First Things First…
I don’t actually fear for Ellie or Joel. I’m sure they’re escaping the situation they’re in—both their immediate predicament being held at gunpoint by (presumably) Henry and, in a larger sense, being trapped in Kansas City, surrounded by Kathleen and her people.
What I’m more curious about is how long this section lasts, and how important this group is.
We’re at the halfway point of the season. I could see this diversion taking us close to the end of the season. Or I could see them escaping in this episode and moving on to the next obstacle. I hope it’s the former. I think at least a few more episodes here will help flesh out this community and force Ellie and Joel’s bond to deepen as they work together.
6 Things I Like
6. Old Man Sniper
Getting out of the city following Henry’s plan—through the tunnels, out the other side—is way too easy. You had to know something was coming.
But before we get the huge battle with the infected, the group gets fired at by a sniper from a second-story window.
I liked this because Henry doesn’t have enough respect for Kathleen’s smarts or tactics. He assumes she doesn’t know the same escape route he knows.
Granted, she ultimately fails her people because her priorities are wrong, and she never deals with the imminent and deadly threat underground.
But in terms of capturing and killing Henry, she doesn’t get outsmarted. She knows this would be his path out. And she puts her sniper in place.
She actually plays this the right way. It’s just the wrong fight to focus on.
5. Down Goes FEDRA
We only get a small glimpse of the riots taking place as Kathleen’s rebellion brings down FEDRA.
But man, is it violent.
We see people getting hanged… beaten… someone is being dragged through the street by a truck while looking like a pin cushion, with MANY knives sticking out of their body.
But it doesn’t feel like violence for the sake of violence.
In my review of the last episode, I talked about the rebels being just as bad and oppressive as the oppressors. And that might have been true.
But we saw that FEDRA in the Boston QZ was oppressive. And the group that ran the QZ in Kansas City sounds like it was way worse. Not only does Henry talk about how bad they were, but Joel had even heard of them up in Boston.
Depicting the riots as this brutal and sadistic shows just how bad FEDRA was… how bad things got… and how desperate the people were for freedom from tyranny.
4. The Battle of Kansas City
I understand why some people who are watching this for the horror and the monsters were getting antsy.
Well, the show delivers here.
When the truck dips down into that sinkhole, you know something much worse is about to come up. But I wasn’t prepared for the SWARM of infected that overrun everyone.
Once again, we see a LOT of violence. The infected are forces of nature. There’s no thought or malice behind their destruction. They kill indiscriminately.
And there are some truly horrific things here. For me, the worst is the little girl Clicker. Ellie briefly gets trapped in a car with her. And I think that’s the same one that tears Kathleen apart.
All the while, one of the best aspects of this is Joel sniping away from the same window where he killed the old sniper, trying to pick off infected one by one to help Ellie escape.
3. More Inevitable Heartbreak
Sam’s turn into an infected and attack on Ellie, and Henry’s split-second decisions to turn his gun on Sam and then on himself are pure adrenaline.
When Ellie wakes up, Sam is sitting on the bed, facing away from her, silent. It doesn’t seem like he’s turned. It’s too serene.
But based on what we know about how quickly infection takes hold, you have to realize it’s happened. (Unless you actually thought Ellie smearing her blood over his wound would work.)
But the suddenness and ferocity of his attack still took me by surprise. And when they burst out of the bedroom into the living room, it does the same to Joel and Henry.
Most unnerving is how Henry initially points his gun at Joel—and even fires near his feet—preventing Joel from helping Ellie. It must have been pure instinct to protect his brother.
But when he then puts Sam down, that also must’ve been instinct, because it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of thinking going on. I think he just realizes it’s an infected that’s about to tear Ellie apart, so he kills him.
Then he realizes what he’s done, and again, without overthinking, he sees his purpose is gone and there’s nothing left to live for.
Ellie’s terror is so apparent as Sam attacks her. But just as powerful is keeping the camera on her face as Henry shoots himself. She’s absolutely gutted by this.
The show has been masterful at making us care for these characters who we’re only with for a short time. So it’s emotional to see both these guys who had already agreed to stick with Joel and Ellie go down in such bang-bang fashion.
2. Whose Life Is Worth More?
“Well, kids die, Henry. They die all the time. You think the whole world revolves around him? That he’s worth everything?”
Kathleen
It’s interesting to realize Kathleen is actually right. Not in her decision making—again, she clearly needed to prioritize their underground infected issue over her vengeance. Failing to do so costs her the militia, her life, and probably the whole city.
But she was right that Henry snitched on her brother and got him killed. She’s right to be furious and vengeful.
Does that mean Henry was wrong to collaborate with FEDRA? Or did he have an obligation to protect his own brother at all costs, even if it meant giving up a good man who was respected by all?
Does he have a right to place more value on his own brother’s life than on someone else’s brother? Should his brother’s age make a difference in this moral argument?
These questions are impossible to answer.
But when I saw the way Sam needs a hug from Henry after finding out the doctor has been killed, and Sam’s smile a few moments later after he gets his painted-on superhero mask—knowing Henry is all Sam has—it’s hard to judge Henry for his choices.
Joel realizes this. That’s why he walks back his initial judgment when he found out Henry was a rat.
Like Joel says, he doesn’t know Henry’s situation. But he understands protecting the people close to you.
And we know Joel has done terrible things, too. We just don’t know how deep his troubling behavior goes.
1. Sam and Ellie
“Yeah, I think it’d be nice for Sam to have a friend. I’ll tell him in the morning.”
Henry
Sam and Ellie are so cute together.
Even though she’s 14 and he’s eight, she takes to him as a friend almost instantly.
They make each other laugh, they read comic books together (“Endure and survive… that shit’s redundant” 🤣), he teaches her some ASL, and they have a great heart to heart while passing his little scratch-and-erase pad back and forth.
But this friendship is ripped away from her almost immediately.
Ellie tries to save Sam. Her attempt to cure him with her blood is misguided but incredibly noble. And tender, the way she puts her bloody palm on his wound and then uses her fingers to work the blood in.
Sadly, it fails.
And by the end of the episode, after they dig the graves and bury the bodies, I fear we’re already seeing how this world outside the QZ is hardening Ellie.
2 Things I’m Mixed On
2. Bloater
When we were first introduced to the Clickers, I found them terrifying. And kind of beautiful, in an unconventional way.
But the Bloater just looks silly to me.
Apparently it’s from the game, and for anyone who was excited to see a Bloater, I don’t want to shit on it. But it really didn’t work for me. And weirdly enough, based on how this infection is supposed to work, I felt like I could understand how an infected could evolve into a Clicker over time. But I have no idea how one turns into a Bloater.
That said, it’s badass and vicious. And I can get on board with having an ultra-rare type of infected they now need to have in the back of their minds at all times.
1. Let’s Talk About Feelings
It was noticeable that we get back to back scenes with long conversations and unexpected people sharing their feelings.
Henry and Joel open up to each other in ways I didn’t find too realistic. This is when Joel tells Henry he shouldn’t have judged him so harshly, and he understands protecting your loved one. That prompts Henry to tell Joel exactly what he did, and to clue us into his own self-loathing for being a rat.
In the very next scene, Kathleen opens up to Perry about her brother, all so she can explain that she still wants revenge despite him having told her before he was killed to forgive Henry.
These were both deep conversations full of important insights. But I’m not sure I buy that all these characters would share these deep feelings. And I especially didn’t care for their placement.
Tim Matassa
