh-eating zombie while they’re in the middle of doing that, well that’s just a bonus.

Speaking of priorities, the priority of “Infected” is perhaps to show us the world that its predecessor would not. While The Last of Us‘ series premiere gave us a glimpse of the origins of the spread of the fungi pandemic, the 20-year time-jump in the middle cut out a lot of what happened to the world in between – with our only real idea of what things looked like outside the walls being the closing scene.

The show continues to tease us with that in episode 2, but it’s expertly accomplished in that we are drip-fed more and more information about the infection, what it does to its hosts, and what it did to the world. From the opening flashback of the Professor’s emotional declaration to eradicate the infection by bombing the city it all began in, to the revelation 20 years later that this experiment failed in most areas (and was only marginally successful in the ones it didn’t), the show is slowly building the world around its characters – and it’s effectively terrifying.

Joel and Tess’ mission to get Ellie to safety (and get their car battery in return from the Fireflies) drives the second episode as it takes us out into that terrifying world. Fans of the video game will know that this was bound to bring viewers face-to-face with Clickers, and well, it did. The creatures, once humans that lived way beyond their infected lifespan to become monstrous entities blinded by the fungus but capable of hearing just about anything in the silence, are nothing short of nightmare-inducing. Their confrontation with Ellie, Joel, and Tess is the show’s most tense moment yet, and undoubtedly a thrilling sign of things to come.

I mentioned that a large portion of this episode is about Ellie, and that’s true, but the thing that really binds it all together is how it delves into Joel and Tess’ relationship. We don’t really know what they are to each other, but they are a damn good team. However, they are also very different people. Not good people, as they tell us themselves, but different. And their conflicting outlooks plays into “Infected” incredibly well.

Tess thinks it’s time that the world gives them a little good luck, and that’s her driving force throughout the episode. She believes that Ellie is that luck, and even though they are just doing what Marlene asked them to and getting her to safety, it’s clear that part of her wants to protect this young girl. And that’s why Ellie connects with her quicker than she does with Joel, who would have preferred to take her back to Fedra.

It makes the big reveal in the ending of episode all the more heartbreaking, when Ellie figures out that Tess had been bitten by one of the Clickers they encountered in the museum. Cruelly, her luck had run out, and in a moment that proved there was more good in her than she claimed, she begged Joel to continue their mission because Ellie could still be the luck that the world needs.

Her noble sacrifice was a moment that many of us saw coming, but it still hit incredibly hard. Tess wanted an end to the world that she was living in, and even though she wouldn’t be there to see it, she was more than willing to ensure Joel and Ellie got to safety to make it happen. Oh what a powerful journey she took us on in this episode, and oh how we’ll miss seeing Anna Torv’s incredible performance.

All in all, The Last of Us episode 2 is an unexpected improvement over its predecessor, taking an already thrilling series to terrifying new heights surprisingly quickly. It gets the job done effectively and leaves you an emotional shell of yourself in just over 50 minutes. And that’s pretty darn impressive.

Grade: A+

What did you think of The Last of Us season 1 episode 2? Are you enjoying the HBO series thus far? Let us know in the comments below!