Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 5.
With Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Dina (Isabela Merced) on the same page in terms of revenge and their feelings for each other, The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 5 takes these two through some major highs and lows. Not only is it obvious just how close these two have already become, but also how far Ellie is willing to go to get justice for Joel (Pedro Pascal). Episode 5 feels like a major step in Ellie’s personal journey and how far she’ll descend into the darkness to accomplish her goal. Over this hour, it’s almost as if Ellie transforms into someone entirely different from what she’s been before.
The Infection Takes a New Form
Episode 5 starts with Hanrahan (Alanna Ubach) walking through a hospital as many WLF soldiers look on, visibly worried about an extremely barricaded door for “stairwell basement access.” She meets with Elise (Hettienne Park), who we learn has been forced to kill some of her own men, including someone named Leon, and then the entire tale unfolds. Elise’s team was responsible for securing the hospital and clearing it of infected, and they expected the worst to come in the basement, as that was where the first Cordyceps patients were brought in 2003.
To clear out the lower basement level, Elise sent Leon, because he was her best. They found Cordyceps, but proceeded onward. A few minutes in, Leon radioed back, struggling to breathe and barely able to talk. Yet Leon hadn’t been bitten; he just ominously said, “It’s in the air.” Elise then locked the doors to B2 and B1, and did what Leon said to do: seal them in. Since then, nothing has escaped and no one has gotten sick. Hanrahan says she’ll only inform the people who need to know about this, and thanks Elise for what she’s done. As Hanrahan leaves, she expresses sorrow for the loss of Elise’s son — who we only then learn was Leon.
Dina and Ellie Make Their Way to the Hospital
Back in the theater, it’s Seattle Day Two, and Dina is listening to the radio, taking notes, and finding clues as to where the group that attacked in Salt Lake City might be. While Dina tries to triangulate a safe way for them to get to the hospital, Ellie looks around the theater. On a stage that almost looks like it was abandoned mid-concert, she finds another acoustic guitar and sits down to play. She starts to play and sings the opening line to Pearl Jam’s “Future Days,” but then stops, visibly lost in thought.
Dina’s route to the hospital involves moving through a long, unpatrolled building that the two assume has become overrun by infected. If they can get through, they’ll avoid any patrols and be able to find a member of Abby’s group, Nora (Tati Gabrielle), in the hospital. Ellie thinks the WLFs are idiots for broadcasting everything on the radio, especially after the massacre they found at the news station. But Dina deduces that the Seraphites fighting them don’t use technology, since the WLFs talk like they know no one is listening. With their plan in place, Dina and Ellie head out to the unguarded building.
Related
‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Review: Somehow, the Best Video Game Adaptation Ever Only Got Better
Season 2 finds beautiful ways to update what might very well be the best video game narrative ever told.
As they walk through the roads of Seattle, they see a mural of the Seraphite Prophet that says “Feel Her Love,” and underneath, a group of dead Seraphites, above which someone has written “feel this, bitch.” Ellie is worried about Dina and asks if she wants to go back, but Dina sucks up her fear and powers through. Dina then tells Ellie about the first person she killed. As a kid, Dina lived in a cabin in a forest in Santa Fe, and she would beg her mom to play outside, but she was scared of letting her play outside alone. One day, Dina went out to play with her gun, and while she was out, a raider attacked the house. Dina heard her mother and sister screaming, but it was too late; they were beaten to death in front of her, and eight-year-old Dina shot the raider. When Ellie asks Dina how she got to Jackson, Dina says that doesn’t matter, but this matters, and that no matter what Joel did, he didn’t deserve what happened to him. Dina says if she hadn’t killed that raider, she would’ve hunted him forever. She vows to do what Ellie wants, and Ellie decides they should keep going.
At night, Ellie and Dina break into the big building, and with the spotlights high enough not to see them, and seemingly no infected, it seems fairly safe, even if there are a few stray clickers. Dina makes sure Ellie knows shooting needs to be a last resort, and if they have to choose between running and shooting, they run. Dina mentions Ellie always shoots every time they get in a sticky situation, saying that Ellie is a bit crazy, and that’s exciting; it’s one of the reasons why she loves her. Ellie’s only takeaway is the fact that Dina’s just said she loves her. Before Ellie can reciprocate out loud, Dina says she knows, and they proceed forward.
Jesse Saves the Day and the Seraphites Kill a Wolf
As Ellie and Dina progress further, they eventually run into an infected; Ellie suspects it’s one of the smart ones that might try to flank them, like the one she killed in the supermarket in the first episode. As they turn around, they realize there are way more of these smart infected than they expected. Ellie tells Dina to run to a caged-in area so she can try to distract them; if it comes down to it, she’s the one who can afford to be bitten, a lot. Dina makes it to safety, shooting who she can until she runs out of bullets, but the infected start to tear into the cage. Meanwhile, Ellie has been overwhelmed by a group of infected, and it seems like all hope is lost for both of them. But then someone starts shooting, saving the pair — Jesse (Young Mazino) has followed them to Seattle. Together, the trio heads out of the building but are immediately discovered by spotlights, and Jesse leads them to the park where they can lose the WLF soldiers. However, the soldiers stop outside the park, refusing to go further.
