Note: My name is Gene Park. I’m a reporter covering gaming culture for The Washington Post. I’m following “The Last of Us” from the perspective of someone who has played all the games (more than once).Trauma and loss have forced Joel Miller to close his heart to the world. He couldn’t love Tess. He refuses to acknowledge his growing fondness for Ellie.
But in episode 6 of HBO’s “The Last of Us,” we see a new side of Joel. He is vulnerable. He feels immense guilt. He doubts his ability to protect the ones he loves. And he openly admits that he is scared of what might result from these emotions. In 10 years of this character’s existence, this is the rawest we’ve ever seen Joel Miller. It’s a side we never got to know in the games. It’s a side that only his brother Tommy sees.
Before we see the brothers reunite, Joel and Ellie finally arrive in Wyoming. They take a Native American couple hostage, and demand information. Ellie mirrors Joel more than ever here. It’s startling to see a 14-year-old girl hold up an older couple with her pistol, and that’s exactly what Ellie does, enthusiastically. The couple warn our heroes: People who pass through the area are killed by some unknown group west of the river, where Tommy lies. The performances for these two nameless characters are memorable, funny and charming, if short. “The Last of Us” on HBO can be criticized for not dwelling much on individual characters (especially since so many die in the same episode they’re introduced), but every performance still swings for the fences.
Joel and Ellie truck along, and we get a few more minutes of them bonding. Here’s one of the biggest differences between the game and the show: Compared to the game, we spend very little time with just Joel and Ellie in the show. The game was almost entirely 12 hours of the two interacting. We saw their relationship form as we played. The show, by contrast, has to contrive scenes for just the two of them to ensure that audiences form a similar bond with these characters.
Later, Joel stops to wrap his broken boots with duct tape. Here’s another thing we get to see in the show that we never did in the game: Joel and Ellie relaxing and camping. In the game, the player is constantly on the move. In the show, we get to see how the world really works. Of course Joel’s boots would split open. He’s walked across more than half the country by now.
Ellie confesses to Joel that she tried and failed to save Sam. The tragedy of Henry and Sam has transformed both of them. Ellie is traumatized and wants her immunity to mean something. As for Joel, we’ll understand the impact those events had on him later.
The two cross the river and a band of people on horseback approach and hold them at gunpoint. A dog is dispatched to determine whether Joel and Ellie are infected. Joel, of course, is clean. Ellie is the wild card, and Joel is powerless to do anything about it. Fortunately the dog takes a liking to Ellie; we hear her giggle. A woman recognizes Joel and escorts him and Ellie to Jackson.
Tommy and Joel finally reunite. We learn that the woman who recognized Joel is Maria, Tommy’s wife. Here, we see peace and order in world of “The Last of Us.” If the story has felt bleak and hopeless up to this point — that no matter what a community does, it’s doomed — this Wyoming community is the counter argument. An orderly life can be achieved. Tommy says it’s all done through collective ordership. Joel observes that that’s “communism.” Reflecting his old school American sensibilities, Tommy bristles at the suggestion, but Maria quickly corrects him: “This is a commune,” she says. “We’re communists.”
The brothers take some time at the bar. Joel isn’t forthcoming about why he’s there and who Ellie is, which makes Tommy suspicious. Joel asks Tommy to take Ellie to the Fireflies; Tommy refuses. He reveals to Joel that he’s about to be a father. Joel’s response is to grab the bottle and take a swig. Tommy feels insulted by that response and Joel leaves, believing he’s intruding on his brother’s life.
Outside, Joel seems to be having health problems. It’s unclear why, exactly — beyond him being a 56-year-old man who just walked across most of North America. He sees a girl with hair just like his late daughter’s, and needs to stop to get a hold of his emotions. Meanwhile, Ellie and Maria have a tense showdown over Joel’s checkered past as a murderer and smuggler. Ellie finally learns about Joel’s daughter, and Maria warns Ellie about following in Joel’s footsteps. Ellie defends Joel and insists maybe she’s “smarter” than Tommy, who actually followed in Joel’s murderous footsteps, and won’t do what he did. Maria is impressed by Ellie sticking to her guns and invites her to the movies. The commune has set up a projector with some old films. It’s yet another instance of getting to know what a peaceful existence looks like in this world
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