BEWARE! This publish accommodates vital spoilers for The Final of Us season 2, episode 3!
The Final of Us, HBO’s award-winning adaptation of the hit online game collection of the identical identify, continues its second season this week. Over the subsequent 4 weeks, till Could twenty fifth, we at The Beat will ship episode recaps for the brand new season, diving into what occurs each week, the way it displays the sport it’s primarily based on, and the way nicely the present is crafted.
The third episode of season 2, “The Path,” sees Ellie and Dina start a brand new journey after the disastrous occasions of final week’s episode. Directed by Peter Hoar (Daredevil) and written by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl), it helps set the trail for what’s to come back over the course of the remainder of the season whereas additionally delivering an episode that’s principally materials unseen within the sport.
“The Path” begins with a montage of Jackson after final week’s disastrous assault from an enormous horde of contaminated, and we see corpses in a makeshift hospital. Tommy (Gabriel Luna) arrives to go to his brother’s physique, on the verge of tears. He leans down to talk to him, telling Joel to “give Sarah my love.”
We’re mere minutes into the episode, and it’s already completely emotionally devastating.
We then minimize to a chaotic hospital scene, the place Ellie (Bella Ramsay) is being taken care of after her traumatic expertise. She wakes up screaming in horror, with a flashback to Joel’s dying, earlier than being sedated.
After the preliminary opening credit, there’s a 3-month timeskip, as we see Jackson rebuilding. Jesse (Younger Mazino) and Tommy are at work serving to within the course of. In the meantime, Ellie is being checked on by an unnamed physician, who offers her permission to go away the hospital, however not earlier than she has a dialog with native therapist Gail (Catherine O’Hara). Their dialog is heated, with Ellie belittling and distrusting Gail and her strategies.
Right here, Ellie is grieving and indignant, and she or he lies concerning the final time she noticed Joel (Pedro Pascal). Gail advises, “Your remaining second doesn’t outline your complete time with them,” earlier than mentioning her session with Joel, as seen within the first episode of the season. In response, Ellie acts like she doesn’t know what Joel would possibly’ve been speaking about. Pretending she’s positive, she leaves the hospital.
We then minimize to Joel’s home, which has grow to be memorialised by the individuals of Jackson. It’s overwhelmed with an eerie, haunting silence, extremely true to life.
Ellie visits her outdated room earlier than making her manner into Joel’s room and opening a field left on his mattress that accommodates his damaged watch and gun. She takes each earlier than heading into his closet. Curling up into considered one of his jackets and smelling it, she cries softly. It’s an extremely visceral and heartbreaking sequence, and I feel in the event you’re not at the least on the verge of tears watching it, I’d be stunned (editor’s be aware: I used to be additionally on the verge of tears). The rating can be unimaginable, amplifying the second’s emotional devastation.
Then, Dina (Isabela Merced) walks in and requires Ellie, and she or he goes downstairs. Ellie thanks her for often visiting the hospital, and Dina reveals that she had baked cookies as a preemptive apology for withholding data from Ellie whereas within the hospital. She reveals what she discovered final week while being kidnapped by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) and her buddies: they function as a part of the W.L.F., a paramilitary group figuring out of Seattle, Washington, and that she’s memorized the names of everybody who was there that night time. Ellie and Dina reckon it should be a small group, in any other case they might’ve joined in with the Fireflies.
The 2 of them then meet with Tommy, who’s tending to cows, to clarify the state of affairs to him. Tommy states that Joel wouldn’t do it—he would struggle to save lots of somebody alive, however wouldn’t danger vengeance for somebody who’s useless. Tommy signifies that he doesn’t disprove this, however he desires them to take it to Maria (Rutina Wesley) and use the system they’ve.
We’re then launched to a mysterious, pseudo-religious cult in Seattle, Washington. There are numerous of them, they usually talk by means of a collection of organized whistles. A father explains what the whistles imply to his daughter, they usually focus on their prophet, who’s deceased, however they observe her teachings regardless. They don’t know the place they’re going, however their prophet guides them. He offers his daughter a hammer to defend herself, and she or he remarks that she feels safer already, which serves as an omen. The daddy and daughter then hear a collection of panicked whistles and conceal in a bush. The daughter asks if demons are coming for them, however her father says it’s wolves as an alternative.
Gamers of The Final of Us Half II will recognise this group. Nonetheless, their introduction within the collection is radically totally different from their introduction within the video games, and the sequence is extremely intriguing and mysterious.
