First Things First…
Now that we’re out of the QZ and on the road, we should learn more about Ellie and start developing her relationship with Joel (and Tess, too, I guess). I’m anxious to see them bond, or fight, or whatever it is they’ll do. And I’m excited to see what life is like on the outside.
8 Things I Like
8. The BALLS on Ellie
“You got some balls on you, sister.”
Tess
Despite her sarcasm and defensiveness, you can see Ellie wants Joel and Tess’s approval. And she gets a cute smirk on her face when Tess asks about how she got bitten, asks how old she is, and then tells her she’s got some balls.
I’m not sure it’s meant as a means of bonding from Tess, but Ellie takes it that way.
7. “We’ve Seen This Before”
As soon as Joel sniffs out the real purpose of transporting Ellie to this outside group of Fireflies—that she could be the means of a vaccine or miracle cure—he’s out. He wants to head back to the QZ and he doesn’t buy into it at all. He still believes it’s just a matter of time until Ellie turns, despite her bite being weeks old.
Joel’s weariness and hopelessness are understandable, given all he’s been through. Plus, you can imagine this is something that happens in their new society—rumors swirl about a cure or vaccine, but information is hard to get around to begin with, and nothing ever changes.
Clearly Ellie is going to crack Joel’s shell over time. That much is predictable. But it should be fun watching it unfold.
6. Boston Overgrown
I’ll try not to keep repeating this point every episode, but I mentioned after the premiere how much I like the overgrown city look. And now, we see it much more clearly and spread out because they’re in the wild.
Whether they’re outdoors or indoors, everything is overgrown. There are buildings leaning on each other. The hotel lobby has turned into a pond, with ducks, frogs, and lily pads.
It’s eerie, and it’s beautiful in its own way. And when you add all the fungus and mushrooms growing everywhere to the other vegetation, it looks even more badass, and more ominous.
5. Tess’s Sacrifice
“Save who you can save.”
Tess
At some point during the week when I was thinking about the show I wondered what would happen to Tess. The marketing was all about Joel and Ellie, so I figured she wouldn’t be with them for long.
I didn’t see her dying so suddenly, though. I thought she’d either get captured or wind up back in the QZ.
At least it’s cool she goes out in a blaze of glory. Not only does she set fire to the building when a horde of infected get in, giving Joel and Ellie time to escape…
And not only does she withstand the creepiest “kiss” I’ve ever seen on TV when one of the infected gently invades her mouth with his mouth tendrils as she frantically tries to light her lighter…
She uses her final moments before the infected arrive to convince Joel to continue the mission without her. When she compares her fresh bite, which is obviously infected and already looking all “fungusy,” with Ellie’s fresh bite, which doesn’t look bad at all, she reveals that she believes Ellie is the real deal. And despite her imminent death, she has hope for the first time in a long time.
Hope for the future. Hope for humanity. And hope for her and Joel’s redemption.
4. Clickers
I didn’t realize at first there are different types of infected. Scariest among them are the Clickers, who are the oldest and most deformed.
The design of the Clickers is top notch. Remember what the scientist said at the beginning of the first episode—fungus won’t let its host die but will eventually replace the flesh with more of itself.
Well, here we see some legit mushroom heads. They’re blind but have ultra-sensitive hearing. They look amazing. And they’re creepy as hell.
In the wrong hands, this design could’ve looked really dumb. But whoever contributed to this design, makeup, prosthetics, and whatever else goes into it, knocked it out of the park.
3. Threat Level: Bomb the City
We start with another cold open set just as the outbreak is beginning. This whole scene is tremendous as we learn more about the genesis of the infection. But two things really stood out to me.
The first is that after the autopsy, the professor Ibu Ratna’s hands don’t shake when she first accepts the tea, but only after finding out 14 workers from the factory are missing. She had been disturbed but still calm and collected up until realizing this thing isn’t contained, and they can’t account for some of the infected.
The second thing that stood out was her advice. When the military man asks her how to contain the outbreak, there’s a long pause, and as I was sitting on my couch I was actually thinking to myself, “Don’t say ‘pray.’” A lesser show might’ve gone for that cliché answer.
Instead, she simply says, “Bomb.”
And she follows up by suggesting their military bomb the city with the people in it, killing millions—including her and her family.
It’s an insane suggestion. And in an instant, she’s just sentenced millions to die. (Wikipedia estimates Jakarta’s population at more than 10.5 million, BTW.)
The thing is, you know she’s probably right that it’s the only action with the potential to work.
2. “I’ll Just Throw a Fuckin’ Sandwich at Them.”
For such a tense episode, I absolutely loved Joel and Ellie’s banter. He calls her a weird kid, she asks if he’s ever heard of books… reading all the great zingers in print won’t do them justice. But if it’s mostly going to be down to the two of them moving forward, they’re going to need banter like this to keep things fresh and fun.
1. Not Quiet—Silent
I was gripped by the entire museum sequence. From the time Joel says they don’t just have to be quiet but silent, you know it’s on. I think that’s when they find the dead guy who Ellie says doesn’t look like he’s been bitten by an infected. Joel and Tess realize he’s been killed by a Clicker.
Their walk up the creaky stairs with the roof in bad shape is harrowing. Hiding from—and eventually fighting—the Clickers is even worse.
And there’s dried-out cordyceps everywhere…
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Quick Change of Heart
At the beginning of the episode, Tess says to Ellie…
“I’m gonna talk to you like you’re an adult. Okay? Joel and I aren’t good people. We’re doin’ this for us because, apparently, you’re worth something. But we don’t know what you’re worth if we don’t know what we have. So answer my question.”
But then she starts warming up to Ellie almost immediately when they head out. Even before she believes Ellie is the real deal, Tess does a 180 in the way she treats her—for no reason I can see.
She looks out for Ellie… she explains how the infected are connected and how you can step on cordyceps in one spot and wake dozens of infected miles away who now know where you are… she reminds Ellie that she might be immune to the infected’s bites, but not from getting ripped apart…
She’s helping her stay alive long-term, not just for the immediate future while she’s under their care.
I loved the dynamic between them, but it seems way out of character for the Tess we’ve been with so far.
Tim Matassa
