The Child Clicker At The End Of "The Last Of Us" Episode 5 Is Actually A Heartbreaking Easter Egg That You Probably Missed
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There are obviously MASSIVE spoilers ahead for The Last of Us Episode 5.
So, if you're like me, then you probably still haven't recovered from the emotionally draining The Last of Us Episode 5, aka "Endure and Survive," which was written by Craig Mazin and directed by Jeremy Webb.
This episode followed Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they team up with brothers Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Montreal Woodard) to try to escape Kansas City, namely Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey) and her group.
Their journey out of the city culminates in a battle when Kathleen and her "henchmen" corner Joel, Ellie, Sam, and Henry right as they're about to escape. While the fight between them is epic, what makes this scene even more chaotic is the hoard of infected that come out of the ground following an explosion.
And the epic introduction of a Bloater.
The Bloater and Clickers were created by Barrie Gower, the prosthetics designer on The Last of Us, who also brought Vecna to life on Stranger Things.
One of the most terrifying infected that we see in this moment is a Clicker who corners Ellie inside a car.
Then, the same Clicker mauls and kills Kathleen mere seconds before she's about to shoot Henry.
It's a horrific series of events that reminds us that we are still watching a zombie apocalypse show, even if we haven't encountered any infected in a few episodes.
Now, if you go back and rewatch this chaotic Clicker, you'll notice some details that actually make this horror moment pretty heartbreaking.
When the Clicker gymnastics flips into the car with Ellie, if you pause, you'll notice that she's wearing a Blue's Clues shirt — and this Clicker is a child.
Well, if you remember from earlier in the episode, Joel, Ellie, Henry, and Sam go through the tunnel system to escape Kansas City, and while down there they stumble upon an underground daycare.
Joel explains that at the start of the outbreak, some people went underground and started communities to avoid the infected up above.
Well, Melanie Lynskey confirmed that, yes, this child Clicker is supposed to be one of the children from the underground daycare.
ARE WE KIDDING, THE LAST OF US?!
There's even a great piece of foreshadowing in Episode 5, when Kathleen tells Henry that kids die all the time while talking about Henry doing anything to save Sam after he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Of course, this foreshadows the children in the daycare dying, but also Sam's heartbreaking end.
Speaking about the creepy little girl Clicker, Melanie praised Skye Belle Cowton, the 9-year-old rhythmic gymnast and contortionist who brought the character to life.
HBO
"It was crazy. She was so not afraid," Melanie told Entertainment Weekly. "She's on a wire swinging through the air and she's just like, 'Great!' in the middle of the night in her little Blue's Clues T-shirt."
Skye worked hand-in-hand with The Last of Us movement coordinator Terry Notary to get the creepy movements down.
And Bella left this sweet comment on Skye's Instagram post about her work in the series:
Showrunner and writer Craig Mazin explained that using a child Clicker in this moment helped demonstrate the brutality of the world.
The Last of Us is no stranger to heartbreaking Easter eggs already. In Episode 3, the end of Bill's letter to Joel includes a beautiful detail where he recommends a wine pairing.
Anyway, can't wait to see what The Last of Us wrecks me with in the next episode. I can only assume it's going to get more heartbreaking from here on.