Jesse admits that he initially came to Seattle with Tommy, but they’ve since split up. The pair snuck out of Jackson because they knew Dina and Ellie would die if they didn’t. Ellie argues they were doing good… until they weren’t. Jesse’s plan is to get back to the theater, regroup with Tommy in the morning, and then go home. As Ellie starts to argue against this, they hear whistling in the woods and proceed to hide beneath the overgrowth. A group of Seraphites, many of whom carry torches, start to hang a WLF soldier who’s begging for his life, saying he knows what Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) is planning. His words fall on deaf ears; the leader of the Seraphite group speaks words from their Prophet, saying the man is nested in sin, with his followers adding that they should “free” him. The leader then digs a sickle in the man’s stomach, cutting him open as he’s hoisted up into the air.
Seraphite whistles also emerge from the darkness, and Dina is hit in the leg with an arrow. Ellie tries to distract the group, who believe they’re WLF soldiers, so Dina and Jesse can get to safety. As Ellie gets clear of the park, she sees the hospital up ahead. Ellie pauses, knowing she probably should circle back and check on Dina, but instead, she continues forward on her quest for vengeance, making it past the WLF guards and their dogs and into the hospital.
Ellie Finally Gets Revenge on a Member of Abby’s Crew
Inside, Ellie quickly finds Nora and holds her at gunpoint. Ellie asks where Abby is, and Nora says she doesn’t know, adding that if Ellie shoots her, every WLF soldier will come running. But Ellie posits that at least she’ll still be dead, and Nora can see Ellie means it. Nora says she’s sorry Ellie saw it happen, and that sometimes at night, Nora still hears Joel’s screams, that it was terrible the way he died. When it seems like the moment could be headed for reconciliation, Nora finishes by saying, “that little bitch got what he deserves,” allowing the opportunity for her to throw liquid at Ellie as a distraction and make a run for it.
Ellie chases Nora through the hospital, as other WLF soldiers take aim but miss. Nora runs past the “stairwell basement access” door from the beginning of the episode and finds herself trapped at a dead end, knowing her only hope is going down the elevator shaft. Nora jumps on an elevator, which crashes down on B2, and Ellie follows in pursuit. When Ellie enters the B2 level, there are particles in the air. The further she gets, the more Cordyceps are growing on the walls, until the place is covered. Several bodies are trapped within the walls of the Cordyceps, breathing out spores — including one who seems to be Leon. This is what he meant by “it’s in the air”; now, the infection has evolved and can spread in a completely new way.
Related
The new season premieres this April.
Ellie finds Nora at the end of a hallway, already coughing and barely able to stand up. Nora says that with the spores, they’re both infected, and Ellie has killed them both. But Ellie is perfectly fine, and then Nora realizes who she is: the girl Joel killed everyone for in Salt Lake City, the rumored girl who is immune. Ellie admits the truth, but continues to ask where Abby is. Nora says Joel killed everyone in that hospital, including the only person who could’ve made a cure: Abby’s father. But Ellie only reiterates that she already knows the truth as she stares down the dying Nora, continuing to ask about Abby’s whereabouts, and Nora refuses to talk. Ellie grabs a nearby pipe, but Nora doesn’t budge, even when Ellie begins to beat her. The episode’s final moments play out with a glimpse of a simpler time, as Ellie wakes up in her old bedroom and sees Joel standing there, greeting her with a “Hey, kiddo.”
Episode 5 is integral to understanding Ellie’s headspace after Joel’s death. There are several times when Ellie could’ve protected Dina or gone back and given in, but instead, her one-track mind leads her further down a path of revenge. By the end of the episode, as Ellie beats Nora with a pipe as she’s already dying, it’s clear just how much rage has overtaken her, almost the same rage that Joel had as he shot his way through the hospital, or the same rage Abby had when she was beating Joel to death. Ellie’s beginning to turn into something darker, motivated in ways we’ve never seen from her before. It’s even worse that this is happening after her love for Dina has grown so strong — and yet, Ellie is compelled to keep moving forward, despite what she might lose in the process.
New episodes of The Last of Us Season 2 air on Sundays on HBO and Max.
The fifth episode of The Last of Us Season 2 shows Ellie at her highest and lowest points so far.
- Release Date
-
January 15, 2023
- Network
-
HBO
- The balance of love and hate in this episode is exceptional.
- The final moments between Ellie and Nora are shocking and push Ellie to a whole new level.
- The episode also subtlely shows us just how powerful the WLF and Seraphites are in Seattle.
