The Last of Us S2 EP 6 (full episode reaction)
Added 2025-05-22 16:00:13 +0000 UTCMkay so these writers just want to see me suffer huh? that's cool
what were your thoughts on this episode? Did you like it? I was educated on the difference between Ellie's reasoning for not talking to Joel for so long in the show vs the game and a part of me finds the game reasoning a bit more realistic. What about you?
Also idk what was in the air but the fact that I got out of this episode without full on sobbing is truly a miracle. Perhaps all of the previous episodes have hurt me so much emotionally that the few moments of happiness in this episode was enough for me to not completely break down and want to jump off of a cliff :)
Comments
I think that pattern of behavior from Joel was also shown a bit in that opening scene with his father where he lied to try to cover for his brother. What I’ve enjoyed the most about this season so far is this almost internal battle even us viewers are having when it comes to “what would you have done” in these various scenarios and I do really like that. I don’t think I’ve spoken to someone who hasn’t sat and thought about what they would’ve done or how they would’ve wanted someone to handle that situation. It’s always nice when a show is a conversation starter like that
Gina
2025-05-22 22:19:46 +0000 UTCCouldn’t agree more about the first part of this! As for the game stuff- I have heard about that and I just don’t understand why people are so incapable of separating an actor from a character but also, what can you expect from small minded individuals? I did hear that the show’s actress has gotten some not so great messages/comments after the happy Gilmore episode. Saying things like “your mom deserved to die.” etc. and I HATE that. There will never be a justification for that sort of behavior. Like yeah, fuck Abby. But the actress playing her didn’t actually do anything. Pedro is very much still alive 😂 The party sounds so fun and I’m so jealous! I’ll just be crying alone at my desk for the finale hahah
Gina
2025-05-22 22:16:30 +0000 UTCI hear you, but I don’t think it would’ve made a difference. Ellie has clearly thought about it enough that she has a good picture of what went down. I don’t think him explaining the specifics would change anything. She knows that a cure could’ve been made, and she knows that it would’ve killed her. And she knows that *Joel* already knew that, had she been given the choice, she would’ve chosen to sacrifice herself. So Joel explaining that he wasn’t gonna be able to see her, or any of that wouldn’t really change anything.
Jesús G
2025-05-22 20:19:39 +0000 UTCHands down my favorite episode of the season, if not the series. The first like 15 minutes or so where Joel just got to be a dad and make Ellie happy was so fucking wholesome and adorable. And even when it got sad, the way they showed it all playing out to explain how/what Ellie knew, it was just so well done. And once again, Bella and Pedro’s chemistry is the lynchpin that makes or breaks the entire show, and their chemistry is like, perfect. Give the casting director a fucking bonus cuz they literally could not have cast it more perfectly. Side casting note, my buddy was talking to me about the show and he theorized that they cast Abby as a conventionally attractive—in almost a traditional conservative way—woman as a very deliberate proactive choice, as opposed to the game’s depiction of her as muscular and not very feminine. The TLOU P2 was very controversial/divisive, and between Abby’s actions towards Joel, her more masculine appearance, and the actress’ stellar performance, all the awful gamer types latched on to her as like the avatar of everything that made the game “bad”. The actress got harassed, got death threats, and there was even a ton of awful transphobic hate and rhetoric being spewed due to Abby’s muscular and masculine features. You know, typical awful conservative gamer-gate type behavior. So my friend thinks that they cast Abby the way they did in the show to make her more palateable to the wider audience, and to hopefully avoid the same harassment/threats to the actress. And if that was the justification for it, that’s probably the right move. In the game I think Abby’s muscularity is meant to be a visual representation of her drive for vengeance, to mirror Ellie’s, but i think it’s fine that the show loses that element if it means protecting the actress (who has done a fantastic job in the couple episodes she’s been in). Excited and scared for the finale!! We’re having a finale party and are gonna bring mushroom themed foods 🍄🟫
Jesús G
2025-05-22 20:15:37 +0000 UTCWhether or not it was actually possible to make a cure, it's important to the story that Joel believes it was. It's important that he believed the cure was possible, and he got Ellie out anyway. Just like it's important that Ellie knows what Joel did and she's going to try to kill Abby and her crew anyway. Maybe it's just me, but I was always on Ellie's side here. I think Joel made the best choice he could regarding getting Ellie out of the Firefly hospital (a better choice would be to let Ellie decide, but there was no way to do that really). But lying to her was the real problem. I don't think I could have forgiven him for that, especially when he does it again with Eugene. And personally, if I was Gail I'd want the truth too. This story, especially how it's being told in the show, is really making me realize how important honesty is to me lol. I like how they did it in the show actually a bit better than in the game, personally. I like that they establish this as a bad pattern of Joel's (lying to protect Ellie). I also think it's kinda absurd in the game that she rode all the way to Salt Lake with no issues and broke into the hospital that just happened to still have a recording of Abby talking about what happened.
Sav Miller
2025-05-22 19:13:49 +0000 UTCI didn't like the way he answered her questions. Ironically it wasn't the truth either, but in the opposite way. I really wish Joel took that moment and basically gave her a walkthrough of that day. She wasn't given a choice. Joel was forced to fight his way just to see Ellie - they weren't going to let him see her at all. But, by that time the damage was done. He should have told her the truth the day it happened.
Jason Meader
2025-05-22 17:03:32 +0000 UTC
