The Last Of Us - Season 2 - Episode 05 - Feel Her Love
*It’s rare that we at Player 2 cover anything that isn’t in the video game realm, but with its roots firmly in gaming, and the prestigious talent involved in it, HBO’s adaptation of The Last Of Us is an incredibly fascinating project. So join us, each week as we dissect the newly released episode, from the series’ first to its last. Now it’s time for Season 2.*
We’re beyond the half-way mark of The Last Of Us’ second season, and while there is a lot of the second game still to be covered, (hence the need for a third season), the pieces of the puzzle are all starting to come together. Ellie and Dina’s pursuit of Joel’s killer, Abby, continues, while the war wages between Abby’s Washington Liberation Front (WLF), and the cult-like Seraphites. Of course, looming large at all times also, is the never-ending Infected threat, and it is with this newest episode, “Feel Her Love”, where the viewer gets another grave look at the latest mutation of the infection.
The episode begins with another WLF flashback, as we catch a glimpse of a heavily sealed lift within the hospital, the one that conveniently Ellie wants to get to, as two WLF leaders discuss the lower levels and the impact that cordyceps have had on the basement levels. We ominous learn of the spores, and their airborn nature before the episode’s opening credits begin to roll.
In the present day, its Day 2 in Seatlle for Ellie and Dina, and Dina sits, pouring over maps, her ear pressed to the WLF radio as she gradually triangulates a way to the hospital. Ellie expresses her disinterest and incapability in doing what Dina is, and leaves, entering the stage area of the theatre where she finds a stage covered in musical instruments. As Ellie picks up a guitar and begins to play Pearl Jam’s ‘Future Days’ but stops abruptly, and then moments later Dina enters the room to explain that she’s devised a plan that will help them avoid WLF installations on their way to find Nora in the hospital. Before heading out, they discuss the variable of the ‘Scars’ in the mix with their ongoing war against the WLF.
As is becoming custom, the show gives us a peak behind the curtain of the flourishing relationship between Ellie and Dina, this time we see the girls discussing baby names, but the fun is cut short as they happen upon more victims of Seraphites, and the already anxiety-fuelling words of “Feel Her Love” scrawled across a nearby wall. The numerous threats prompt Ellie to begin to reconsider her bloodlust, due to the danger that it is presenting the pregnant Dina. Dina wants none of it though and pushes on, continuing a conversation that was started episodes ago about their first kills. Dina tells Ellie of the raider that killed her family, that she then got the jump on and shot in the head before he fled, but draws the comparison between Dina’s need to get revenge in this scenario, to Ellie’s need to take revenge upon Abby. She then tells Ellie that she will do whatever she wants to do, and so Ellie opts to push on in their journey.
As night falls, the girls approach the previously identified weakness in the WLF defensive perimeter. After avoiding roaming floodlights, and cutting their way through a fence, they enter an abandoned building. They both quickly conclude that infected are likely to be present, and decide to avoid shooting at all costs, lest it alert the nearby WLF forces. As the pair push through the building, Dina is the first we see begin to feel uneasy about the situation they’re in, knowing that something feels off. Entering a factory space, they take cover as the spotlights fly overhead, but before they move Ellie spots a chewed up body on the floor, before Dina then sees an infected Stalker. The pair devise a strategy to deal with it, but before they can enact it, they quickly realise that the Stalker was far from alone. The room is filled with them, and they’re closing in around them, so with one kiss, and a clear plan to flee, Dina takes off, Ellie providing covering fire. They’re quickly overrun, but it is the timely arrival of Jesse that allows the pair to survive the encounter. Of course, the shooting has alerted the WLF and they’re charging towards them, so the trio flee into a nearby parkland, somewhere that we learn the WLF soldiers are not willing to follow them into. In a brief moment of respite, Jesse reveals that he and Tommy left Jackson to go after them, and Jesse knew where to find them after finding their plans at the theatre. The quiet around them is pierced seconds later as a Seraphite whistle is hear and torches light around them, their newest threat now imminent.
Ellie, Dina, and Jesse have stumbled into a torture space, as we seea WLF member hanging on for dear life, pleading with the group of Seraphites who have him captured, offering details on Isaac’s plans. The plans don’t interest the lead Seraphite however, as he quickly guts the soldier. The trio watch in horror but have no time to act before an aggressive while rings out, and an arrow flies through the air, piercing Dina’s leg. Jesse carries Dina away, as Ellie attempts to lead the Seraphites away, narrowing avoiding capture at one point as she hides amongst the roots of a large tree. When the coast is clear she takes off, finding the hospital, penetrating its perimeter. Some quick stealth from Ellie ensures that she isn’t spotted by WLF guards and the dogs that pick up her scent.
Inside the hospital, we see Nora treating someone in need of help before leaving the room to clean herself up. Ellie has managed to sneak into the room and holds her at gunpoint, and offers to not kill her, in exchange for Abby’s location. Nora goes on to tell Ellie of the regret she has for the fact that Ellie had to see Joel die, and speaks of the nightmares she has of Joel screaming in agony, and this prompts Ellie to drop her guard. Sensing the weakness, Nora throws a tray of items at Ellie and runs. Ellie pursues, dodging significant gunfire in the process, trapping Nora, leaving her only one way to escape, down the lift shaft. She drops down to level B2, and Ellie follows. We begin to see particles floating through the air, and as Ellie slowly rounds a corner, we see the gravity of the cordyceps problem that had plagued the basement levels of the hospital. Floor, walls and the ceiling are coated, top to bottom by the fungus, infected bodies stuck in place by the glue-like consistency, and their exhales push more spores into the air. As Ellie continues, unaffected by the spores, she flicks a switch, casting a red light through the area, and follows Nora’s desperate coughs to find her hunched against a wall overwhelmed by spores. She says they’re both doomed, but quickly comes to realise that Ellie is the girl that the WLF had heard about. She then tells Ellie everything that had happened at the Salt Lake City Hospital, how Joel had killed everyone, including Abby’s dad, the sole doctor, who could have cured the virus. Ellie says that she knows this, before asking from Abby’s location. When Nora gain doesn’t provide an answer, Ellie picks up a broken pipe and bludgeons Nora to death.
The final moments of the episode are fleeting, but provide the viewer with a glimpse a light amongst the darkness, flashing back to Jackson, Joel walking into Ellie’s room, beaming at the sight of his adopted daughter. Ellie wakes up, smiles broadly, and says hi before the episode ends.
With now three different, and extremely dangerous groups all active in Seattle, the stakes for Ellie, Dina, and Jesse have grown significantly as they attempt to survive amongst the Infected, the WLF, and the Seraphites. As The Last Of Us’ fifth episode of its second season ends, its becoming increasingly hard for to see a way in which Ellie succeeds in her mission, but the fire in her belly burns brightly, and its clear that she won’t be backing down. With two episodes to go, and the conflict soon ready to explode, finding the light seems harder than ever.
The Last of Us is available to stream now on Max, with new episodes every Monday. This episode was reviewed with early access kindly provided by Max.
