Episode 9: Look for the Light
Based on the critically acclaimed video game of the same name, The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal trek as they both must traverse the US and depend on each other for survival.
In tonight’s season one finale, we get a bit of Ellie’s origin story – well, her mum’s at least – and why her immunity could be her end.
Joel and Ellie continue their odyssey across the country in the hope of finding the ‘Firefly’ militants who might be able to develop a cure to the cordyceps pandemic using Ellie’s antibodies. They find them, but it seems its a kill or cure type deal – and the outlook doesn’t look good for the young Ellie.
This has been a brilliantly written series and let’s be honest, I don’t think too many of us had high expectations of quality when a drama is spawned off the back of video game. However, the storytelling and breakout vignettes have taken the hackneyed Walking Dead zombie chase, zombie bite formula and delivered a touching human drama – albeit punctuated with episodes of extreme violence.
Even with HBO confirming a second season of the show, the tension and menace in tonight’s finale remain undiminished.
The Last of Us
Monday at 9.00pm on Sky Atlantic and Now.
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