The Last of Us’ Flour Theory Could Reveal the Show’s Biggest Secret
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The post The Last of Us’ Flour Theory Could Reveal the Show’s Biggest Secret appeared first on Consequence.
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for The Last of Us, Season 1 Episode 2, “Infected.”]
In the opening scene of HBO’s new series The Last of Us, it’s established fungus will be responsible for a highly transmissible outbreak that sparks a global pandemic. However, the show doesn’t go into explicit detail about how the infection actually spreads, leading to fan speculation culminating in the flour theory.
An Episode 2 flashback to an incident at a flour factory in Jakarta, Indonesia lends strong credence to the theory, especially when looking back at “little bits of breadcrumbs” sprinkled throughout the first episode. Read on to learn more about the flour theory.
Be sure to also read our review of the first season, and learn the significance of Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” in Episode 1 here. You can also keep up with all the music played on The Last of Us here.
What Are the Basics of the Flour Theory?
The Last of Us (HBO)
According to the theory (via Reddit), the outbreak spreads from contaminated flour. The beginning of Episode 2 takes place in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 24th, 2003, when mycologist Dr. Ratna Pertiwi (Christine Hakim) is escorted by authorities to a government laboratory to inspect and confirm that a prepared specimen is a fungus called Ophiocordyceps.
When Pertiwi is told it came from a human, she is skeptical because Ophiocordyceps should not be able to grow in a human body. She is then brought to an airlocked laboratory to take a look at the infected woman. During Pertiwi’s inspection, she’s horrified to extract a fungal tendril from the woman’s mouth.
Pertiwi is then informed of the incident at a flour mill in which the infected woman began attacking her coworkers and caused several of them to go “missing.” Realizing the gravity of the situation, Pertiwi gravely suggests the only solution is to bomb the entire city to prevent the fungal outbreak from spreading further.
This all ties back to the opening scene of The Last of Us, in which scientist Dr. Neuman (John Hannah) shares his fears of a fungal pandemic by describing how Ophiocordyceps unilateralis can take control of an ant’s brain, replace the ant’s flesh with its own, and then keep it from decomposing. His colleague points out this type of fungus is not known to affect humans, but Neuman responds by saying global warming could force fungi to adapt to higher temperatures.
How Does It Apply to the Characters in The Last of Us?
In Episode 1, Joel (Pedro Pascal), his daughter Sarah (Nico Parker), and his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) hear a report about an incident in Jakarta over the radio. No further information is revealed, but Sarah does inform her father and uncle that the city is the capital of Indonesia. In the real world, Jakarta is home to the world’s largest flour mill.
Throughout the episode, Joel and Sarah manage to avoid eating flour through a combination of luck and dietary preferences. For starters, September 26th, 2003 (or Outbreak Day) happens to be Joel’s birthday, and Sarah’s attempt to surprise him with pancakes for breakfast was thwarted because they were out of flour. To make up for it, Joel promises to bring home a birthday cake.
When Sarah and Joel step outside, their neighbor Danny Adler offers them biscuits he’s feeding to his catatonic elderly mother, Nana. Joel refuses by claiming he’s on the Atkins diet (which restricts carbohydrates). After school, Sarah stops by the Adler house to bake cookies with Danny’s wife Connie. She turns down Mrs. Adler’s offer to take some cookies home because they contain raisins instead of chocolate chips.
During the latter scene, Nana catches the attention of the Adlers’ dog, Mercy, when she starts to convulse. This seems to hint at Nana already being infected by the flour in the biscuits she ate earlier. When Sarah tries to bring a spooked Mercy back to the Adlers’ house that evening, she discovers Nana infecting Connie after already biting Danny. She’s even more shocked by Nana leaping at her. Thankfully, Joel arrives in time to defend Sarah from Nana with a deadly swing from a wrench.
Though there wouldn’t have been any time to eat it anyway, Joel also forgot the birthday cake.
How Did the Outbreak Start in The Last of Us Games?
In Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us — written and directed by Neil Druckmann — a report in the Texas Herald revealed the Cordyceps brain infection was spread through contaminated crops from South America.
What Do The Last of Us’ Creators Have to Say About the Flour Theory
Co-creators Druckmann and Craig Mazin have not officially confirmed the flour theory, but they have hinted at it before. On the first episode of the show’s official podcast, Mazin said Nana’s part in the story plants “little bits of breadcrumbs” that will pay off later on.
“We made a point of making this sort of joke about how [Nana] couldn’t even eat biscuits,” Mazin said. “We don’t want to give spoilers, but I will say this: Careful viewers of this episode will be rewarded repeatedly because little bits of breadcrumbs have been planted that are going to pay off later in interesting ways.”
The Last of Us’ Flour Theory Could Reveal the Show’s Biggest Secret
Eddie Fu
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