First Things First…
No Joel?
The trailer looks like it’s a flashback episode to Ellie in FEDRA school. More specifically, it looks like we’re going to see her fateful trip into the mall that she mentioned to Tess. And I think Marlene mentioned someone named Riley—was she Ellie’s girlfriend? Or maybe she wished she was her girlfriend? Is this going to explain what Ellie told Joel in Kansas City after she shot the dude in the spine—that it wasn’t the first time she hurt someone?
It’ll be weird if there’s a full episode without Joel. And if that’s the case, we’ll have to wait another week to see how Joel gets saved after he got shanked.
But I’d like answers about Ellie’s background. And I wouldn’t mind revisiting Boston and the people we met in the premiere.
5 Things I Like
5. The Fight We Don’t See
Ellie does so much great acting just with her face.
When the mean girl, Bethany, makes a comment to Ellie about her friend not being there anymore, Ellie’s face goes feral as she throws the first punch.
That’s all we get to see. But it’s no surprise when we find out Bethany went to the infirmary and needed 15 stitches.
4. The Extra Wonder
All five wonders of the mall are fun. It’s cool seeing Riley and Ellie play Mortal Kombat II (complete with fatalities). And the carousel plays a great cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.” But the escalator is first—Riley doesn’t even mean for it to be one of the wonders—and it’s the best. This is when we see Ellie’s pure delight at its peak.
3. Two Reactions to Infection
After Ellie and Riley get bit and believe they’re going to die, it’s telling how they react so differently.
Riley is quiet. She’s sad—even heartbroken—and guilt-ridden, because this escapade was entirely her idea. But she seems more accepting. Probably because she’s a few years older and has lost more.
Ellie, on the other hand, is furious. And violent. She smashes up the store, breaking glass everywhere. She seems to focus more on the unfairness of it all. She thought she had lost her best friend—who she’s also crushing on—only to get her back for a magical evening. Then she thought she was losing her again when Riley says she’s leaving for Atlanta the next day, but Ellie convinces her to stay. And just when they’re talking about figuring out what to do next, real tragedy strikes.
Knowing the Ellie we’ve seen all season, I’m not surprised she reacts with such fury. But now it actually makes more sense why.
2. Crushes
“You know, you’re the one thing I missed from that fucking place.”
Riley
The fact that these two girls are obviously crushing on one another, but neither knows exactly what to say or do, is cute. Especially on Ellie’s end, since she’s the younger one and the one who we’re invested in. The purest, most genuine smile breaks out across Ellie’s face after she apologizes for kissing Riley and Riley says “for what?”.
1. Ellie’s Face When the Mall Lights Up
“We’re fine. You saw outside. It’s like a big bunker. No one can see shit but us. Just me and you. And you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Tonight I’m gonna show you the four wonders of the mall.”
Riley
This goes along with the point about the escalator. Something we’ve seen time and again this season is Ellie being filled with wonder about how things used to be—like when she saw the plane and thought the idea of flying was so cool, or when she was in a car for the first time. If you had spent your entire life to that point in that hellhole of a QZ, you’d probably react the same way seeing a mall lit up like that.
0 Things I’m Mixed On
2 Things I Don’t Like
2. No Real Ideology/Insight
“So you leave me. I think you’re dead. All of a sudden, you’re alive. And you give me this night, this amazing fucking night. And now you’re leaving again. Forever. To join some cause I don’t even think you understand. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Ellie
I think this would’ve landed better for me if we truly understood Riley’s decision to join the Fireflies. The simple explanation of FEDRA being a bunch of “fascist dickbags,” she was given a shit detail, and now she has a new family to belong to just doesn’t cut it. This is a life-altering choice she’s made. And yet she can’t really articulate exactly why she’s made it, and Ellie can’t really articulate why she thinks Riley is making a mistake. She points out that the FEDRA and Firefly ideologies are more complex than Riley understands. And they both throw the word “propaganda” around a lot. But that’s as close as we get.
1. Telling—Not Showing—Riley’s Background
This episode is meant to give us more insight into Ellie. But I think the biggest thing it’s missing is insight into Riley.
Remember, in the third episode, we spent a solid 45 minutes just with Bill and Frank. Joel and Tess were only in one quick scene with them.
What happens in this episode feels like the equivalent of if we saw Joel and Ellie arrive at Bill and Frank’s while they were still alive, and we heard them TELL some of their story about how they came together instead of watching it unfold.
Same with Henry and Sam. It was shorter, but we got 10-15 minutes of the two of them so we could SEE how they survived before they encountered Joel and Ellie.
Here, I think it would have been so much more effective if we spent time with Riley on her own… if we saw her with Marlene… saw her with the Fireflies… heard their conversations… saw how and why they chose her… rather than ONLY getting her with Ellie, where she has to TELL us all these things.
Tim Matassa
