‘The Last of Us’ Episode 2: Don’t Just Be Quiet, Be Silent
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The following story contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 1 Episode 2.
The best stories in science fiction and horror know that it's important to change speeds. Halloween isn't all Michael Myers stabbing people; John Carpenter and Debra Hill knew that for the impact to be felt, you have to build up characters and tension along the way. 1979's Alien is a classic for the chest-burster sequence, yes, but also for the way director Ridley Scott masterfully builds the sense of claustrophobic dread throughout the film's 1 hour and 57 minute runtime.
After an 80-minute, plot-packed, character-packed, action-packed debut episode, The Last of Us smartly slows things down. Episode 2, directed by co-showrunner and The Last of Us game creator Neil Druckmann, has just a few important plot-based takeaways, opting instead mostly for us to spend some time with the characters and world we're only now getting to know.
As we discuss the key points of the episode, "Infected," below I'd like to once again restate that while many are coming at The Last of Us from the perspective of being a fan of the 2013 game, I have not played. I am, however, a major fan of horror, sci-fi, and the post-apocalyptic genre, and have largely managed to shield myself from the major plot points. Some may be looking at this show from a point of comparison with the source material—we've got a story doing that too!—but my attempt is to look at this with fresh eyes.
The majority of this episode takes place in the present 2023 timeline, and it seems like most of the series going forward will do so. In our recaps going forward, we'll continue to break things down by year when applicable, but when a date isn't stated, you can assume that we're talking about the post-outbreak 2023 period.
And without further ado, let's get into "Infected."
2003
Much like how the first episode opens with the troubling 1968 sequence (featuring the prescient scientist played by John Hannah), "Infected" begins with a cold open of its own. If you listen closely to the news reports in the first episode of The Last of Us, you can hear reports of unrest in Jakarta, which Sarah (Nico Parker) notes to Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) is in Indonesia. Here, The Last of Us takes us to Jakarta for the origin of the outbreak—or, at least, as far back as this world's authorities might be able to trace.
The episode opens with Indonesian government officials scooping up Ibu Ratna, a woman who was just enjoying her mid-afternoon lunch and who also happens to be the Professor of Mycology at the University of Indonesia. Things have happened—and you can predict what they were. A woman, without reason, went rabid. She had a bite on her leg, and bit others. The government, the official explains, scooped the others up, and chillingly reveals that they were executed when they didn't pass the proper post-bite protocols. Putting this sequence at the start of the episode really hammers home the fact that we're not losing monsters, but people.
Ibu is incredulous at first of the Cordyceps growing in the body that the government official has her examining. But once she accepts it, and learns that there are others who have presumably been bitten, she adopts the same mindset as the scientist we met on TV in 1968: we are going to lose.
The official asks her about a treatment or a vaccine, an idea she quickly shuts down. She has one idea to offer: bombing. This introduces a theme that will come up again later in the episode: the suggestion that innocent lives being sacrificed, in this case, could be the only way to save mankind. Ibu asks to join her family for, presumably, their final moments.
Not Quite Cormac McCarthy's The Road, But Not Far Off
As we move into 2023 for the bulk of the episode, we see the aftermath of the bombings, which we learn have hit several cities. Some were successful, and others were not so much, Tess (Anna Torv) explains not long into the episode as she, Joel, and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) walk past a big crater in the ground. Before getting there, Joel and Tess have to make a decision about Ellie, who has clearly been bitten, but also clearly hasn't turned. They debate whether or not to shoot her (spoiler: they don't), and then climb up out of their dark shelter to get Ellie where Marlene needed her to go: a Firefly HQ across town where the doctors can work to figure out a cure from her apparently miraculous blood.
As the three protagonists get onto the empty, desolate road, it's clear that Ellie hasn't been outside in a long time. She's heard rumors about the infected, some that Tess can laugh about and others that... well, it's easier to say nothing than to say something scary. It's desolate out here, but for Ellie to come out and see the light and the fact that there's some safe open air, well, it's not quite as scary as it seems. It's not roses out there either!
