Warning: spoilers abound!
This week’s episode of The Last of Us has everything: a militarized Josh Peck, pregnancy tests that somehow survived the apocalypse, a new villain whose weapon of choice is hot copper pans, and a gut-wrenching version of A-ha’s Take on Me. Season 2 Episode 4 covers a lot of ground from the video game, resulting in a bumpy rollercoaster that says goodbye to the quiet grief of last week and hello to higher stakes, bigger risks, and a whole lot of blood and guts.
We kick things off with a flashback to 2018, when FEDRA still ruled post-apocalyptic America as the government’s evil disaster response agency. A group of baby-faced soldiers sit in an armored truck while Peck regales them with a “Greenberg” story, which involves a violent FEDRA commander knocking out a civilian’s teeth over a miscommunication about jizz (yes, jizz). The only one not laughing is their disillusioned officer Isaac (Jeffrey Wright, who voiced the same character in the game). In an alarmingly quick turn of events, Isaac steps out of the truck to confront an approaching group of W.L.F. rebels, tosses a handful of grenades into the truck, and murders his whole squad (save one) to join the rebels and their cause.
Cut back to 11 years later, where Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) have finally made their way to Seattle. In a welcome break from the terror of the cold open, the two take their time exploring a looted pharmacy and music store. Dina pees on a stick to confirm her suspicions, but doesn’t tell Ellie. They notice a couple of Pride flags, but joke that Seattle’s residents were just really optimistic (a bit on the nose, but hey, it was in the game too). Ellie picks up a guitar and plays the saddest version of Take on Me anyone’s ever heard, but for a moment, it feels like Joel (Pedro Pascal) is right there in the room with her.
But the peace doesn’t last and the duo recklessly scope out a W.L.F. base in search of Joel’s murderers. Their search leads them to a giant room filled with dead W.L.F. soldiers hanging from the ceiling, guts spilled out and dangling. Scrawled in blood on the wall is the chilling message “FEEL HER LOVE,” along with the symbol of the ruthless cult known as the Seraphites. (Yes, The Last of Us has a lot of lore to it — but don’t worry about that just yet).
Before Ellie and Dina can figure out what’s going on, a squad of W.L.F. soldiers storms in, convinced they’re responsible for the deaths of their comrades. The soldiers chase our heroines into the decrepit Seattle subway system, only to find a horde of Infected waiting for them.
Although our girls make it out alive (can’t say the same for the soldiers), one of them doesn’t come out unscathed. Ellie’s been bit, and Dina almost doesn’t believe her when she says she’s completely immune. Dina spends the night with her gun cocked at her best friend, just in case she turns. When morning comes and Ellie’s still her usual, cocky, self, Dina’s walls break down. She reveals that she’s pregnant before lunging at Ellie for a steamy make-out session and the start of an equally steamy sex scene.
As the episode ends with the best-friends-turned-lovers (yay!) continuing on their revenge quest against the W.L.F., we can’t help but ask — what happens to Ellie and Dina next? While their newfound romance is adorable and a tear-jerking delight to see onscreen, their thirst for revenge is about to take them down an even darker, more dangerous path. We’ll just have to wait for the next episode of The Last of Us to see if their love can survive the brutal choices ahead, or if the cost of vengeance will tear them apart.
The Last of Us is streaming exclusively on Max.
