Episode Review: The Last of Us 2x3 - "The Path"

Welcome back to the blog readers. In case you were not aware of this yet, The Last of Us (2023-) has been the gold standard for television since it premiered in early 2023, at least to me. It has been evident in my not-so-elegant reviews of the first season and the more complex things I am able to share about this season's first two episodes. Would we be able to keep up this show's expected upwards momentum shift? Stick around to find out as I review this episode, titled "The Path," written by Craig Mazin, and directed by Peter Hoar.

NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode. I also will not be spoiling the events of the game The Last of Us Part II (2020) on which the season is based.

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If you noticed my review for last week's episode, you would know that I called it an absolute masterpiece. It is the best episode of television all year so far and it is by a mile. I would put it in the same rank as last season's "Long, Long Time" (2023), coincidentally, also directed by Peter Hoar. Being there would be no possible way we could follow a literal 10/10 episode with another one, I did not expect this episode to be anywhere near as legendary. But what I did get was another fantastic character-driven episode that features Gabriel Luna, Bella Ramsey, and Isabela Merced at their best.

The first performance I need to talk about is of Gabriel Luna as Tommy Miller. Luna has not been a major, prominent member of this cast, only appearing in two of season one's nine episodes and the first three of this season. But my love for this guy went all the way back to his appearance on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-20) when he played a new iteration of Ghost Rider in that show's fourth season (2016-17). I definitely got to see a new side to Luna in last week's episode when he had a lot of the physical heavy lifting, but I have seen another new side to this character in this week's. Someone who is feeling the loss of a loved one and has to grieve privately. For this scene, Luna drew upon a personal experience he had and you can absolutely feel it. It feels familiar, yet strange at the same time, and seeing Luna pull off a powerhouse performance like this in which he is able to pull off emotions like regret, guilt, and subtle anger, is so good for someone who has been supporting him for a long, long time (see what I did there?).

I next need to talk about the performance of Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Guys, Ramsey pulled off an acting clinic last week in the final 10 minutes of that episode. Their ability to display such rage, anger, and sadness made it a very hard performance to watch, and I will be totally shocked if that episode does not get them some Emmy love. But this episode had it all. I cannot believe how good they are as an actor. Not only are they able to pull off the mannerisms of Ashley Johnson's Ellie so well, but they are able to put their own spin on it to make their Ellie unique to the screen. And getting to see the expanded scenes of Jackson recovering after Joel's death really get to sinch in the idea of pain. Ramsey delivers in all facets in their performance in this episode, and getting to see them as Ellie get to kick some ass in Seattle will be fun as hell.

Finally, I want to talk about the performance of Isabela Merced as Dina. In my review for the first episode, I told you that my love for Merced as an actor has been going on for about a decade now, so I will save you from that whole ordeal for this episode review. What I will say is that Merced perfectly captured the same freewheeling Joan Baez-like spirit that Shannon Woodward had in Part II. And god damn it, she did it again in this episode. Not only was she able to pull off that freewheeling energy in the trip to Seattle scenes, she was also able to be a calming figure to Ellie, highlighted by when she discloses the information about Abby and her crew. I was not aware that Merced could act this well, but I guess all it takes is acting in an HBO show not named The Idol (2023).

Now we have to talk about the story of this episode because it is a tearjerker for the average fan. We start in the immediate aftermath of the infected attack on Jackson and Abby's killing of Joel. Someone has volunteered to clean Joel's body, but Tommy comes in to take over and have a private moment with Joel, where he cleans his body and tearfully tells him to "give Sarah my love." Ellie has also been admitted to the hospital and was in an unconscious state back. When she wakes up, all she can do is scream when she remembers what she witnessed. Three months later, Ellie is still in the hospital as Jackson is still rebuilding after the attack. She is just about ready to leave the hospital, but needs a psychological evaluation from Gail before she can go. Ellie tells Gail that she is fine and Gail brings up her last session with Joel in which he told her he saved her. Ellie lies and says she has no idea what he was referring to and tells her they did not talk after their New Year's Eve fight. Gail gives the okay for her to leave the hospital and she immediately goes to Joel's house to grieve, crying on his old sweater.