They debate whether they're going to get where they need to go by taking "the long way or the short way," before they realize that "the short way" is also "the dead way." Easy choice there... until they see that there are tons of infected parties squirming on the ground. The long way is now also the impossible way. We learn in this moment that the Cordyceps infecting the world are, essentially, one connected being; one feels something, everything feels something, as long as they're being touched by the roots in the ground. It's a hive mind of sorts, and it's terrifying.
Along this road we also learn that Ellie's parents are both dead, and she first got bitten by—shocker—being somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. But she's still here way after the fact, and that's what's important.
Meet the Clickers
While the hotel that Joel, Tess, and Ellie first tried to pass through proved to be a dead end (filled with water and corpses), they know there to be a way across from the fourth floor of the Bostonian Museum. As Joel and Tess arm themselves before heading up, the fungal roots outside the museum seem to be bone dry; there's a chance there's no infected inside. Ellie, wanting a gun for herself, notes that she's got a spare hand. Joel congratulates her on the achievement.
Once they get inside, though, it's clear that it's not as dry as they thought. One guy has had his guts ripped open, and that's not the same kind of bite that Ellie's seen. Joel warns: from here on out we aren't just going to be quiet—we are going to be silent.
A slow, tense sequence, finds our heroes encountering the most horrific of the infected yet. Joel silently warns Ellie that these creatures formerly known as humans can hear, but cannot see. But for whatever reason, they can't be quiet enough, and all of a sudden there are deranged monsters roaring in their face, and lots of action.
After much struggling, Joel and Tess manage to kill the clickers—named for the clicking sound they make as they move—and escape to the roof of the museum. Ellie, we see, has gotten bitten again. Joel is concerned, but Tess begs him to just take a win for once already. Agree with Tess!
Sorry Tess
The closing moments of "Infected" are equal parts crushing and hopeful. As they arrive at what was once the Fireflies HQ, they instead see a bunch of dead bodies; Joel, at this point, is perceptive. This wasn't a FEDRA attack, but rather some members of the group getting infected and them tearing each other apart with violence. Joel wants to turn around and go home, but there's something eating at Tess—literally.
Ellie figures it out before Joel does, but there's no going home from here for Tess. She's gotten bitten ("Oops," Anna Torv heartbreakingly delivers, still with just the right smidge of snark), and by hook or by crook realizes this is going to be the end of the line for her. But her getting bitten and infected so quickly—it looks bad!—is just further proof as to the miracle happening within Ellie, whose latest bite once again just looks like a scratch. Joel is still reluctant, but Tess tells her that he needs to get Ellie to their smuggler friends, Bill and Frank (who we'll meet next week). Joel is reluctant but accepts.
There's one more problem. When an infected corpse was shot, the fungal roots felt it. The infected hoard now know where the trio is, and they're coming. Joel and Ellie have to go; Ellie doesn't want to leave her, but Joel knows what he has to do. While he shares one long final glance with Tess, they run away, Ellie screaming but Joel just moving and getting them out of there.
Like the bombing referenced in the cold open, and the crater from a bombing that we saw during Joel, Ellie, and Tess' walk earlier in the episode, we know that is one way to take a lot of these monsters out at once. Tess spills lots of gasoline and grenades on the ground, and knowing her time is up, plans for a blaze of glory.
While an infected creature manages to stick its roots down her throat—one of the grossest things we'll see on TV in 2023, most likely—she ultimately gets her lighter to catch, blowing up a whole hoard of infected and sending the episode out with a blaze of (relative) glory.
Our final glimpse finds Joel and Ellie together, watching the explosion that likely saved their lives if not bought them a bunch more time, with Tess now nothing but a memory. Joel, now, faces perhaps his biggest character-testing question yet—is his only motivation still seeking out Tommy? Or will Tess' words (and his own experience) convince his cold heart to start warming up to Ellie as a person, and her potential significance to the world?
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