In the meantime, Jesse and Ellie are practising boxing, and it’s revealed that Jesse is the council’s latest member. Ellie remarks that she desires to have the ability to depend on him.
The subsequent day, there’s a council assembly. First, a person discusses elevating turkeys as an alternative of chickens, however he’s shot down as a result of everyone seems to be on the assembly to debate one situation: sending sixteen individuals to Washington to get revenge on Abby for Joel. A younger girl advocates in opposition to it, mentioning that Jackson wants all the assistance it will possibly get throughout such a precarious time. One other man advocates in opposition to it, as nicely, stating that forgiveness is all that separates the individuals of Jackson from raiders and violence exterior their partitions. Seth (Robert John Burke) loudly fights in opposition to the 2 of them, stating that Jackson can’t present weak spot, in any other case individuals will proceed to assault and decimate their neighborhood.
Ellie follows up on Seth’s assertion, studying off a ready speech. She claims to need justice, not revenge, and desires to be somebody that the neighborhood can depend on, the best way she desires to have the ability to depend on the neighborhood. “Jackson continues to be right here,” she states, including that a large a part of that’s the neighborhood having one another’s backs. Dina is impressed, and the council takes it to a vote; finally, they vote no, regardless of the efforts of Tommy and Jesse.
We then minimize to a child’s baseball sport in Jackson, which Gail watches whereas consuming beer. Given current occasions, Tommy arrives and talks about how busy she should be. She agrees, however affords Tommy a free session to debate Ellie. He’s thought-about that she is going to find yourself on the identical violent path Joel was on after his daughter’s dying, and Gail tells him that she thinks Ellie is a liar—her and Joel have all the time been on the identical path, “strolling aspect by aspect from the beginning.”
In the meantime, Ellie prepares weapons and gear in her room, planning to sneak out to Seattle whatever the council’s verdict. Dina arrives and asks what Ellie’s plan is. When it turns into clear Ellie has no plan, Dina will get Ellie to contemplate practicalities reminiscent of clothes, routes, medical provides, and ammunition. Dina lets Ellie know that if she wished assist, she may’ve requested, and Dina all the time would’ve aided, saying, “I liked him too.” Merced continues to be a spotlight of the season and an unimaginable scene companion for Ramsay to work in opposition to.
Later that night time, the 2 meet to go away, with the help of Seth, who trades Ellie a greater rifle and offers her a horse. The 2 shake arms and make real amends, and Ellie and Dina go away for Seattle.
On their manner there, Ellie visits the Jackson graveyard and bows right down to Joel’s grave, which is marked “Beloved brother and father.” She leaves espresso beans on his grave and cries. It’s an extremely well-acted scene by Ramsay, who portrays a delicate and quiet devastation that feels extremely life like and true to life.
After leaving the grave, we see the 2 journey to Seattle in a montage—a lot of this episode has been created from content material that doesn’t occur within the sport, which sees Ellie and Dina arrive in Seattle very shortly after Joel’s dying. Whereas not all the context feels mandatory, it does assist the pacing of the story really feel much less relentlessly overwhelming and darkish, and permits issues to settle a bit earlier than they worsen.
Ellie and Dina cease to camp attributable to rain, and Dina asks Ellie if their shared kiss (seen in episode one) was good. Ellie’s extremely flustered, and their chemistry is exceptional. Ellie says it was a 6/10, and Dina takes situation with the shortage of generosity, and the 2 go to mattress.
The subsequent day, they discover the path of useless seraphites, together with the corpse of the daughter and father seen earlier. The W.L.F. has massacred your entire group.
After they lastly arrive in Seattle, the 2 categorical concern that there could also be extra W.L.F. members than anticipated, however Ellie remarks there are about to be “an entire lot much less.”
The episode ends with considered one of Abby’s buddies being known as on the radio, giving the go-ahead for a brigade to maneuver out. We then see a literal tank and quite a lot of different army automobiles transferring into central Seattle, together with an entire group of educated troopers with gear.
“The Path” continues off the second season of The Final of Us with a extra subdued episode, primarily letting issues settle after final week’s large and unimaginable peak. It units up the remaining plot of the season nicely, introducing plot threads and character conflicts that can certainly be explored over the subsequent 4 episodes, in addition to lastly arriving in Seattle, the place a big a part of the remainder of the story will happen. The darkest issues are but to come back, and this week is a much-needed piece of calm earlier than the storm.
Be part of subsequent week for a recap of Episode 4, and take a look at The Final of Us season 2, now obtainable on Max.