Dina comes over to Joel's house to offer Ellie cookies and give her information. She explains that she withheld this information from Ellie to allow her to recover, adding she loved Joel too. The information she gives is the following: their names are Owen, Nora, Manny, and Abby is their leader, and the insignia on their equipment that is abbreviated "WLF" stands for Washington Liberation Front, meaning they are based in Washington State, specifically Seattle. The two bring this information to Tommy, who is hesitant about letting Ellie go by herself. Ellie tells him that if it were him, Joel would be halfway to Seattle at this point. Tommy tells her to not talk like he did not know Joel and tells Dina not to withhold information from him again. He then tells the two of them they will be holding a town hall regarding this matter where the whole community can discuss whether to send a squad of people there. He also says he will be voting yes to allow them to go. Jesse later reveals he is hesitantly joining the council but holds back on telling them how he will vote in the town hall.

The town hall comes and the townsfolk give their arguments as to whether or not Jackson should send a 16-person squad to Seattle to avenge Joel's death. There are people who opine that it is not logical to send resources outside of Jackson so close to the infected attack, especially since they lost a lot of people that day and they are still rebuilding. Others, surprisingly including Seth, argue that they must go after these people to prevent more from coming in to do the same. Ellie, writing down her thoughts after Jesse told her to because the council will never go based on anger, tries to rally the town based on getting justice for not just Joel or her, but for the whole of Jackson since one of them was taken from them. Her rally fails as the 11-person council votes 8-3 to reject her request. Afterwards, Tommy talks to Gail, who was there, and worries that Ellie will do something rash following the no vote. Gail admits that Ellie is a liar and some people cannot be saved from themselves and their actions, saying Joel did not put Ellie on the path she is currently on.

Later that night, Dina stops by Ellie's house and tells her she will be accompanying her to Seattle and she will not be going alone. She also makes sure Ellie is prepared for the journey they are going to go on. She tells her she has someone who can help them leave Jackson. It is revealed that this person is Seth, who has Ellie's horse Shimmer and is able to get them past the wall. She shakes Seth's hand and the two stop by Joel's grave to mourn and for Ellie to place coffee beans on it. The two depart and begin on the dangerous trek to Seattle. One night when they are stopped and in a tent, they discuss their New Year's kiss. Dina asks Ellie to rate it since she has never kissed another girl and Ellie rates it a 6. This only increases the banter between them before Dina calls it nothing and says that Jesse is inherently sad, theorizing it has to do with her. They run into a group of dead Seraphites that were previously escaping from a group of WLF soldiers, and the two theorize it was Abby and her crew that did this. They make it to the outskirts of the city where they note the lack of WLF, before we cut to Manny manning the Needle and giving a massive force of WLF the okay to march through the streets, revealing they are not as small as Dina previously thought they were.

As you may have been able to see by now, I love these character-driven episodes because it really drives home the emphasis on togetherness and chosen family. Without spoiling the events of the game, I want to say how it does a brilliant job of displaying what pain can do to a person, even the best of us. In the game, that pain is really only limited to a few characters but this show expanded this to make it a whole lot more relevant and meaningful. Everybody is hurting over the death of Joel in Jackson, everybody cared about him in that town, and you can clearly see it. There is a somber feeling in the air in Jackson and the changes they made to make it more community-driven and have more of an impact in the story. I love the change here.

I next want to talk about Ellie's lie to Gail at the start of the episode. If you played the game, you know what I mean so you do not have to speculate. But based on the dialogue spoken by the characters, you absolutely can tell that Ellie lied to Gail about not talking to Joel after their New Year's fight. Even though she described exactly what we saw in the first episode, there is still this idea that maybe that was not the end of the encounter. Game players know that this is true, but for those who have no idea, be prepared to be wrecked come the end of the upcoming third season. And I think it also speaks to the fact that the whole basis of this show revolves around lies and deceit.

The Last of Us excels with yet another episode focused on the exceptional characters and engaging story it has forged for us. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.