Last Night's Great Episode Of 'The Last Of Us' Was So Good That It Oddly Leaves Me Concerned For The Series Going Forward

(This post contains MAJOR spoilers about what happened in last night's The Last Of Us. If you plan on watching it, go do that before reading this.)

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(I'm serious. Last night's episode was amazing and if you like the show, you'll want to watch. Last chance.)

Before we get into the issues I have with this series going forward, I need to acknowledge the amazing episode of television we got last night. This wasn't just the emotional and cruel death we got at the end of the episode. It was exciting the entire time. The production values made this feel like a movie. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire time. We had Jackson Hole get nearly destroyed, a snow storm and a massive zombie chase in the mountains. 

Oh yeah, Joel died too.

This was a fantastic episode of television that does leave me very concerned about the series going forward.

Can this show survive Joel not being around? The worst moments of this show is when Ellie is away from Joel. Remember that horrific mall episode from last season? Can Bella Ramsey carry this show going forward? I have to give Ramsey credit for doing a great job in the Joel death scene. I thought she made that whole scene feel much more real having her helplessly watch him die. It was brutal and perfectly done and she was a big reason why.

Christopher Khoury. Shutterstock Images.

I think the issue I have with her as an actress is when she has to be tough. It's just not believable. I'm sure if someone had the life that Ellie had, they would be this gritty but I just don't buy Bella Ramsey saying these things. I'm not as interested in watching this show if she's the sole focus.

I guess this does answer the question of how Pedro Pascal has time for all of these projects. It feels like he's in everything (and pretty great in everything too). I see trailers for Fantastic Four and this romantic drama/comedy Materialists and he's front and center. He's also in a Western called Eddington coming out this year. Guess him having the worst experience with golf clubs since Greg Norman at The Masters freed up some time in his schedule.

So where do we go from here? I didn't play the video game so all of this was a shock to me. I think I need to have more faith that the game story is excellent and while some episodes are inconsistent, this is a very good show. The action sequences are among the best you'll see on any show. I'll be honest. I don't care about Joel's brother very much but I was very invested in the scenes when the town got breached and attacked. Him facing off against that bloater was pretty awesome. I'll take any scene in anything with a flamethrower.

I still can't help but feel like a a bit of a Debby Downer. This episode was so well done. I know I keep comparing it to a movie but if I went to my local AMC, paid for a ticket and watched that as a zombie movie, I wouldn't be close to disappointed. The action was outstanding and Joel's death was perfect. It was so good, I actually felt a little guilty for not missing this show more when it hasn't been on for so long.

I'm going to try to have a positive attitude and be hopeful for the show. I'll trust the brains behind the show to know we can't have Ellie be front and center moving forward. I don't care about most of the people in Jackson Hole enough to spend an hour with them each week. The Kaitlyn Devers-led Former Fireflies have no purpose now that Joel is gone (also I don't believe her other friends would just follow her around risking their own lives for FIVE years while she looks for a guy who killed her Dad). 

Topping next week will be tough but then again how many shows even reach those heights?

SEASON 2

Episode 2: A

Episode 1: B-