(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
Much like Ned Stark in the HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones, Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) had to die.
After all, it was in the source material, and neither creative team opted to change the flawed heroes’ fate. What makes Joel’s death in The Last of Us so shocking is how early it occurs. Sure, it matches the game (I haven’t played but was spoiled about Joel’s demise, as I was about Ned’s), but TV shows typically save monumental exits for later in the season (Brian Cox in Succession aside, which was also directed by Mark Mylod). Throw in the fact that Jackson also faces a massive onslaught of infected, and “Through the Valley” has penultimate episode (or even finale) written all over it.
But much like Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann mean business. It doesn’t matter that Joel saved Abby’s life because her thirst for vengeance triumphs over everything else.
This week’s exhilarating and brutal outing asks the age-old question of any show or movie set in an apocalypse: is man or the undead the greater monster? Joel rescues Abby from a horde of infecteds who rose from the tundra with a new lust for life (or rather, death) and is rewarded with the slow and painful end that Abby vowed to deliver. At least we know Abby is a woman of her word.
That will be no comfort for Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who witnesses the final seconds of Joel’s life when he uses every ounce of his strength to move his finger as she begs him to get up. It is far from Ellie’s fault, but how different things might have been if Ellie had gone on patrol with Joel “like f—ing daddy/daughter day” as she planned. However, after the messiness of New Year’s Eve, Ellie was allowed to sleep in a little. 2029 is getting off to a terrible start.
Instead, Ellie heads out with Jesse (Young Mazino), who teases her about Ellie kissing his ex, Dina (Isabela Merced). Jesse seems genuinely surprised Ellie would want to go on patrol with Joel. “My s— with Joel is complicated, I know that,” says Ellie. “From the outside, it probably looks really bad. It has been really bad. But I’m still me, he’s still Joel, and nothing’s ever going to change that.” Ellie’s words hit harder in retrospect.
Even though it is New Year’s Day, there is an early morning drill to run through what they will do if the town is under attack from a large volume of infected. “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best” is the party line, and preparation can only do so much. News that some infected have been using their own dead as insolation doesn’t bode well, but I did not foresee quite how quickly matters would go from “this is a bad blizzard” to “everyone could die” territory.
There are literal calm-before-the-storm vibes when Ellie and Jesse realize they are too far from Jackson to get back safely. Unlike last week, no super-intelligent creatures are lurking. Instead, they find Eugene’s (whom Joel had to kill) stash of marijuana plants and inventive paraphernalia.
There is much more to this story, and it is unlikely we have seen the last of Pascal. For starters, Pascal didn’t get an Emmy-worthy swansong moment in this episode—Dever and Ramsey sure did. I have an inkling we will meet Eugene via flashback and find out exactly when Ellie and Joel’s relationship ruptures (plus, there are scenes in the trailer we haven’t seen yet).
Back to the present, Ellie and Jesse venture into the storm after finding out that Dina and Joel haven’t checked in over the radio. The weather is playing havoc with communications, but it is hard to shake the foreboding feeling knowing that Abby and her friends are on a Joel hunt. Or rather, Abby is on the lookout for the man who killed her father, and her friends want to go home. In the daylight, the group has realized that Jackson is impenetrable. Well, to the living at least.
Abby is about to go inside when she spots two people on horseback, and she is so eager to reach them that she falls down a steep hill into a pile of dormant, infected corpses; hibernation is over. The horde gives chase, and Abby is seconds away from death. Luckily, Joel saves Abby and unknowingly condemns himself. Abby convinces Joel and Dina to shelter at the lodge with her group.
The infected army changes direction toward Jackson, and the people watching from the wall have time to sound the alarms. The attack happens quickly, and it isn’t too long before the legions of infected are inside the walls, tearing any semblance of safety apart. Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) is a strong leader, but there is only so much he can do under this assault that is as intense as any battle on Game of Thrones—probably just as expensive.
A bloater (the deadliest of the infected) seems to set its sights on Tommy’s wife Maria (Rutina Wesley), who is shooting from a rooftop, and Tommy draws the figure toward him instead. It looks like it might be the end for Tommy, but only one Miller brother is dying today, and it ain’t him.
Cutting between this attack and Abby’s lodge adds to the edge-of-your-seat tension because Joel wants to get back to Jackson when he sees the flames and smoke on the horizon. However, Dina has frostbite on her hand and needs immediate attention. Abby’s entire demeanor shifts into vengeance mode when they get inside, and she makes it clear that saving her life doesn’t equate to forgiveness—and it is hard to blame her.
After Joel admits he last saw the Fireflies in Salt Lake, Abby shoots him in the leg before revealing who she is and why Joel will pay. Abby is in the militia now, saying the one rule they have is not to kill people who can’t defend themselves. But she will kill him, and Dever sells every single raw emotion.
“Just shut the f— up and do it already,” Joel says to this prolonged story time. But it will not be fast, and Abby eyes the golf clubs as a way to prolong his pain. We don’t see much of the beating, yet it is severe enough that the club has broken in two by the time Ellie attempts to rescue her surrogate dad. Instead, she has to watch Abby plunge the shard into Joel’s neck.
Notably, Abby was 19 when Joel killed her unarmed father and 18 others, the same age Ellie is now. “You’re all gonna f—ing die,” Ellie screams, and I believe her. The body count from the infected is far higher, but The Last of Us proves there is nothing more dangerous than a young woman hellbent on avenging her father. Now for round two of this deadly game.
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