Summary
Episode 3 of HBO’sThe Last of UsSeason 2 explores the fallout of the attack on Jackson and the tragic murder of one of its beloved citizens. The episode is slow-paced and creates many new scenes not explored in the game. Most of the episode is dedicated to the town’s decision on whether to leave Jackson and exact revenge on Abby and the rest of the WLF. There is a three-week time jump between Episode 2 and Episode 3, which is suggested to be the time when Ellie was recovering in the hospital and the Jackson citizens were burying their dead and rebuilding their town.
In the episode, Dina (who witnessed Joel’s death instead of Tommy) reveals to Ellie, after she is released from the hospital, that she was withholding information from her and the rest of the town, and she in fact knew the names of Abby’s crew and what militia they were part of. Dina states that if she had told Ellie at the time, she would have tried ripping her tubes out and escaping the hospital to exact revenge (a likely accurate presumption). When the information comes to light, the town votes on what to do next, and the outcome of this vote leads to the TV show fixing one ofThe Last of Usgame’s biggest narrative flaws.
The Town Vote
Halfway through Episode 3, the town gathers together to hear different people’s opinions and arguments on what their next course of action should be.Ellie is one of the people on the list, and based off the advice of Jesse, she writes down her thoughts on a piece of paper to avoid, as she admits, speaking without thinking first. In other words, getting angry and emotional and undermining her case. She delivers a moving speech and encourages Jackson to think of themselves as a community who owe it to each other to stand up for their people, because they live in a world of nobody taking responsibility for anyone or anything else. She argues that Jackson should be better and getting revenge for Joel would be a way of proving that they are.
Ellie’s speech seems to have got the attention of the town hall, yet the vote came back 8 votes for no, and only for 3 yes. Ellie would like to think that the three votes for yes came from Maria, Tommy and Jesse, but the episode never explicitly states, but either way, Ellie’s speech wasn’t enough to get the people of Jackson on board with her cause. But, in true Ellie fashion, she ignores the town’s decision, and decides to head on a solo revenge mission to Seattle.
Ellie’s “Travel Preparation”
After the town council deliver their verdict, Ellie is seen in her garage house gearing up with Joel’s revolver and a handful of other weapons. At this point, Dina comes in and starts poking at flaws in Ellie’s not very well-thought-through plan. Taunting her by asking what route Ellie plans to take, to which she responds only by saying “Northwest”. Dina then follows up by asking if her big pile of guns has any medical supplies with them, in case she “…lands weird on an ankle, or gets a fever on (her) well-chartered trip Northwest”. This is potentially a way of the showrunners making light fun ofThe Last of Us Part 2, andone of its biggest plot inconsistencies.
The Last of Us Part 1was a very simple and concise story where Joel and Ellie had to travel across America to find the fireflies. However, the reality of this journey was incredibly difficult, because of the post-apocalyptic environment and allthe dangers they faced on their journey(infected, hunters, etc.) So it felt very inconsistent in Part 2 when Ellie and Dina simply appeared in Seattle after leaving Jackson, which is almost a thousand miles-long journey.Ellie has a few pages in her journalin the game which reveal some details of their journey, like having to fight hunters and camping together. However, these are details that most players would miss and even if they don’t, it still feels a little too easy and straightforward in the context of the world building shown in Part 1.
Ellie And Dina’s Journey
In contrast to the game, in Episode 3 the audience actually gets to witness Ellie and Dina’s journey to Seattle. The two characters are shown on horseback traveling across different states,telling jokes and playing travel games. In one scene, they have to put up a tent and take shelter from a storm, showing the multitude of different risks Dina warned Ellie about being prepared for. This shows that, as many people predicted, HBO are planning to take their time with telling this story. As Part 2 will likely be spread across multiple seasons of television, there is no need to rush and risk telling a story with odd pacing that leaves the audience confused.
Even thoughThe Last of UsTV show does dedicate time to depicting Ellie and Dina’s journey to Seattle, the journey is relatively straightforward and easy. Only around 6 minutes of Episode 3’s runtime depicts the journey. However, this is still a better portrayal of psot-Cordyeceps America than the game represents and the episode’s incorporation of montage footage creates the impression that Ellie and Dina’s journey took a lot of time and effort on their part.
