After last week’s explosive episode, The Last Of Us season 2 episode 3 is a much slower affair. Read more in our review.
Warning! The following review contains heavy spoilers for previous episodes of The Last Of Us and minor ones for this week’s episode.
“Give Sarah my love.”
It’s these four simple words that provide The Last Of Us season 2 episode 3’s most powerful punch. It’s Gabriel Luna’s Tommy who says this as he’s washing his brother Joel’s corpse after he was brutally killed by Abby Anderson in last week’s episode. He is, of course, referring to Joel’s daughter Sarah who was killed in the very first episode of The Last Of Us and with whom Joel is now hopefully reunited with somewhere.
It’s a sombre start to an episode that otherwise has a tough job to fulfill; get the main story going while also revelling in the emotional impact of Joel’s death. The episode’s beginning may very well bring a tear or two to your eyes, but, if I’m being honest, it’s pretty much downhill from there.
The action jumps three months into the future as the citizens of Jackson are trying to rebuild and heal after a horde of infected tore through the town. Gamers will already be furrowing their brows; the time jump didn’t happen in the game and unfortunately, it eats away some of the urgency that made The Last Of Us Part II so powerful.
Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is still recovering from her injuries sustained from the night when Joel died, but revenge is already on her mind. She’s waiting to be released from the hospital and signed off by therapist Gail (Catherine O’Hara) so she can convince Tommy and the rest of the town to pursue Abby to avenge Joel’s untimely, cruel death. But will Jackson choose revenge over healing?
Episode 3, titled Something’s Got A Hold On Me, is undoubtedly a bit of a filler episode. It needs to establish character relations and take big steps storywise, but there’s a lot of ground to cover in just an hour. Last week’s episode also teetered on the edge of having bit off more than it could chew, but director Mark Mylod manages to find a delicate balance between the two halves of the episode.
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This week’s director Peter Hoar, who directed last season’s best episode focusing on Bill and Frank, has less to work with. The episode is dialogue-heavy, with a lot of talk about revenge and anger, but we rarely see it. We’re told Ellie is angry, but we rarely see it in Bella Ramsey’s performance. Curiously, we also meet the Seraphites, a cult communicating via whistles, in this episode but their inclusion feels too brief and inconsequential, like many things in episode 3.
There are plenty of surprises for gamers as the show’s narrative begins to remove itself from the confines of the game. Some of the changes work, some of them don’t and episode 3 mostly doesn’t work. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are clearly keen on creating their own beast, completely separate from the game, but the balance between respecting the game and inserting some originality into it is still ways off.
Perhaps the biggest, strangest changes are to do with Ellie’s relationship with Dina. The two kissed during episode 1’s New Year’s Eve party, but their romance has been significantly toned down in the show, at least for now. Opportunities where the two could grow closer and hit some of the game’s major milestones present themselves, only to be wasted on exposition. On top of that, Seth, who you’ll remember showed his misogynistic, homophobic side in episode 1, earning a swift punch from Joel, has seemingly turned good and the show is expecting us to root for him now. It’s a puzzling, disappointing choice from Mazin and Druckmann.
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Episode 3 is a letdown. It’s possible that it was always going to be after such a phenomenal, shocking episode last week. Watching this felt like experiencing the world’s biggest comedown after a superb high. It was always going to be difficult to adapt The Last Of Us Part II into a traditional TV show, but episode 3 has me wondering if it’s even possible.
New episodes of The Last Of Us premiere every Monday on Sky and NOW.
